Antisymmetric exchange in polynuclear metal complexes

The irreducible tensor operator approach is utilized as a working tool in the spin Hamiltonian formalism for polynuclear systems. The matrix elements for the dinuclear and trinuclear systems are presented that involve the isotropic exchange, spin-Zeeman term, and the antisymmetric exchange. These basics allow an extensive modeling of the energy levels and magnetic functions (temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility and field dependence of the magnetization) for individual Cartesian components and their average for homospin diads and triads. Experimental data on the antisymmetric exchange are reviewed. The tabulations involve data from different sources: the electron paramagnetic resonance, the magnetic susceptibility and magnetization measurements.