The first noncoordinated phosphonium diylide, [Me2P(C13H8)2]-, and its ylidic and cationic counterparts: synthesis, structural characterization, and interaction with the heavy group 2 metals

Treatment of potassium or lithium fluorenide with MePCl2 generates the organophosphine MeP(C13H9)2, which on reaction with methyl iodide produces the phosphonium species [Me2P(C13H9)2]I in 74% yield. In the solid state, H...I contacts of < 3.3 A help generate a layered structure in which the fluorenyl rings are nearly parallel. On subsequent reaction of [Me2P(C13H9)2]I with either KH or K[N(SiMe3)2], the corresponding neutral phosphoylide, Me2P(C13H9)(C13H8), forms in 67% yield and was structurally characterized. The phosphonium iodide [Me2P(C13H9)2]I was allowed to react with Ae[N(SiMe3)2]2 (Ae = Ca, Ba), and the product from the reaction with the calcium complex was structurally identified as the salt [CaI(thf)5][Me2P(C13H8)2]. The anion, which is outside the coordination sphere of the calcium, represents the first structurally authenticated example of a free phosphonium diylide. The P-C(ylidic) bond length of 1.748(4) A reflects some partial multiple bond character. 1H and 31P NMR spectra suggest that the barium analogue is similar. Density functional theory calculations were performed on representative phosphonium diylides as an aid to interpreting the bonding in this class of compounds. Despite the strong electrostatic attraction that usually drives metal-ligand binding in highly ionic systems, calcium and barium prefer to coordinate to a single iodide ion and several neutral oxygen donors rather than to the charged diylide.     

Influence of Se-deficiencies on the properties of In-doped CdCr2Se4 single crystals

Lattice constant, Curie temperature, and electrical conductivity of CdCr₂Se₄:In single crystals have been measured after heat treatments of the crystals in Se atmosphere and under streaming hydrogen. By these treatments, the concentration of the Se vacancies and of the charge carrier concentration is altered drastically. The lattice constant as well as the magnetic ordering temperature have been found not to be affected by these heat treatments.Since the Se vacancies act as doubly changed donors, the electrical conductivity is strongly dependent on the concentration of the Se vacancies. A resistivity anomaly and large magnetoresistance are observed only in crystals with considerable Se deficiency. From these results it is concluded that the magnetoresistance is caused by hopping conduction between donor sites partly emptied by compensating A-site vacancy acceptors. Large magnetoresistance is found in samples with considerable Se deficit because only in this case the conduction at lower temperatures is dominated by the impurity band.     

Raman and infrared spectra of CdIn2S4 and ZnIn2S4

Four one-phonon Raman lines have been found in CdIn₂S₄ (ZnIn₂S₄) spinels at 92 (72) cm^-1, 186 (184) cm^-1, 246 (253) cm^-1, and 367 (372) cm^-1 for incident photon energies well below the energy gap E_G ～ 2.4 (2.2) eV at 300 K. For photon energies close to E_G, the 367 cm^-1 mode underwent a resonant enhancement in CdIn₂S₄ and four infrared active but Raman forbidden F_1u modes appeared in the CdIn₂S₄ and ZnIn₂S₄ Raman spectra: TO modes at 226 (221) cm^-1 and 309 (312) cm^-1, and LO modes at 274 (272) cm^-1 and 340 (342) cm^-1.     

Reactivity of the hydrido/nitrosyl radical MHCl(NO)(CO)(P(i)Pr(3))(2), M = Ru, Os

The reaction of equimolar NO with the 16 electron molecule RuHCl(CO)L(2) (L = P(i)Pr(3)) proceeds, via a radical adduct RuHCl(CO)(NO) L(2), onward to form RuCl(NO)(CO)L(2) (X-ray structure determination) and RuHCl(HNO)(CO)L(2), in a 1:1 mole ratio. The HNO ligand, bound by N and trans to hydride, is rapidly degraded by excess NO. The osmium complex behaves analogously, but the adduct has a higher formation constant, permitting determination of its IR spectrum; both MHCl(CO)(NO)L(2) radicals are characterized by EPR spectroscopy, and DFT calculations on the Ru system show it to have a "half-bent" Ru-N-O unit with the spin density mainly on nitrogen. DFT (PBE) energies rule out certain possible mechanistic steps for forming the two products. A survey of the literature leads to the hypothesis that NO should generally be considered as a (neutral) Lewis base (2-electron donor) when it binds to a 16 electron complex which is resistant to oxidation or reduction, and that the resulting N-centered radical has a M-N-O angle of approximately 140 degrees, which distinguishes it from NO(-) (bent at <140 degrees ) and from NO(+) (>170 degrees ).     

Modulating the light switch by (3)MLCT-(3)ππ* state interconversion

The spectroscopic, electronic, and DNA-binding characteristics of two novel ruthenium complexes based on the dialkynyl ligands 2,3-bis(phenylethynyl)-1,4,8,9-tetraaza-triphenylene (bptt, 1) and 2,3-bis(4-tert-butyl-phenylethynyl)-1,4,8,9-tetraaza-triphenylene (tbptt, 2) have been investigated. Electronic structure calculations of bptt reveal that the frontier molecular orbitals are localized on the pyrazine-dialkynyl portion of the free ligand, a property that is reflected in a red shift of the lowest energy electronic transition (1: λ(max) = 393 nm) upon substitution at the terminal phenyl groups (2: λ(max) = 398 nm). Upon coordination to ruthenium, the low-energy ligand-centered transitions of 1 and 2 are retained, and metal-to-ligand charge transfer transitions (MLCT) centered at λ(max) = 450 nm are observed for [Ru(phen)(2)bptt](2+)(3) and [Ru(phen)(2)tbptt](2+)(4). The photophysical characteristics of 3 and 4 in ethanol closely parallel those observed for [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+) and [Ru(phen)(3)](2+), indicating that the MLCT excited state is primarily localized within the [Ru(phen)(3)](2+) manifold of 3 and 4, and is only sparingly affected by the extended conjugation of the bptt framework. In an aqueous environment, 3 and 4 possess notably small luminescence quantum yields (3: ?(H(2)O) = 0.005, 4: ?(H(2)O) = 0.011) and biexponential decay kinetics (3: τ(1) = 40 ns, τ(2) = 230 ns; 4: τ(1) ～ 26 ns, τ(2) = 150 ns). Addition of CT-DNA to an aqueous solution of 3 causes a significant increase in the luminescence quantum yield (?(DNA) = 0.045), while the quantum yield of 4 is relatively unaffected (?(DNA) = 0.013). The differential behavior demonstrates that tert-butyl substitution on the terminal phenyl groups inhibits the ability of 4 to intercalate with DNA. Such changes in intrinsic luminescence demonstrate that 3 binds to DNA via intercalation (K(b) = 3.3 × 10(4) M(-1)). The origin of this light switch behavior involves two competing (3)MLCT states similar to that of the extensively studied light switch molecule [Ru(phen)(2)dppz](2+). The solvent- and temperature-dependence of the luminescence of 3 reveal that the extended ligand aromaticity lowers the energy of the (3)ππ* excited state into competition with the emitting (3)MLCT state. Interconversion between these two states plays a significant role in the observed photophysics and is responsible for the dual emission in aqueous environments.