Temperature- and pressure-dependent structural study of {Fe(pmd)2[Ag(CN)2]2}nspin-crossover compound by neutron Laue diffraction
The effect of pressure (up to 0.17 GPa) on the spin-crossover compound {Fe(pmd)2[Ag(CN)2]2}n[orthorhombic isomer (II), pmd = pyrimidine] has been investigated by temperature- and pressure-dependent neutron Laue diffraction and magnetometry. The cooperative high-spin ↔ low-spin transition, centred atca180 K at ambient pressure, is shifted to higher temperatures as pressure is applied, showing a moderate sensitivity of the compound to pressure, since the spin transition is displaced byca140 K GPa−1. The space-group symmetry (orthorhombicPccn) remains unchanged over the pressure–temperature (P–T) range studied. The main structural consequence of the high-spin to low-spin transition is the contraction of the distorted octahedral [FeN6] chromophores, being more marked in the axial positions (occupied by the pmd units), than in the equatorial positions (occupied by four [Ag(CN)2]−bridging ligands).