Four new lanthanide-nitronyl nitroxide (Ln(III) = Pr(III), Sm(III), Eu(III), Tm(III)) complexes and a Tb(III) complex exhibiting single-molecule magnet behavior.

Five new complexes based on rare-earth-radical [Ln(hfac)(3)(NIT-5-Br-3py)](2) (Ln = Pr (1), Sm (2), Eu (3), Tb (4), Tm (5); hfac = hexafluoroacetylacetonate; NIT-5-Br-3py = 2-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-3-oxylimidazoline-1-oxide)-5-bromo-3-pyridine) have been synthesized and characterized by X-ray crystal diffraction. The single-crystal structures show that these complexes have similar structures, in which a NIT-5-Br-3py molecule acts as a bridging ligand linking two Ln(III) ions through the oxygen atom of the N-O group and nitrogen atom from the pyridine ring to form a four-spin system. Both static and dynamic magnetic properties were measured for complex 4, which exhibits single-molecule magnetism behavior.