Two phenoxo-O bridged dinuclear Dy(III) complexes exhibiting distinct slow magnetic relaxation induced by different β-diketonate ligands

Abstract Two novel dinuclear Dy(III) complexes, namely, Dy2(bfa)4(L)2 (1) and Dy2(tta)4(L)2 (2) (HL = 2-[[(4-ethylphenyl)imino]-methyl]-8-hydroxy-quinoline, Hbfa = benzoyltrifluoroacetone, Htta = 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone) with different β-diketonate ligands were synthesized. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies reveal that 1 and 2 possess the same [Dy2O2] core with approximate rhomboidal-shaped arrangement, and of which two Dy(III) ions are eight-coordinated and display distorted dodecahedron (DOD) geometries. Magnetic investigations reveal that 1 and 2 display distinct slow magnetic relaxation with energy barriers 30.12 K for 1 and 3.13 K for 2, which are mainly ascribed to the introduction of different ligands in them.