This award is made by the Office of Special Projects in the Chemistry Division. In this research program Lahti will investigate model organic molecules bearing unpaired electrons in order to understand how to design new materials with advanced magnetic properties. Structural and molecular interaction features which favor the production of high-spin interactions between electrons in bulk systems will be identified, leading to ferromagnetic domains which could be used in new magnetic media. In addition, polymeric polyradical systems having large numbers of unpaired spins will be designed and synthesized, and their magnetic properties will be investigated. These fundamental structural and mechanistic investigations are directed towards developing rules to describe magnetic interactions both within and between molecules which may permit the design of a new generation of bulk organic ferromagnets. Although practically useful materials have not yet been realized, recent progress holds much promise for synthesizing them in the future.
