| abstract |
Broadly, the present invention relates to a magnetically active organometallic Schiff base polymer having a molecular weight of between about 4,000 and 50,000 daltons. In an additional aspect, the present invention relates to a process for the preparation of magnetically active organometallic polymer having a molecular weight of between about 4,000 and 50,000 daltons, wherein the polymer comprises a multiplicity of Schiff base tridentate chelating groups having the capacity to combine with the iron (II) or iron (III) ion of an organic salt, which process comprises: (a) combining at least one organic diamine including hydrazine with at least one organic diketone or dialdehyde in an anhydrous dipolar aprotic solvent for a time sufficient to produce the polymer at a temperature of between about 50 DEG and 200 DEG C.; (b) optionally recovering the polymer produced in step (a); (c) combining the polymer of step (b) with a solution of an iron ion for a time sufficient to produce the organometallic polymer; (d) recovering the organometallic polymer of step (c); (e) heating the organic polymer up to about 200 DEG C. for a time sufficient to observe at least a five-times increase in magnetic susceptibility which is retained when the organometallic polymer is cooled to ambient temperature or below; and (f) recovering the magnetically enhanced organo-metallic polymer of step (e). These polymers are useful as optical magnetic information storage devices. |