Single-ion magnet and luminescent properties in a Dy(III) triangular dodecahedral complex

In 2016, our group first reported a single-ion magnet (SIM) [Dy(bbpen)Br] (H2bbpen = N,N′‑bis(2‑hydroxybenzyl)‑N,N′‑bis(2‑methylpyridyl)ethylenediamine) with the highest effective energy barrier (Ueff) over 1000 K. To explore further for the high performance single-ion magnets (SIMs), we used functional ligand to replace the Br− anion. The H2bbpen and 4′‑(1,2,2‑triphenylvinyl)benzoic acid (tpe-COOH) ligand with aggregation-induced-emission-active (AIE) property, formed a triangular dodecahedral SIM, [Dy(bbpen)(tpe-COOH)]⋅2MeOH. The structural, magnetic and luminescent properties of the SIM have been investigated. Related to its lower local symmetry around Dy(III) ion, the Ueff was sharply reduced to 77 K under an external dc field of 0.15 T. Therefore, it proved the importance of local symmetry to get the high performance SIMs from the opposite side.