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One of the notable advantages of molecular materials is the ability to precisely tune structure, properties, and function via molecular substitutions. While many studies have demonstrated this principle with classic carboxylate-based coordination polymers, there are comparatively fewer examples where systematic changes to sulfur-based coordination polymers have been investigated. Here we present such a study on 1D coordination chains of redox-active Fe 4 S 4 clusters linked by methylated 1,4-benzene-dithiolates. A series of new Fe 4 S 4 -based coordination polymers were synthesized with either 2,5-dimethyl-1,4-benzenedithiol (DMBDT) or 2,3,5,6-tetramethyl-1,4-benzenedithiol (TMBDT). The structures of these compounds have been characterized based on synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction while their chemical and physical properties have been characterized by techniques including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and UV–visible spectroscopy. Methylation results in the general trend of increasing electron-richness in the series, but the tetramethyl version exhibits unexpected properties arising from steric constraints. All these results highlight how substitutions on organic linkers can modulate electronic factors to fine-tune the electronic structures of metal–organic materials. 

Metastable phases of the photoswitchable molecular magnet K_0.3Co[Fe(CN)₆]_0.77 ⋅  nH₂O in sub-micrometer particles have been structurally investigated by synchrotron powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD) measurements. The K_0.3Co[Fe(CN)₆]_0.77 ⋅  nH₂O bulk compound (studied here with a sample having average particle size of 500 nm) undergoes a charge transfer coupled spin transition (CTCST), where spin configurations change between a paramagnetic Co^II( S = 3/2) –Fe^III( S = 1/2) high-temperature (HT) state and a diamagnetic Co^III( S = 0) –Fe^II( S = 0) low-temperature (LT) state. The bulk compound exhibits a unique intermediate (IM) phase, which corresponds to a mixture of HT and LT spin states that depend on the cooling rate. Several hidden metastable HT states emerge as a function of thermal and photo stimuli, namely: (1) a quench (Q) state generated from the HT state by flash cooling, (2) a LTPX state obtained by photoexcitation from the LT state derived by thermal relaxation from the Q state, and (3) an IMPX state accessed by photo-irradiation from the IM state. A sample with a smaller particle size, 135 nm, is investigated for which the particles are on the scale of the coherent LT domains in the IM phase within the larger 500 nm sample. PXRD studies under controlled thermal and/or optical excitations have clarified that the reduction of the particle size profoundly affects the structural changes associated with the CTCST. The unusual IM state is also observed as segregated domains in the 135 nm particle, but the collective structural transformations are more hindered in small particles. The volume change decreases to 2%–3%, almost half the value found for 500 nm particles (5%–8%), even though the linear thermal expansion coefficients are larger for the smaller particles. Furthermore, photoexcitation from the IM and LT states does not turn into single phases in the smaller particles, presumably because of the multiple interfaces and/or internal stress generated by the coexistence of small Co^II–Fe^IIIand Co^III–Fe^IIdomains in the lattice. Since the reduced particle size limits cooperativity and domain growth in the lattice, CTCST in the small particle sample becomes less sensitive to external stimuli.