A slow relaxing species for molecular spin devices: EPR characterization of static and dynamic magnetic properties of a nitronyl nitroxide radical

Nitronyl nitroxides (NitR) are a family of persistent radicals widely used in molecular magnetism and recently suggested as potential candidates for spintronic applications. In this paper we characterize by X- and W- band Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy the new radical S-4-(nitronyl nitroxide) benzyl ethanethioate (NitSAc) designed for assembling on Au surfaces. We determined the radical magnetic tensors and studied by X-band pulse EPR its spin relaxation behaviour in fluid and glassy solutions of toluene. A comparison with the well known nitroxide 3-carbamoyl- 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-3-pyrrolin-1-oxyl (CTPO) is afforded. The advantages of using NitSAc in technological applications are discussed on the basis of the slow spin relaxation demonstrated by this study.