Crystal structure of (Z)-1-(ferrocenylethyn-yl)-10-(phenyl-imino)-anthracen-9(10H)-one from synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction.

In the title compound, [Fe(C5H5)(C27H16NO)], designed and synthesized to explore a new electron-donor (D) and -acceptor (A) conjugated complex, the two cyclo-penta-dienyl rings adopt an eclipsed conformation. The anthracene tricycle is distorted towards a butterfly conformation and the mean planes of the outer benzene rings are inclined each to other at 22.7 (3)°. In the crystal, mol-ecules are paired into inversion dimers via π-π inter-actions. Weak inter-molecular C-H⋯π inter-actions link further these dimers into one-dimensional columns along the b axis, with the ferrocenylethynyl arms arranged between the stacks to fill the voids.

1,4-Bis[2-(4-ferrocenylphenyl)ethynyl]anthraquinone from synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction.

The title compound, [Fe2(C5H5)2(C40H22O2)] or 1,4-(FcPh)2Aq [where FcPh is 2-(4-ferrocenylphenyl)ethynyl and Aq is anthraquinone], was synthesized in an attempt to obtain a new solvent-incorporating porous material with a large void space. Thermodynamic data for 1,4-(FcPh)2Aq show a phase transition at approximately 430 K. The crystal structure of solvent-free 1,4-(FcPh)2Aq was determined at temperatures of 90, 300 and 500 K using synchrotron powder diffraction data. A direct-space method using a genetic algorithm was employed for structure solution. Charge densities calculated from observed structure factors by the maximum entropy method were employed for model improvement. The final models were obtained through multistage Rietveld refinements. In both phases, the structures of which differ only subtly, the planar Aq fragments are stacked alternately in opposite orientations, forming a one-dimensional column. The FcPh arms lie between the stacks and fill the remaining space, leaving no voids. C-H...π interactions between the Ph and Fc fragments mediate crystal packing and stabilization.

Lower photostability of capsanthin dispersed in an aqueous solution.

Food-additive grades of capsanthin, lutein, lycopene, and ß-carotene dispersed in aqueous solutions were photo-irradiated using a Xenon weather meter, and the levels of carotenoids were measured by HPLC and the absorbance method. Capsanthin photo-degraded more rapidly than the carotenoids tested, with less oxygen consumption. Unlike carotenes, capsanthin was partially converted into analogous colored compounds during degradation.

A structural diagnostics diagram for metallofullerenes encapsulating metal carbides and nitrides.

Systematic structural studies of 24 different kinds of endohedral metallofullerenes, M(x)C(2n) (M = La, Y, Sc, Lu, Ti, Eu, Er, Hf, Sc(3)N; 34 ≤ n ≤ 43), as 1:1 cocrystals with solvent toluene molecules have been carried out using synchrotron radiation powder diffraction. Thirteen of the 24 molecular structures, including five metal carbides, one metal nitride endohedral fullerene, and one hollow fullerene, have been determined by a combination of the maximum entropy method and Rietveld refinement of the X-ray diffraction data obtained. We have found that the volume for one fullerene and one toluene molecule depends linearly on the number of carbon atoms in the fullerene cage. Fifteen different kinds of metal carbide endohedral fullerenes have been identified, which can be structurally characterized from the obtained lattice constants using only this linear dependence. The linear dependence found in the present study provides a metallofullerene diagnostics diagram that may have universal importance for structural characterization of the so-called cluster endohedral fullerenes.

A novel phosphor for glareless white light-emitting diodes.

The luminous efficiency of white light-emitting diodes, which are used as light sources for next-generation illumination, is continuously improving. Presently available white light-emitting diodes emit with extremely high luminance because their emission areas are much smaller than those of conventional light sources. Consequently, white light-emitting diodes produce a glare that is uncomfortable to the human eye. Here we report a yellow-emitting phosphor, the Eu(2+)-doped chlorometasilicate (Ca(1-x-y,)Sr(x,)Eu(y))(7)(SiO(3))(6)Cl(2), which can be used to create glareless white light-emitting diodes. The (Ca(1-x-y,)Sr(x,)Eu(y))(7)(SiO(3))(6)Cl(2) exhibits a large Stokes shift, efficiently converting violet excitation light to yellow luminescence, and phosphors based on this host material have much less blue absorption than other phosphors. We used crystal structure analysis to determine the origin of the desired luminescence, and we used (Ca(1-x-y,)Sr(x,)Eu(y))(7)(SiO(3))(6)Cl(2) and a blue-emitting phosphor in combination with a violet chip to fabricate glareless white light-emitting diodes that have large emission areas and are suitable for general illumination.

Photostability of lycopene dispersed in an aqueous solution.

Lycopene dispersed in aqueous solutions with different dissolved oxygen contents was photo-irradiated by using a xenon weather meter, and the contents of lycopene and dissolved oxygen were measured. Both the degradation of lycopene and the consumption of dissolved oxygen followed a first-order kinetics model. There was a proportional relationship between the degradation content of lycopene and the consumption of dissolved oxygen. These results indicate that dissolved oxygen would also be involved in the photolysis of lycopene.

Specific surface area and three-dimensional nanostructure measurements of porous titania photocatalysts by electron tomography and their relation to photocatalytic activity.

Various porous titania photocatalysts are analyzed three-dimensionally in real space by electron tomography. Shapes and three-dimensional (3D) distributions of fine pores and silver (Ag) particles (2 nm in diameter) within the pores are successfully reconstructed from the 3D data. Electron tomography is applied for measuring the specific surface area of the porous structures including open and closed porosity. Calculated specific surface areas of 22.8 m(2)/g for a conventional sol-gel TiO(2) sample and 366 m(2)/g for a highly porous TiO(2) sample prepared using the Pluronic P-123 self-assembly process are compared with those measured by the general BET method. The real-space surface measurement indicates that the highly porous TiO(2) produced by the present method using block copolymers has a greater number of effective reaction sites for the degradation of methylene blue. Electron tomography shows a great potential to contribute considerably to the nanostructural analysis and design of such catalyst materials for photocatalysis.

Structural anomalies associated with antiferromagnetic transition of single-component molecular metal [Au(tmdt)2].

The crystal structure of the single-component molecular metal [Au(tmdt)(2)] was examined by performing powder X-ray diffraction experiments in the temperature range of 9-300 K using a synchrotron radiation source installed at SPring-8. The structural anomalies associated with antiferromagnetic transition were observed around the transition temperature (T(N) = 110 K). The continuous temperature dependence of the unit cell volume and the discontinuous change in the thermal expansion coefficient at T(N) suggested that the antiferromagnetic transition of [Au(tmdt)(2)] is a second-order transition. Au(tmdt)(2) molecules are closely packed in the (021) plane with two-dimensional lattice vectors of a and l (= 2a + b + 2c). The shortest intermolecular S...S distance along the a axis shows a sharp decrease at around T(N), while the temperature dependence of l exhibits a characteristic peak in the same temperature region. A distinct structure anomaly was not observed along the direction perpendicular to the (021) plane. These results suggest that the molecular arrangement in only the (021) plane changes significantly at T(N). Thus, the intermolecular spacing shows anomalous temperature dependence at around T(N) only along that direction where the neighboring tmdt ligands have opposite spins in the antiferromagnetic spin structure model recently derived from ab initio band structure calculations. The results of single-crystal four-probe resistance measurements on extremely small crystals (approximately 25 microm) did not show a distinct resistance anomaly at T(N). The resistance anomaly associated with antiferromagnetic transition, if at all present, is very small. The Au-S bond length decreases sharply at around 110 K; this is consistent with the proposed antiferromagnetic spin distribution model, where the left and right ligands of the same molecule possess opposite spin polarizations. The tendency of the Au-S bond to elongate with decreasing temperature is ascribed to the small energy gap between the pd sigma(-) (or SOMO + 1) and the asym-Lpi(d) (or SOMO) states of the Au(tmdt)(2) molecule.

Counterion-dependent valence tautomerization of ferrocenyl-conjugated pyrylium salts.

1-Ferrocenylethynylanthraquinone (1-FcAq), which is a donor (D)-acceptor (A) conjugated compound consisting of a ferrocene (Fc) acting as a donor, an anthraquinone (Aq) acting as an acceptor, and an ethynyl linker, undergoes a cyclocondensation reaction with strong organic acid, and forms 2-ferrocenyloxodihydrodibenzochromenylium salts ([1-FcPyl](+)X(-) where X = TFSI, TfO, PF(6), and BF(4)). [1-FcPyl](+) were also characterized as conjugated donor-acceptor compounds, and electrochemical properties, UV-vis absorption spectra, single-crystal X-ray analysis, and TD-DFT calculations have indicated that the LUMO level of [1-FcPyl](+) is lower than that of 1-FcAq because of the much larger pi-conjugated system in [1-FcPyl](+). Variable-temperature Mossbauer spectroscopy (12-300 K) showed that Fe(II) was dominant for the TFSI(-), PF(6)(-), and BF(4)(-) salts of [1-FcPyl](+); although the Fe(III) species was also observed at all temperature ranges, the molar ratio of Fe(III) species increased at higher temperatures in the TFSI(-) and PF(6)(-) salts. This finding indicates that valence tautomerization (VT) between 1-FcPyl(+) and 1-Fc(+)Pyl occurs in the solid state of the TFSI(-) and the PF(6)(-) salts, but not in the BF(4)(-) salt. Variable-temperature (3.5-310 K) IR spectroscopy showed that the frequencies of the skeletal vibration of the ferrocene moiety decreased with increasing temperature in the TFSI(-) and PF(6)(-) salts, indicating the development of a ferrocenium-like character. The precision of the bond lengths of the [1-FcPyl](+) moiety (0.003-0.004 A) determined by single-crystal X-ray analysis (113 and 273 K) is not sufficient to demonstrate the effect of the counterion on VT. The dihedral angle between the ferrocene and the pyrylium moieties in the BF(4)(-) salt (11.25(15) degrees) is larger than that in the TFSI(-) (6.63(12) degrees) and PF(6)(-) (9.55(15) degrees) salts. Furthermore, the planarity of the acceptor moiety (estimated from the dihedral angle between Ph1 and Ph2) is lower in the BF(4)(-) salt compared with that of other salts. These increased dihedral angles might cause a weaker D-A interaction and a destabilization of the acceptor moiety (i.e., raising a LUMO level), leading to lower stability of the Fe(III) (1-Fc(+)Pyl) species. Variable-temperature X-ray powder diffraction (VT XRPD, 100-300 K) revealed that the temperature dependence of the Fe-P distance in the PF(6)(-) salt was smaller than that of the Fe-B distance in the BF(4)(-) salt. Our interpretation of this phenomenon is that the molar ratio of the Fe(III) species is increased in the PF(6)(-) salt, and that the Coulombic force between the ferrocene moiety and PF(6)(-) anion increases, preventing an increase in the Fe-P distance. This indicates that the electrostatic interaction between the [1-FcPyl](+) moiety and the counteranion may affect the occurrence of VT.

High-pressure (up to 10.7 GPa) crystal structure of single-component molecular metal [Au(tmdt)2].

The crystal structure of the single-component molecular metal [Au(tmdt)(2)] was examined at pressures up to 10.7 GPa in order to examine whether the high-pressure structure reflects the crystal's metallic nature. Crystal structure analyses were performed at 0.2, 0.8, 1.3, 3.0, 5.5, and 10.7 GPa on the basis of the powder X-ray diffraction data obtained by using the synchrotron radiation source SPring-8. The unit cell volume at 10.7 GPa was approximately 75% of the initial volume, indicating that [Au(tmdt)(2)] is a 'soft material' like a typical molecular crystal in spite of its metallic nature. The pressure dependences of the bond lengths of the Au(tmdt)(2) molecule were found to be approximately 1 order of magnitude smaller than those of the intermolecular atomic distances. These results seem to justify the commonly accepted conjecture that the molecule usually behaves almost like a rigid body up to a fairly high pressure. It was found that the anisotropy of the lattice compression of the insulating I(2) crystal below 20 GPa can be essentially interpreted on the basis of a very simple 'interatomic repulsion model', which assumes that the molecules in the crystal are packed such that as far as possible, an increase in the interatomic repulsions between neighboring molecules is avoided. However, the maximum decrease in the intermolecular distance in [Au(tmdt)(2)] was observed along the a direction although there were many intermolecular S...S contacts shorter than the van der Waals distance (3.70 A) along this direction. The shortest intermolecular S...S distance was 2.73 A at 10.7 GPa, which is approximately 1 A shorter than the S...S van der Waals distance (3.70 A). The crystal lattice of [Au(tmdt)(2)] is considered to be stabilized by the enhancement of the intermolecular overlapping of the conduction molecular orbitals having large amplitudes on peripheral S atoms. Although the crystal is composed of 'isolated molecules' like a typical insulating molecular crystal, its compressibility behavior seems to reflect its metallic nature.

Application of maximum-entropy maps in the accurate refinement of a putative acylphosphatase using 1.3 A X-ray diffraction data.

Accurate structural refinement of a putative acylphosphatase using 1.3 A X-ray diffraction data was carried out using charge densities determined by the maximum-entropy method (MEM). The MEM charge density clearly revealed detailed features of the solvent region of the putative acylphosphatase crystalline structure, some of which had never been observed in conventional Fourier maps. The structural model in the solvent region was constructed as distributions of anisotropic water atoms. The omit-difference MEM maps and the difference MEM maps were effective in revealing details of the protein structure, such as multiple conformations of the side chains of amino-acid residues, anisotropy of atoms and H atoms. By model building using the MEM charge densities, the reliability factors R1 and R free in the SHELX refinement were dramatically improved from 17.9% and 18.3% to 9.6% and 10.0%, respectively. The present results prove the usefulness of MEM in improving the accuracy of refinement of protein crystal structures.

Conducting dimerized cobalt complexes with tetrathiafulvalene dithiolate ligands.

To obtain novel single-component molecular metals, we attempted to synthesize several cobalt complexes coordinated by TTF (tetrathiafulvalene)-type dithiolate ligands. We succeeded in the syntheses and structure determinations of ((n)Bu(4)N)(2)[Co(chdt)(2)](2) (1), ((n)Bu(4)N)(2)[Co(dmdt)(2)](2) (2), [Co(dmdt)(2)](2) (3), and [Co(dt)(2)](2) (4) (chdt = cyclohexeno-TTF-dithiolate, dmdt = dimethyl-TTF-dithiolate, and dt = TTF-dithiolate). Structure analyses of complexes 1-4 revealed that two monomeric [Co(ligand)2]- or [Co(ligand)(2)](0) units are connected by two Co-S bonds resulting in dimeric [Co(ligand)(2)](2)(2-) or [Co(ligand)(2)](2) molecules. Complex 1 has a cation-anion-intermingled structure and exhibited Curie-Weiss magnetic behavior with a large Curie constant (C = 2.02 K x emu x mol(-1)) and weak antiferromagnetic interactions (theta = -8.3 K). Complex 2 also has a cation-anion-intermingled structure. However, the dimeric molecules are completely isolated by cations. Complexes 3 and 4 are single-component molecular crystals. The molecules of complex 3 form two-dimensional molecular stacking layers and exhibit a room-temperature conductivity of sigmart = 1.2 x 10(-2) S.cm(-1) and an activation energy of E(a) = 85 meV. The magnetic behavior is almost consistent with Curie-Weiss law, where the Curie constant and Weiss temperature are 8.7 x 10(-2) K x emu x mol(-1) and -0.85 K, respectively. Complex 4 has a rare chair form of the dimeric structure. The electrical conductivity was fairly large (sigmart = 19 S.cm(-1)), and its temperature dependence was very small (sigma(0.55K)/sigma(rt) = ca. 1:10), although the measurements were performed on the compressed pellet sample. Complex 4 showed an almost constant paramagnetic susceptibility (chi(300) (K) = 3.5 x 10(-4) emu x mol(-1)) from 300 to 50 K. The band structure calculation of complex 4 suggested the metallic nature of the system. Complex 4 is a novel single-component molecular conductor with a dimeric molecular structure and essentially metallic properties down to very low temperatures.

Origin and thermodynamic properties of the instability of synthetic azo colorants in gum arabic solutions.

The instability of some industrially important synthetic azo colorants, including sunset yellow, azorubine, and allura red, toward gum arabic in aqueous solution has been a long-standing problem for the beverage and confectionery industries. Precipitation of these colorants causes the deterioration of product appearance and properties. This work examines the origin and nature of the problem by analysis of the precipitate and thermodynamic studies of gum arabic-colorant interactions using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The presence of divalent alkaline earth metals in gum arabic samples, that is, calcium and magnesium, is shown to be responsible for the precipitation of the azo colorants. There is no direct interaction between gum arabic and the colorant molecules, and the precipitate is formed likely due to the mediation/bridging by the divalent cations. The thermodynamic knowledge gained from the ITC studies, for example, binding affinity, stoichiometry, and enthalpy, enables interpretation of many industrial observations.

Magnetic properties and crystal structure of solvent-free Sc@C82 metallofullerene microcrystals.

Magnetic properties of solvent-free crystals of the endohedral Sc@C82 are investigated by SQUID and X-ray powder diffraction. We find that the crystal is a paramagnet and the magnetic susceptibility decreases from 150 K with evidence of antiferromagnetic-like interactions by slow cooling. X-ray crystal analysis reveals the presence of a phase transition at 150 K, which is attributed to an orientational ordering transition of the fullerene molecules. At low temperatures we find a magnetic metastable state that can be controlled by the cooling rate. The metastable state can be formed by rapid cooling. The direction of Sc@C82 molecular axis in the crystals is disordered in the metastable state, and the susceptibility is higher than that in the slow cooling case at low temperature.

Accurate structure factors and experimental charge densities from synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction data at SPring-8.

Accurate structure factors of silicon and diamond have been experimentally determined from powder diffraction data measured at the third-generation synchrotron-radiation source SPring-8, BL02B2. The accuracy of the obtained structure factors has been evaluated by comparing with structure factors in the literature measured by the Pendellösung method and with some from theoretical calculations. The results indicate that the structure factors from powder data are accurate enough to discuss the experimental charge-density distributions of these materials. The number of structure factors of silicon determined in the present study is 104, which is three times more than that of previous Pendellösung data. The experimental charge densities have been obtained by the maximum-entropy method from the present structure factors. The charge densities at bond mid-points for silicon and diamond show good agreement with different kinds of theoretical calculations. The present study proved that the powder diffraction at SPring-8 is a promising method for determination of experimental charge density for a wider range of materials.

High-resolution analysis of (Sc3C2)@ C80 metallofullerene by third generation synchrotron radiation X-ray powder diffraction.

The X-ray structure of Sc(3)C(82) is redetermined by the MEM/Rietveld method by using synchrotron radiation powder data at SPring-8, where the C(2) encapsulated structure available to discuss the Sc-Sc interatomic distances has been determined. The encapsulated three scandium atoms form a triangle shape. A spherical charge distribution originating from the C(2) molecule is located at the center of the triangle. Interatomic distances between Sc and Sc are 3.61(3) A in the triangle. The distance between Sc and the center of the C(2) molecule is 2.07(1) A.

High-spin- and low-spin-state structures of [Fe(chloroethyltetrazole)6](ClO4)2 from synchrotron powder diffraction data.

The spin-crossover complex [Fe(teec)(6)](ClO(4))(2) (teec = chloroethyltetrazole) exhibits a 50 % incomplete spin crossover in the temperature range 300-30 K. Time-resolved synchrotron powder diffraction experiments have been carried out to elucidate its structural behavior. We report crystal structure models of this material at 300 K (high spin) and 90 K (low spin), as solved from synchrotron powder diffraction data by using Genetic Algorithm and Parallel Tempering techniques and refined with Rietveld refinement. During short synchrotron powder diffraction experiments (five minutes duration) two distinguishable lattices were observed the quantities of which vary with temperature. The implication of this phenomenon, that is interpreted as a structural phase transition associated with the high-to-low spin crossover, and the structural characteristics of the high-spin and low-spin models are discussed in relation to other compounds showing a similar type of spin-crossover behavior.

Magnetic transitions of single-component molecular metal [Au(tmdt)2] and its alloy systems.

A single-component molecular conductor [Au(tmdt)2] (tmdt = trimethylenetetrathiafulvalenedithiolate) undergoes an antiferromagnetic phase transition at unprecedentedly high temperature (TN = 110 K). Black microcrystals of alloys, [Ni1-xAux(tmdt)2] (0.0 < x < 1.0) were prepared. The Au-rich system exhibited an antiferromagnetic transition. Metallic single crystal was obtained for x = 0.25.