Trimetallic Mixture of Ni(III), Pd(III) and Au(III) Ions in a Molecule-Based Bromide-Bridged MX-Chain Compound

Multi-metallic inorganic alloy materials have attracted great attention recently. Additionally, molecule-based materials have wide designability in terms of their structures and electronic states. These are two different ideas. Here, we report the mixing of Pd(III) and Au(III) ions into a bromide-bridged molecular chain compound [Ni(chxn)₂Br]Br₂ (chxn: 1R,2R-diaminocyclo-hexane) to form an average formula of [Ni_0.853Pd_0.142Au_0.005(chxn)₂Br]Br₂, which was synthesized by an electrochemical oxidation method. This trimetallic material is revealed to be a MottHubbard state semiconductor with a one-dimensional electronic system like that of [Ni(chxn)₂Br]Br₂, whereas it shows a smaller activation energy for conductivity than that of pristine [Ni(chxn)₂Br]Br₂. This work represents a fusion of the concepts of multi-metallic and molecule-based materials using a 1D compound.