A soluble molecular analogue of photoresponsive Co/Fe Prussian blues is described within this report. As judged via a variety of spectroscopic, magnetic, and crystallographic methods, electron transfer within the octanuclear complex (below 250 K) converts paramagnetic red crystals into green diamagnetic ones. The color and magnetic changes are associated with the transformation of FeIIILS-CN-CoIIHS units into FeIILS-CN-CoIIILS fragments in manner that is identical to that found for the An[Co(OH2)(6-6m)][Fe(CN)6]m.xH2O (An = alkali metal cation) family of three-dimensional Prussian blues. Moreover, this intramolecular electron transfer can be quantitatively circumvented via rapid thermal quenching and reversed via simple white light irradiation at low temperatures. Remarkably the data suggests that thermally or photoinduced paramagnetic metastable phases are identical and exhibit long relaxation times that approach 10 years at 120 K.

The synthesis and structural and magnetic characterization of 16 compounds AM(II)Fe(III)(C(2)O(4))(3) (A = N(n-C(3)H(7))(4), N(n-C(4)H(9))(4), N(n-C(5)H(11))(4), P(n-C(4)H(9))(4), P(C(6)H(5))(4), N(n-C(4)H(9))(3)(C(6)H(5)CH(2)), (C(6)H(5))(3)PNP(C(6)H(5))(3), As(C(6)H(5))(4); M(II) = Mn, Fe) are reported. X-ray powder diffraction profiles are indexed in R3c or its subgroup P6(5)22 or P6/mmm to derive unit cell constants. The structures of all the compounds consist of two-dimensional honeycomb networks [M(II)Fe(III)(C(2)O(4))(3)(-)](infinity). The M(II) = Fe compounds behave as ferrimagnets with T(c) between 33 and 48 K, but five exhibit a crossover from positive to negative magnetization near 30 K when cooled in a field of 10 mT. The compounds exhibiting this unusual magnetic behavior are those that have the highest T(c). Within the set N(n-C(n)()H(2)(n)()(+1))(4)Fe(II)Fe(III)(C(2)O(4))(3) (n = 3-5), T(c) increases with interlayer separation and the low-temperature magnetization changes from positive (n = 3) to negative (n = 4, 5). In the M = Mn(II) compounds, the in-plane cell parameter a(0) is approximately 0.03 Å greater than in the corresponding M = Fe(II) ones while the interlayer separation (c(0)/6) is on average 0.08 Å smaller. All members of the M(II) = Mn series have magnetic susceptibilities showing broad maxima at 55 K characteristic of two-dimensional antiferromagnetism, but the magnetization of several of the salts increases sharply below 27 K due to the onset of spin canting, the magnitude of which varies significantly with A.

With the long term objective to build the next generation of devices from the molecular scale, scientists have explored extensively in the past two decades the Prussian blue derivatives and their remarkable physico-chemical properties. In particular, the exquisite Fe/Co system displays tuneable optical and magnetic behaviours associated with thermally and photo-induced metal-to-metal electron transfer processes. Recently, numerous research groups have been involved in the transfer of these electronic properties to new Fe/Co coordination networks of lower dimensionality as well as soluble molecular analogues in order to facilitate their manipulation and integration into devices. In this review, the most representative examples of tridimensional Fe/Co Prussian blue compounds are described, focusing on the techniques used to understand their photomagnetic properties. Subsequently, the different strategies employed toward the design of new low dimensional Prussian blue analogues based on a rational molecular building block approach are discussed emphasizing the advantages of these functional molecular systems.