Slow magnetic relaxation in mononuclear tetrahedral cobalt(II) complexes with 2-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)phenol based ligands

Three mononuclear cobalt(II) complexes based on the 2-(4,5-diphenyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)phenol ligand and its nitro and methoxy derivatives have been synthesized and investigated. For two of these complexes, which were derived from the parent ligand and its nitro derivative, the molecular structures have been determined by X-ray crystallography. A distorted tetrahedral coordination environment is observed for the cobalt(II) centers with two bidentate N,O ligands. The magnetic properties have been studied by susceptibility and magnetization measurements revealing the presence of high-spin cobalt(II) ions with a considerable zero-field splitting in the order of D = –35 to –41 cm−1 for the three complexes. With an applied dc field the ac susceptibility data reveal a slow magnetic relaxation which is characteristic for single-molecular magnet (SMM) behavior.