Magnetic exchange coupling in actinide-containing molecules.

Recent progress in the assembly of actinide-containing coordination clusters has generated systems in which the first glimpses of magnetic exchange coupling can be recognized. Such systems are of interest owing to the prospects for involving 5f electrons in stronger magnetic exchange than has been observed for electrons in the more contracted 4f orbitals of the lanthanide elements. Here, we survey the actinide-containing molecules thought to exhibit magnetic exchange interactions, including multiuranium, uranium-lanthanide, uranium-transition metal, and uranium-radical species. Interpretation of the magnetic susceptibility data for compounds of this type is complicated by the combination of spin-orbit coupling and ligand-field effects arising for actinide ions. Nevertheless, for systems where analogues featuring diamagnetic replacement components for the non-actinide spin centers can be synthesized, a data subtraction approach can be utilized to probe the presence of exchange coupling. In addition, methods have been developed for employing the resulting data to estimate lower and upper bounds for the exchange constant. Emphasis is placed on evaluation of the linear clusters (cyclam)M[(mu-Cl)U(Me(2)Pz)(4)](2) (M = Co, Ni, Cu, Zn; cyclam = 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane; Me(2)Pz(-) = 3,5-dimethylpyrazolate), for which strong ferromagnetic exchange with 15 cm(-1) < or = J < or = 48 cm(-1) is observed for the Co(II)-containing species. Owing to the modular synthetic approach employed, this system in particular offers numerous opportunities for adjusting the strength of the magnetic exchange coupling and the total number of unpaired electrons. To this end, the prospects of such modularity are discussed through the lens of several new related clusters. Ultimately, it is hoped that this research will be of utility in the development of electronic structure models that successfully describe the magnetic behavior of actinide compounds and will perhaps even lead to new actinide-based single-molecule magnets.