Inorganic Chemistry Division

Laboratory for Inorganic Chemistry

Research areas

1. Electronic structure and molecular magnetism in systems containing 4f electrons.
2. New molecular devices, such as single-4f-ionic single molecule magnets.
3. Time-domain behavior of quantum states in systems containing multiple single molecule magnets.
4. Chemical and physical manipulation of a ligand field potential, magnetic anisotropy, and molecular magnetism.

Metal complexes and supramolecules can contain several types of unpaired electrons. The unpaired electrons have magnetic moments that are responsible for a variety of intriguing magnetic properties. Atomic nuclei also have magnetic moments, the strength of which vary from nucleus to nucleus. Such magnetic moments interact to construct complicated quantum states. One of our research aims is to understand such quantum states through experimental and theoretical analysis. We develop computational tools to solve unsolved problems, such as the ground state substructure of lanthanide complexes that contain 4f electronic systems. Solving such unsolved problems sometimes leads to discovery of new properties of the molecules. One of such property is the “single molecule magnet” (SMM) behavior of mononuclear lanthanide｝hthalocyanine complexes, which had previously been considered possible only for polynuclear metal complexes. At present, the lanthanide｝hthalocyanine complexes are regarded as the most promising SMMs for future applications. Our research target has been extended to investigate and control the time domain behavior of 4f electronic systems, including mono- and multinuclear SMMs.