Molecular Magnetism

 

Research interests in our Molecular Materials and Magnetism Lab are multi-disciplinary and encompass the synthesis and charactirization of a wide variety of compounds whose unique properties originate at the molecular level. In the area of 'Molecular Magnetism' we design transition metal as well as lanthanide based compounds and explore their frontier magnetic properties like Single Molecular Magnetism (SMM), Magnetocaloric Effect (MCE), Spin-Canting, Spin ordering etc.

 

Spin Crossover phenomena in coordination complexes: Secondary effects and magnetic switches:

 

Although the origin of the Spin Crossover(SCO) phenomenon is molecular, its cooperative mechanism depends on the coupling between the SCO species in the crystal lattice that means the sort of molecular structural changes occurring might be spread cooperatively throughout the whole solid via intermolecular interactions. Among the non-covalent interactions, hydrogen-bonding or π-π stacking interactions between the SCO centers leads to influence spin transitions and sometimes with associated hysteresis. Despite of establishing a suitable link between molecular and supramolecular structures on the basis of intermolecular interactions, the control of such forces is, difficult and becomes even more complicated when uncoordinated counter-ions and/or solvent molecules are present in the crystal lattice. Therefore efforts needs to synthesize a library of compounds using a suitable ligand design keeping in mind of H-bond interaction as well as π-π stacking interactions and explore their role on the SCO properties is a challenging task.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Light-Induced Excited Spin State Trapping in Coordination Complexes:

 

The aim of this project is to study the factors which controls LIESST, more precisely to identify what controls the lifetime of the lowest excited quintet state, which differs by several orders of magnitude depending on the nature of the ligand, and to identify the route leading from the initial excited state to the lowest quintet state in the SCO process. Generally, the system is always in a LS form, and population of the paramagnetic HS state dramatically increases by the increase of the magnetic signal through the LIESST phenomenon.

 

 

 

Magnetism in Organic Radicals:

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Being highly reactive species, tuning the stability of organic radicals are crucial for their functions. Here in Molecular Magnetism lab, we design, synthesize and study their magnetic memory effect by means of structure-property relationships of modulation of exchange interactions by SC-SC transformations and variable interactions in their solid-state geometry. We are interested in exploring the bistablity of multifunctional organic materials through various external stimuli for their varied range of applications. Our goal is to design and explore the magnetostructural correlation of chimeric organic multielectron radical systems and explore the origin of their magnetic behaviour.

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