A chemically triggered and thermally switched dielectric constant transition in a metal cyanide based crystal.

A dielectric constant transition is chemically triggered and thermally switched in (HPy)2[Na(H2O)Co(CN)6] (2, HPy=pyridinium cation) by single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation and structural phase transition, respectively. Upon dehydration, (HPy)2[Na(H2O)2Co(CN)6] (1) transforms to its semi-hydrated form 2, accompanying a transition from a low-dielectric state to a high-dielectric state, and vice versa. This dielectric switch is also realized by a structural phase transition in 2 that occurs between room- and low-temperature phases, and which corresponds to high- and low-dielectric states, respectively. The switching property is due to the variation in the environment surrounding the HPy cation, that is, the hydrogen-bonding interactions and the crystal packing, which exert predominant influences on the dynamics of the cations that transit between the static and motional states.