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Multifunctional Lanthanide Molecular Ferroelectrics [R/S-H2MPPA][Ln(btfa)4]2 Constructed by Hydrogen Bond Linking
Chun-Pu Chen1, Xiao-Lu Guo1, Ya Gao1
1School of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Key Laboratory for Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources (Ministry of Education of China), Collaborative Innovation Center for Guangxi Ethnic Medicine, School of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541004, P. R. China.
Inorganic Chemistry
|February 24, 2026
Summary
Researchers developed new chiral molecular ferroelectrics combining optical and magnetic functions. These materials, built using hydrogen bonds, show promising ferroelectric and nonlinear optical properties, stable at high temperatures.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Solid State Chemistry
- Crystallography
Background:
- Chiral molecular ferroelectrics with optical and magnetic properties are highly sought after but challenging to synthesize due to strict symmetry requirements.
- Existing strategies often face limitations in achieving multifunctional integration within a single molecular framework.
Purpose of the Study:
- To rationally construct novel enantiomeric multifunctional lanthanide molecular ferroelectrics.
- To investigate the coupling of ferroelectric, optical, and magnetic properties in these new materials.
- To explore a hydrogen bond linking strategy for assembling functional blocks.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of two pairs of enantiomeric lanthanide molecular ferroelectrics using [Ln(btfa)4]- anionic blocks and chiral [R/S-H2MPPA]2+ cations.
- Ferroelectric characterization, including spontaneous polarization (Ps) measurements.
- Second-harmonic generation (SHG) measurements for nonlinear optical activity.
- Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for phase stability analysis.
- Luminescence spectroscopy for Tb3+ ions and magnetic measurements for Dy3+ ions.
Main Results:
- Successfully synthesized [R/S-H2MPPA][Ln(btfa)4]2 (Ln = TbIII, DyIII), yielding Tb-R (1), Tb-S (2), Dy-R (3), and Dy-S (4).
- Compounds Tb-R (1) and Dy-R (3) exhibit both ferroelectricity and second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) activity, with Ps values of 1.02 μC·cm−2 and 1.01 μC·cm−2, respectively.
- The ferroelectric phase in Tb-R (1) and Dy-R (3) remains stable up to 414.9 K and 421.6 K, respectively.
- Tb-R (1) displays characteristic TbIII luminescence, while Dy-R (3) shows field-induced single-ion magnet (SIM) behavior.
Conclusions:
- The hydrogen bond linking strategy effectively integrates chiral protonated amines with [Ln(btfa)4]- blocks to create multifunctional molecular ferroelectrics.
- This approach provides a viable route for designing advanced materials with coupled ferroelectric, optical, and magnetic properties.
- The synthesized compounds demonstrate potential for applications in nonlinear optics, data storage, and optoelectronic devices.
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