Subtlety of the spin-crossover phenomenon observed with dipyridylamino-substituted triazine ligands

Reactions of the new, closely related ligands 4,6-dichloro-N,N-di(pyridine-2-yl)-1,3,5-triazine-amine (Cldpat) and 6-chloro-N′-phenyl-N,N-di(pyridin-2-yl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine (Cladpat) with iron(II) thiocyanate produced coordination compounds with drastically distinct magnetic properties. The compound trans-[Fe(Cldpat)2(NCS)2](H2O) (1) is a high-spin complex from room temperature down to 5 K whereas the analogous compound trans-[Fe(Cladpat)2(NCS)2] (2) exhibits spin-crossover (SCO) properties with T1/2 = 178 K. Compounds 1 and 2 (both in its low-spin and high-spin states) have been structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction studies, which revealed identical metal coordination spheres. The SCO properties of 2 have been thoroughly investigated by temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and a LIESST process with rapid relaxation of the trapped HS species has been observed. The equivalent coordination compound with selenocyanate anions, namely [Fe(Cladpat)2(NCSe)2] (3) also displays SCO properties, although more gradual and with a lower T1/2 value of 166 K.P. G. acknowledges ICREA (Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats) and the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (Project CTQ2011-27929-C02-01). The Royal Golden Jubilee Ph. D Program (PHD/0234/2550), the Thailand Research Fund and Khon Kaen University, the Higher Education Research Promotion and National Research University Project of Thailand and the Center of Excellence for Innovation in Chemistry (PERCH-CIC), Office of the Higher Education Commission, Ministry of Education are also acknowledged. O. R. acknowledges funding from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (Project MAT2011-24284).Peer reviewe