Synthesis of soluble coordination polymer nanoparticles using room-temperature ionic liquid

We report a new family of soluble cyano-bridged coordination polymer nanoparticles M3[Cr(CN)6]2/[BMIM][BF4] (where M2+ = Ni, Mn, VIVO; BMIM = 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium). These nanoparticles of ca. 6 nm were synthesised in the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, which acts both as a stabilizing agent and a solvent. The magnetic properties of frozen colloids containing the nanoparticles show that the relaxation of magnetisation is strongly influenced by interparticle interactions leading to the appearance of spin-glass-like dynamics in these systems.