Invited for the cover of this issue are Beatrice Gillon from LLB (CEA-CNRS), France, Jamie L. Manson from Eastern Washington University, USA, and co-workers. The cover image shows the experimental magnetic phase diagram of a quasi bidimensional Mn II -dca polymer and the magnetic structures of the ordered phases. The spin density, as determined in the paramagnetic phase, validates an important magnetic pathway mediated by interlayer hydrogen bonds.

The Front Cover shows the magnetic phase diagram of the quasi 2D compound MnII(dca)2(pym)(H2O) established by neutron diffraction on the 5C1 diffractometer at LLB‐Orphée. The directions of the ordered MnII magnetic moments in the antiferromagnetic phases AF1 and AF2 are displayed for two neighboring layers. The induced spin densities (positive in red, negative in blue), determined by polarized neutron diffraction in the paramagnetic phase, depict the different magnetic interaction pathways: magnetic coupling is mediated by dca bridges inside layers and by H bonding between layers. More information can be found in the https://doi.org/10.1002/ejic.201700971 For more on the story behind the cover research, see the https://doi.org/10.1002/ejic.201701489.

Abstract:We report neutron-diffraction investigations of the quasi-2D Mn II (dca) 2 (pym)(H 2 O) (pym = N 2 C 4 H 4 ) compound, where high-spin Mn II ions are bridged by dicyanamide anions, [N(CN) 2 ] -(herein abbreviated dca). Inside the layers, Mn 2+ ions are connected by single or double dca bridges. The magnetic phase diagram was established by neutron diffraction on a single crystal. In the low-field phase, the Mn II ions are antiferromagnetically ordered in the layers, with moments nearly parallel to the c axis, and the layers are antiferromagnetically coupled. The spin-flop phase corresponds to ferromagnetic coupling between the antiferromagnetic layers, in which the