Senior chemical engineer

Centre d’Elaboration des Matériaux et d’études Structurales, CEMES UPR 8011

nicolas.brefuel[at]cemes.fr

+033 5 62 25 78 30 / +033 6 62 94 48 97

EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC DEGREES

2004     Doctor in « Physical and chemical properties of molecular magnetic materials », Toulouse University

2001     Master’s degree « Coordination Chemistry », Toulouse University

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES

SKILLS AND KNOW-HOW

SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION

>20 students guidance over the last 10 years (from Technological DUT to M2 degree)

Responsible of the chemistry lab and of a large set of equipments (FT-IR, Mass spectrometry, HPLC…)

SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS (27 peer-reviewed articles)

Spin Crossover

1-Spin-Crossover Iron(II) Coordination Polymer with Zigzag Chain Structure : G. S. Matouzenko, G. Molnar, N. Bréfuel, M. Perrin, et al., Chem. Mater. 2003, 15, 2, 550–556

2-An Unprecedented Trinuclear Structure Involving Two High-Spin and One Spin-Crossover Iron(II) centers : G. Psomas, N. Bréfuel, et al., Inorg. Chem. 2004, 43, 15, 4590–4594

3- An Abrupt Spin Crossover FeII Complex Based on Homochiral Chain : N. Bréfuel, S. Shova et al., Chem. Lett. 2005, 34, 1092-1093

4- Infinite Chain Structure and Steep Spin Crossover of a FeIII Complex with a N3O2 Pentadentate Schiff-Base Ligand and 4-Aminopyridine : K. Tanimura, R. Kitashima, N. Bréfuel et al., Bull. Chem. Soc. Japan 2005, 78, 1279-1292

5-High-spin to low-spin relaxation kinetics in the [Fe(TRIM)2]Cl2 complex : S. Bonhommeau, N. Bréfuel et al. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2005, 7, 2909-2914

6-A 2D Layered Spin Crossover Complex Constructed by NH···Cl- Hydrogen Bonds:  [FeIIH3LMe]Cl·I3 (H3LMe = Tris[2-(((2-methylimidazoyl-4-yl)methylidene)amino)ethyl]amine : M. Yamada, E. Fukumoto, M. Ooidemizu, N. Bréfuel, N. Matsumoto, et al.,  Inorg. Chem. 2005, 44, 20, 6967–6974

7-Structural−Electronic Correlation in the First-Order Phase Transition of [FeH2L2-Me](ClO4)2 (H2L2-Me = Bis[((2-methylimidazol-4-yl)methylidene)-3- aminopropyl]ethylenediamine) : N. Bréfuel, S. Imatomi, H. Torigoe, et al.,  Inorg. Chem. 2006, 45, 20, 8126–8135

8-Fe-II bi-stable materials based on dissymmetrical ligands: N-4 Schiff bases including 2-pyridyl and 5-methylimidazol-4-yl rings yield various Fe-II spin-crossover phenomena around 300 K : N. Bréfuel, S. Shova, J. Lipkowski et al. ; CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS 2006 18, ‏ 5467-5479

9-A Range of Spin-Crossover Temperature T1/2>300 K Results from Out-of-Sphere Anion Exchange in a Series of Ferrous Materials Based on the 4-(4-Imidazolylmethyl)-2-(2-imidazolylmethyl)imidazole (trim) Ligand, [Fe(trim)2]X2 (X=F, Cl, Br, I): Comparison of Experimental Results with Those Derived from Density Functional Theory Calculations : G. Lemercier, N. Bréfuel et al., Chem. Eur. J. 2006, 12, 7421-7432

10-FeII Bistable Materials with Dissymmetrical Ligands: Synthesis, Crystal Structure, Magnetic and Mössbauer Properties of FeII Complexes Based on N4 Schiff Bases Possessing 2-Pyridyl and 1-R-Imidazol-2-yl Rings, N. Bréfuel, S. Shova, J.-P. Tuchagues, Eur. JIC 2007, 27, 4326-4334

11-FeII Spin crossover materials based on dissymmetrical N4 Schiff bases including 2-pyridyl and 2R-imidazol-4-yl rings: Synthesis, crystal structure and magnetic and Mössbauer properties : N. Bréfuel, I. Vang, et al. Polyhedron 2007, 26, 1745-1757

12-« An unprecedented co-crystal including a cis-high-spin and a trans-low-spin Fe-II complex molecule » : N. Bréfuel, C. Duhayon et al. ; CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS 2007, 48, ‏ 5223-5225

13- Concerted Spin Crossover and Symmetry Breaking Yield Three Thermally and One Light-Induced Crystallographic Phases of a Molecular Material : N. Bréfuel, H. Watanabe, Hiroshi et al. : Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.  2009 48 (49), 9304-9307

14-Nanoscale Self-Hosting of Molecular Spin-States in the Intermediate Phase of a Spin-Crossover Material : N. Bréfuel, E. Collet, et al. Chem Eur J 2010, 16, 14060-14068

15-Dynamical separation of spin and lattice degrees of freedom in the relaxation process from the photo-induced state : H. Watanabe, N. Bréfuel et al., Europhys. Lett. 2011 96 17004

16-Aperiodic Spin State Ordering of Bistable Molecules and Its Photoinduced Erasing: E. Collet, H. Watanabe, N. Bréfuel, et al. ; PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2012, 109  (25), 014419

17-Competing Symmetry Breaking and Spin Crossover in [FeH2L2–Me](ClO4)2 : H. Watanabe, N. Bréfuel, E. Collet et al. ; Eur JIC, 2013, 5, 710-715

18-Out-of-equilibrium dynamics of photoexcited spin-state concentration waves : A.Marino, M. Buron-Le Cointe, M. Lorenc, L. Toupet, R. Henning , A. D. DiChiara, K. Moffat, N. Bréfuel and E. Collet, Faraday Discuss., 2015, 177, 363-379

19-High-Spin / Low-Spin States Ordering Phenomena in Stepwise Spin-Crossover Materials Described by ANNNI Model : H. Watanabe, K. Tanaka, N. Bréfuel, et al. , Phys. Rev. B 2016 93, 014419

Molecular magnet and molecular chains

20-Bimetallic cyanido-bridged magnetic materials derived from manganese(III) Schiff-base complexes and pentacyanidonitrosylferrate(II) precursor : R. Ababei, Y.-G. Li, O. Roubeau, M. Kalisz, N. Bréfuel et al. New J. Chem., 2009, 33, 1237-1248

21-Enhanced Ion Anisotropy by Nonconventional Coordination Geometry: Single-Chain Magnet Behavior for a [{FeIIL}2{NbIV(CN)8}] Helical Chain Compound Designed with Heptacoordinate FeII : T. Venkatakrishnan, S. Sahoo, N. Bréfuel, et al. . Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 17, 6047–6056

22-Face-Sharing Heterotrinuclear MII−LnIII−MII (M = Mn, Fe, Co, Zn; Ln = La, Gd, Tb, Dy) Complexes: Synthesis, Structures, and Magnetic Properties :  T. Yamaguchi, J.-P. Costes, Y. Kishima, M. Kojima, Y.i Sunatsuki, N. Bréfuel et al., Inorg. Chem. 2010, 49, 20, 9125–9135

23- Seeking Hidden Magnetic Phenomena by Theoretical Means in a Thiooxoverdazyl Adduct : M. Vérot, N. Bréfuel, et al.,  Chem. Asian J. 2012, 7, 380-386

24-Rational Design of a Photomagnetic Chain: Bridging Single-Molecule Magnets with a Spin-Crossover Complex : R. Ababei, C. Pichon, N.Bréfuel; et al. ; JACS 2013, 135, ‏ 14840-14853

Organometallic chemistry

25-A New Way to Scorpionate Niobium Complexes:  Terminal Alkyne, Imido, and Oxo Complexes and the Rearrangement of α-Agostic Ethyl Complexes :  P. Oulié,, N. Bréfuel et al.,  Organometallics 2005, 24, 17, 4306–4314

Dielectric materials

26-Significance of considering pellet molding pressure and dielectric experimental conditions in the [dielectric constant—temperature] response of switchable dielectric molecular materials: illustration on dabcoHBF4 polycrystals : N. Bréfuel, L. Grilli et al. : J. Mat. Science 2021, 56, 18582–18591

27-Structural, thermal and dielectric properties of glycerolized hydrogen-bonded polyvinyl alcohol films : M. Gassab, N. Bréfuel et al. Pol. Adv. Tech. 2023, 34, 948-959

28- Low-frequency dielectric analysis of promising lead-free dabcoH+A- ferroelectric materials for energy applications : G. Morvézen, N. Bréfuel, D. Bourgault, H. Guillou, A. Sylvestre, IEEE ICD 2024