A new set of covalent atomic radii has been deduced from crystallographic data for most of the elements with atomic numbers up to 96. The proposed radii show a well behaved periodic dependence that allows us to interpolate a few radii for elements for which structural data is lacking, notably the noble gases. The proposed set of radii therefore fills most of the gaps and solves some inconsistencies in currently used covalent radii. The transition metal and lanthanide contractions as well as the differences in covalent atomic radii between low spin and high spin configurations in transition metals are illustrated by the proposed radii set.

Reaction of the polysulfonated triazole ligand L = 4-(1,2,4-triazol-4-yl)ethanedisulfonate) with iron(II) salts in water yields the trimeric species [Fe3(μ-L)6(H2O)6](6-). This polyanion, as the dimethylammonium salt, shows a thermally induced spin transition above room temperature for the central Fe position in the trimer with a large hysteresis cycle (>85 K) and remarkably slow dynamics. This allows easy quenching of the metastable high-spin (HS) state via gradual cooling (5 K min(-1)). Once it is trapped, the HS state remains metastable. Thermal energy is not able to promote relaxation into the low-spin ground state below 215 K, with a characteristic TTIESST = 250 K, the highest temperature ever observed for thermal trapping of an excited spin state in a switchable molecular material.

Three dinuclear Mn(III) compounds with oxo and carboxylato bridges have been synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction: [{Mn(L)(NN)}(μ-2-ClC(6)H(4)COO)(2)(μ-O){Mn(L')(NN)}](n+) with NN = 2,2'-bipyridine (1 and 2) or 1,10-phenanthroline (3). The counteranion is either NO(3)(-) (1 and 3) or ClO(4)(-) (2) and the monodentate positions (L, L') could be occupied by molecules of water or the counteranion. For compound 1, L = H(2)O and L' = NO(3)(-); compound 2 shows two different dinuclear units and L and L' could be H(2)O or ClO(4)(-), and for compound 3 both monodentate positions are occupied by nitrate anions. The magnetic properties of the three compounds have been analyzed using the Hamiltonian H = -JS(1)·S(2). Compound 1 exhibits a dominant ferromagnetic behavior, with J = 3.0 cm(-1), |D(Mn)| = 1.79 cm(-1), |E(Mn)| = 0.60 cm(-1) with intermolecular interactions zJ' = -0.18 cm(-1). Due to the anisotropy of the Mn(III) ions, the ground state S = 4 shows ZFS with |D(4)| = 0.58 cm(-1). Compounds 2 and 3 show antiferromagnetic couplings, with J = -10.9 and -0.3 cm(-1), respectively. The magnetic interaction in this kind of compound depends on several structural factors. In the present work, the distortion around manganese ions, the torsion angle between the phenyl ring and the carboxylate group and the relative disposition of the coordination octahedra have been analyzed.

Organic semiconductors find a wide range of applications, such as in organic light emitting diodes, organic solar cells, and organic field effect transistors. One of their most striking disadvantages in comparison to crystalline inorganic semiconductors is their low charge-carrier mobility, which manifests itself in major device constraints such as limited photoactive layer thicknesses. Trial-and-error attempts to increase charge-carrier mobility are impeded by the complex interplay of the molecular and electronic structure of the material with its morphology. Here, the viability of a multiscale simulation approach to rationally design materials with improved electron mobility is demonstrated. Starting from one of the most widely used electron conducting materials (Alq ), novel organic semiconductors with tailored electronic properties are designed for which an improvement of the electron mobility by three orders of magnitude is predicted and experimentally confirmed.

Six new dinuclear Mn(II) compounds with carboxylate bridges have been synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction: [{Mn(phen)(2)}(2)(μ-RC(6)H(4)COO)(2)](ClO(4))(2) with R = 2-Cl (1), 2-CH(3) (2), 3-Cl (3), 3-CH(3) (4), 4-Cl (5) and 4-CH(3) (6). Compounds 1 and 2 show two μ(1,3)-carboxylate bridges in a syn-anti mode while compounds 3-6 present a very uncommon coordination mode of the carboxylate ligand: the μ(1,1)-bridge. The magnetic properties of these compounds are very sensitive to the bridging mode of the carboxylate ligands. While compounds 1 and 2 (μ(1,3)-bridge) display antiferromagnetic interactions, with J values of -1.41 and -1.66 cm(-1), respectively, compounds 3-6 (μ(1,1)-bridge) show ferromagnetic interactions, with J values of 1.01, 0.98, 1.04 and 1.06 cm(-1), respectively. It is worth noting that compounds 3-6 are the first of their class to be magnetically characterized. The EPR spectra at 4 K for compounds with antiferromagnetic coupling (1 and 2) are more complex than those for compounds with a ferromagnetic interaction (3-6). Quite good simulations can be obtained with the ZFS parameters of the Mn(II) ion D(Mn) ~ 0.095 cm(-1) and E(Mn) ~ 0.025 cm(-1) for compounds 1 and 2 and D(Mn) ~ 0.060 cm(-1) and E(Mn) ~ 0.004 cm(-1) for compounds 3-6.

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The reaction of 4-(1,2,4-triazol-4-yl)ethanesulfonate (L) with Zn(2+), Cu(2+), Ni(2+), Co(2+), and Fe(2+) gave a series of analogous neutral trinuclear complexes with the formula [M3(μ-L)6(H2O)6] (1-5). These compounds were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry, and elemental analysis. The magnetic properties of compounds 2-5 were studied. Complexes 2-4 show weak antiferromagnetic superexchange, with J values of -0.33 (2), -9.56 (3), and -4.50 cm(-1) (4) (exchange Hamiltonian H = -2 J (S1S2+S2S3)). Compound 5 shows two additional crystallographic phases (5 b and 5 c) that can be obtained by dehydration and/or thermal treatment. These three phases exhibit distinct magnetic behavior. The Fe(2+) centers in 5 are in high-spin (HS) configuration at room temperature, with the central one exhibiting a non-cooperative gradual spin transition below 250 K with T1/2 = 150 K. In 5 b, the central Fe(2+) stays in its low-spin (LS) state at room temperature, and cooperative spin transition occurs at higher temperatures and with the appearance of memory effect (T1/2↑ = 357 K and T1/2↓ = 343 K). In the case of 5 c, all iron centers remain in their HS configuration down to very low temperatures, with weak antiferromagnetic coupling (J = -1.16 cm(-1)). Compound 5 b exhibits spin transition with memory effect at the highest temperature reported, which matches the remarkable features of coordination polymers.

Three different types of polynuclear manganese(II) compounds with chlorobenzoato bridges were obtained from the reaction of Mn(n-ClC 6 H 4 COO) 2 with 1,10-phenanthroline (phen): three trinuclear compounds [Mn 3 (µ-n-ClC 6 H 4 COO) 6 -(phen) 2 ] with n = 2, 3, 4 (1-3), one one-dimensional system [Mn(µ-3-ClC 6 H 4 COO) 2 (phen)] n (4) and one neutral dinuclear compound [{Mn(4-ClC 6 H 4 COO)(phen)} 2 (µ-4-ClC 6 H 4 COO) 2 -(µ-H 2 O)] (5). Compounds 1, 3, 4 and 5 were characterized by X-ray diffraction and show four different coordination modes for the carboxylate ligand: as a bidentate bridge in a syn-syn mode or syn-anti mode, as a monodentate bridge and as a terminal monodentate ligand. The five compounds show weak antiferromagnetic coupling; the J values are -2