New Family of Lanthanide-Based Complexes with Different Scorpionate-Type Ligands: A Rare Case Where Dysprosium and Ytterbium Analogues Display Single-Ion-Magnet Behavior.

A new family of lanthanide complexes [Ln(Tpz)2Bpz]·xCH2Cl2 (Ln = Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, x = 0.5; Ln = Yb, x = 1; Tpz = hydrotris(pyrazolyl)borate; Bpz = dihydrobis(pyrazolyl)borate) has been synthesized. Those complexes have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and the magnetic properties have been investigated. Both dysprosium and ytterbium analogues display single-ion-magnet behavior, despite the difference in their spatial distribution of 4f electronic charges. Theoretical calculations with crystal field parameters have been carried out to gain better insight of the relaxation pathways that may be involved in those two complexes.