Molecular Engineering to Tune Functionality: The Case of Cl-Substituted [Fe(terpy)2]2.

The properties of transition-metal complexes and their chemical dynamics can be effectively modified with ligand substitutions, and theory can be a great aid to such molecular engineering. In this paper, we first theoretically explored how substitution with a Cl atom at different positions of the terpyridine ligand affects the electronic structure of the [Fe(terpy)2]2+ complex. We found that besides the substitution at position 4', the next most promising candidate to cause substantial electronic effects is that where the side pyridine ring is substituted at position 5 (ß). Therefore, next, we examined in detail the Fe(II) complexes of the 5-chloro and 5,5″-dichloro derivatives of terpy, theoretically and experimentally, to reveal how these substitutions modify the ground state properties and the lifetime of the excited quintet state in such complexes. In addition, we extend the investigation to the complexes of the analogously substituted derivatives of 4'-SMe-terpy. The substitution at position(s) 5 (and 5″) with Cl lowers the energy of the quintet state and increases its lifetime; the results on the 4'-SMe-substituted complexes show similar changes with these two substitutions, verifying that these effects are more or less additive. This study contributes to the enhancement of our molecular engineering toolset for modifying the potential energy landscape of similar complexes.

Solid-Phase Quasi-Intramolecular Redox Reaction of [Ag(NH3)2]MnO4: An Easy Way to Prepare Pure AgMnO2.

Two monoclinic polymorphs of [Ag(NH3)2]MnO4 containing a unique coordination mode of permanganate ions were prepared, and the high-temperature polymorph was used as a precursor to synthesize pure AgMnO2. The hydrogen bonds between the permanganate ions and the hydrogen atoms of ammonia were detected by IR spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Under thermal decomposition, these hydrogen bonds induced a solid-phase quasi-intramolecular redox reaction between the [Ag(NH3)2]+ cation and MnO4- anion even before losing the ammonia ligand or permanganate oxygen atom. The polymorphs decomposed into finely dispersed elementary silver, amorphous MnOx compounds, and H2O, N2 and NO gases. Annealing the primary decomposition product at 573 K, the metallic silver reacted with the manganese oxides and resulted in the formation of amorphous silver manganese oxides, which started to crystallize only at 773 K and completely transformed into AgMnO2 at 873 K.

Mechanochemical P-derivatization of 1,3,5-Triaza-7-Phosphaadamantane (PTA) and Silver-Based Coordination Polymers Obtained from the Resulting Phosphabetaines.

We have described earlier that in aqueous solutions, the reaction of 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane (PTA) with maleic acid yielded a phosphonium-alkanoate zwitterion. The same reaction with 2-methylmaleic acid (citraconic acid) proceeded much slower. It is reported here, that in the case of glutaconic and itaconic acids (constitutional isomers of citraconic acid), formation of the corresponding phosphabetaines requires significantly shorter reaction times. The new phosphabetaines were isolated and characterized by elemental analysis, multinuclear NMR spectroscopy and ESI-MS spectrometry. Furthermore, their molecular structures in the solid state were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD). Synthesis of the phosphabetaines from PTA and unsaturated dicarboxylic acids was also carried out mechanochemically with the use of a planetary ball mill, and the characteristics of the syntheses in solvent and under solvent-free conditions were compared. In aqueous solutions, the reaction of the new phosphabetaines with Ag(CF3SO3) yielded Ag(I)-based coordination polymers. According to the SC-XRD results, in these polymers the Ag(I)-ion coordinates to the N and O donor atoms of the ligands; however, Ag(I)-Ag(I) interactions were also identified. The Ag(I)-based coordination polymer (CP1.2) formed with the glutaconyl derivative of PTA (1) showed considerable antimicrobial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and yeast strains.

Negative Volume Compressibility in Sc3N@C80-Cubane Cocrystal with Charge Transfer.

According to the laws of thermodynamics, materials normally exhibit contraction or expansion along the directions of the applied pressure or tension. Here, we show that a man-made cocrystal of a metallofullerene and highly energetic cubane, with strained sp3 bonding, may exhibit an anomalous negative volume compressibility. In this cocrystal, the freely rotating fullerene Sc3N@C80 acts as a structural building block while static cubane molecules fill the lattice interstitial sites. Under high pressure, Sc3N@C80 keeps stable and preserves the crystalline framework of the materials, while the cubane undergoes a progressive configurational transformation above 6.5 GPa, probably promoted by charge transfer from fullerene to cubane. A further configurational change of the cubane into a low-density configuration at higher pressure results in an anomalous pressure-driven lattice expansion of the cocrystal (∼1.8% volume expansion). Such unusual negative compressibility has previously only been predicted by theory and suggested to appear in mechanical metamaterials.

New Ordered Structure of Amorphous Carbon Clusters Induced by Fullerene-Cubane Reactions.

As a new category of solids, crystalline materials constructed with amorphous building blocks expand the structure categorization of solids, for which designing such new structures and understanding the corresponding formation mechanisms are fundamentally important. Unlike previous reports, new amorphous carbon clusters constructed ordered carbon phases are found here by compressing C8 H8 /C60 cocrystals, in which the highly energetic cubane (C8 H8 ) exhibits unusual roles as to the structure formation and transformations under pressure. The significant role of C8 H8 is to stabilize the boundary interactions of the highly compressed or collapsed C60 clusters which preserves their long-range ordered arrangement up to 45 GPa. With increasing time at high pressure, the gradual random bonding between C8 H8 and carbon clusters, due to "energy release" of highly compressed cubane, leads to the loss of the ability of C8 H8 to stabilize the carbon cluster arrangement. Thus a transition from short-range disorder to long-range disorder (amorphization) occurs in the formed material. The spontaneous bonding reconstruction most likely results in a 3D network in the material, which can create ring cracks on diamond anvils.

Tailoring the local environment around metal ions: a solution chemical and structural study of some multidentate tripodal ligands.

Manganese(ii), copper(ii) and zinc(ii) complexes of four polydentate tripodal ligands (tachpyr (N,N',N''-tris(2-pyridylmethyl)-cis,cis-1,3,5-triaminocyclohexane), trenpyr (tris[2-(2-pyridylmethyl)aminoethyl]amine, tach3pyr (N,N',N''-tris(3-pyridylmethyl)-cis,cis-1,3,5-triaminocyclohexane) and tren3pyr (tris[2-(2-pyridylmethyl)aminoethyl]amine)) were characterized in both solution and solid states. A combined evaluation of potentiometric, UV-VIS, NMR and EPR data allowed the conclusion of both thermodynamic and structural information about the complexes formed in solution. The four tailored polydentate tripodal ligands studied here exhibit a high thermodynamic stability, and a variety of coordination environments/geometries for the studied transition metal ions. Our data indicate that tachpyr is a more efficient zinc(ii) chelator and a similar copper(ii) chelator compared to trenpyr. Considering the higher number of N-donors and conformational flexibility of trenpyr, as well as the energy demanding switch to the triaxial conformation required for metal ion binding of tachpyr, the above observation is surprising and is very likely due to the encapsulating effect of the more rigid tachpyr skeleton. This relative binding preference of tachpyr for zinc(ii) may be related to the observation that zinc(ii) is one of the principal metals targeted by tachpyr in cells. In contrast, trenpyr is a considerably more efficient manganese(ii) chelator, since it acts as a heptadentate ligand in the aqueous Mn(trenpyr) complex. The crystal structures of copper(ii) and zinc(ii) complexes of tachpyr indicated important differences in the ligand conformation, induced by the position of counter ions, as compared to earlier reports. The closely related new ligands, tach3pyr and tren3pyr, have been designed to form oligonuclear complexes. Indeed, we obtained a three dimensional polymer with a copper(ii)/tren3pyr ratio of 11/6. Within this metal-organic framework, three distinctly different copper geometries can be identified: square pyramidal, trigonal bipyramidal and tetrahedral. Two square pyramidal and four trigonal bipyramidal copper centres create a hexanuclear subunit with a large inside cavity. These moieties are linked by tetrahedral copper(ii) centres, constructing the three-dimensional polymer structure. The formation of such polynuclear complexes was not detected in solution. Both tach3pyr and tren3pyr form only mononuclear complexes with square pyramidal and trigonal bipyramidal geometries, respectively.

[(η(6)-p-cymene)Ru(H2O)3](2+) binding capability of aminohydroxamates - A solution and solid state study.

Complex forming capabilities of [(η(6)-p-cymene)Ru(H2O)3](2+) with aminohydroxamates (2-amino-N-hydroxyacetamide (α-alahaH), 3-amino-N-hydroxypropanamide (ß-alahaH) and 4-amino-N-hydroxybutanamide (γ-abhaH)) having the primary amino group in different chelatable position to the hydroxamic function were studied by pH-potentiometry, NMR and MS methods. Formation of stable [O,O] and mixed [O,O][N,N] chelated mono- and dinuclear species is detected in partially slow with α-alahaH and ß-alahaH or in fast processes with γ-abhaH and the formation constants of the complexes present in aqueous solution are reported. Synthesis, spectral (NMR, IR) and ESI mass spectrometric characterization of novel dinuclear α-alaninehydroximato complexes containing the half-sandwich type Ru(II) core is described. The crystal and molecular structure of [{(η(6)-p-cymene)Ru}2(µ(2)-α-alahaH-1)(H2O)Br]Br∙H2O (1) and [{(η(6)-p-cymene)Ru}2(µ(2)-α-alahaH-1)(H2O)Cl]BF4∙H2O (2) was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction method. In the complexes one half-sandwich core is coordinated by a hydroxamate [O,O] chelate while the other one by [Namino,Nhydroxamate] fashion of the bridging ligand. In both cases the remaining coordination sites of one of the Ru cores are taken by a halide ion whiles the other one by a water molecule. Reaction of 2 with 9-methylguanine indicates the N7 coordination of this simple DNA model. Complexes 1 and 2 were tested for their in vitro cytotoxicity using human-derived cancer cell lines (A2780, MCF-7, SKOV-3, HCT-116, HeLa) and showed no anti-proliferative activity in the micromolar concentration range.

Crystal structure of the 4 + 2 cyclo-adduct of photooxidized anthracene and C60 fullerene.

The structure of the title compound, 5,6-[(1R,10S)-2,9-dioxatri-cyclo-[8.6.0(3,8).0(11,16)]hexa-decane-1,10-di-yl]-(C60-Ih)[5,6]fullerene methane-dithione 0.1-solvate, C74H10O2·0.1CS2, has tetra-gonal (P42/n) symmetry at 100 K. It has a unique eight-membered ring, with two incorporated O atoms in place of the original central ring of the anthracene. The distortion of the mol-ecular geometry around the cyclo-adduct bonds corresponds to that seen in related fullerene derivatives. Close packing of the adduct forms cavities partially filled with disordered carbon di-sulfide solvent mol-ecule. The 41% occupancy of the cavities yields an overall 1:0.103 adduct-solvent ratio. Reaction steps are described as light-assisted singlet-oxygen generation, peroxide, epoxide and dioxocin derivative formation and the final step of thermally activated cyclo-addition.

Orientational ordering and low-temperature libration in the rotor-stator cocrystals of fullerenes and cubane.

Cocrystals of cubane and fullerenes, C60-cubane and C70-cubane, show distinct rotational ordering transitions. We studied the corresponding structural changes with temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction and the thermodynamics of the phase transitions with adiabatic microcalorimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. C60-cubane has one phase transition around 130 K from a high-temperature fcc phase with freely rotating C60 to a low-temperature orthorombic phase in which the fullerene rotation is frozen. The corresponding enthalpy change is approximately 1170 J/mol, and the entropy change is 9.6 J/(mol K). C70-cubane has two phase transitions. Around 380 K, the high-temperature fcc phase with freely rotating C70 transforms into a bct phase in which the C70 rotates uniaxially around an axis that precesses around the c direction with a full opening angle of 40 degree. Around 170 K, the uniaxial rotation also freezes out, with an accompanying structural transition to monoclinic and enthalpy and entropy changes of 620 J/mol and 8.7 J/(mol K), respectively. The low-temperature specific heat was analyzed in terms of the Debye-Einstein model to estimate the librational energies of the fullerenes and Debye temperatures. We found very similar values for the two cocrystals, approximately Elib = 2.2 meV and TDebye = 23 K. For reference, we also measured the specific heats of pure C60 and C70 and found Elib = 2.96 meV and TDebye = 32 K for C60 and Elib = 1.9 meV and TDebye = 20 K for C70.

Rotor-stator molecular crystals of fullerenes with cubane.

Cubane (C8H8) and fullerene (C60) are famous cage molecules with shapes of platonic or archimedean solids. Their remarkable chemical and solid-state properties have induced great scientific interest. Both materials form polymorphic crystals of molecules with variable orientational ordering. The idea of intercalating fullerene with cubane was raised several years ago but no attempts at preparation have been reported. Here we show that C60 and similarly C70 form high-symmetry molecular crystals with cubane owing to topological molecular recognition between the convex surface of fullerenes and the concave cubane. Static cubane occupies the octahedral voids of the face-centred-cubic structures and acts as a bearing between the rotating fullerene molecules. The smooth contact of the rotor and stator molecules decreases significantly the temperature of orientational ordering. These materials have great topochemical importance: at elevated temperatures they transform to high-stability covalent derivatives although preserving their crystalline appearance. The size-dependent molecular recognition promises selective formation of related structures with higher fullerenes and/or substituted cubanes.

Structure of the crystalline C60 photopolymer and the isolation of its cycloadduct components.

We produced C60 photopolymer in gram quantity by a new monomer recycling method and extracted its soluble components. The most abundant components, the (2 + 2) cycloadduct dimer, C120, and several oligomers were isolated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Three different C180 isomers were identified on the basis of their formation and decomposition reactions. The crystal structure of the insoluble photopolymer is face-centered cubic (fcc) with a contracted lattice parameter relative to the pristine C60. The lattice parameter and the amounts of soluble oligomers depend on the preparation temperature. We explain this variation with a topochemical model of photopolymerization: The geometrical conditions allow the formation of only linear or planar oligomers in the triangular or square sublattices. Competing reactions in the intersecting planes prevent the formation of large oligomers. The lattice contraction is proportional to the number of cycloadduct bonds.