The design of molecule-based systems displaying tuneable optical and/or magnetic properties under external stimuli has received a great deal of attention in the past few years. This interest is driven by the potential applications in high-performance molecule-based electronics in the areas of recording media, switches, sensors, and displays. As an example, three-dimensional Fe/Co Prussian blue compounds exhibit a concomitant change in magnetic and optical properties due to a temperature-or light-induced metal-to-metal electron transfer. The foregoing remarkable properties in Prussian blues prompted us to design soluble molecular fragments of these coordination networks through a rational building-block approach in order to mimic their properties on a single molecule. With a judicious choice of the ligands for the iron and cobalt molecular precursors, we prepared a dinuclear cyanido-bridged Fe/Co complex that exhibits an unexpected temperature-dependent spin crossover in the solid state while an intramolecular electron transfer triggered by protonation is observed in solution.

The semiquinone-catecholate based mixed valence complex, [FeIII(bispicen)(Cl4Cat)(Cl4SQ)] x DMF (1), and catecholate based (H2bispictn)[Mn2III(Cl4Cat)4(DMF)2] (2) (bispicen = N,N'-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-1,2-ethanediamine, bispictn = N,N'-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-1,3-propanediamine, Cl4Cat = tetrachlorocatecholate dianion, and Cl4SQ = tetrachlorosemiquinone radical anion) were synthesized directly utilizing a facile route. Both the complexes have been characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction study. The electronic structures have been elucidated by UV-vis-NIR absorption spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, EPR, and magnetic properties. The structural as well as spectroscopic features support the mixed valence tetrachlorosemiquinone-tetrachlorocatecholate charge distribution in 1. The ligand based mixed valence state was further confirmed by the presence of an intervalence charge transfer (IVCT) band in the 1900 nm region both in solution and in the solid. The intramolecular electron transfer, a phenomenon known as valence tautomerism (VT), has been followed by electronic absorption spectroscopy. For 1, the isomeric form [FeIII(bispicen)(Cl4Cat)(Cl4SQ)] is favored at low temperature, while at an elevated temperature, the [FeII(bispicen)(Cl4SQ)2] redox isomer dominates. Infrared as well as UV-vis-NIR spectral characterization for 2 suggest that the MnIII(Cat)2- moiety is admixed with its mixed valence semiquinone-catecholate isomer MnII(SQ)(Cat)-, and the electronic absorption spectrum is dominated by the mixed charged species. The origin of the intervalence charge transfer band in the 1900 nm range is associated with the mixed valence form, MnII(Cl4Cat)(Cl4SQ)-. The observation of VT in complex 1 is the first example where a mixed valence semiquinone-catecholate iron(III) complex undergoes intramolecular electron transfer similar to manganese and cobalt complexes.