Impact of molecule-based magnetic materials: A critical outlook

Abstract A critical outlook of the field of molecular magnetic materials is presented. This article is inspired by an international symposium devoted to the “ Design, Characterization and Modelling of Molecule-Based Magnetic Materials (DCM4-II)” that took place at Strasbourg (France), from May 28th to June 1st, within the E-MRS 2007 Spring Meeting (Symposium R) organized by the European Materials Research Society in collaboration with the European Science Foundation . A series of papers linked to this symposium are published in this issue and in the previous issue (Volume 11, Issue 4) of Solid State Sciences.