Dendritic Iron(III) Carbazole Complexes: Structural, Optical, and Magnetic Characteristics

Abstract

This paper focuses on the synthesis, structural characterization, and study of the optical, magnetic, and thermal properties of novel architectures combining metal ions as magnetoactive centers and photoactive blocks formed by carbazole units. For this purpose, a series of azomethine complexes of the composition [Fe(L)2]X (L = 3,6-bis[(3′,6′-di-tert-butyl-9-carbazol)-9-carbazol]benzoyloxy-4-salicylidene-N′-ethyl-N-ethylenediamine, X = NO3−, Cl−, PF6−) were synthesized by the reaction of metal salts with Schiff bases in a mixture of solvents. The UV–Vis absorption properties were studied in dichloromethane and rationalized via time-dependent density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Upon excitation at 350 nm, the compounds exhibited an intense dual fluorescence with two emission bands centered at ~445 and ~485 nm, which were assigned to πcarb–π* intraligand and πcarb–dFe ligand-to-metal charge-transfer excited states. EPR spectroscopy and SQUID magnetometry revealed solid-state partial spin crossover in some compounds, and antiferromagnetic interactions between the neighboring Fe(III) ions.