This renewal award is supported jointly by the Solid State Chemistry Program in the Division of Materials Research and the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry. This magnetochemistry research program is devoted to the investigation of the chemical and structural features which determine the nature of cooperativity in low dimensional compounds, especially systems that have unusual structures or exhibit phase transitions. The importance of low-dimensional systems has been demonstrated by the recent discovery of high-temperature superconductors, which are thought to be propagated through low-dimensional networks. New one-dimensional magnetic compounds, mainly bridged Cu(II) compounds, will be synthesized and characterized, both structurally and magnetically. Observed magnetic properties will be correlated with ab initio calculated values. %%% Low-dimensional systems may have other important properties and may find uses in switches, actuators, sensors, display devices and in logic circuits. A better understanding of the fundamental properties of low-dimensional systems will permit the design of substances with prescribed properties.
