Structure and Magnetic Properties of Two Lanthanide 1,4‐Phenylenediacetate Compounds

The reactions of Ln(NO₃)₃ with 1,4‐phenylenediacetic acid (H₂PDA) under hydrothermal conditions produced two isostructural lanthanide coordination polymers with the empirical formula [Ln₂(PDA)₃(H₂O)] · 2H₂O [Ln = Nd ( 1 ), Sm ( 2 )]. Single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analyses revealed that both contain one‐dimensionalmetal carboxylato chains, which are further connected by the–CH₂C₆H₄CH₂– spacers of PDA^2– ligands to yield a three‐dimensional metal‐organic framework. Magnetic susceptibilities of 1 and 2 were measured. The experimental χ_mT value of both compounds decreases continuously with decreasing temperature over the whole temperature range. The best least‐squares fit of the experimental data of 1 to a theoretical equation in the temperature range of 70–300 K gives the zero‐field splitting parameter Δ = 2.21 cm^–1 and the magnetic interaction between the Nd^III ions 2zJ′ = –1.97 cm^–1, which indicates the presence of antiferromagnetic interaction between the Nd^III ions. The experimental χ_mT value of 2 at 2 K is much smaller than the expected value for two free Sm^III ions (⁶H_5/2, g = 2/7) in the ground state, indicating that an antiferromagnetic interaction possibly exists between Sm^III ions at low temperature. Fitting the magnetic data of 2 above 110 K based on an equation deduced from the Sm^III ion in a monomeric system with free‐ion approximation gave a spin‐orbit coupling parameter λ = 192(2) cm^–1