Host perturbation in a ß-hydroquinone clathrate studied by combined X-ray/neutron charge-density analysis: implications for molecular inclusion in supramolecular entities.

X-ray/neutron (X/N) diffraction data measured at very low temperature (15 K) in conjunction with ab initio theoretical calculations were used to model the crystal charge density (CD) of the host-guest complex of hydroquinone (HQ) and acetonitrile. Due to pseudosymmetry, information about the ordering of the acetonitrile molecules within the HQ cavities is present only in almost extinct, very weak diffraction data, which cannot be measured with sufficient accuracy even by using the brightest X-ray and neutron sources available, and the CD model of the guest molecule was ultimately based on theoretical calculations. On the other hand, the CD of the HQ host structure is well determined by the experimental data. The neutron diffraction data provide hydrogen anisotropic thermal parameters and positions, which are important to obtain a reliable CD for this light-atom-only crystal. Atomic displacement parameters obtained independently from the X-ray and neutron diffraction data show excellent agreement with a |ΔU| value of 0.00058 Å(2) indicating outstanding data quality. The CD and especially the derived electrostatic properties clearly reveal increased polarization of the HQ molecules in the host-guest complex compared with the HQ molecules in the empty HQ apohost crystal structure. It was found that the origin of the increased polarization is inclusion of the acetonitrile molecule, whereas the change in geometry of the HQ host structure following inclusion of the guest has very little effect on the electrostatic potential. The fact that guest inclusion has a profound effect on the electrostatic potential suggests that nonpolarizable force fields may be unsuitable for molecular dynamics simulations of host-guest interaction (e.g., in protein-drug complexes), at least for polar molecules.

Experimental and theoretical charge densities of a zinc-containing coordination polymer, Zn(HCOO)2(H2O)2.

We present a combined experimental and theoretical charge density study of the coordination polymer Zn(HCOO)(2)(H(2)O)(2), which serves as a nonmagnetic reference for the isostructural magnetic compounds containing 3d transition metals. The charge density has been modeled using the multipole formalism against a high-resolution single-crystal X-ray diffraction data set collected at 100 K. The theoretical model is based on periodic density functional theory calculations in the experimental geometry. To gauge the degree of systematic bias from the multipole model, the structure factors of the theoretical model were also projected into a multipole model and the two theoretical models are compared with the experimental results. All models, both experiment and theory, show that the Zn atom densities are highly spherical but show small accumulations of charge toward the negative ligands. The metal-ligand interactions are found to be primarily ionic, but there are subtle topological indications of covalent contributions to the bonds. The source function calculated at the bond critical points reveals a rather delocalized picture of the density in the bridging carboxylates, and this presumably reflects the exchange pathway in the magnetic analogues.

Application of atomic Hirshfeld surface analysis to intermetallic systems: is Mn in cubic CeMnNi4 a thermoelectric rattler atom?

The Mn atom in the cubic polymorph of CeMnNi(4) appears to be located in an oversized cage-like structure, and anomalously large atomic displacement parameters (ADPs) for the Mn atom indicate that it is a potential "rattler" atom. Here, multitemperature synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction data measured between 110 and 900 K are used to estimate ADPs for the Mn "guest" atom and the "host" structure atoms in cubic CeMnNi(4). The ADPs are subsequently fitted with Debye and Einstein models, giving Θ(D) = 301(2) K for the "host" structure and Θ(E) = 165(2) K for the Mn atom. This is higher than typical Einstein temperatures for rattlers in thermoelectric skutterudites and clathrates (Θ(E) = 50-80 K), indicating that the Mn atom in cubic CeMnNi(4) is more strongly bonded. In order to probe the chemical interactions of the potential Mn rattler atom, atomic Hirshfeld surface (AHS) analysis is carried out and compared with AHS analysis of well-established guest atom rattlers in archetypical skutterudites, MCoSb(3). Surprisingly, the skutterudite rattlers have more deformed AHSs than the Mn atom in cubic CeMnNi(4). This is related to the highly ionic nature of the skutterudite rattlers, which is not taken into account in the neutral spherical atom approach of the AHS. Additionally, visualization of void spaces in the two materials using the procrystal electron density shows that while the Mn atom is tightly fitting in the CeMnNi(4) structure then the La atom in the skutterudite is truly situated in an oversized cage of the host structure. Overall, we conclude that the Mn atom in cubic CeMnNi(4) cannot be coined a rattler.

Intermolecular interactions and electrostatic properties of the ß-hydroquinone apohost: implications for supramolecular chemistry.

The crystal structure of the ß-polymorph of hydroquinone (ß-HQ), the apohost of a large family of clathrates, is reported with a specific focus on intermolecular interactions and the electrostatic nature of its cavity. Hirshfeld surface analysis reveals subtle close contacts between two interconnecting HQ networks, and the local packing and related close contacts were examined by breakdown of the fingerprint plot. An experimental multipole model containing anisotropic thermal parameters for hydrogen atoms has been successfully refined against 15(2) K single microcrystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction data. The experimental electron density model has been compared with a theoretical electron density calculated with the molecule embedded in its own crystal field. Hirshfeld charges, interaction energies and the electrostatic potential calculated for both models are qualitatively in good agreement, but small differences in the electrostatic potential persist due to charge transfer from all hydrogen atoms to the oxygen atoms in the theoretical model. The electrostatic potential in the center of the cavity is positive, very shallow and highly symmetric, suggesting that the inclusion of polar molecules in the void will involve a balance between opposing effects. The electric field is by symmetry zero in the center of the cavity, increasing to a value of 0.0185 e/Å(2) (0.27 V/Å) 1 Å along the 3-fold axis and 0.0105 e/Å(2) (0.15 V/Å) 1 Å along the perpendicular direction. While these values are substantial in a macroscopic context, they are quite small for a molecular cavity and are not expected to strongly polarize a guest molecule.

Temperature-dependent crystal structure of the isopropanol clathrate of Dianin's compound.

The title compound undergoes two order-disorder transitions between 15 and 299 K, dictated by ordering of the guest molecules in the host cages, and resulting in three related crystal structures. We anticipate behaviour of this kind to be widespread, and speculate that the concept of "the crystal structure" for individual Dianin's clathrates may be elusive.

Experimental and theoretical charge density study of chemical bonding in a Co dimer complex.

The charge density of Co2(CO)6(HC[triple bond]CC6H10OH) (1) in the crystalline state has been determined using multipolar refinement of single-crystal X-ray diffraction data collected (i) with a synchrotron source at very low temperatures (15 K) and (ii) using a conventional source with the crystal at intermediate temperature (100 K). The X-ray charge density model is augmented by complete active space and density functional theory calculations. Topological analyses of the different charge distributions show that the two Co atoms are not bonded to each other in the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) sense of the word. However, the behavior of the source function and the total energy density indicate that there is some bond-like character in the Co-Co interaction. The bridging alkyne fragment provides an unusual bonding situation, with extremely small electron density differences between the two Co-C bond critical points and the "CoC2" ring critical point. Thus, the structure is close to a topological catastrophe point. Comparison of the results obtained from the two diffraction data sets and ab initio theory suggests that the topology of the experimental electron density in this special atomic environment is highly sensitive to subtle effects of measurement errors and potential shortcomings of the multipole model, or to effects of the crystal field. Thus, even the two identical molecules in the asymmetric unit show altered bonding patterns.

Short strong hydrogen bonds in 2-acetyl-1,8-dihydroxy-3,6-dimethylnaphthalene: an outlier to current hydrogen bonding theory?

The environmental influence on the electronic character of two O-H...O hydrogen bonds in a beta-diketone, 2-acetyl-1,8-dihydroxy-3,6-dimethylnaphthalene, is studied by low-temperature synchrotron X-ray diffraction and high-level density functional theory (DFT) calculations. It is revealed that one of the hydrogen bonds is very strong, yet partial localization is found. This result is analyzed by atoms in molecules (AIM) theory and applying the source function. Model compounds, with less steric strain, reveal that the strong hydrogen bond is not merely a result of steric compression.