Multiferroic materials have been the subject of intense study, but it remains a great challenge to synthesize those presenting both magnetic and ferroelectric polarizations at room temperature. In this work, we have successfully obtained LiNbO3-type ScFeO3, a metastable phase converted from the orthorhombic perovskite formed under 15 GPa at elevated temperatures. A combined structure analysis by synchrotron X-ray and neutron powder diffraction and high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging reveals that this compound adopts the polar R3c symmetry with a fully ordered arrangement of trivalent Sc and Fe ions, forming highly distorted ScO6 and FeO6 octahedra. The calculated spontaneous polarization along the hexagonal c-axis is as large as 100 μC/cm(2). The magnetic studies show that LiNbO3-type ScFeO3 is a weak ferromagnet with TN = 545 K due to a canted G-type antiferromagnetic ordering of Fe(3+) spins, representing the first example of LiNbO3-type oxides with magnetic ordering far above room temperature. A comparison of the present compound and rare-earth orthorhombic perovskites RFeO3 (R = La-Lu and Y), all of which possess the corner-shared FeO6 octahedral network, allows us to find a correlation between TN and the Fe-O-Fe bond angle, indicating that the A-site cation-size-dependent octahedral tilting dominates the magnetic transition through the Fe-O-Fe superexchange interaction. This work provides a general and versatile strategy to create materials in which ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism coexist at high temperatures.

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A comparative study of the crystal and electronic structure and magnetism of divalent europium perovskite oxides EuMO(3) (M = Ti, Zr, and Hf) has been performed on the basis of both experimental and theoretical approaches playing complementary roles. The compounds were synthesized via solid-state reactions. EuZrO(3) and EuHfO(3) have an orthorhombic structure with a space group Pbnm at room temperature contrary to EuTiO(3), which is cubic at room temperature. The optical band gaps of EuZrO(3) and EuHfO(3) are found to be about 2.4 and 2.7 eV, respectively, much larger than that of EuTiO(3) (0.8 eV). On the other hand, the present compounds exhibit similar magnetic properties characterized by paramagnetic-antiferromagnetic transitions at around 5 K, spin flop at moderate magnetic fields lower than 1 T, and the antiferromagnetic nearest-neighbor and ferromagnetic next-nearest-neighbor exchange interactions. First-principles calculations based on a hybrid Hartree-Fock density functional approach yield lattice constants, band gaps, and magnetic interactions in good agreement with those obtained experimentally. The band gap excitations are assigned to electronic transitions from the Eu 4f to Mnd states for EuMO(3) (M = Ti, Zr, and Hf and n = 3, 4, and 5, respectively).

Great effort has been devoted to developing single-phase magnetoelectric multiferroics, but room-temperature coexistence of large electric polarization and magnetic ordering still remains elusive. Our recent finding shows that such polar magnets can be synthesized in small-tolerance-factor perovskites AFeO 3 with unusually small cations at the A-sites, which are regarded as having a LiNbO 3-type structure (space group R3c). Herein, we experimentally reinforce this finding by preparing a novel room-temperature polar magnet, LiNbO 3-type InFeO 3. This compound is obtained as a metastable quench product from an orthorhombic perovskite phase stabilized at 15 GPa and an elevated temperature. The structure analyses reveal that the polar structure is characterized by displacements of In 3+ (d 10) and Fe 3+ (d 5) ions along the hexagonal c-axis (pseudocubic [111] axis) from their centrosymmetric positions, in contrast to well-known perovskite ferroelectrics (e.g., BaTiO 3 , PbTiO 3 , BiFeO 3) where d 0 transition-metal ions and/or 6s 2 lone-pair cations undergo polar displacements through the so-called second-order Jahn-Teller (SOJT) distortions. Using density functional theory calculations, the electric polarization of LiNbO 3-type InFeO 3 is estimated to be 96 μC/cm 2 along the c-axis, comparable to that of an isostructural and SOJT-active perovskite ferroelectric, BiFeO 3 (90-100 μC/cm 2). Magnetic studies demonstrate weak ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature, as a result of the canted G-type antiferromagnetic ordering of Fe 3+ moments below T N ~ 545 K. The present work shows functional versatility of small-tolerance-factor perovskites and provides a useful guide for the synthesis and design of room-temperature polar magnets.

Asymmetric homo-cyclodimerization of oxabicyclic alkenes proceeded with high efficiency in the presence of a cationic rhodium/(R)-binap catalyst to give high yields of chiral tetrahydrofurans of up to 99% ee. The cationic rhodium complex also catalyzed the asymmetric cross-cyclodimerization between oxabicyclic alkenes and dimethyl 2-butynedioate, which gave dihydrofurans as [3 + 2] cycloadducts with high enantioselectivity (99% ee).