Significant magnetocaloric effect in a ferromagnetic {CrIII2GdIII3} cluster

Abstract A pentanuclear {Cr2Gd3} cluster (1) and its diamagnetic substituent-{Al2Gd3} (2) based on pivalic acid (Hpiv) were obtained with the formulas of {Et3NH[M2Gd3(OH)6(piv)10(H2O)2]} (M = CrIII, 1; AlIII, 2). The metallic core shows a triangle bipyramid-{Cr2Gd3} held together by six µ3-OH groups, and the piv- ligands located at the periphery. Magnetic studies for complex 1 exhibit dominant ferromagnetic interactions between CrIII and GdIII ions. Furthermore, ferromagnetic {Cr2Gd3} cluster (1) displays a considerable large magnetic entropy value (-ΔSm = 27.0 J kg-1 K-1) at high temperature among low-nuclearity 3d-4f clusters.