Structural investigation of the high spin→low spin relaxation dynamics of the porous coordination network [Fe(pz)Pt(CN)4]⋅2.6 H2O.

The Hoffman-type coordination compound [Fe(pz)Pt(CN)4]⋅2.6 H2O (pz = pyrazine) shows a cooperative thermal spin transition at around 270 K. Synchrotron powder X-Ray diffraction studies reveal that a quantitative photoinduced conversion from the low-spin (LS) state into the high-spin (HS) state, based on the light-induced excited spin-state trapping effect, can be achieved at 10 K in a microcrystalline powder. Time-resolved measurements evidence that the HS→LS relaxation proceeds by a two-step mechanism: a random HS→LS conversion at the beginning of the relaxation is followed by a nucleation and growth process, which proceeds until a quantitative HS→LS transformation has been reached.