Professor Yann Garcia

Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences (IMCN/MOST), UCLouvain, Place Louis Pasteur 1, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

Email: yann.garcia@uclouvain.be

Time: 9:30 a.m., August 20, 2026

Location: Building 5, Energy Fundamentals Building, Meeting Room 201

Abstract

Spin crossover (SCO) coordination complexes have attracted great interest during the last thirty years, after their potential use in display devices and electronic computing was proposed. While the SCO phenomenon of these materials can be induced thermally,1 the possibility to address their spin state by light-irradiation was demonstrated.2 The so-called Light Induced Excited Spin State Trapping (LIESST) has however shown poorly applicability both in term of ignition temperature and relaxation behaviors. Chemists have therefore developed alternative strategies where an activated complex component can indirectly induce a spin state modification. This refers to the Ligand-Driven Light Induced Spin Change (LD-LISC), the Guest Driven Light Induced Spin Change (GD-LISC), and the recently discovered Anion Driven Light Induced Spin Change (AD-LISC).3 A photo-responsive non-coordinated anion was inserted in the crystal lattice of a Fe(II) SCO complex, i.e. at a remote location compared to the metallic center, responsible of the spin switching effect. Light induced structural changes occurring in the non-coordinated anion are then expected to induce a spin state change at the metal center.3 Crystal engineering of Fe(II) SCO complexes is thus needed to secure an effective propagation of long-range effects induced by the anion within the crystal lattice.4,5 Recently, we developed a new generation of sensors that do not need any thermal activation,6 which could be used in material science and food chemistry using coordination compounds.

Recent Publications

1. (a) X. Li, N. E. I. Belmouri, M. Sy, M. Wolff, A. Rotaru, S. van Terwingen, D. Maskowicz, M. Sawczak, R. Jendrzejewski, K. Boukheddaden, Y. Garcia, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 147 (2025) 46608–46620. (b) W. Li, S. Xia, J. Liu, Y. Bi, X. Li, Y. Garcia, Coord. Chem. Rev. 566 (2026) 218195.

2. B. Wang, J. Kfoury, Z. Gong, J. Oláh, L. Zou, S. Xue, Y. Guo, Y. Garcia, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 148 (2026) 4414–4425

3. (a) V. Kumar, A. Rotaru, Y. Garcia, J. Mater. Chem. C 10 (2022) 14128 - 14134. Inside Front Cover. (b) V. Kumar, A. C. Ghosh, Y. Draoui, M. Wang, K. Van Hecke, A. Rotaru, Y. Garcia, Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 28 (2025) e202400753.

4. X. Li, J. W. L. Wong, M. Wang, Y. Draoui, M. Wolff, K. Robeyns, A. Rotaru, Y. Garcia, CrystEngComm 28 (2026) 3449 – 3457. Front Cover.

5. M. Wang, Y. Draoui, K. Robeyns, J. Yadav, Z. Han, M. Wolff, D. Maskowicz, A. Rotaru, D. Pinkowicz, M. Sawczak, R. Jendrzejewski, Y. Garcia, Cryst. Growth Des 8 (2026) 2981-2999. Font Cover.

6. W. Li, C. Li, X. Li, M. Wang, Y. Bi, Y. Garcia, CrystEngComm 27 (2025) 6848 – 6864. Front Cover.

Biography

Prof. Yann Garcia obtained his doctorate in Jan. 1999 with the highest distinction at CNRS Bordeaux with Prof. Olivier Kahn as supervisor, and worked as a postdoc with Prof. Philipp Gütlich (Mainz, Germany), before being appointed at UCLouvain in 2001, where he is now full professor. His team has published more than 330 papers with several cover pages of top chemistry journals, 13 book chapters in Inorganic Chemistry, a Wiley-VCH book on the applications of Mössbauer spectroscopy in chemistry, together with Prof. Junhu Wang and Tao Zhang, and two patents. h = 62 (17934 citations, GScholar, June 2026).

He has given more than 100 invited lectures at universities and international conferences, including keynote and plenary presentations. Yann Garcia has also served in four COST actions and is a regular referee of international chemistry journals, international grant research proposals, scientific prizes as well as academic positions in inorganic chemistry.

He is associate editor of the Mössbauer Effect Reference and Data Journal (MERDJ) and Chem. Synth. (OAE Pub, China). Since 2007, he chairs the French Speaking Mössbauer Society and is vice chair of the International Mössbauer community (IBAME) since 2021. He is the president of the FNRS-EDT CHIM doctoral school in supramolecular and functional chemistry. He chaired the ICAMANA conference series, two training schools, and co-chaired four ACIN conferences with Prof. Bao Lian Su. He recently organized EDT CHIM 2026 as well as GFSM 2025 attended by Prof. Junhu Wang as well as the Nobel prize in chemistry, Prof. Jean Marie Lehn.