New trends of molecular magnetism

The history of molecular magnetism began in 1951 with the study of a dinuclear complex, copper(II) acetate [B. Bleaney, K.D. Bowers, Proc. R. Soc. A 214 (1952) 451], however it was not until the 1990s that it received a strong impetus with the discovery of the first molecular-based solids that exhibited spontaneous magnetization [2] and [3]. Many important discoveries have been made since then by European teams in particular [ESF Scientific Programme Molecular Magnets (MM), October 2, 1999]: the synthesis of the first bimetallic molecular magnets and organic magnets with the highest Curie temperature known so far; the synthesis of room-temperature molecular-based magnets; the discovery of spin cross-overs that occur with large hysteresis at room temperature; new photomagnetic processes, including light-induced excited spin state trapping; the synthesis of the first molecular-based magnetic superconductor; the first characterization of the magnetic tunneling effect.