Field induced slow magnetic relaxation in a zig-zag chain-like Dy(III) complex with the ligand o-phenylenedioxydiacetato

The new complex [Dy(PDOA)(NO3)(H2O)2]n·nH2O (1) (H2PDOA is o-phenylenedioxydiacetic acid) was isolated from the reaction of dysprosium(III) nitrate and H2PDOA in a 1:1 molar ratio. Its crystal structure is formed of neutral zig-zag chains in which the nona-coordinated Dy(III) atoms (O9 donor set) are linked by PDOA ligands with a chelating-bridging coordination mode. DC and AC magnetic studies revealed that 1 behaves as a field-induced SMM with three relaxation channels. The derived values, considering the Orbach relaxation process, of the barrier to spin reversal and the extrapolated relaxation time are U/kB = 44.6 K and τ0 = 1.1 × 10-8 s, respectively. Ab initio calculations support the experimental results.