There is increasing interest in developing self-assembling materials with unique properties and a range of applications. Yves Journaux and co-workers, Paris, France, have synthesized and studied the redox and magnetic properties of a series of double-stranded copper(II) complexes.

These copper complexes are prepared by the side-by-side self-assembly of two linear heterotopic oligo-m-phenyleneoxalamide ligands by four Cu(II) ions to give a meso-helicate structure.

This series of redox-active, ferromagnetically coupled oligonuclear copper(II) double mesocates with high-multiplicity ground states behave as effective electroswitchable molecular magnetic wires for the transmission of electron-exchange interactions of a ferromagnetic nature over long distances.

• Oligo-m-phenyleneoxalamide Copper(II) Mesocates as Electro-Switchable Ferromagnetic Metal–Organic Wires
  E. Pardo, J. Ferrando-Soria, M.-C. Dul, R. Lescouëzec, Y. Journaux et al.,
  Chem. Eur. J. 2010, 16 (43).
  DOI: 10.1002/chem.201001737