Molecule-based magnets display the full range of phenomena observed in conventional transition-metal and rare-earth-based magnets, as well as unusual phenomena unique to themselves. These materials form in a wide range of one-, two-, and three-dimensional network structures, with disorder often playing a substantial role. The first molecule-based magnets with spins in p orbitals had ordering temperatures of less than 5 K. Now, systems that order at temperatures above 350 K are known. As outlined in the introductory article in this issue, molecule-based magnets include materials with spins only in organic moieties (in p orbitals), materials with spins both on metal ions and organic moieties (in p orbitals), and those materials with spins on metal ions with the exchange pathway provided by organic moieties that do not contain spin. The introductory article also outlines the three origins of ferromagnetic exchange, orthogonality of orbitals, configuration interaction, and dipole-dipole interaction.
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