Magnetic and ferroelectric properties of a chiral cyano-bridged Pr(III)-Cr(III) complex

A novel chiral cyanide-bridged Pr(III)-Cr(III) bimetallic complex, [Pr(DMSO)4(H2O)3Cr(CN)6] (1) (DMSO = dimethylsulfoxide) has been prepared and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, IR, elemental analysis and solid-state CD spectra. Complex 1 crystallizes in the monoclinic with chiral space group P21 and displays as a dinuclear molecule. The solid-state CD spectra confirm the chiral nature of complex 1. Magnetic studies indicate ferromagnetic interactions between Pr(III) and Cr(III) ions. Ferroelectric measurements reveal that complex 1 exhibits ferroelectric features representing electric hysteresis loops at room temperature with remanent polarizations of 0.111 μC/cm2 and coercive electric fields of 4.13 kV/cm.