Structural diversity and flexibility of oxalate-based compounds

The flexible nature of the organic ligands and their variety of coordination modes, together with the geometry of the constitutive metal ions, provide a diversity of topologies and architectures of the metal-organic coordination polymers. In addition to the structural property these crystalline solids may also exhibit other properties resulting from different functionalities introduced into these materials, in particular, electronic properties, i.e. magnetic, electrical or optical, by acceptable selection of the functional nodes, organic linkers and the way in which they are connected in the solid, or by including functional molecules in the pores. In the search for new molecule magnets, oxalate-based complexes have been intensively studied; the oxalate moiety, C2O42–, has rich binding facilities and can act as efficient mediators of the magnetic interaction between paramagnetic centres. Prepared oxalate compounds i) homopolynuclear with simple amine and ii) heteropolynuclear, synthesized by a building block approach, containing organic N-donor ligand or simple amine, will be structural, thermal, magnetic and electrical characterized

Single-molecular precursors for preparation of mixed-metal oxides

Due to its easily decomposes to gaseous CO2 and CO at low temperatures and cheapness, heterometallic oxalate compounds have been used as molecular precursors for the preparation of mixed-metal oxides by thermal conversion. For every single-phase product obtained by thermal decomposition of i) newly synthesized heterometallic oxalate compounds, ii) the mixture of agreeable, well-known hetero- and/or homometallic oxalate compounds or iii) solid state solutions of two appropriate mixed-metal oxides, the band gaps and photocatalytic activity will be determined, as also characterization from magnetic and electrical points of view.