Propelling self assembly

A new cage molecule with a unique ’double-propellor’ structure and interesting magnetic properties has been prepared in a collaboration between Universit? Paris-Sud, France, and Universitat de Val?ncia, and Universidad de la Laguna, Spain. Francesc Lloret and Yves Journaux and their colleagues self-assembled a complex containing two copper ions and three bridging ligands; the complex then coordinates six further metal ions to give a discrete metal cage in the shape of a double propeller. The compound has interesting magnetic properties and Lloret comments that ’we are currently searching for ferromagnetically coupled binuclear analogues with paramagnetic first row transition metal ions other than copper(ii). in order to obtain octanuclear complexes. as potential single molecule magnets exhibiting slow spin relaxation’.

Caroline Evans