The syntheses of trans-[Ru{4,4'-C[triple bond]CC(6)H(2)[2,5-(OEt)(2)]C[triple bond]CC(6)H(4)NO(2)}Cl(dppm)(2)] (19), trans-[Ru{4,4',4''-C[triple bond]CC(6)H(4)C[triple bond]CC(6)H(2)[2,5-(OEt)(2)]C[triple bond]CC(6)H(4)NO(2)}Cl(dppm)(2)] (20), trans-[Ru{4,4',4'',4'''-C[triple bond]CC(6)H(4)C[triple bond]CC(6)H(2)[2,5-(OEt)(2)]C[triple bond]CC(6)H(2)[2,5-(OEt)(2)]C[triple bond]CC(6)H(4)NO(2)}Cl(dppe)(2)] (21), trans-[Ru{4,4',4'',4'''-C[triple bond]CC(6)H(4)C[triple bond]CC(6)H(2)[2,5-(OEt)(2)]C[triple bond]CC(6)H(2)[2,5-(OEt)(2)]C[triple bond]CC(6)H(4)NO(2)}Cl(dppm)(2)] (22), trans-[Ru{4,4',4'',4'''-C[triple bond]CC(6)H(4)C[triple bond]CC(6)H(4)C[triple bond]CC(6)H(2)[2,5-(OEt)(2)]C[triple bond]CC(6)H(4)NO(2)}Cl(dppm)(2)] (23), and trans-[Ru{4,4',4'',4''',4''''-C[triple bond]CC(6)H(4)C[triple bond]CC(6)H(4)C[triple bond]CC(6)H(2)[2,5-(OEt)(2)]C[triple bond]CC(6)H(2)[2,5-(OEt)(2)]C[triple bond]CC(6)H(4)NO(2)}Cl(dppm)(2)] (24) are reported, together with those of precursor alkynes, complexes with the donor-pi-bridge-acceptor formulation that affords efficient quadratic and cubic NLO compounds; the identity of 19 was confirmed by a structural study. The electrochemical properties of 19-24 and related complexes with shorter pi-bridge ligands were assessed by cyclic voltammetry, and the linear optical, quadratic nonlinear optical, and cubic nonlinear optical properties were assayed by UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy, hyper-Rayleigh scattering studies at 1064 and 1300 nm, and broad spectral range femtosecond Z-scan studies, respectively. The Ru(II/III) oxidation potentials and wavelengths of the optical absorption maxima decrease on pi-bridge lengthening, until the tri(phenyleneethynylene) complex is reached, further chain lengthening leaving these parameters invariant; theoretical studies employing time-dependent density functional theory have shed light on this behavior. The quadratic nonlinearity beta(1064) and two-photon absorption cross-section reach maximal values at this same pi-bridge length, a similar saturation behavior that may reflect a common importance of ruthenium-to-alkynyl ligand charge transfer in electronic and optical behavior in these molecules.

The relevance of cis and trans influences of some anionic ligands X and Y in cis-[PtX(2)(PPh(3))(2)] and cis-[PtXY(PPh(3))(2)] complexes have been studied by the X-ray crystal structures of several derivatives (X(2) = (AcO)(2) (3), (NO(3))(2) (5), Br(2) (7), I(2) (11); and XY = Cl(AcO) (2), Cl(NO(3)) (4), and Cl(NO(2)) (13)), density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and one bond Pt-P coupling constants, (1)J(PtP). The latter have allowed an evaluation of the relative magnitude of both influences. It is concluded that such influences act in a cooperative way and that the cis influence is not irrelevant when rationalizing the (1)J(PtP) values, as well as the experimental Pt-P bond distances. On the contrary, in the optimized geometries, evaluated through B3LYP/def2-SVP calculations, the cis influence was not observed, except for compounds ClPh (21), Ph(2) (22), and, to a lesser extent, Cl(NO(2)) (13) and (NO(2))(2) (14). A natural bond order analysis on the optimized structures, however, has shown how the cis influence can be related to the s-character of the Pt hybrid orbital involved in the Pt-P bonds and the net atomic charge on Pt. We have also found that in the X-ray structures of cis-[PtX(2)(PPh(3))(2)] complexes the two Pt-X and the two Pt-P bond lengths are different each other and are related to the conformation of the phosphine groups, rather than to the crystal packing, since this feature is observed also in the optimized geometries.

This paper presents some copper(II) complexes of salen analogues in which the two salicylaldehyde moieties carry different (electron donor, D, and acceptor, A) substituents in position 5, producing a push-pull charge asymmetry. The X-ray structures of some compounds show the presence of pairs of stacked molecules with head-to-tail intermolecular associations. The geometries of all complexes have been optimized through density functional theory (DFT) studies, which have shown that a major influence on the coordination bond lengths is given by the presence of the electron acceptor NO2 group. Such an influence operates mainly on the Cu-phenolato bonds: elongation of the Cu-O distance of the 5-nitrosalicylaldehyde moiety, with a concomitant decrease of the other Cu-O distance; the Cu-N bonds are less affected. The D groups have only a minor influence. The nonlinear optical responses, microgBetavec, of some molecules have been determined by EFISH measurements, and the Beta-vec values have been obtained using the DFT-calculated microg values because solubility problems hampered the experimental measurements of microg of some derivatives; the former, however, have been found to be in agreement with the experimental values that could be obtained. Deconvolution of the absorption bands in the near-UV region has allowed recognition of the charge-transfer (CT) transition, assigned to a ligand-to-metal CT (LMCT) by time-dependent DFT computations; we have then used the solvatochromism of this transition to obtain Beta0 and BetaCT values using the two-state model. These values were compared with those obtained by computational studies, which have also allowed evaluation of the influence of the substituents on the directions of microg and Betatot.

The cis influence of a series of anionic ligands X and Y has been evaluated through the magnitude of the Pt-P coupling constants for compounds of formula trans-[PtXY(PPh(3))(2)]. The order of decreasing cis influence was found to be I > Cl > SePh approximately SPh approximately SEt > NO(3) > AcO approximately NO(2) > H > Me > Ph > mtc (mtc = N,N-dimethylmonothiocarbamato-S); moreover, the cis influences of the various ligands was found to be additive. The X-ray structures of three representative compounds (t-: X = Cl, Y = NO(3); t-: X = Cl, Y = AcO and t-: X = Y = NO(2)) have also been determined.

The homoleptic mononuclear compound [Co(bpp-COOMe) ](ClO ) (1) (bpp-COOMe=methyl 2,6-di(pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine-4-carboxylate) crystallizes in the monoclinic C2/c space group, and the cobalt(II) ion possesses a pseudo-octahedral environment given by the two mer-coordinated tridentate ligands. Direct-current magnetic data, single-crystal torque magnetometry, and EPR measurements disclosed the easy-axis nature of this cobalt(II) complex, which shows single-molecule magnet behavior when a static field is applied in alternating-current susceptibility measurements. Diamagnetic dilution in the zinc(II) analogue [Zn(bpp-COOMe) ](ClO ) (2) afforded the derivative [Zn Co (bpp-COOMe) ](ClO ) (3), which exhibits slow relaxation of magnetization even in zero field thanks to the reduction of dipolar interactions. Theoretical calculations confirmed the overall electronic structure and the magnetic scenario of the compound as drawn by experimental data, thus confirming the spin-phonon Raman relaxation mechanism, and a direct quantum tunneling in the ground state as the most plausible relaxation pathway in zero field.

Compound [Cr5(tpda)4Cl2] (H2tpda = N(2),N(6)-di(pyridin-2-yl)pyridine-2,6-diamine), an Extended Metal Atom Chain complex featuring two quadruply-bonded {Cr2} units, exhibits field-induced slow relaxation of its magnetization arising from the terminal chromium(II) ion and provides the first example of a chromium(II)-based Single-Molecule Magnet.

Single-crystal torque magnetometry performed on weakly-coupled polynuclear systems provides access to a complete description of single-site anisotropy tensors. Variable-temperature, variable-field torque magnetometry was used to investigate triiron(III) complex [Fe3La(tea)2(dpm)6] (Fe3La), a lanthanum(III)-centred variant of tetrairon(III) single molecule magnets (Fe4) (H3tea = triethanolamine, Hdpm = dipivaloylmethane). Due to the presence of the diamagnetic lanthanoid, magnetic interactions among iron(III) ions (si = 5/2) are very weak (<0.1 cm(−1)) and the magnetic response of Fe3La is predominantly determined by single-site anisotropies. The local anisotropy tensors were found to have Di > 0 and to be quasi-axial with |Ei/Di| ~ 0.05. Their hard axes form an angle of approximately 70° with the threefold molecular axis, which therefore corresponds to an easy magnetic direction for the molecule. The resulting picture was supported by a High Frequency EPR investigation and by DFT calculations. Our study confirms that the array of peripheral iron(III) centres provides substantially noncollinear anisotropy contributions to the ground state of Fe4 complexes, which are of current interest in molecular magnetism and spintronics.

The molecular structures and magnetic properties of homoleptic iron(ii) compounds [Fe(bpp-COOMe)](ClO) (1) and [Fe(bpp-triolH)](ClO) (2) have been investigated to ascertain their spin crossover (SCO) behaviour. In these hexacoordinated complexes, the bpp (2,6-bis(pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine) ligands adopt a mer-mer coordination mode and carry COOMe or C(O)NHC(CHOH)para substituents, respectively, on the central pyridyl ring. In spite of the almost equal donor power of the ligands to the iron(ii) centre, the two compounds feature different spin state configurations at room temperature. Compound 1 displays a highly-distorted octahedral environment around the iron(ii) centre, which adopts a high spin (HS) state at all temperatures, even under an external applied pressure up to 1.0 GPa. By contrast, 2 is characterized by a more regular octahedral coordination around the metal ion and exhibits a low spin (LS) configuration at or below room temperature. However, it shows a thermally-induced SCO behaviour at T > 400 K, along with Light-Induced Excited Spin State Trapping (LIESST) at low temperature, with T = 38 K. Since DFT (U)M06/6-311+G(d) geometry optimizations in vacuo indicate that both complexes should adopt a HS state and a highly-distorted coordination geometry, the stabilization of a LS configuration in 2 is ultimately ascribed to the effect of intermolecular hydrogen bonds, which align the [Fe(bpp-triolH)] cations in 1D chains and impart profound differences in the geometric arrangement of the ligands.