A Mononuclear Uranium(IV) Single-Molecule Magnet with an Azobenzene Radical Ligand

A tetravalent uranium compound with a radical azobenzene ligand, namely, [{(SiMe2NPh)3‐tacn}UIV(η2‐N2Ph2.)] (2), was obtained by one‐electron reduction of azobenzene by the trivalent uranium compound [UIII{(SiMe2NPh)3‐tacn}] (1). Compound 2 was characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction and 1H NMR, IR, and UV/Vis/NIR spectroscopy. The magnetic properties of 2 and precursor 1 were studied by static magnetization and ac susceptibility measurements, which for the former revealed single‐molecule magnet behaviour for the first time in a mononuclear UIV compound, whereas trivalent uranium compound 1 does not exhibit slow relaxation of the magnetization at low temperatures. A first approxim…