Changing Single-Molecule Magnet Properties of a Windmill-Like Distorted Terbium(III) α-Butoxy-Substituted Phthalocyaninato Double-Decker Complex by Protonation/Deprotonation

Synthesis, structures, and magnetic properties of alpha-butoxy-substituted phthalocyaninato double-decker complexes Tb(alpha-obPc)(2) (1(-)) (alpha-obPc: dianion of 1,4,8,11,15,18,22,25-octa(n-butoxy)phthalocyaninato) with protonated (1H), deprotonated (1[HDBU]), and diprotonated forms (1H(2)(+)) are discussed. X-ray analysis was used to confirm the position of the proton in 1H, and it was revealed that the protonation induced asymmetric distortion in 1H. In contrast, 1[HDBU] was distorted in a highly symmetric windmill-like fashion. 1H is arranged in a slipped column array in the crystal packing, whereas 1[HDBU] is arranged in a one-dimensional fashion, in which the magnetic easy axes of 1[HDBU] lie along the same line. From direct-current (dc) magnetic measurements, ferromagnetic Tb-Tb interactions occur in both 1H and 1[HDBU], and magnetic hysteresis was observed. However, the area of the magnetic hysteresis in 1[HDBU] is larger than that in 1H, meaning that magnetic relaxation time (tau) is longer in 1[HDBU]. In addition, the results of alternating-current magnetic measurements in a zero dc magnetic field indicate that tau of 1[HDBU] is longer as compared to 1H. In other words, protonation/deprotonation affects not only the molecular structures and crystal packing but also the single-molecule magnet properties.