What molecule am I?
A kagome magnet is a metallic substance in which the atoms are arranged in layered overlapping triangles similar to the kagome patterns in traditional Japanese basket weaving. The binary molecule tiiron ditin (Fe3Sn2) is the first molecular kagome magnet to be prepared (see the above).
In 1963, French chemists Catherine Jannin, Pierre Lecocq, and Andr茅 Michel described the magnetic properties of the various phases of the system iron鈥搕in, including Fe3Sn2. In subsequent years, multiple researchers, including G. Le Caer, B. Malaman, and B. Roques at 脡cole des Mines (Nancy, France) studied the and other binary Fe鈥揝n compounds.
Studies of Fe3Sn2 as a 2-D, bilayer kagome magnet began to appear in the 2000s. In 2009, L. A. Fenner, A. A. Dee, and A. S. Wills at University College London reported on in what they called 鈥渢he itinerant kagome ferromagnet Fe3Sn2鈥�. They showed that the compound鈥檚 properties are different from those of conventional ferromagnets, including the existence of an anomalous Hall effect1 (AHE). Two years later, this group, along with three Japanese researchers, expanded on their findings by noting that .
By the late 2010s, additional physical properties were being ascribed to Fe3Sn2 kagome magnets. In 2019, Joseph G. Checkelsky at MIT (Cambridge, MA) and collaborators there and at other institutions in the United States and China reported the observation of of the metal. According to the authors, this result gave insights into the spintronic manipulation of magnetic topological electronic states.
Research on Fe3Sn2 kagome magnets continues. In 2024, Bo Li, Xidong Duan, and colleagues at multiple Chinese institutions described the of the metal via a chemical vapor deposition method. They found that the hexagonal nanosheets have iron vacancy defects that weaken the ferromagnetism of Fe3Sn2. The triangular sheets were more complicated in that their coercivity (resistance to demagnetization) undergoes hysteresis loops as a result of temperature changes. The researchers believe that the nanosheets will provide new choices for spintronic devices.
Fe3Sn2 is not an article of commerce; thus, no hazard information is available.
1. The Hall effect is the production of a potential difference across an electrical conductor that is transverse to an electric current in the conductor. In ferromagnetic substances, the Hall effect increases substantially and is called 鈥渁nomalous鈥�.
2. In the de Haas鈥搗an Alphen effect, the magnetic susceptibility of a metal crystal oscillates as the intensity of the magnetic field is increased.
Molecules from the Journals
Huntite1 is a mineral with the formula CaMg3(CO3)4. Its discovery and description were reported in 1953 by George T. Faust at the US Geological Survey (Washington, DC), who named it after Walter F. Hunt, a prominent geologist at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). The mineral was found in 1943 at Currant Creek, NV, 鈥渄eposited by cool waters in cavities . . . in rocks composed of magnesite2, dolomite3, and 4鈥�, according to the author.
This past month, Karim Benzerara at Sorbonne University (Paris) and colleagues there and at other institutions in France and Mexico described a connection between huntite (which they called a 鈥渞are carbonate phase鈥�) and possible life forms in ancient environments. They found massive amounts of huntite at depths of 鈮�20 m in Lake Alchichica, Mexico, and 鈥攁 sedimentary rock formed under the influence of microbes. The authors explain that microbialites are 鈥漰articularly suited to look for traces of life and reconstruct palaeoenvironments鈥�.
Diaminomaleonitrile5 (DAMN) consists of an ethylene molecule bearing four functionalities: two amino groups and two cyano groups. It appeared in the chemical literature as long ago as 1873, when O. Lange at the Chemical Institute of Marburg (Germany) described a new compound with the 6 (HCN). Diaminomaleonitrile is formally a tetramer of HCN.
Diaminomaleonitrile is perhaps better known for its acronym rather than any chemical uses; but this May Stefano Milione, Maria Strianese, and co-workers at the University of Salerno (Fisciano, Italy) reported the use of DAMN-based cobalt complexes as sensors for hydrogen sulfide7 (H2S) and the hydrosulfide anion8 (HS鈥�). The complexes consist of the DAMN structure within salen-type ligands that surround a cobalt atom. When the complexes are exposed to H2S or HS鈥�, their fluorescence spectra intensify. The authors demonstrated the usefulness of the complexes for .
1. CAS Reg. No. 19569-21-2.
2. MgCO3; CAS Reg. No. 13717-00-5.
3. CaMg(CO3)2; CAS Reg. No. 16389-88-1.
4. Mg4Si3O10鈥�6贬2O (questionable).
5. CAS Reg. No. 1187-42-4.
6. CAS Reg. No. 74-90-8.
7. CAS Reg. No. 7783-06-4.
8. CAS Reg. No. 15035-72-0.
Molecules from the Journals
MOTW briefly describes noteworthy molecules that appeared in recent ACS journal articles. See this week's edition.
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Triiron ditin聽fast facts
| CAS Reg. No. | 12382-38-6 |
| 厂肠颈贵颈苍诲别谤听苍补尘别 | Iron, compound with tin (3:2) |
| Empirical formula | Fe3Sn2 |
| Molar mass | 404.96 g/mol |
| Appearance | Black crystals |
| Melting point | 鈮�750 潞C |
| Water solubility | Not reported; likely insoluble |
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