The debate on the mechanisms which underpin mechanochemical reactions via ball mill grinding is still open. Our ability to accurately measure the microstructural (crystal size and microstrain) evolution of materials under milling conditions as well as their phase composition as a function of time is key to the in-depth understanding of the kinetics and driving forces of mechanochemical transformations. Furthermore, all ball milling reactions end with a steady state or milling equilibrium - represented by a specific phase composition and relative microstructure - that does not change as long as the milling conditions are maintained. The use of a standard sample is essential to determine the instrumental contribution to the X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) peak broadening for time-resolved in situ (TRIS) monitoring of mechanochemical reactions under in operando conditions. Using TRIS-XRPD on a ball milling setup, coupled with low-energy synchrotron radiation, we investigated different data acquisition and analysis strategies on a silicon standard powder. The diffraction geometry and the microstructural evolution of the standard itself have been studied to model the instrumental contribution to XRPD peak broadening throughout the grinding activity. Previously proposed functions are here challenged and further developed. Importantly, we show that minor drifts of the jar position do not affect the instrumental resolution function significantly. We here report and discuss the results of such investigations and their application to TRIS-XRPD datasets of inorganic and organic ball mill grinding reactions.
This study aims at developing new multicomponent crystal forms of sulpiride, an antipsychotic drug. The main goal was to improve its solubility since it belongs to class IV of the BCS. Nine new adducts were obtained by combining the active pharmaceutical ingredient with acid coformers: a salt cocrystal and eight molecular salts. In addition, three novel co-drugs, of which two are molecular salts and one is a cocrystal, were also achieved. All samples were characterized in the solid state by complementary techniques (i.e., infrared spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction and solid-state NMR). For systems for which it was possible to obtain good-quality single crystals, the structure was solved by single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD). SCXRD combined with solid-state NMR were used to evaluate the ionic or neutral character of the adducts. In vitro dissolution tests of the new crystal forms were performed and all the adducts display remarkable dissolution properties with respect to pure sulpiride.
Mechanochemistry has become a sustainable and attractive cost-effective synthetic technique, largely used within the frame of crystal engineering. Cocrystals, namely, crystalline compounds made of different chemical entities within the same crystal structure, are typically synthesized in bulk via mechanochemistry; however, whereas the macroscopic aspects of grinding are becoming clear, the fundamental principles that underlie mechanochemical cocrystallization at the microscopic level remain poorly understood. Time-resolved in situ (TRIS) monitoring approaches have opened the door to exceptional detail regarding mechanochemical reactions. We here report a clear example of cocrystallization between two solid coformers that proceeds through the formation of a metastable low melting binary eutectic phase. The overall cocrystallization process has been monitored by time-resolved in situ (TRIS) synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction with a customized ball milling setup, currently available at µSpot beamline at BESSY-II, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. The binary system and the low melting eutectic phase were further characterized via DSC, HSM, and VT-XRPD.
In this study, a new series of extended linkers containing different polyaromatic chromophores (biphenyl, naphthalene, anthracene, fluorene, 9,9-dimethylfluorene and fluorenone) functionalized with isonicotinoyl moieties have been synthesized by Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions involving isonicotinamide and the appropriate aromatic dibromide. The optimized protocol led to the isolation of the target molecules in good yield and with high purity. These were characterized by 1H NMR, FTIR, MS, and elemental analysis and their solid state structures were solved by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Electronic absorption and emission spectra were collected both in solution (DMF) and in the solid state. TDDFT calculations were carried out to investigate the effect of the isonicotinoyl moieties on the spectral features of the central chromophores. Although in solution only the linker containing a fluorenone scaffold shows a weak fluorescence, all the isolated linkers turned out to be fluorescent in the solid state, thus paving the way for their use for the fabrication of fluorescent MOFs.
Time resolved in situ (TRIS) monitoring has revolutionised the study of mechanochemical transformations but has been limited by available data quality. Here we report how a combination of miniaturised grinding jars together with innovations in X-ray powder diffraction data collection and state-of-the-art analysis strategies transform the power of TRIS synchrotron mechanochemical experiments. Accurate phase compositions, comparable to those obtained by ex situ measurements, can be obtained with small sample loadings. Moreover, microstructural parameters (crystal size and microstrain) can be also determined with high confidence. This strategy applies to all chemistries, is readily implemented, and yields high-quality diffraction data even using a low energy synchrotron source. This offers a direct avenue towards the mechanochemical investigation of reactions comprising scarce, expensive, or toxic compounds. Our strategy is applied to model systems, including inorganic, metal-organic, and organic mechanosyntheses, resolves previously misinterpreted mechanisms in mechanochemical syntheses, and promises broad, new directions for mechanochemical research.
This manuscript reports the synthesis, X-ray characterization and DFT study of three new [M(bipy)3]2[Au(CN)2]3(X) (M = Fe, Co, and Ni; bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine; X = anion) ionic compounds. These salts are composed of [M(bipy)3]2+ dications and [Au(CN)2]- anions in a 2 : 3 ratio. The positive charge is compensated by X = Cl- anions in compounds 1 (M = Fe) and 2 (M = Co) and X = OH- in 3 (M = Ni). The three tridentate bipyridine ligands define the coordination of the M2+ cation, resulting in a nearly octahedral coordination sphere. The linear dicyanoaurate(I) anions are completely surrounded by a cradle of aromatic rings with Au-ring centroid distances below the sum of van der Waals radii, evidencing the existence of a specific Auâ¯π attraction. This interaction has been analyzed in terms of the role of the Au-atom (Lewis acid or Lewis base) using DFT calculations combined with the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM), noncovalent interaction plot index (NCIplot) and natural bond orbital (NBO) computational tools. The NBO suggests that the Auâ¯π interaction is an example of a coinage bond in spite of the anionic nature of the acceptor and the cationic nature of the donor.
Naphthalenediimide derivates are a class of π-conjugated molecules largely investigated in the literature and used as building blocks for metal-organic frameworks or coformers for hydrogen-bond-based cocrystals. However, their tendency to establish halogen-bond interactions remains unexplored. By using a crystalline engineering approach, we report here four new cocrystals with N,N'-di(4-pyrydyl)-naphthalene-1,4,5,8-tetracarboxidiimide and diiodo-substituted coformers, easily obtained via a mechanochemical protocol. Cocrystals were characterized via NMR, electron ionization mass spectrometry, thermogravimetric analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Crystallographic structures were then finely examined and correlated with energy framework calculations to understand the relative contribution of halogen-bond and π-π interactions toward framework stabilization.
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) give the opportunity of confining guest molecules into their pores even by a post-synthetic protocol. PUM168 is a Zn-based MOF characterized by microporous cavities that allows the encapsulation of a significant number of guest molecules. The pores engineered with different binding sites show a remarkable guest affinity towards a series of natural essential oils components, such as eugenol, thymol and carvacrol, relevant for environmental applications. Exploiting single crystal X-ray diffraction, it was possible to step-wisely monitor the rather complex three-components guest exchange process involving dimethylformamide (DMF, the pristine solvent) and binary mixtures of the flavoring agents. A picture of the structural evolution of the DMF-to-guest replacement occurring inside the MOF crystal was reached by a detailed single-crystal-to-single-crystal monitoring. The relation of the supramolecular arrangement in the pores with selective guests release was then investigated as a function of time and temperature by static headspace GC-MS analysis.
In this contribution, we report novel palladium-catalyzed carbonylative cascade approaches to highly functionalized polyheterocyclic structures. The Pd-catalyzed carbonylative process involves the regioselective insertion of one to three CO molecules and the sequential ordered formation of up to eight new bonds (one C-O, two C-C, five C-N). The exclusive formation of six-membered heterocycles is elucidated by detailed modeling studies.
The crystalline sponge method (CSM) is primarily used for structural determination by single-crystal X-ray diffraction of a single analyte encapsulated inside a porous MOF. As the host-guest systems often show severe disorder, reliable crystallographic determination is demanding; thus the dynamics of the guest entering and the formation of nanoconfined molecular aggregates has not been in the spotlight. Now, the concept is investigated of the CSM for monitoring the structural evolution of nanoconfined supramolecular aggregates of eugenol guests with displacement of DMF inside the cavities of the flexible MOF, PUM168. The interpretation of the electron density provides a series of unique detailed snapshots depicting the supramolecular guest aggregation, thus showing the tight interplay between the host flexible skeleton and the molecular guests through the DMF-to-eugenol exchange process.
The first organo-catalyzed synthesis of imidazolidin-2-ones and imidazol-2-ones via intramolecular hydroamidation of propargylic ureas is reported. The phosphazene base BEMP turned out to be the most active organo-catalyst compared with guanidine and amidine bases. Excellent chemo- and regioselectivities to five-membered cyclic ureas have been achieved under ambient conditions, with a wide substrate scope and exceptionally short reaction times (down to 1 min). A base-mediated isomerization step to an allenamide intermediate is the most feasible reaction pathway to give imidazol-2-ones, as suggested by DFT studies.
The copper iodide complexes are known for their large variety of coordination geometries. Such diversity, while making it difficult to predict the final structure, permits the preparation of a great number of copper iodide complexes based on the same ligand. The target of the research was that of thoroughly exploring the chemistry of CuI and the ligand diphenyl-2-pyridyl phosphine (PN) by varying the stoichiometric ratio and/or the aggregation state. Six different compounds have been identified: [Cu4I4(PN)2], [Cu4I4(PN)2·(CH2Cl2)0.5], [CuI(PN)0.5]∞, [CuI(PN)3] whose structures have been determined during this study, CuI(PN)2 which was characterized by powder diffraction and [Cu2I2(PN)3] which has been already reported. The preparation routes are also different: synthesis in solution yielded [Cu4I4(PN)2·(CH2Cl2)0.5] and [CuI(PN)3] while [CuI(PN)0.5]∞ and CuI(PN)2 were obtained only via solid state reactions. These two latter examples confirmed that mechanochemistry is a valid route to explore the landscape of the possible structures of CuI derivatives. Crystallization by traditional solution procedures failed to give the desired crystal, so structure determination of the new compounds was tackled in two ways: by attempting crystal growth via solvothermal synthesis and by resolving the structure from X-ray powder diffraction data with "direct space" methods. What is more the photophysical properties of the complexes that could be obtained as sufficiently pure powders have also been investigated and are reported herein.
Organo-copper(i) halide complexes with a Cu4I4 cubane core and cyclic amines as ligands have been synthesized and their crystal structures have been defined. Their solid state photophysical properties have been measured and correlated with the crystal structure and packing. A unique and remarkably high luminescence quantum yield (76%) has been measured for one of the complexes having the cubane clusters arranged in a columnar structure and held together by N-HI hydrogen bonds. This high luminescence quantum yield is correlated with a slow radiationless deactivation rate of the excited state and suggests a rather strong enhancement of the cubane core rigidity bestowed by the hydrogen bond pattern. Some preliminary thin film deposition experiments show that these compounds could be considered to be good candidates for applications in electroluminescent devices because of their bright luminescence, low cost and relatively easy synthesis processes.
Amines/chemistry , Copper/chemistry , Iodides/chemistry , Luminescence , Organometallic Compounds/chemistry , Quantum Theory , Crystallography, X-Ray , Hydrogen Bonding , Models, Molecular , Molecular Structure
Reactions between copper(I) iodide and triphenylphosphine have been explored in solution and in the solid state and six luminescent coordination complexes have been obtained and characterized by X-ray diffraction and UV-vis spectroscopy and photophysics. Solid-state reactions of CuI with PPh(3) in different conditions (kneading, vapour digestion) and stoichiometries resulted in the formation of high ratio ligand:metal compounds while tetrameric structures could be obtained only by solution reactions. Crystal structures were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction while purity of the bulk product was checked by powder diffraction (XRPD). Three different tetrameric structures with 1:1 stoichiometry have been synthesized: two closed cubane-type polymorphs [CuI(PPh(3))](4) (form 1a) and [CuI(PPh(3))](4) (form 1b) and an open step-like isomer [CuI(PPh(3))](4) (form 2). The conversions between the polymorphs and isomers have been studied and characterized by XRPD. The most stable form [CuI(PPh(3))](4) (form 1b) can convert into the open step-like isomer [CuI(PPh(3))](4) (form 2) in a slurry experiment with EtOH or CH(2)Cl(2) or AcCN and converts back into [CuI(PPh(3))](4)1b when exposed to vapors of toluene. At room temperature all the tetrameric compounds exhibit luminescence in the solid state and, notably, the two polymorphs show a dissimilar dual emission at low temperature. The luminescence features in the solid state seem to be peculiarly related to the presence of the aromatic phosphine ligand and depend on the Cu-Cu distance in the cluster.
The metal-organic frameworks (MOF) of cluster [Cu(4)I(4)(DABCO)(2)] (DABCO=1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane) have been prepared and characterized as two different crystalline forms, I and II. Form I is obtained by reaction of DABCO and CuI in aqueous solution or by solvothermal reaction, while form II is obtained by reacting DABCO and CuI in acetonitrile. Their luminescence properties in the solid state have been analyzed at room temperature and at 77 K. MOF II has bright emission with a maximum at 556 nm that shifts bathochromically at low temperature in conjunction with a marked change in the colour of the emission. The emission of MOF I has a maximum at 580 nm and a less pronounced temperature dependence. The peculiar luminescence properties of the two isomers have been interpreted by utilising current knowledge on the excited states properties of Cu(I) cubane clusters. The two isomers exhibit a high degree of porosity and can release the disordered solvent molecules trapped in the channels, whilst preserving the crystal structure. Isomer I can be converted into II on exposure to acetonitrile or methanol vapour, whereas II reverts to I when heated in a closed pan at 250 degrees C.
