Macroscopic Hexagonal Tubes of 3 d<b>–</b>4 f Metallocycles

Abstract

The self-assembly of three giant hexagonal 3d-4f metallocycles with inner diameters of 16.4, 16.5, and 16.4 Å, is described. Hexagonal metallocycles were stacked along the crystallographic c axis, producing unique hexagonal macroscopic tubular single crystals. The assembly mechanism of the tubular crystals was investigated. Remarkably, all three hexagonal metallocycles show typical single-molecule magnet behavior, benefiting from the ferromagnetic couplings between the 3d and 4f ions.