Using high-frequency EPR spectroscopy we have found that a cluster com
prising eight iron(III) ions, Fe-8, which is essentially flat, has a g
round S = 10 state and an Ising-type anisotropy. For the first time bo
th ac susceptibility and Mossbauer spectroscopy could be used in order
to monitor the relaxation time of the magnetization, which was found
to follow a thermally activated behavior, as in a superparamagnet, wit
h tau(0) = 1.9 x 10(-7) s and an energy barrier of 22.2 K. The set of
data allowed us to conclude that the origin of the anisotropy in nanos
ize molecular clusters is associated with the single ion contributions
and not with the shape of the clusters.