Controlling Through-Space and Through-Bond Exchange Pathways in Bis-Cobaltocenes for Molecular Spintronics

Pinching molecules via chemical strain suggests intuitive consequences, such as compression at the pinched site and clothespin-like opening of other parts of the structure. If this opening affects two spin centers, it should result in reduced communication between them. We show that for naphthalene-bridged biscobaltocenes with competing through-space and through-bond pathways, the consequences of pinching are far less intuitive: despite the known dominance of through-space interactions, the bridge plays a much larger role for exchange spin coupling than previously assumed. Based on a combination of chemical synthesis, structural, magnetic, and redox characterization, and a newly developed theoretical pathway analysis, we can suggest a comprehensive explanation for this non-intuitive behavior. These results are of interest for molecular spintronics, as naphthalene-linked cobaltocenes can form wires on surfaces for potential spin-only information transfer.