Gas-Dependent Reversible Structural and Magnetic Transformation between Two Ladder Compounds

We report reversible structural transformation that occurs in two ladder compounds: Cu2CO3(ClO4)2(NH3)6 (1) and Cu2CO3(ClO4)2(NH3)5(H2O) (2), when they are exposed to gaseous vapors. The ladder structures of both 1 and 2 consist of two Cu2+ ions and one CO32− ion. In 1, the Cu2+ ions are coordinated by three NH3 molecules on each side, while those in 2 are coordinated by three NH3 molecules on one side, and two NH3 molecules and one H2O molecule on the other side. We demonstrated reversible transformation of 1 and 2 via the exposure of 1 to H2O vapor and the exposure of 2 to NH3 vapor using a simple bench-scale method. The minor structural change observed led to a significant difference in physical properties, which we observed using several methods.