Two new acceptor building blocks for ‘high Tc’ coordination polymer magnets

Two new olefinic one-electron acceptor building blocks for ferrimagnetic coordination polymer networks have been synthesized. These compounds, pentafluorophenyltricyanoethylene (PTCE) and i-hexacyanodivinylbenzene (i-HCDVB, the ‘meta’ isomer), each react with vanadium hexacarbonyl to give an insoluble air-sensitive solid that is magnetically ordered below 240 and 120 K, respectively. In contrast, the para isomer, HCDVB, reacts similarly with V(CO)6, but does not give an ordering product. Installation of the tricyanovinyl function group to obtain the new acceptors proceeds simply from the appropriately substituted benzaldehyde, suggesting a convenient route for the preparation of other such molecules.