Benzyl-phenyl ether derivatives of nitronyl nitroxide triradicals as a model for single-component organic molecule-based ferrimagnetics

Abstract

As a novel molecular design for genuinely organic molecule-based ferrimagnets, we have proposed a strategy of “single-component organic molecule-based ferrimagnetics”. In this study, we have designed and synthesized a triradical p - trisNN ( 1) as a building block for single-component ferrimagnetics, in which a m-phenylene-based π-biradical and a π-monoradical are connected in a benzyl-phenyl ether framework. The triradical retains the magnetic degrees of freedom for both S = 1 and S = 1/2 spins in the single molecule. X-ray crystallographic analyses show that 1 has a head-to-tail packing with an approximately isosceles triangular geometry, which is favorable for a ferrimagnetic spin alignment. From the analysis of crystal and magnetic susceptibility measurements, the triradical is found to form exchange-coupled systems composed of six S = 1/2 spins in the repeating unit of the crystalline solid state.