Single-chain magnets assembled in cobalt(ii) metal-organic frameworks.

Single-chain magnets (SCMs) are one-dimensional (1D) coordination polymers that exhibit magnetic bistability and have potential application in high-density information processing. Usually SCMs are magnetically isolated chains stacked by hydrogen bonds or ππ stacking; however, with the rapid development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), coordination chains assembled in MOFs have also shown SCM behaviour when the 1D magnetic correlation is strong enough in comparison to the other two dimensionalities. The high-dimensional framework of MOFs could also help in the formation of coordination chains that cannot form in isolated one-dimensional coordination systems. This feature article highlights the progress in this field by summarizing cobalt(ii)-based MOFs exhibiting SCM behaviour and classifying them into categories according to the bridging ligands within the CoII chains, to provide fundamentals for further studies on the magnetic properties of coordination chains assembled in MOFs.