Hexagonal Bipyramidal Dy(III) Complexes as a Structural Archetype for Single-Molecule Magnets

Single-molecule magnets (SMMs), are regarded as excellent nanomaterials for high-density information storage and quantum computing. The local symmetry of the crystal field for the metal ion plays an important role in pursuing a high-performance SMM. Herein, two highly stable distorted hexagonal bipyramidal (quasi-D 6h ) Dy complexes exhibiting slow relaxation of the magnetization are reported. A hexagonal bipyramidal Dy model complex with 18-crown-6 was also designed to study the relationship between magnetic anisotropy and symmetry. The combined experimental and theoretical results indicate that quantum tunneling is highly dependent on the local symmetries of the crystal field. The magnetic anisotropy becomes much stronger when the symmetry is closer to a standard D 6h geometry. These results support the conclusion that the hexagonal bipyramidal geometry is a viable one for the design of new classes of SMMs.