Traditionally, magnetic materials have been metals or, if inorganic compounds such as oxides, of continuous lattice type. However, in recent years chemists have synthesized increasing numbers of crystalline solids based on molecular building blocks in the form of coordination and organometallic complexes or purely organic molecules, which exhibit spontaneous magnetization. In striking contrast to conventional magnets, these materials are made from solutions close to room temperature rather than by metallurgical or ceramic methods. This book, which originates from contributions to a Discussion Meeting of The Royal Society of London, brings together many of the leading international practitioners in the field, who survey their own recent work and place it in the context of the wider fields of magnetism and supramolecular chemistry. All aspects of molecular-based magnets are addressed, including synthesis, structure-property relations and physical properties. Contents include details of the characterization of the first purely organic ferromagnet, the synthesis of high coercivity materials and a unique description of new materials with Curie temperatures well above ambient. A coherent survey of this rapidly developing field for the more general reader, Metal-Organic and Organic Molecular Magnets will also be welcomed by researchers and lecturers in materials science and inorganic or solid state chemistry.

Organic materials with extraordinary magnetic properties promise a wide range of light, flexible, and inexpensive alternatives to familiar metal-based magnets. Individual organic molecules with high magnetic moments will be the foundation for design and fabrication of these materials. This book provides a systematic understanding of the structure and properties of organic magnetic molecules. After a summary of the phenomenon of magnetism at the molecular level, it presents a survey of the challenges to theoretical description and evaluation of the magnetic character of open-shell molecules, and an overview of recently developed methods and their successes and shortfalls. Several fields of application, including very strong organic molecular magnets and photo-magnetic switches, are surveyed. Finally, discussions on metal-based materials and simultaneously semiconducting and ferromagnetic extended systems and solids point the way toward future advances. The reader will find a comprehensive discourse on current understanding of magnetic molecules, a thorough survey of computational methods of characterizing known and imagined molecules, simple rules for design of larger magnetic systems, and a guide to opportunities for progress toward organic magnets.

Molecular Magnetism introduces graduates and researchers in chemistry and physics to this newly developed field. This is an exciting area, allowing the development of novel magnetic materials, such as purely organic ferromagnets, to be used in a variety of applications. The book also covers the experimental and theoretical background before discussing the molecular design and synthesis of organic and metal-organic magnetic materials. The properties of various materials, including polyradicals, polymers and other interesting phenomena, such as those associated with photo-induced magnets, are also discussed. Molecular Magnetism is of interest to students and researchers in chemistry, solid state physics, materials science, electronics, photonics and polymer engineering.

Provides an extensive overview of the last three decades of research on the structures and magnetic behaviors of organic and organometallic substances-building a solid foundation for future research into applications of molecular materials based on organic paramagnetic and polymeric systems. Provides the essential body of knowledge for an organically oriented materials science of electronic materials.