Mn7 Species with an S = 29/2 Ground State: High-Frequency EPR Studies of a Species at the Classical/Quantum Spin Interface

Abstract

A high spin (S) compound has been synthesized whose properties straddle the interface between the classical and quantum mechanical spin descriptions. The cluster [Mn(7)O(4)(pdpm)(6)(N(3))(4)](ClO(4))(2) (Mn(7)) has an unprecedented core structure comprising an octahedral [Mn(III)(6)(μ(4)-O)(μ(3)-O)(3)(μ(3)-N(3))(4)](6+) unit with one of its faces capped by a Mn(II) ion. Magnetization and susceptibility studies indicate an S = (29/2) ground state, the maximum possible. Variable-temperature, high-frequency electron paramagnetic resonance (HF-EPR) spectra on powder and single-crystal samples of Mn(7) exhibit sharp spectral features characteristic of a quantum spin that are well resolved in a certain temperature range but which transform to a continuum of peaks characteristic of a classical spin in another; these features have been well reproduced by computer simulations. A fast Fourier transform analysis of the sharp spectral features and the low temperature EPR spectra suggests that more than one spin state are involved.