Di- and octa-nuclear dysprosium clusters derived from pyridyl-triazole based ligand: {Dy2} showing single molecule magnetic behaviour.

Two dysprosium aggregates, formulated as [Dy2(µ-OH)2(H2bpte)2Cl2(MeOH)2]Cl2 (1), and [Dy8(µ-OH)8(bpte)8]·24H2O (2) (H2bpte = 1,2-bis(3-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-1,2,4-triazol-5-yl)ethane), were obtained using solvothermal reactions. Upon changing the metal salt and synthetic reaction conditions, an eight-member {Dy8} (2) ring was isolated. Complex 1 is centrosymmetric in which two {Dy2} clusters are connecting to each other through the hydrogen bonding. Complex 2 forms an eight-member DyIII ring with an inner diameter of 4.5 Å and is the first reported {Dy8(µ-OH)8} core in lanthanide-hydroxo clusters. The H2bpte ligand displays trans,trans- and cis,cis-coordination modes in 1 and 2, respectively. Alternating current (ac) magnetic measurements of both complexes were carried out. In 1, the out-of-phase susceptibilities (χ''M) below 9 K confirm the slow relaxation of magnetization, which is a typical characteristic of single-molecule magnets (SMMs).

Lanthanide oxide clusters: from tetrahedral [Dy4(µ4-O)](10+) to supertetrahedral [Ln20(µ4-O)11]38+ (Ln = Tb, Dy, Ho, Er).

Supertetrahedral clusters: A family of lanthanide oxide supertetrahedral T3{Ln20} clusters (Ln = Tb, Dy, Ho, Er; see figure) were obtained from the solvothermal reaction of lanthanide(III) salts with polytriazolate ligands that could be methylated and oxidized in situ.