Unprecedented Richness of Temperature- and Pressure-Induced Polymorphism in 1D Lead Iodide Perovskite.

Inherent features of metal halide perovskites are their softness, complex lattice dynamics, and phase transitions spectacularly tuning their structures and properties. While the structural transformations are well described and classified in 3D perovskites, their 1D analogs are much less understood. Herein, both temperature- and pressure-dependent structural evolutions of a 1D AcaPbI3 perovskitoid incorporating acetamidinium (Aca) cation are examined. The study reveals the existence of nine phases of δ-AcaPbI3, which present the most diverse polymorphic collection among known perovskite materials. Interestingly, temperature- and pressure-triggered phase transitions in the 1D perovskotoid exhibit fundamentally different natures: the thermal transformations are mainly associated with the collective translations of rigid polyanionic units and ordering/disordering dynamics of Aca cations, while the compression primarily affects inorganic polymer chains. Moreover, in the 1-D chains featuring the face-sharing connection mode of the PbI6 octahedra the Pb···Pb distances are significantly shortened compared to the corner-sharing 3D perovskite frameworks, hence operating in the van der Waals territory. Strikingly, a good correlation is found between the Pb···Pb distances and the pressure evolution of the bandgap values in the δ-AcaPbI3, indicating that in 1D perovskitoid structures, the contacts between Pb2+ ions are one of the critical parameters determining their properties.

Extremely Slow Thermally-Induced Spin Crossover in the Two-Dimensional Network [Fe(bbtr)3 ](BF4 )2.

Cooling [Fe(bbtr)3 ](BF4 )2 (bbtr=1,4-di(1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)butane) triggers very slow spin crossover below 80 K (T1/2 ↓ =76 K). The spin crossover (SCO) is accompanied by a hysteresis loop (T1/2 ↑ =89 K). In contrast to isostructural perchlorate analogue [Fe(bbtr)3 ](ClO4 )2 in which spin crossover during cooling is preceded by phase transition at TPT =126 K in tetrafluoroborate phase transition does not occur to the beginning of spin crossover (80 K). Studies of mixed crystals [Fe(bbtr)3 ](BF4 )2(1-x) (ClO4 )2x (0.5≤x≤0.9) showed that a phase transition precedes spin crossover, however, for x≅0.46 intersection of T1/2 (x) and TPT (x) dependencies takes place. The application of pressure of 1 GPa shifts the spin crossover in [Fe(bbtr)3 ](BF4 )2 to a temperature above 270 K. High-pressure studies of neat tetrafluoroborate and perchlorate, as well as mixed crystals [Fe(bbtr)3 ](BF4 )2(1-x) (ClO4 )2x (0.1≤x≤0.9), revealed that at 295 K P1/2 value changes linearly with x indicating similar mechanism of spin crossover under elevated pressure in all systems under investigation. Variable pressure single crystal X-ray diffraction studies confirmed that in contrast to thermally induced spin crossover undergoing differently in tetrafluoroborate and perchlorate an application of high pressure removes this differentiation leading to a similar mechanism depending at first on start spin crossover and then P-3→P-1 phase transition occurs. In this report we have shown that 2D coordination polymer [Fe(bbtr)3 ](BF4 )2 (bbtr=1,4-di(1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)butane) treated to date as spin crossover silent shows thermally induced spin crossover phenomenon. Spin crossover in tetrafluoroborate is extremely slow. Determination of the spin crossover curve required carrying measurement in the settle mode-cooling from 85 to 70 K took about 600 h (average velocity of change of temperature ca. 0.0004 K/min).

Exchanged Metal-Hydrogen Anagostic Bonds and Resonance of Dithiocarbamate and Thioureide Mesomers.

The pressure-induced transformation of plane-square complex nickel(II) bis(N,N-diethyldithiocarbamate) between its soft dithiocarbamate (form I) and thioureide (form II) mesomeres is coupled to the interchange of anagostic Ni⋅⋅⋅H-C interactions from methylene to the methyl group, respectively. At 1.23 GPa, the clearly visible giant anomalous compressibility of the crystal reveals a potential-energy difference of 5.4 kJ mol-1 between the two complex forms. The structural and spectroscopic results, which are supported by quantum-mechanical calculations, connect this solid-state phase transition with the mesomeric transition, and this is accompanied by the conformational transformation of anagostic Ni⋅⋅⋅H-C rearrangement and formation of the charge-assisted S- ⋅⋅⋅H-C bond under pressure.

High-pressure Nucleation of Low-Density Polymorphs*.

New polymorphs ß and γ of bis-3-nitrophenyl disulphide, crystallized above 0.3 GPa, are less dense than the ambient-pressure polymorph α. This counterintuitive density relation results from the high-entropy nucleation and subsequent kinetic crystallization. The work performed by pressure compensates the high entropy and temperature product, substantiated in varied conformers and increased chemical potential. Pressure-increased viscosity promotes the kinetic polymorphs, in accordance with empirical Ostwald's rule of stages. It contrasts to mechanochemical techniques, favouring high-density polymorphs.

High-pressure Nucleation of Low-Density Polymorphs.

Invited for the cover of this issue is the group of Andrzej Katrusiak at Adam Mickiewicz University. The image depicts a wave and the sun, which represent the high energy required for the high-entropy nucleation reported in this work. Read the full text of the article at 10.1002/chem.202005121.

Stepwise Stress-Induced Transformations of Metal-Organic Polyhedral Cluster-Based Assemblies: Where Conformational and Supramolecular Features Meet.

Understanding the factors governing the formation of supramolecular structures and phase transitions between various forms of molecular crystals is pivotal for developing dynamic, stimuli-responsive materials and polymorph-controlled syntheses. Here, we investigate the pressure-induced dynamic of both the intrinsic molecular structure and the supramolecular network of a predesigned polyhedral oxo-centered zinc cluster incorporating monoanionic N,N'-diphenylformamidinate and featuring N-bonded phenyl groups in close proximity to the primary coordination sphere. We demonstrate that the model oxo cluster is prone to undergoing pressure-induced conformational transformations of the secondary coordination sphere and simultaneous stepwise (initially every second polyhedral molecule undergoes the conformational transformations) and reversible transitions from an ambient phase α to high-pressure phases ß and γ, as single-crystal-to-single-crystal events. The observed phase transitions illustrate the key role of an interplay between the low-energy conformation perturbations and cooperative intra- and intermolecular noncovalent interactions.

Photoinduced Skeletal Rearrangement of N-Substituted Colchicine Derivatives.

Colchicine is an active pharmaceutical ingredient widely used for treating gout, pericarditis, and familial Mediterranean fever with high antimitotic activity. The photoisomerization of colchicine deactivates its anti-inflammatory and antimitotic properties. However, despite numerous reports on colchicine derivatives, their photostability has not been investigated in detail. This report reveals the effects of UV-induced rearrangement on the structure and reports the biological activity of new N-substituted colchicine derivatives.

Solid-State Dynamics and High-Pressure Studies of a Supramolecular Spiral Gear.

The structures and solid-state dynamics of the supramolecular salts of the general formula [(12-crown-4)2 ⋅DABCOH2 ](X)2 (where DABCO=1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane, X=BF4 , ClO4 ) have been investigated as a function of temperature (from 100 to 360 K) and pressure (up to 3.4 GPa), through the combination of variable-temperature and variable-pressure XRD techniques and variable-temperature solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The two salts are isomorphous and crystallize in the enantiomeric space groups P32 21 and P31 21 . All building blocks composing the supramolecular complex display dynamic processes at ambient temperature and pressure. It has been demonstrated that the motion of the crown ethers is maintained on lowering the temperature (down to 100 K) or on increasing the pressure (up to 1.5 GPa) thanks to the correlation between neighboring molecules, which mesh and rotate in a concerted manner similar to spiral gears. Above 1.55 GPa, a collapse-type transition to a lower-symmetry ordered structure, not attainable at a temperature of 100 K, takes place, proving, thus, that the pressure acts as the means to couple and decouple the gears. The relationship between temperature and pressure effects on molecular motion in the solid state has also been discussed.

Synthesis and Antiproliferative Screening Of Novel Analogs of Regioselectively Demethylated Colchicine and Thiocolchicine.

Colchicine, a pseudoalkaloid isolated from Colchicum autumnale, has been identified as a potent anticancer agent because of its strong antimitotic activity. It was shown that colchicine modifications by regioselective demethylation affected its biological properties. For demethylated colchicine analogs, 10-demethylcolchicine (colchiceine, 1) and 1-demethylthiocolchicine (3), a series of 12 colchicine derivatives including 5 novel esters (2b-c and 4b-d) and 4 carbonates (2e-f and 4e-f) were synthesized. The antiproliferative activity assay, together with in silico evaluation of physicochemical properties, confirmed attractive biological profiles for all obtained compounds. The substitutions of H-donor and H-acceptor sites at C1 in thiocolchicine position provide an efficient control of the hydration affinity and solubility, as demonstrated for anhydrate 3, hemihydrate 4e and monohydrate 4a.

Dynamic Resolution of Piezosensitivity in Single Crystals of π-Conjugated Molecules.

Targeted synthesis of piezoresponsive small molecules and in-depth understanding of their mechanism is of utmost importance for the development of smart devices. This work reports the synthesis, structure and piezosensitivity of a bola-amphiphile 1,4-bis(pentyloxy)-2,5-bis(2-pyridineethynyl)-benzene (C5-PPB). Depending on the rate of compression, two different phases in C5-PPB can be generated. The ambient-pressure α-phase is stable up to 0.8 GPa, beyond which it undergoes an isostructural transformation to ß-phase, accompanied by a clearly visible elongation of the crystal. This α-to-ß phase transition requires the sample to be compressed slowly. When quickly compressed, phase α persists to about 1.5 GPa, beyond which its amorphization starts, accompanied by the appearance of irregular grooves on the largest faces. Mechanical pressure also affects the optical property of C5-PPB, which shows reversible mechanochromism with a green to cyan transformation in the emission, associated with a 15 nm shift in the maxima. The conductivity of C5-PPB as a direct outcome of its crystal packing has also been studied.

Environment-Controlled Postsynthetic Modifications of Iron Formate Frameworks.

New, hybrid iron-formate perovskites have been obtained in high-pressure reactions. In addition to the pressure range, the liquid environment of the sample also regulates the course of transformations. Formate α-DmaFe2+Fe3+For6 (Dma = (CH3)2NH2+, For = HCOO-), when compressed in oil or in isopropanol at 1.40 GPa, transforms to a new phase γ, different than that obtained at low-temperature (phase ß). In glycerol, phase α can be compressed to 1.40 GPa, but then it reacts to DmaFe2+For3, with all Fe(III) cations reduced, surrounded by amorphous iron formate devoid of Dma cations. Another mixed-valence framework Dma3Fe2+3Fe3+For12·CO2 can be produced from phase α incubated in methanol and ethanol at 1.15 GPa. These pressure-induced environment-sensitive modifications have been rationalized by the volume effects in transforming structures, their different chemical composition, voids, ligands, and cation oxidation states switching between Fe(II), Fe(III), their high- and low-spin states, as well as solubility, molecular size, and the chemical and physical properties of the pressure transmitting media. The topochemical redox paths controlled by pressure and the liquid environment offer new highly efficient, safe, and environment-friendly reactions leading to new advanced materials and their postsynthetic modifications.

Dynamic Covalent Chemistry under High-Pressure:A New Route to Disulfide Metathesis.

This work describes, for the first time, the application of combined pressure and temperature stimuli in disulfide metathesis reactions. In the system studied, above a pressure of 0.2 GPa, equimolar amounts of symmetric disulfides bis 4-chlorophenyl disulfide [(4-ClPhS)2 ] and bis 2-nitrophenyl disulfide [(2-NO2 PhS)2 ] react to give the heterodimeric product 4-Cl-PhSSPh-2-NO2 . In contrast to experiments conducted in solution at atmospheric pressure or in mechanochemical experiments under ball-mill grinding conditions, there is no necessity to use a base or thiolate anion as a catalyst for the exchange reaction under investigated conditions. Single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction revealed also that, despite the high-pressure conditions of this reaction, the heterodimeric-disulfide product unexpectedly crystallizes into the low-density polymorph A. This counterintuitive result contrasts with the high-pressure stability of the higher-density polymorph B, confirmed by its compression up to 2.8 GPa with no signs of a phase transition.

Solid-State Associative Reactions and the Coordination Compression Mechanism.

Coordination polymers and metal-organic frameworks can be modified by high pressure, according to its effects on the radii of central and ligand atoms. The pressure reduces the ligands' radii, and the coordination number is usually increased. Such transformations of the coordination quite generally conform to the inverse rule of pressure and temperature effects, although the temperature-induced transformations are much less frequently observed. The two-dimensional coordination polymer Cd(APP)2NO3·NO3 [APP = 1,4-bis(3-aminopropyl)piperazine] undergoes a pressure-induced isostructural phase transition triggered by a topochemical reaction, yielding Cd(APP)2(NO3)2. The transition retains the symmetry of both phases, and their structures have been determined by X-ray diffraction for the single crystals compressed in a diamond-anvil cell. The reaction increases the Cd coordination, from 6-fold in phase I to 7-fold in phase II, where the new Cd-O bond involves an additional nitrate anion in the Cd coordination sphere.

High-pressure and temperature dependence of the spontaneous resolution of 1,1'-binaphthyl enantiomers.

High pressure increases the temperature of the spontaneous resolution of 1,1'-binaphthyl conformational enantiomers in the crystalline state, which confirms that the enantiomers and racemates are stabilized in the molecular environments in compressed structures. The established pressure-temperature (p-T) preference diagram for the racemate-enantiomer spontaneous crystallization corresponds to a boundary between solid phases, as it is consistent with the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, however, the hysteresis of such a solid-state transformation extends to very high pressure, to 3 GPa, at least according to this study. High-pressure X-ray diffraction study on single crystals of 1,1'-binaphthyl racemate and enantiomer reveals their monotonic compression and structural changes up to 3 GPa. It also reveals the increasing role of intermolecular interactions for stabilizing the structures, despite the exceptionally large density difference between the racemate (1.277 g cm-1) and enantiomers (1.183 g cm-1).

Pressure inverse solubility and polymorphism of an edible γ-cyclodextrin-based metal-organic framework.

A very exceptional effect of pressure-induced dissolution has been revealed for an edible metal-organic framework, γ-CD-MOF-1, formed using γ-cyclodextrin and KOH base. In addition, a new polymorph of γ-CD-MOF-1 has been obtained. The trigonal structure is a symmetry sub-group modification of the cubic form. The pressure-induced dissolution of γ-CD-MOF-1 and its polymorphism are shown to be closely related and regulated by adsorption in the pores, as well as the guest framework interactions.

Double helix quinine-based supergelator.

10,11-Didehydroquinine is a simple, low molecular weight supergelator which forms, in nonpolar media, stable chiral organogels composed of unique double-helix nano-sized fibers. A novel gelation mechanism involves a hydrogen bonding network formed by an acidic alkyne proton of the Cinchona gelator and the carbonyl group of ethyl acetate used as a solvent.

Two Cyanide-Bridged Mn(II)-Nb(IV) Coordination Chain Ferrimagnets Promoted by Interchain Ferromagnetic Interactions.

Two new coordination chain compounds based on octacyanoniobate(IV) are reported: {[Mn(II)(bpy)(H2O)2]2[Nb(IV)(CN)8]·5H2O}n (1) and {[Mn(II)(bpy)(H2O)2][Mn(II)(bpy)2][Nb(IV)(CN)8]·5H2O}n (2) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine). Both have the topology of vertex-sharing CN-bridged squares. The Mn2Nb2 units are mutually parallel in 1 and perpendicular in 2. The antiferromagnetic intrachain interactions between the Mn(II) and Nb(IV) centers in 1 and 2, typical for Mn(II)-[Nb(IV)(CN)8] family of compounds, lead to ferrimagnetic ground state of each single chain. Both compounds show bulk ferrimagnetic ordering below their critical temperatures (Tc) of 6.4 K in 1 and 4.7 K in 2. Such a behavior is due to the ferromagnetic interchain interactions, assured by the π-π contacts between the 2,2'-bipyridine rings and by the hydrogen bonds between the terminal cyanide ligands of the [Nb(IV)(CN)8]-building blocks and coordination/crystallization water molecules. 1 and 2 are rare examples of ferrimagnets promoted by interchain ferromagnetic exchange, and the Tc of 1 is one of the highest among similar 1-D coordination polymers.

Giant strain geared to transformable H-bonded network in compressed ß-D-mannose.

Networks of OH···O bonds in sugars and H2O ices are hardly affected by temperature, but transform under pressure. Such a transition at 1.95 GPa in ß-D-mannose induces strong strain, non-destructive for the single crystal and easily visible in its shape deformation. This transition occurs at the lowest pressure of all sugars investigated at high pressure so far. The giant strain propagates perpendicular to the clearly visible zero-strain planes. The transition reconstructs the 3-dimensional pattern of OH···O hydrogen bonds, changes the conformation of molecules and preserves the space-group symmetry, like the analogous transitions of α-D-glucose and D-sucrose. However, new repulsing O···O contacts have been generated at high pressure in D-mannose only.

Giant Negative Area Compressibility Tunable in a Soft Porous Framework Material.

A soft porous material [Zn(L)2(OH)2]n·Guest (where L is 4-(1H-naphtho[2,3-d]imidazol-1-yl)benzoate, and Guest is water or methanol) exhibits the strongest ever observed negative area compressibility (NAC), an extremely rare property, as at hydrostatic pressure most materials shrink in all directions and few expand in one direction. This is the first NAC reported in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and its magnitude, clearly visible and by far the highest of all known materials, can be reversibly tuned by exchanging guests adsorbed from hydrostatic fluids. This counterintuitive strong NAC of [Zn(L)2(OH)2]n·Guest arises from the interplay of flexible [-Zn-O(H)-]n helices with layers of [-Zn-L-]4 quadrangular puckered rings comprising large channel voids. The compression of helices and flattening of puckered rings combine to give a giant piezo-mechanical response, applicable in ultrasensitive sensors and actuators. The extrinsic NAC response to different hydrostatic fluids is due to varied host-guest interactions affecting the mechanical strain within the range permitted by exceptionally high flexibility of the framework.

Enforcing Multifunctionality: A Pressure-Induced Spin-Crossover Photomagnet.

Photomagnetic compounds are usually achieved by assembling preorganized individual molecules into rationally designed molecular architectures via the bottom-up approach. Here we show that a magnetic response to light can also be enforced in a nonphotomagnetic compound by applying mechanical stress. The nonphotomagnetic cyano-bridged Fe(II)-Nb(IV) coordination polymer {[Fe(II)(pyrazole)4]2[Nb(IV)(CN)8]·4H2O}n (FeNb) has been subjected to high-pressure structural, magnetic and photomagnetic studies at low temperature, which revealed a wide spectrum of pressure-related functionalities including the light-induced magnetization. The multifunctionality of FeNb is compared with a simple structural and magnetic pressure response of its analog {[Mn(II)(pyrazole)4]2[Nb(IV)(CN)8]·4H2O}n (MnNb). The FeNb coordination polymer is the first pressure-induced spin-crossover photomagnet.