Towards the Design of Molecular Switches

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The interest in spin crossover compounds has considerably increased within the recent years following the that such species, exhibiting the possibility of thermal, pressure-, and light-induced switching between two different spin states, appear to have significant potential in the areas of signal processing and display devices. The aim of this proposal has three primary goals: (i) synthesis of new iron (II) spin crossover compounds with suitable electronic switching properties under the influence of heat, light, and pressure (ii) detailed understanding of the electronic process involved and the mechanism of the cooperative interactions (iii) identification of the chemical and physical factors which induce long-lived light-induced metastable spin states. The methodological approach to reach these goals will involve the synthesis of new complexes merged with careful physical characterizations and theoretical analyses. Along this line, experimental results from magnetometer setup, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray measurements, specific heat data, Mössbauer spectroscopy should provide detailed investigations. The two teams of the proposed project have been working in the field of thermal and optical switching of iron(II) spin crossover for many years. Their notable expertise and complementarity should allow to obtain new insights in this strong interdisciplinary field and to tailor the properties of the materials to the eventual development of devices for imaging and display.