Intermediate electronic relaxation betweenS=3/2 andS=1/2 states in Fe(J-mph)NO with a jäger-type ligand J-mph

The incomplete spin transition between the low-spin (LS) (S=1/2) and the intermediate-spin (IS) (S=3/2) states in the iron (III) complex Fe(J-mph)NO (mph=4-methyl-o-phenylene), centered atT _c≈212 K, has been studied with⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetic susceptibility measurements between 80 K and 320 K. The lineshape of the Mössbauer spectra is well reproduced by a two state stochastic relaxation model resulting in values of about 2·10⁶ s^?1 to 7·10⁶ s^?1 for the IS→LS transition rate constantk _IL. The kinetics of this spin transition can be described by an Arrhenius equation yielding activation energiesE _IL=1.1 (2) kJ/mol andE _LI=6.1 (2) kJ/mol for the IS→LS and LS→IS conversion, respectively.