Symmetry breaking spin crossover in iron(III)

What is it about?

In this work an iron complex reversibly switches between two magnetic states via a very rare intermediate state which persists for almost 100 K. The structure shows a single magnetic site at low and high temperature and two magnetic sites in the intermediate region - a process known as symmetry breaking.

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Why is it important?

The uniqueness of the study lies in the fact that the intermediate state persists for 96 K - the widest yet reported. The presence of three magnetic states may also allow a new type of molecular transistor to be fabricated increasing data storage capacity.