Role of orbital degeneracy in the single molecule magnet behavior of a mononuclear high-spin Fe(II) complex.

To explain the single-molecule magnet behavior of the mononuclear complex [(tpaMes)Fe](-) we have developed a model that takes into account the trigonal ligand field splitting of the atomic (5)D term of the Fe(II) ion, and the spin-orbital splitting and mixing of the ligand field terms. The ground ligand field term is shown to be the orbital doublet (5)E possessing an unquenched orbital angular momentum. We demonstrate that the splitting of this term cannot be described by the conventional zero-field splitting Hamiltonian proving thus the irrelevance of the spin-Hamiltonian formalism in the present case. The first-order orbital angular momentum is shown to lead to the strong magnetic anisotropy with the trigonal axis being the easy axis of the magnetization.