X-ray characterization of tripyridinium bis[tetrabromidoferrate(III)] bromide asymmetric unit in solution by Debye function analysis

Abundant asymmetric unit of the [FeBr4]2[py.H]3Br magnetic molecule in the acetonitrile solvent was characterized via Debye function analysis (DFA) of the X-ray powder diffraction pattern from dilute solution. A diluted solution of the material in acetonitrile solvent has been prepared to reduce, as far as possible, the interaction between the molecular units. The X-ray diffraction from the sample was measured and Debye function simulations of three out of ten chemically plausible molecular units were observed to suitably comply with the experimental results. These three configurations were further optimized with first-principles method in the framework of density functional theory (DFT) and the most stable structure according to the calculated total energy is presented.