Germylenes Exhibiting Solid-State Emissions that Extend to NIR.

Low-valent main group compounds that fluoresce in the solid-state were previously unknown. To address this, we investigated room-temperature photoluminescence from a series of crystals of germylenes 3-8 in this article; they exhibited emissions nearly reaching the NIR. Germylene carboxylates (3-8) were synthesized by reacting dipyrromethene stabilized germylene pyrrolide (2) with carboxylic acids such as acetic acid, trifluoroacetic acid, benzoic acid, p-cyanobenzoic acid, p-nitrobenzoic acid, and acetylsalicylic acid.

A Design Criteria to Achieve Giant Ising-Type Anisotropy in CoII -Encapsulated Metallofullerenes.

Discovery of permanent magnetisation in molecules just like in hard magnets decades ago led to the proposal of utilising these molecules for information storage devices and also as Q-bits in quantum computing. A significant breakthrough with a blocking temperature as high as 80 K has been recently reported for lanthanocene complexes. While enhancing the blocking temperature further remains one of the primary challenges, obtaining molecules that are suitable for the fabrication of the devices sets the bar very high in this area. Encouraged by the fact that our earlier predictions of potential single-molecule magnets (SMMs) in lanthanide-containing endohedral fullerenes have been verified, here we set out to undertake a comprehensive study on CoII -ion-encapsulated fullerene as potential SMMs. To study this class of molecules, we have utilised an array of theoretical methods ranging from density functional to ab initio CASSCF/NEVPT2 methods for obtaining reliable estimate of zero-field splitting parameters D and E. Additionally, we have also employed, for the first time a combination of molecular dynamics based on DFT methods coupled with CASSCF/NEVPT2 methods to seek the role of conformational isomers in the relaxation of magnetisation. Particularly, we have studied, Co@C28 , Co@C38 and Co@C48 cages and their isomers as potential target molecules that could yield substantial magnetic anisotropy. Our calculations categorically reveal a very large Ising anisotropy in this class of molecules, with Co@C48 cages predicted to yield D values as high as -127 cm-1 . Our calculations on the smaller cages reveal the free movement of CoII ion inside the cage, leading to the likely scenario of faster relaxation of magnetisation. However, larger fullerene cages were found to solve this issue. Further models with incorporating units such as {CoOZn}, {CoScZnN} inside larger fullerenes yield axial zero-field splitting values as high as -200 cm-1 with negligible E/D values. As these units represent a strong axiality coupled with a viable way to obtain air-stable low-coordinate CoII complexes, this opens up a new paradigm in the search of SMMs in this class of molecules.

ATI stabilized germylene cation as a cyanosilylation catalyst for aldehydes and ketones.

The aminotroponiminate (ATI) ligand stabilized germylene cation [(i-Bu)2ATIGe][B(C6F5)4] (2) is found to be an efficient low-valent main-group catalyst for the cyanosilylation of aldehydes and ketones (ATI = aminotroponiminate). It was synthesized by reacting [(i-Bu)2ATIGeCl] (1) with Na[B(C6F5)4]. The catalytic cyanosilylation of diverse aliphatic and aromatic carbonyl compounds (aldehydes and ketones) using 0.075-0.75 mol% of compound 2 was completed within 5-45 min. The catalytic efficiency seen with aliphatic aldehydes was around 15,800 h-1, making compound 2 a capable low-valent main-group catalyst for the aldehyde and ketone cyanosilylation reactions.

Aza-Dipyrrinate Stabilized Compounds with a Low-Valent Main Group Element.

The possibility of using aza-dipyrromethene (a-DPM) ligands to stabilize compounds containing low-valent main group elements is demonstrated through the isolation of germylenes, a-DPM(p-tol)GeCl (2), a-DPM(Naph)GeCl (6), and a-DPM(Naph)GeN(TMS)2 (7) (tol=tolyl, Naph=naphthyl). Because of the presence of the a-DPM ligand, these germylenes exhibit an absorption maximum at around 640 nm, a highly red-shifted value previously unknown for germylenes.

Air and water stable germacarbonyl compounds.

Germacarbonyl compounds are the germanium analogs of carbonyl compounds requiring an inert atmosphere for stability. Making these compounds survive the ambient conditions was not feasible given the lability of the Ge[double bond, length as m-dash]E bonds (E = O, S, Se, Te). However, the first examples of germacarbonyl compounds synthesized under ambient conditions by taking advantage of dipyrromethene ligand stabilization are detailed here; the isolated compounds are thiogermanone 3, selenogermanone 4, thiogermacarboxylic acid 6, selenogermacarboxylic acid 7, thiogermaester 9, selenogermaester 10, thiogermaamide 12, and selenogermaamide 13 with Ge[double bond, length as m-dash]E bonds (E = S, Se). Compounds 12 and 13 can react under atmospheric conditions with copper(i) halides offering air and water stable monomeric 14-15 and dimeric 16-19 copper(i) complexes (halide = Cl, Br, I). Apart from just binding, selectivity was also observed; thiogermaamide 12 and selenogermaamide 13 bind CuCl and CuBr, respectively, when treated with a mixture of copper(i) halides.