A series of two-dimensional (2D) spin crossover complexes, [Fe
IIH
3L
Me][Fe
IIL
Me]X (X
- = ClO
4-, BF
4-, PF
6-, AsF
6-,SbF
6-)
1-
5, have been synthesized, where H
3L
Me denotes an hexadentate N
6 tripodlike ligand containing threeimidazole groups, tris[2-(((2-methylimidazol-4-yl)methylidene)amino)ethyl]amine. Compounds
1-
5 exhibit a two-step (HS-[Fe
IIH
3L
Me]
2+ + HS-[Fe
IIL
Me]
-)
![](/images/entities/harr.gif)
(HS-[Fe
IIH
3L
Me]
2+ + LS-[Fe
IIL
Me]
-)
![](/images/entities/harr.gif)
(LS-[Fe
IIH
3L
Me]
2+ + LS-[Fe
IIL
Me]
-)spin-transition. The crystal structure of [Fe
IIH
3L
Me][Fe
IIL
Me]PF
6 (
3) was determined at 295, 200, and 100 K. Thestructure consists of homochiral extended 2D puckered sheets, in which the complementary [Fe
IIH
3L
Me]
2+ and [Fe
IIL
Me]
-capped tripodlike components, linked together by imidazole-imidazolate hydrogen bonds, are alternately arrayedin an up-and-down mode. The Fe-N bond distances and angles revealed that the Fe
II sites of both constitutingunits are in the high-spin (HS) state at 295 K; at 200 K, the Fe
II sites of [Fe
IIH
3L
Me]
2+ and [Fe
IIL
Me]
- are in the HSand low-spin (LS) states, respectively. The Fe
II sites of both constituting units are in the LS state at 100 K. Thesize of the counteranion affects significantly the intra- and interlayer interactions leading to modifications of thespin crossover behavior. The onset of the second spin-transition of the ClO
4- (
1) and BF
4- (
2) salts adjoins thefirst spin-transition, while a mixed (HS-[Fe
IIH
3L
Me]
2+ + LS-[Fe
IIL
Me]
-) spin-state spans a temperature range as wideas 70 K for salts
3-
5 with larger counteranions, PF
6-, AsF
6-, and SbF
6-, respectively. Compounds
1 and
2showed remarkable LIESST (light induced excited spin state trapping) and reverse-LIESST effects, whereas
3-
5showed no remarkable LIESST effect. The interlayer interaction due to the size of the counteranion is an importantfactor governing the spin crossover behavior and LIESST effect.