Abstract
In the spin-crossover compound [Fe(6-mepy)tren](PF), (6-mepy)tren = tris4-[(6-methyl)-2-pyridyl]-3-aza-butenylamine, the high-spin state can be populated as a metastable state below the thermal transition temperature via irradiation into the metal to the ligand charge-transfer absorption band of the low-spin species. At 10 K, the lifetime of this metastable state is only 1 s. Despite this, it is possible to determine an accurate excited state structure by following the evolution of relevant structural parameters by synchrotron x-ray diffraction under continuous irradiation with increasing intensity. The difference in metal-ligand bond length between the high-spin and the low-spin states is found to be 0.192 Å, obtained from an analysis of the experimental data using the mean-field approximation to model cooperative effects.
- Received 3 April 2013
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.87.214306
©2013 American Physical Society