Guest-Induced Switching of a Molecule-Based Magnet in a 3d–4f Heterometallic Cluster-Based Chain Structure

With the motivation of controlling a magnetic switch by external stimuli, we report here an infinite chain structure formed from the secondary building units of Cu3Tb2 clusters through the linkage of nitrate ions. It behaves as a molecule-based magnet with the highest energy barrier among isolated Tb/Cu-based single-molecule magnets and single-chain magnets, which is close to a dimer of a Cu3Tb2 cluster unit from a magnetic point as revealed by its correlation length of 2.23 Cu3Tb2 units. This kind of molecule-based magnet in a chain structure is rare. The removal of its guest ethanol molecules leads to the complete disappearance of slow magnetic relaxation behavior. Interestingly, the capture and removal of guest ethanol molecules are reversible, mediating a rare ON/OFF switching of a 3d–4f heterometallic molecule-based magnet, which was interpreted by the theoretical calculations based on the structural difference upon desolvation.