Studies in Polynuclear Iron(II) Spin-Crossover Complexes

This thesis describes investigations of a range of iron compounds called spin-crossover materials. Spin-crossover materials are materials that contain molecules that undergo spin switching, a fundamental property of matter that depends on the spin of electrons and gives rise to changes in colour and magnetism and molecular structure. Of particular importance is a memory effect in these materials that has great potential in developing future devices for chemical sensors, colour signal displays and information storage. A key part of the present work is the design and synthesis of organic molecules that can bind to two or more spin switching iron centres to produce new spin-crossover materials and then investigate the materials unique spin switching mechanism.