Spin transitions

Figure Bl.15.8. (A) Left side energy levels for an electron spin coupled to one nuclear spin in a magnetic field, S= I =, gj >0, a<0, and a l 2h)<(a. Right side schematic representation of the four energy levels with )= Mg= , Mj= ). +-)=1, ++)=2, -)=3 and -+)=4. The possible relaxation paths are characterized by the respective relaxation rates W. The energy levels are separated horizontally to distinguish between the two electron spin transitions. Bottom ENDOR spectra shown when a /(21j)< ca (B) and when co < a /(2fj) (C).

The same magnetic dependence on temperature was also demonstrated for unsolvated Fe[papt] (694). and a detailed Mossbauer study established that the spin transition is thermally... 

For many species the effective atomic number (FAN) or 18- electron rule is helpful. Low spin transition-metal complexes having the FAN of the next noble gas (Table 5), which have 18 valence electrons, are usually inert, and normally react by dissociation. Fach normal donor is considered to contribute two electrons the remainder are metal valence electrons. Sixteen-electron complexes are often inert, if these are low spin and square-planar, but can undergo associative substitution and oxidative-addition reactions. 

Spin-state transitions have been studied by the application of numerous physical techniques such as the measurement of magnetic susceptibility, optical and vibrational spectroscopy, the Fe-Mbssbauer effect, EPR, NMR, and EXAFS spectroscopy, the measurement of heat capacity, and others. Most of these studies have been adequately reviewed. The somewhat older surveys [3, 19] cover the complete field of spin-state transitions. Several more recent review articles [20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25] have been devoted exclusively to spin-state transitions in compounds of iron(II). Two reviews [26, 27] have considered inter alia the available theoretical models of spin-state transitions. Of particular interest is the determination of the X-ray crystal structures of spin transition compounds at two or more temperatures thus approaching the structures of the pure HS and LS electronic isomers. A recent survey [6] concentrates particularly on these studies. 

This report has been written in order to demonstrate the nature of spin-state transitions and to review the studies of dynamical properties of spin transition compounds, both in solution and in the solid state. Spin-state transitions are usually rapid and thus relaxation methods for the microsecond and nanosecond range have been applied. The first application of relaxation techniques to the spin equilibrium of an iron(II) complex involved Raman laser temperature-jump measurements in 1973 [28]. The more accurate ultrasonic relaxation method was first applied in 1978 [29]. These studies dealt exclusively with the spin-state dynamics in solution and were recently reviewed by Beattie [30]. A recent addition to the study of spin-state transitions both in solution and the... 

Table 6. Fe-Ligand stretching frequencies from FIR spectra of iron(II) and ironflll) spin transition complexes...

The assessment of k is of some importance since it relates to the question as to how much if any of the free energy of activation barrier is due to the spin-forbidden character of the transition. From the experimental point of view, Eq. (49) shows that the transmission coefficient k and the activation entropy AS appear in the temperature-independent part of the rate constant and thus cannot be separated without additional assumptions. Possible approaches to the partition of — TAS have been discussed in Sect. 4 for spin transition complexes of iron(II) and iron(III). If the assumption is made that the entropy of activation is completely due to k, minimum values between 10 and 10 are obtained for iron(II) and values between 10 and 10 for iron(III). There is an increase of entropy for the transition LS -+ HS and thus the above assumption implies that the transition state resembles the HS state. On the other hand, volumes of activation indicate that the transition state should be about midway between the LS and HS state. This appears indeed more reasonable and has the... 

In what follows, the studies on specific spin transition complexes by the methods discussed in Sect. 7.1 above, will be considered in some detail. 

In solution studies, the modification of the equilibrium nuclear configuration appears primarily as a change of the partial molar volume A V° of the two spin states. The presently available values of AV° for spin conversions in solution are collected in Table 16. There is no apparent difference between the values for iron (II) and iron (III) spin transition compounds, the variation being... 

Table 16, Diiferences of molar volume AV° between LS and HS isomers of spin transition complexes on the basis of solution relaxation measurements and pressure studies...

Table 17. Average metal-ligand bond lengths R for HS and LS isomers and bond length variation AR for complete HS <-> LS conversion of spin transition compounds...

For iron(III) eomplexes, uic venues /vlh [Fe(aepa)2]BPh4 H2O and k = 6.7 x 10 s for [Fe(mim)2(salacen)]PF6 have been obtained [156, 166]. The rate constants derived from the line shape analysis of Mossbauer spectra thus vary between 2.1 x 10 and 2.3 x 10 s at room temperature, no significant difference between iron(II) and iron(III) being apparent. In addition, it is evident that the rates of spin-state conversion in solution and in the crystalline solid are almost the same. For iron(II) eomplexes, for example, the solution rates vary between /cjjl = 5 x 10 and 2 x 10 s , whereas in solid compounds values between kjjL = 6.6 x 10 and 2.3 x 10 s have been obtained. Rates resulting from the relaxation of thermally quenched spin transition systems are considerably slower, since they have been measured only over a small range of relatively low temperatures. Extrapolation of the kinetic data to room temperature is, however, of uncertain validity. 

The recoil-free fraction depends on the oxidation state, the spin state, and the elastic bonds of the Mossbauer atom. Therefore, a temperature-dependent transition of the valence state, a spin transition, or a phase change of a particular compound or material may be easily detected as a change in the slope, a kink, or a step in the temperature dependence of In f T). However, in fits of experimental Mossbauer intensities, the values of 0 and Meff are often strongly covariant, as one may expect from a comparison of the traces shown in Fig. 2.5b. In this situation, valuable constraints can be obtained from corresponding fits of the temperature dependence of the second-order-Doppler shift of the Mossbauer spectra, which can be described by using a similar approach. The formalism is given in Sect. 4.2.3 on the temperature dependence of the isomer shift. 

Often the electronic spin states are not stationary with respect to the Mossbauer time scale but fluctuate and show transitions due to coupling to the vibrational states of the chemical environment (the lattice vibrations or phonons). The rate l/Tj of this spin-lattice relaxation depends among other variables on temperature and energy splitting (see also Appendix H). Alternatively, spin transitions can be caused by spin-spin interactions with rates 1/T2 that depend on the distance between the paramagnetic centers. In densely packed solids of inorganic compounds or concentrated solutions, the spin-spin relaxation may dominate the total spin relaxation 1/r = l/Ti + 1/+2 [104]. Whenever the relaxation time is comparable to the nuclear Larmor frequency S)A/h) or the rate of the nuclear decay ( 10 s ), the stationary solutions above do not apply and a dynamic model has to be invoked... 

Several types of spin-lattice relaxation processes have been described in the literature [31]. Here a brief overview of some of the most important ones is given. The simplest spin-lattice process is the direct process in which a spin transition is accompanied by the creation or annihilation of a single phonon such that the electronic spin transition energy, A, is exchanged by the phonon energy, hcoq. Using the Debye model for the phonon spectrum, one finds for k T A that... 

Fig. 9.13 Time evolution of the NFS intensity for various temperatures around the HS-LS transition of [Fe(tpa)(NCS)2]. The measurements were performed at 1D18, ESRF in hybrid-bunch mode. The left-hand side shows measurements in the transition region performed with decreasing temperature and the right-hand side with increasing temperature. (The spectral patterns at comparable temperatures do not match due to hysteresis in the spin-transition behavior). The points give the measured data and the curves are results from calculations performed with CONUSS [9, 10]. The dashed line drawn in the 133 K spectmm represents dynamical beating. (Taken from [41])...

The entropy difference A5tot between the HS and the LS states of an iron(II) SCO complex is the driving force for thermally induced spin transition [97], About one quarter of AStot is due to the multiplicity of the HS state, whereas the remaining three quarters are due to a shift of vibrational frequencies upon SCO. The part that arises from the spin multiplicity can easily be calculated. However, the vibrational contribution AS ib is less readily accessible, either experimentally or theoretically, because the vibrational spectrum of a SCO complex, such as [Fe(phen)2(NCS)2] (with 147 normal modes for the free molecule) is rather complex. Therefore, a reasonably complete assignment of modes can be achieved only by a combination of complementary spectroscopic techniques in conjunction with appropriate calculations. 

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