Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MOLMAG (New Spin for Molecular Magnets)
Berichtszeitraum: 2015-08-31 bis 2017-08-30
One of the great challenges for chemistry is the development of new materials that reduce our society's dependence on critical and expensive metals such as rare earth elements. In this context, a general long-term research objective of many research groups throughout the world is the synthesis of novel magnetic materials that would employ molecular radicals as key building blocks. The use of organic compounds for such purpose is highly desirable as it would allow significant benefits over purely metallic systems such as solubility, multifunctionality, and chemical rather than metallurgical processability. The challenge herein lies in developing new organic radicals that are indefinitely stable under standard ambient conditions but still structurally tunable to attain the desired properties. The present project sought new solutions for these problems with an objective to synthesise new families of stable organic radicals and to explore their solid state properties including, but not limited to, crystallization, coordination chemistry, and magnetism.
The research work performed was carried out between 31/08/2015 and 30/08/2017. During this time, two new families of stable radicals were synthesised with more than 10 fully characterized examples. The reported radicals are highly tuneable, which allows rich solid state chemistry including different packing motifs and coordination to metal centres. These are important properties when thinking of the possible use of the synthesised compounds in different applications. The results have been disseminated internationally through three major chemistry conferences (CSC 2016, CSC 2017, and Pacifichem 2015), one magnetism meeting (CMMM-5) as well as two departmental/institutional seminars (France). Information about the project has also been posted on its public website. At the national level, the results have been disseminated primarily through departmental/institutional seminars. Results have also been disseminated to the general public (science shows and guided visits to the lab) at the European Researchers' Night in 2016 together with regional partners from the University of Jyväskylä. All research results have been / will be published in peer-reviewed high-impact science journals and made publicly available using both green and gold open access. This will enable easy exploitation of the results for all interested parties.
The research has, for example, lead to the synthesis of two new families of organic radicals that are not only amongst the most stable known to date but also structurally highly tuneable. Further research will be devoted towards examining the properties of these, and related, radical systems along with an assessment of their potential in materials applications. Consequently, the results may open new vistas in materials research and if the long-term research objective is reached, major societal and economic impact could follow. The research project covered many important facets of modern materials research and provided interdisciplinary training for several young scientists who can now disseminate their knowledge and skills further. In particular, the project provided an important growth period for the MSCA International Fellow and gave him an excellent foundation for developing a prosperous career as a renowned university academic.