A Coordination Chemistry Approach to the Synthesis of Single- Molecule Magnets

在这个由化学部化学结构、动态和机制B项目资助的项目中，加州大学伯克利分校化学系的Jeffrey R. Long教授正在开发新型的单分子磁铁。这些引人注目的分子表现为微小的纳米级条形磁铁，因此有可能彻底改变信息存储和处理等技术。该项目的主要重点是利用合成化学来定制具有原子级精度的分子局部环境，以产生具有优化性能的新型单分子磁铁，最终目标是实现在室温或接近室温下工作的单分子磁铁。该项目处于无机化学、有机化学和物理化学的交叉点，因此非常适合广泛教育和培养青年科学家。最后，关于物质状态和磁性等主题的虚拟科学课程将与当地社区外展计划合作制作，并教授给海湾地区的基础学校学生。本项目旨在开发新的合成方法来增强单分子磁体的磁各向异性，加强磁耦合，增加磁弛豫时间，目标是实现前所未有的工作温度。除了单分子磁体的无数技术应用之外，它们的尺寸和电子结构也导致了经典和量子特性的共存，例如磁化的磁滞和量子隧道。因此，单分子磁体提供了一个平台，可用于可预测地产生并从根本上研究量子物理和经典物理交叉的新型磁性行为。此外，外来过渡金属、镧系元素和锕系元素配位环境将成为产生设计磁性的目标，它们有可能产生新的化学反应性。最后，期望所提出的分子的磁性能将提供直接洞察其他奇异的，虽然不同的磁性物质的行为，如表面吸附的附着原子，单链磁铁，和块状磁性材料。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In this project, funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamic & Mechanism B Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Jeffrey R. Long of the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, is developing new classes of single-molecule magnets. These remarkable molecules behave as tiny, nanoscopic bar magnets, and therefore offer the potential to revolutionize technologies such as information storage and processing. The primary focus of this project is to employ synthetic chemistry to tailor the local environment of molecules with atomic-level precision to give rise to new single-molecule magnets with optimized properties, with the ultimate goal of realizing single-molecule magnets that operate at or near room temperature. This project lies at the interface of inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry, and is therefore well-suited to broadly educate and train young scientists. Finally, virtual science lessons on topics such as states of matter and magnetism will be produced in collaboration with a local community outreach program and taught to elemental school students in the Bay Area. This project aims to develop novel synthetic approaches to enhance magnetic anisotropy, strengthen magnetic coupling, and increase magnetic relaxation times in single-molecule magnets, with the goal of realizing unprecedented operating temperatures. In addition to the myriad technological applications envisioned for single-molecule magnets, their size and electronic structure gives rise to the coexistence of classical and quantum properties, such as magnetic hysteresis and quantum tunneling of the magnetization, respectively. Therefore, single-molecule magnets provide a platform that can be used to predictably engender and fundamentally study novel magnetic behavior at the intersection of quantum and classical physics. Further, the exotic transition metal, lanthanide, and actinide coordination environments that will be targeted for generating designer magnetism have the potential to engender novel chemical reactivity. Finally, it is expected that the magnetic properties of the proposed molecules will afford direct insight into the behavior of other exotic though distinct magnetic species, such as surface adsorbed adatoms, single-chain magnets, and bulk magnetic materials.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.