Structure of salts of lithium chloride and lithium hexafluorophosphate as solvates with pyridine and vinylpyridine and structural comparisons: (C5H5N)LiPF6, [p-(CH2=CH)C5H4N]LiPF6, [(C5H5N)LiCl]n, and [p-(CH2=CH)C5H4N]2Li(µ-Cl)2Li[p-(CH2=CH)C5H4N]2.

Due to the flammability of liquid electrolytes used in lithium ion batteries, solid lithium ion conductors are of interest to reduce danger and increase safety. The two dominating general classes of electrolytes under exploration as alternatives are ceramic and polymer electrolytes. Our group has been exploring the preparation of molecular solvates of lithium salts as alternatives. Dissolution of LiCl or LiPF6 in pyridine (py) or vinylpyridine (VnPy) and slow vapor diffusion with diethyl ether gives solvates of the lithium salts coordinated by pyridine ligands. For LiPF6, the solvates formed in pyridine and vinylpyridine, namely tetrakis(pyridine-κN)lithium(I) hexafluorophosphate, [Li(C5H5N)4]PF6, and tetrakis(4-ethenylpyridine-κN)lithium(I) hexafluorophosphate, [Li(C7H7N)4]PF6, exhibit analogous structures involving tetracoordinated lithium ions with neighboring PF6- anions in the I-4 and Aea2 space groups, respectively. For LiCl solvates, two very different structures form. catena-Poly[[(pyridine-κN)lithium]-µ3-chlorido], [LiCl(C5H5N)]n, crystalizes in the P212121 space group and contains channels of edge-fused LiCl rhombs templated by rows of π-stacked pyridine ligands, while the structure of the LiCl-VnPy solvate, namely di-µ-chlorido-bis[bis(4-ethenylpyridine-κN)lithium], [Li2Cl2(C7H7N)4], is described in the P21/n space group as dinuclear (VnPy)2Li(µ-Cl)2Li(VnPy)2 units packed with neighbors via a dense array of π-π interactions.

Structure of a pentamanganese(II)-phenoxide cluster with a central five-coordinate oxide: MnII5(µ-OPh)6(µ3-OPh)2(µ5-O)(Py)6·Py (Py is pyridine).

Polynuclear metal clusters frequently feature geometric structural features not common in traditional coordination chemistry. These structures are of particular interest to bioinorganic chemists studying metallocluster enzymes, which frequently possess remarkably unusual inorganic structures. The structure of the manganese cluster µ5-oxido-di-µ3-phenoxido-hexa-µ-phenoxido-hexakis(pyridine-κN)hexamanganese(II) pyridine monosolvate, [Mn5(C6H5O)8O(C5H5N)6]·C5H5N or MnII5(µ-OPh)6(µ3-OPh)2(µ5-O)(Py)6·Py, containing an unusual trigonal bipyramidal central oxide, is described. The compound was isolated from a reaction mixture containing bis(trimethylsilylamido)manganese(II) and phenol. The central O atom is presumed to have originated as adventitious water. The molecule crystalizes in a primitive monoclinic crystal system and is presented in the centrosymetric P2/n space group. The molecule possesses crystallographically imposed twofold symmetry, with the central O atom centred on the twofold axis and surrounded by a distorted trigonal bipyramidal arrangement of Mn atoms, which are further bridged by phenoxide ligands, and terminally ligated by pyridine. A pyridine solvent molecule resides nearby, also situated on a crystallographic twofold axis. The cluster is compared to three closely related previously reported structures.

A Self-Binding, Melt-Castable, Crystalline Organic Electrolyte for Sodium Ion Conduction.

The preparation and characterization of the cocrystalline solid-organic sodium ion electrolyte NaClO4 (DMF)3 (DMF=dimethylformamide) is described. The crystal structure of NaClO4 (DMF)3 reveals parallel channels of Na+ and ClO4- ions. Pressed pellets of microcrystalline NaClO4 (DMF)3 exhibit a conductivity of 3×10-4  S cm-1 at room temperature with a low activation barrier to conduction of 25 kJ mol-1 . SEM revealed thin liquid interfacial contacts between crystalline grains, which promote conductivity. The material melts gradually between 55-65 °C, but does not decompose, and upon cooling, it resolidifies as solid NaClO4 (DMF)3 , permitting melt casting of the electrolyte into thin films and the fabrication of cells in the liquid state and ensuring penetration of the electrolyte between the electrode active particles.

Mechanistic elucidation of the stepwise formation of a tetranuclear manganese pinned butterfly cluster via N-N bond cleavage, hydrogen atom transfer, and cluster rearrangement.

A mechanistic pathway for the formation of the structurally characterized manganese-amide-hydrazide pinned butterfly complex, Mn4(µ3-PhN-NPh-κ(3)N,N')2(µ-PhN-NPh-κ(2)-N,N')(µ-NHPh)2L4 (L = THF, py), is proposed and supported by the use of labeling studies, kinetic measurements, kinetic competition experiments, kinetic isotope effects, and hydrogen atom transfer reagent substitution, and via the isolation and characterization of intermediates using X-ray diffraction and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The data support a formation mechanism whereby bis[bis(trimethylsilyl)amido]manganese(II) (Mn(NR2)2, where R = SiMe3) reacts with N,N'-diphenylhydrazine (PhNHNHPh) via initial proton transfer, followed by reductive N-N bond cleavage to form a long-lived Mn(IV) imido multinuclear complex. Coordinating solvents activate this cluster for abstraction of hydrogen atoms from an additional equivalent of PhNHNHPh resulting in a Mn(II)phenylamido dimer, Mn2(µ-NHPh)2(NR2)2L2. This dimeric complex further assembles in fast steps with two additional equivalents of PhNHNHPh replacing the terminal silylamido ligands with η(1)-hydrazine ligands to give a dimeric Mn2(µ-NHPh)2(PhN-NHPh)2L4 intermediate, and finally, the addition of two additional equivalents of Mn(NR2)2 and PhNHNHPh gives the pinned butterfly cluster.

Preparation of a "twisted basket" Mn(4)N(8) cluster: a two-hydrogen-atom reduced analogue of the Mn(4)N(8) pinned butterfly.

Mn4(µ-NHPh)4(µ-PhNNPh-κ(2)N,N')2(py)4 () is synthesized via self assembly from dimeric Mn2(µ-NHPh)2(NR2)2 and PhNHNHPh (R = SiMe3). This cluster represents the N-N cleaved version of the previously-reported Mn4(µ-NHPh)2(µ3-PhNNPh-κ(3)N,N')2(µ-PhNNPh-κ(2)N,N')(py)4 "pinned butterfly" cluster (), formally reduced by two hydrogen atoms. Cluster may be converted to by addition of N,N'-diphenylhydrazine as a two-electron reductant.

Synthesis of tetranuclear, four-coordinate manganese clusters with "pinned butterfly" geometry formed by metal-mediated N-N bond cleavage in diphenylhydrazine.

The preparation of four-coordinate tetramanganese-amide-hydrazide clusters is described. Reaction of Mn(NR(2))(2) (R = SiMe(3)) with N,N'-diphenylhydrazine resulted in the formation of a black intermediary mixture that converted to a four-coordinate tetranuclear "pinned butterfly" cluster, Mn(4)(µ(3)-N(2)Ph(2))(2)(µ-N(2)Ph(2))(µ-NHPh)(2)(THF)(4). This compound was isolated in ~90% yield and identified by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. In pyridine, the THF ligands were replaced, giving the pyridyl complex Mn(4)(µ(3)-N(2)Ph(2))(2)(µ-N(2)Ph(2))(µ-NHPh)(2)(py)(4). Charge counting considerations indicate that the clusters had gained two protons and two electrons in addition to the formative fragments. Isolation of the black mixture was achieved by extraction techniques from a reaction with a decreased loading of hydrazine run at low temperatures with decreased solvent polarity. The black mixture was characterized by FT-IR, UV-vis, and (1)H NMR spectroscopy. In addition, an isolable, colorless dimer, Mn(2)(µ-NHPh)(2)(NR(2))(2)(THF)(2), was present in the mixture and identified by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. These intermediates are discussed in light of possible mechanisms for formation of the tetranuclear cluster.