Research

imanes-molecularesA scientific collaboration between the Institute of Physical Chemistry "Rocasolano" (CSIC), the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina), the National University of La Plata (Argentina) and the University of the Basque Country has been front cover of the journal Molecular Physics, as an invited article of a special volume on the Proceedings of the 55th Sanibel Symposium on theoretical and computational chemistry. These Symposia were initiated in 1961 by Per-Olov Löwdin, a former member of the Nobel Committee. Molecular magnetism manifests itself macroscopically through the magnetic moment (total spin, S) of a molecule, and is due to the presence of unpaired electrons – (poly)radicals – in the ground state of the system. The main conclusion of the article is the prediction of a system with a maximum spin Smax = 6 in its ground state (high-spin state), constructed by connecting twelve NB11H11 radical type (S = ½) icosahedra, forming a magnetic supericosahedron (first iteration). This prediction opens the door towards the design of molecular magnets based on boron molecules (boranes), since the system can be extended in three dimensions, thereby maximizing the total spin Smax in the series Smax(n) = {1/2, 6, 72, ..., 12n/2}.

Diego R. Alcoba, Ofelia B. Oña, Gustavo E. Massaccesi, Alicia Torre, Luis Lain, Rafael Notario, Josep M. Oliva
"Molecular magnetism in closo-azadodecaborane supericosahedrons", Molecular Physics (2016) 114, 3-4, 400-406.
doi:10.1080/00268976.2015.1076900