Structure and single-molecule magnet behavior of a rhombus-shaped Dy4 cluster

The reaction of the lanthanide(III) β-diketonate salt (Dy(beac)3·2H2O) with a bidentate chelating ligand 5-(2-hydroxy-5-methylbenzylidene)-8-hydroxylquinoline (HL) afforded the tetranuclear Dy(III) cluster, [Dy4(μ3-OH)2L6(beac)4]·10CH3CN (1). The elemental analysis (EA), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), single-crystal X-ray diffraction and magnetic properties of 1 have been characterized. The X-ray structural analysis reveals that cluster 1 contains one Dy4 center with a rhombus-shaped arrangement, and each Dy(III) ion of 1 is located in a distorted square antiprism geometrical configuration. Magnetic properties study indicate that 1 shows single-molecule magnet behavior with larger energy barrier (ΔE/kB) of 78.3 K and τ0 = 4.4 × 10−7 s.