Anomalous magnetic properties of tetraphenylporphinato Co(II) complex in the solid state

The α,β,γ,δ-tetraphenylporphinatocobalt(II) complex is found to exist in two distinct, but interconvertible, polycrystalline forms. The one with a tetragonal crystal symmetry (species B) gives the EPR spectrum which has been attributed to the low-spin electronic configuration of Co(II) ion in an axial crystal field. The other form (species A) having a triclinic crystal symmetry shows no easily detectable EPR signal even at liquid helium temperature.Magnetic susceptibility and magnetization meaurements demonstrated that the complex is paramagnetic in both forms, but the species (A) is characterized by ferromagnetic exchange coupling, while the species (B) behaves as a normal paramagnet.The experimental susceptibility versus 1/T curve can be reproduced quite well by using the Ising method. The g values thus obtained (g_| = 5.2,g_⊥ = 0) can not be explained by a low-spin electronic configuration, but are consistent with a high-spin ground state. Assigning a high-spin state to the species (A), the first such case in Co(II) porphine complexes, can not only explain the absence of EPR signal, but is also supported by the results of X-ray structural analyses.