From a monomer to a protein-sized, doughnut-shaped coordination oligomer-the influence of side chains of C3-symmetric ligands in supramolecular chemistry

Herein we describe the importance of side chains in C3-symmetric ligands in supramolecular chemistry. The reaction of the new ligand tris(5-bromo-2-methoxybenzylidene)triaminoguanidinium chloride [H3Me3Br3L]Cl (1) with ZnCl2 results in the formation of the monomeric complex (Et3NH)2[(ZnCl2)3Me3Br3L] (2), in which the ligand remains in a conformation less favourable for the coordination of metal centres. The use of the related tris(5-bromo-2-hydroxybenzylidene)triaminoguanidinium chloride, [H6Br3L]Cl, under similar conditions, results in the formation of two different dimeric compounds (NH4)[{[Zn(NH3)]3Br3L}2{mu-(OH)}3]1/4MeOH (3) and [Zn{Zn2(OH2)3(NH3)Br3L}2] (4), depending on the solvent mixture used. The comparable reaction of the ligand tris(5-bromo-2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene)triaminoguanidinium chloride [H6(OMe)3Br3L]Cl (5), leads to the formation of a doughnut-shaped, protein-sized coordination oligomer (Et3NH)18[{Zn[Zn2Cl{(OMe)3Br3L}]2}6(mu-Cl)6(OH2)6]x CH3CN (6), which comprises six dimeric [Zn5{(OMe)3Br3L}2] units. Whereas 3 and 4 decompose in DMSO solution, 6 is surprisingly stable in the same solvent.     

Nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis with indirect electrochemical detection

Nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) which makes use of organic solvents in place of conventional aqueous electrophoresis buffers is gaining increasing importance among modern separation techniques. Recently, it has been shown that amperometric detection in conjunction with acetonitrile-based NACE offers an extended accessible potential range and an enhanced long-term stability of the amperometric responses generated at solid electrodes. The present contribution takes advantage of the latter aspect to develop reliable systems for NACE with indirect electrochemical detection (IED). In this context, several compounds such as (ferrocenylmethyl)trimethylammonium perchlorate, tris(1,10-phenanthroline)cobalt(III) perchlorate and bis(1,4,7-triazacyclononane)nickel(II) perchlorate were studied regarding their suitability to act as electroactive buffer additives for IED in NACE. The performance characteristics for the respective buffer systems were evaluated. Tetraalkylammonium perchlorates served as model compounds for the optimization of the NACE-IED system. Target analytes choline and acetylcholine could easily be separated and determined by means of NACE-IED. In the case of a buffer system containing 10(-4) M tris(1,10-phenanthroline)cobalt(III) perchlorate the limits of detection were 2.5 x 10(-7) M and 4.6 x 10(-7) M for choline and acetylcholine, respectively. With the elaborated analytical procedure choline could be determined in pharmaceutical preparations.     

Formation of {Cu6[S2P(OC2H5)2]6} on Cu2S surfaces from aqueous solutions of the KS2P(OC2H5)2 collector: scanning electron microscopy and solid-state 31P cross-polarization/magic angle spinning and static 65Cu NMR studies

The interactions of synthetic chalcocite surfaces with diethyldithiophosphate, potassium salt, K[S2P(OC2H5)2], were studied by means of 31P cross-polarization/magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) NMR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). To identify the species formed on the Cu2S surfaces, a polycrystalline {CuI6[S2P(OC2H5)2]6} cluster was synthesized and analyzed by SEM, powder X-ray diffraction techniques and solid-state 31P CP/MAS NMR and static 65Cu NMR spectroscopy. 31P chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) parameters, delta(cs) and eta(cs), were estimated and used for assigning the bridging type of diethyldithiophosphate ligands in the {CuI6[S2P(OC2H5)2]6} cluster. The latter data were compared to 31P CSA parameters estimated from the spinning sideband patterns in 31P NMR spectra of the collector-treated mineral surfaces: formation of polycrystalline {CuI6[S2P(OC2H5)2]6} on the Cu2S surfaces is suggested. The second-order quadrupolar line shape of 65Cu was simulated, and the NMR interaction parameters, CQ and etaQ, for the copper(I) diethyldithiophosphate cluster were obtained.     

Molecular view of water dynamics near model peptides

Incoherent quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) has been used to measure the dynamics of water molecules in solutions of a model protein backbone, N-acetyl-glycine-methylamide (NAGMA), as a function of concentration, for comparison with results for water dynamics in aqueous solutions of the N-acetyl-leucine-methylamide (NALMA) hydrophobic peptide at comparable concentrations. From the analysis of the elastic incoherent structure factor, we find significant fractions of elastic intensity at high and low concentrations for both solutes, which corresponds to a greater population of protons with rotational time scales outside the experimental resolution (>13 ps). The higher-concentration solutions show a component of the elastic fraction that we propose is due to water motions that are strongly coupled to the solute motions, while for low-concentration solutions an additional component is activated due to dynamic coupling between inner and outer hydration layers. An important difference between the solute types at the highest concentration studied is found from stretched exponential fits to their experimental intermediate scattering functions, showing more pronounced anomalous diffusion signatures for NALMA, including a smaller stretched exponent beta and a longer structural relaxation time tau than those found for NAGMA. The more normal water diffusion exhibited near the hydrophilic NAGMA provides experimental support for an explanation of the origin of the anomalous diffusion behavior of NALMA as arising from frustrated interactions between water molecules when a chemical interface is formed upon addition of a hydrophobic side chain, inducing spatial heterogeneity in the hydration dynamics in the two types of regions of the NALMA peptide. We place our QENS measurements on model biological solutes in the context of other spectroscopic techniques and provide both confirming as well as complementary dynamic information that attempts to give a unifying molecular view of hydration dynamics signatures near peptides and proteins.     

Calix[4]- and calix[5]arene-based multicavity macrocycles

Synthesis and single-crystal X-ray structures of mixed triple and double calixarenes 6 and 7, obtained from the base-catalyzed condensation of calix[5]arene 1 with cone pertosylated calix[4]arene 2, are reported. VT-NMR studies on 7 are consistent with a molecular motion arising from the anti-gauche conformational interconversion of its ethylene linkages.     

Synthesis and reactivity of the monomeric late-transition-metal parent amido complex [Ir(Cp*)(PMe3)(Ph)(NH2)

The late-transition-metal parent amido compound [Ir(Cp*)(PMe3)(Ph)(NH2)] (2) has been synthesized by deprotonation of the corresponding ammine complex [Ir(Cp*)(PMe3)(Ph)(NH3)][OTf] (6) with KN(SiMe3)2. An X-ray structure determination has ascertained its monomeric nature. Proton-transfer studies indicate that 2 can successfully deprotonate p-nitrophenylacetonitrile, aniline, and phenol. Crystallographic analysis has revealed that the ion pair [Ir(Cp*)(PMe3)(Ph)(NH3)][OPh] (8) exists as a hydrogen-bonded dimer in the solid state. Reactions of 2 with isocyanates and carbodiimides lead to overall insertion of the heterocumulenes into the N--H bond of the Ir-bonded amido group, demonstrating the ability of 2 to act as an efficient nucleophile. Intriguing reactivity is observed when amide 2 reacts with CO or 2,6-dimethylphenyl isocyanide. eta4-Tetramethylfulvene complexes [Ir(eta4-C5Me4CH2)(PMe3)(Ph)(L)] (L=CO (15), CNC6H3-2,6-(CH3)2 (16)) are formed in solution through displacement of the amido group by the incoming ligand followed by deprotonation of a methyl group on the Cp* ring and liberation of ammonia. Conclusive evidence for the presence of the Ir-bonded eta4-tetramethylfulvene moiety in the solid state has been provided by an X-ray diffraction study of complex 16.     

Rare earth metal complexes based on β-diketiminato and novel linked bis(β-diketiminato) ligands: Synthesis, structural characterization and catalytic application in epoxide/CO2-copolymerization

Mesityl substituted β-diketiminato lanthanum and yttrium complexes [(BDI)Ln{N(SiRMe₂)}₂] (BDI = ArNC(Me)CHC(Me)NAr, Ar = 2,4,6-Me₃C₆H₂, Ln = La, R = Me (1), H (2a); Ln = Y, R = H (2b)) can be prepared via facile amine elimination starting from [La{N(SiMe₃)₂}₃] and [Ln{N(SiHMe₂)₂}₃(THF)₂] (Ln = Y, La), respectively. The X-ray crystal structure analysis of 1 revealed a distorted tetrahedral geometry around lanthanum with a η²-bound β-diketiminato ligand. A series of novel ethylene- and cyclohexyl-linked bis(β-diketiminato) ligands [C₂H₄(BDI^Ar)₂]H₂ and [Cy(BDI^Ar)₂]H₂ [Ar = Mes (=2,4,6-Me₃C₆H₂), DEP (=2,6-Et₂C₆H₃), DIPP (=2,6-i-Pr₂C₆H₃)] were synthesized in a two step condensation procedure. The corresponding bis(β-diketiminato) yttrium and lanthanum complexes were obtained via amine elimination. The X-ray crystal structure analysis of the ethylene-bridged bis(β-diketiminato) complex [{C₂H₄(BDI^Mes)₂}YN(SiMe₃)₂] (3b) and cyclohexyl-bridged complexes [{Cy(BDI^Mes)₂}LaN(SiHMe₂)₂] (7) and [{Cy(BDI^DEP)₂}LaN(SiMe₃)₂] (8) revealed a distorted square pyramidal coordination geometry around the rare earth metal, in which the amido ligand occupies the apical position and the two linked β-diketiminato moieties form the basis. The geometry of the bis(β-diketiminato) ligands depends significantly on the linker unit. While complexes with an ethylene-linked ligand adopt a cisoid arrangement of the two aromatic substituents, complexes with cyclohexyl linker adopt a transoid arrangement. Either one (3b) or both (7, 8) of the β-diketiminato moieties are tilted out of the η² coordination mode, resulting in close Ln?C contacts. The β-diketiminato and linked bis(β-diketiminato) complexes were moderately active in the copolymerization of cyclohexene oxide with CO₂. A maximum of 92% carbonate linkages were obtained using the ethylene-bridged bis(β-diketiminato) complex [{C₂H₄(BDI^Mes)₂}LaN(SiHMe₂)₂] (4).     

Density and Volume Properties of the 2-Chloroethanol + 2-Methoxyethanol + 1,2-Dimethoxyethane Ternary Solvent System at Different Temperatures

The density of the 2-chloroethanol (CE) + 2-methoxyethanol (ME) + 1,2-dimethoxye- thane (DME) ternary mixtures has been measured at different temperatures ranging from –10 to 80^°C, and over the entire composition range. The experimental data have been used to check the validity of some relationships accounting for the dependence of the density on temperature and composition domains. Starting from the primary data, some derived quantities, such as excess molar volumes V ^E, partial molar volumes and partial excess molar volumes , have been obtained. In these mixtures, V ^E is always positive for the [CE(1) + ME(2)] binaries, while it is generally negative at all other experimental conditions, showing the greatest deviations along the binary axes corresponding to the binary subsystems in the sequence [CE(1) + DME(2)] < [CE(1) + ME(2)] < [ME(1) + DME(2)]. The results are compared and discussed to in terms of changes in molecular association and structural effects in these solvent systems.     

Unsymmetrical diaryl sulfones through palladium-catalyzed coupling of aryl iodides and arenesulfinates

[reaction: see text] The palladium-catalyzed coupling of aryl iodides and arenesulfinates provides a simple and extremely efficient new route to unsymmetrical diaryl sulfones, usually isolated in high yield. The reaction tolerates a variety of functionalized aryl iodides, including those containing ether, ester, and nitro groups. The best results have been obtained by using Pd(2)(dba)(3), Xantphos, Cs(2)CO(3), and (n)Bu(4)NCl in toluene at 80 degrees C.