Effects of strong coordination bonds at the axial or equatorial positions on magnetic relaxation for pentagonal bipyramidal dysprosium() single-ion magnets

Three pentagonal bipyramidal mononuclear Dy( iii ) complexes based on amino-substituted nitrophenol and tetradentate amide ligands of formulas [Dy(Hbpen)(OPhNO 2 NH 2 Cl)Cl 2 ] ( 1 ), [Dy(Hbpen)(OPhNO 2 NH 2 )Cl 2 ] ( 2 ) and [Dy(Hbpen)(OPhNO 2 NH 2 Cl) 3 ] ( 3 ) (Hbpen = N , N ′-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-ethylenediamine, OPhNO 2 NH 2 Cl = 2-amino-6-chloro-4-nitrophenol, and OPhNO 2 NH 2 = 2-amino-4-nitrophenol) were isolated. X-ray diffraction studies illustrate that complexes 1 and 2 with one strongly coordinating phenol ligand at their equatorial positions have a similar structure except for a slight difference in the chloride substituent of the phenol ligand. Complex 3 possesses the same equatorial coordination as 1 but its apical positions are occupied by two other phenol ligands. Magnetic studies show that 1 and 2 are zero-field single-ion magnets (SIMs), and 3 exhibits field-induced SIM behavior. Upon removing the chloride substituent groups from the phenol ligand, the effective energy barrier enhances from 233.7 K ( 1 ) to 362.7 K ( 2 ) under external dc fields. The stronger quantum tunneling of magnetization observed for 3 in comparison with 1 shows the destructive influence of a strong phenoxyl oxygen ligand field contributing to the transverse component on the magnetic properties. A comparison of complex 2 and the reported Dy( iii ) analogue [Dy(Hbpen)Cl(OPhBr 2 NO 2 ) 2 ] with two phenol ligands (2,6-dibromo-4-nitrophenol) in the axial direction leads to the conclusion that the magnetic anisotropy is strongly dependent on the Dy-O phenoxyl bond lengths. The results provide direct information vital to understanding how the strong coordination environment at the axial or equatorial positions influences the SIM behavior. Pentagonal bipyramidal dysprosium( iii ) complexes with different strong coordination bonds at axial or equatorial positions show a significant variation in their magnetic relaxation behavior.