Molecular motion and phase transition in hydroquinone clathrate compounds

Distinction between the host-guest and guest-guest interaction in the roles they play in determining the physical properties of the clathrate compounds is discussed. It is shown that the latter causes cooperative effects and phase transitions. Experimental data on the phase transitions and molecular motion in the hydroquinone clathrate compounds are reviewed. Dipole interaction between the guest molecules is shown to have a correct magnitude of energy to explain the experimentally found transition temperatures. Possibility of quantum effects in the clathrate property is discussed in relation to the free rotation and ortho-para conversion of the hydrogen sulphide and other guest molecules.Contribution No. 80 from Chemical Thermodynamics Laboratory     

水合物CH4-CO2置换的双重机理:空位辅助与竞争

过去的CO2置换甲烷水合物的微观机理研究,主要集中在客体分子(CH4、CO2)之间的交换、占据状态,孤立地研究分解过程或生成过程,忽视主体-客体之间的作用、主体分子(H2O)的空位辅助和客体分子的多重竞争通道。本文基于水合物分解的过冷水及其水空位辅助,以及水合物生成的串滴链及其客体分子竞争的研究,进一步评论水合物CH4-CO2置换的双重机理。然后,对微观机理的动态性和未来研究的相关问题进行讨论。通过综述和评论,文章得出以下初步结果:过冷水通过水空位推动客体分子的跳跃、扩散,实现置换过程的自组装;CO2分子在分解前沿形成一个有序结构的CO2串滴链,其动态性伴随水的组织到获取包合物笼的结构,以及非晶形包合物转变成晶形包合物的生长过程;CO2和CH4在中晶穴中必然产生竞争,并且存在多种竞争类型;成核过程中,不稳定簇导致竞争结构,且有多重竞争通道。最后,结果表明水合物的CH4-CO2置换机理具有双重性,即主体分子的空位辅助和客体分子的竞争,是分解过程和生成过程的自然统一。     

Crystal structure of poly(ethylene-oxide) supramolecular assemblies

The formation of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) supramolecular complexes is discussed in terms of intermolecular interactions and molecular packing. On the basis of the different known crystal structures, several mechanisms are proposed. First, the PEO complexes can be formed by an Intercalation or Inclusion process, guest molecules diffusing into the PEO unit cell. On the other hand, molecular complexes based on hydrogen bonding cannot be obtained by such a way, their formation requires the complete removal of the initial PEO structure either by melting or dissolution. Finally the relations between the crystal lamellar morphology, the host-guest interactions and the PEO chain mobility are discussed.     

Clathrate formation of Diels–Alder adduct of phencyclone and acenaphthylene. Key role of CH/π and bidentate CH/O interactions of the phenanthrene ring in construction of host framework

Two clathrate hosts (3a and 3b) were synthesized via the Diels–Alder reaction of phencyclone (1a) and tetracyclone (1b) with acenaphthylene (2), and the clathrate formation properties of these hosts towards a variety of organic guests were investigated. In the presence of aprotic solvents (i.e., aromatic, ketonic and etheric solvents), host 3a formed inclusion complexes with a 2:1 stoichiometric host/guest ratio, whereas 3b primarily formed 1:1 complexes. The desolvation temperatures of the 3a·guest complexes were extremely high in comparison to the boiling points of the pure guest liquids and were also much higher than those of the corresponding 3b·guest complexes, which contain the conformationally flexible stilbene moiety. Structural analyses of the 3a·guest complexes (i.e., 3a·benzene, 3a·toluene, 3a·1,4-dioxane, 3a·acetone and 3a·pentan-3-one) show that the aromatic CH/π (edge-to-face) interactions between phenanthrene and the acenaphthene ring as well as the interaction of the ‘bidentate’ CH/O hydrogen bond between the phenanthrene-ring hydrogen and the bridged carbonyl oxygen play a key role in the construction of the characteristic host ‘column’ structures. The guest molecule of the 3a·benzene complex is held between the stacking columns by aromatic CH/π interactions of the acenaphthene rings of adjacent host molecules. The stable clathrate formation of 3a is discussed based on X-ray structural analyses of six clathrates and PM6 molecular orbital calculations for the clathration model of 3a·benzene.     

Effect of Guest–Host Hydrogen Bonding on the Structures and Properties of Clathrate Hydrates

To provide improved understanding of guest–host interactions in clathrate hydrates, we present some correlations between guest chemical structures and observations on the corresponding hydrate properties. From these correlations it is clear that directional interactions such as hydrogen bonding between guest and host are likely, although these have been ignored to greater or lesser degrees because there has been no direct structural evidence for such interactions. For the first time, single‐crystal X‐ray crystallography has been used to detect guest–host hydrogen bonding in structure II (sII) and structure H (sH) clathrate hydrates. The clathrates studied are the tert‐butylamine (tBA) sII clathrate with H₂S/Xe help gases and the pinacolone + H₂S binary sH clathrate. X‐ray structural analysis shows that the tBA nitrogen atom lies at a distance of 2.64 Å from the closest clathrate hydrate water oxygen atom, whereas the pinacolone oxygen atom is determined to lie at a distance of 2.96 Å from the closest water oxygen atom. These distances are compatible with guest–water hydrogen bonding. Results of molecular dynamics simulations on these systems are consistent with the X‐ray crystallographic observations. The tBA guest shows long‐lived guest–host hydrogen bonding with the nitrogen atom tethered to a water HO group that rotates towards the cage center to face the guest nitrogen atom. Pinacolone forms thermally activated guest–host hydrogen bonds with the lattice water molecules; these have been studied for temperatures in the range of 100–250 K. Guest–host hydrogen bonding leads to the formation of Bjerrum L‐defects in the clathrate water lattice between two adjacent water molecules, and these are implicated in the stabilities of the hydrate lattices, the water dynamics, and the dielectric properties. The reported stable hydrogen‐bonded guest–host structures also tend to blur the longstanding distinction between true clathrates and semiclathrates.     

Enthalpy-entropy compensation reveals solvent reorganization as a driving force for supramolecular encapsulation in water

A chiral self-assembled M4L6 host assembly has been shown to be a suitable host for the supramolecular encapsulation of a series of guests in polar solvents, ranging from simple organic ammonium cations to more complex organometallic species. This molecular recognition process creates highly selective reactivity within the host cavity. In order to understand the factors driving the molecular recognition process, the standard thermodynamic parameters for encapsulation were determined for a series of protiated and fluorinated iridium guests in a variety of polar solvents using van't Hoff analysis. The encapsulation process for these guests exhibited enthalpy-entropy compensation effects. In solvents such as water and methanol, error analysis suggests a chemical origin for this behavior. In contrast, error analysis of this compensation behavior in polar aprotic solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide reveals that this correlation is due to an artifact inherent in the intrinsic correlation between the enthalpy and entropy terms in the van't Hoff analysis. Guest encapsulation in polar protic solvents such as water appears to be driven by initial desolvation of the guest with concomitant rearrangement of the hydrogen bond networks in solution. This behavior shares common characteristics with other synthetic and natural host-guest and molecular recognition processes in aqueous solution, ranging from simple crown ether to complex enzyme-ligand interactions.     

Features of clathrate formation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">trans</Emphasis>-9,10-dihydro-9,10-ethanoanthracene-11,12-dicarboxylic acid

Structural data illustrating various ways of association of the molecules of host and guest observed in the clathrates of trans-9,10-dihydro-9,10-ethanoanthracene-11,12-dicarboxylic acid (DED) with chloroform, ethyl propionate, 1,4-dioxane and acetone are presented. The following types of host-guest interactions are considered: “true clathrate” without host-guest hydrogen bonds (DED + chloroform, DED + ethyl propionate), infinite associate (DED + 1,4-dioxane) and discrete associate (DED + acetone).     

Structural and Dynamical Properties of n-Alkane Molecules in Clathrate Phase of Syndiotactic Polystyrene

Syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) forms a clathrate phase with a variety of compounds. Not only rigid molecules but also flexible molecules can be stored in the cavities of the clathrate phase. To clarify the adjustment mechanism of a flexible guest molecule to the sPS clathrate system, the host and guest structures were investigated by means of solid-state ¹³C NMR and Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffractometry for the sPS clathrates with a series of n-alkanes from n-hexane to n-decane. Although the 010 spacing of the host sPS lattice expanded slightly on going from n-hexane to n-heptane, it decreased markedly at n-octane and then increased gradually with the chain length of guest n-alkane. The conformational change of guest n-alkane molecules was involved in this anomalous change in the 010 spacing. Majority of the n-hexane and n-heptane molecules took extended chain structures in the clathrates, whereas all longer n-alkanes took bent chain structures. The mean-square displacement of hydrogen atoms in the clathrates was estimated by quasielastic neutron scattering experiments. It was confirmed that the host lattice contraction suppressed thermal motion of the clathrate system.     

Cyclen based bis-macrocyclic ligands as phosphates receptors. A potentiometric and NMR study

The host-guest interaction between orthophosphate, pyrophosphate and triphosphate anions and four cyclen based bis-macrocycles ligands possessing ortho-(BOC), meta-(BMC), para-xylenyl (BPC) or 2,6-pyridinyl (BPyC) linker was investigated by potentiometric measurements and NMR spectroscopy. Each ligand gave protonated species in aqueous solution that further formed ternary complexes after binding with anions; these complexes were analyzed as a result of hydrogen bond formation and Coulombic attraction between the organic host and the inorganic guest. The equilibrium constants for all the detected species are reported and the selectivity, illustrated with species distribution diagrams, is discussed. The results unambiguously showed the importance of the distance between the two cyclen cores and underlined, especially for the triphosphate species, the contribution of the nitrogen atom of the pyridinyl spacer as a supplementary anchoring point in acidic medium.     

A systematic evaluation of molecular recognition phenomena. 2. Interaction between phosphates and nucleotides with hexaazamacrocyclic ligands containing diethylic ether spacers

The host-guest interactions between ortho- (Ph), pyro- (Pp), and tripolyphosphate (Tr) anions together with ATP (At), ADP (Ad), and AMP (Am) nucleotides and the two hexaazamacrocyclic ligands 1,15-dioxa-4,8,12,18,22,26-hexaazacyclooctacosane (Pn) and 1,13-dioxa-4,7,10,16,20,24-hexaazacyclohexacosane (Op) have been investigated by potentiometric equilibrium methods. Ternary complexes are formed in aqueous solution as a result of hydrogen bond formation and Coulombic attraction between the host and the guest. Formation constants for all the species obtained are reported. The selectivity of the Pn and Op ligands with regard to the different phosphate and nucleotide substrates is discussed and illustrated with total species distribution diagrams. A comparison is also carried out, with the results obtained in this work and those obtained previously with three other closely related hexaazamacrocyclic ligands. This comparison manifests the importance of ligand basicity, rigidity, and pi-stacking capability in order to understand their binding and selectivity.     

The water molecule arrangement over the side chain of some aliphatic amino acids: A quantum chemical and bottom-up investigation

The geometry of surrounding water molecules on the side chain of glycine, alanine, α-aminoisobutyric acid, α-aminobutyric acid, valine, and related hydrocarbons has been analyzed combining bottom-up and quantum chemical methodologies. To minimize the cavity size and to prevent water-water hydrogen bonding loss, the water molecules adopt a shape, resembling the one found in crystal structure of gas clathrate hydrates, with water molecules tangentially oriented to the surface of hydrophobic side chain. The cage is directly hydrogen bonded to the backbone's polar groups, thus hydration shells around hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups are folded together in amphiphilic molecules. The hydrophobe enclathration implies a substantial freedom degree reduction which makes it entropically disfavored. This disadvantageous entropic contribution is partially compensated by the favorable van der Waals interactions with guest in stabilizing clathrate hydrate formation. The water shell around the side chain relates intimately with the side-chain rotational isomerism. Present data are correlated with the experimental determined populations of the three rotamers, yielding promising results for both α-aminobutyric acid and valine.     

Mass spectrometric investigation of noncovalent complexation between a tetratosylated resorcarene and alkyl ammonium ions

Noncovalent complexation between tetratosylated tetraethyl resorcarene (1) and primary, secondary, and tertiary alkyl ammonium ions (mMe, dMe, tMe, mEt, dEt, tEt, dBu, and dHex) was studied by electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (ESI-FTICR) mass spectrometry. Interactions of the noncovalent complexes were investigated by means of competition experiments, collision-induced dissociation (CID) experiments, ion-molecule reactions with tripropylamine and gas phase H/D-exchange reactions with deuteroammonia. Gas phase ion-molecule reactions gave especially valuable information about the structure and properties of the complexes. Resorcarene 1 formed relatively stable 1:1 complexes with all aliphatic alkyl ammonium ions. Steric properties of the alkyl ammonium ions and proton affinities of the conjugate amines noticeably affected the complexation properties, indicating the importance of hydrogen bonding in these complexes. According to the competition experiments, the thermodynamically most stable host-guest complexes were formed with alkyl ammonium ions that were most substituted and had the longest alkyl chains. In CID experiments, release of an intact free guest ion or dissociation of the host was observed to depend on the proton affinity of the amine and the strength of the hydrogen bond that was formed. In ion-molecule reactions with tripropylamine, a guest exchange reaction occurred with all alkyl ammonium ion complexes with reaction rates mostly dependent on the steric properties of the original guest ion. In H/D-exchange reactions the N-H hydrogen atoms of the guest ion were exchanged with deuterium, whereas the resorcinol hydrogen atoms remained unchanged.     

Complexation of the triphosphate anion: tuning the structure of cyclen based macrotricycles with 1,3-dimethylbenzene and 2,6-dimethylpyridine linkers. A potentiometric and NMR study

The host-guest interaction between orthophosphate, pyrophosphate and triphosphate anions and three cyclen-based macrotricyclic ligands was investigated by potentiometric measurements and NMR spectroscopy. The ligands differ from one another by the nature of their spacers, which are 1,3-dimethylbenzene (TMC), 2,6-dimethylpyridine (TPyC) or a combination of the two (TMPyC). In aqueous solution, each ligand gave protonated species that further formed ternary complexes after binding with anions; these complexes were analyzed as a result of hydrogen bond formation and coulombic attraction between the organic host and the inorganic guest. The equilibrium constants found for all the detected species are reported and the selectivity, illustrated with species distribution diagrams, is discussed. The results unambiguously showed that the ligand possessing a single supplementary anchoring site (the pyridinyl spacer) exhibited the greatest affinity for the phosphate species in a large p[H] range.     

X-ray structural investigation of gossypol and its derivatives XXV. Structure of the clathrate of gossypol with isopropyl alcohol

With isopropyl alcohol, gossypol forms a clathrate isostructural with the complexes of gossypol formed by ketones (acetone), aldehydes (butyraldehyde),or alcohols (propyl alcohol). The hydroxy group of isopropyl alcohol acts as the proton acceptor in a hydrogen bond of the host-guest type.A. S. Sadykov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, fax (3712) 62 70 71. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 220–225, March-April, 1995. Original article submitted September 6, 1994.     

Phase diagram of the ethylene glycol-dioxane system in the temperature range from ?90 to 25°C

The ethylene glycol-1,4-dioxane system is studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry over a wide range of temperatures (?90 to 25°C) and is found to be a simple eutectic with the eutectic point at 10 mol % of dioxane (?16.5°C). Unlike a water-dioxane system, in which the clathrate with dioxane: H₂O = 1: 34 ratio is formed, the observed phase diagram showed no evidence of clathrate formation, due presumably to its hydrogen bond geometry and the intermolecular interaction properties of ethylene glycol.     

Controlling nonclassical content of clathrate hydrates through the choice of molecular guests and temperature

Low-temperature, low-pressure studies of clathrate hydrates (CHs) have revealed that small ether and other proton-acceptor guests greatly enhance rates of clathrate hydrate nucleation and growth; rapid formation and transformations are enabled at temperatures as low as 110 K, and cool moist vapors containing small ether molecules convert to mixed-gas CHs on a subsecond time scale. More recently, FTIR spectroscopic studies of the tetrahydrofuran (THF)-HCN double clathrate hydrate revealed a sizable frequency shift accompanied by a four-fold intensification of the C-N stretch-mode absorption of the small cage HCN, behavior that is enhanced by cooling and which correlates precisely with similar significant changes of the ether C-O/C-C stretch modes. These temperature-dependent correlated changes in the infrared spectra have been attributed to equilibrated extensive hydrogen bonding of neighboring large- and small-cage guest molecules with water molecules of the intervening wall. An ether guest functions as a proton acceptor, particularly so when complemented by the action of a proton-donor (HCN)/electron-acceptor (SO(2)) small-cage guest. Because guest molecules of the classic clathrate hydrates do not participate in hydrogen bonds with the host water, this H-bonding of guests has been labeled "nonclassical". The present study has been enriched by comparing observed FTIR spectra with high-level molecular orbital computational results for guests and hydrogen-bonded guest-water dimers. Vibrational frequency shifts, from heterodimerization of ethers and water, correlate well with the corresponding observed classical to nonclassical shifts. The new spectroscopic data reveal that the nonclassical structures can contribute at observable levels to CH infrared spectra for a remarkable range of temperatures and choice of guest molecules. By the choice of guest molecules, it is now possible to select the abundance levels of nonclassical configurations, ranging from ～0 to 100%, for a given temperature. This ability is expected to hasten understanding of the role of guest-induced nonclassical structures in the acceleration or inhibition of the rates of CH formation and transformation.     

Hexahomotrioxacalix[3]arene derivatives as ionophores for molecular recognition of dopamine, serotonin and phenylethylamine

The lower rim functionalized hexahomotrioxacalix[3]arene derivatives cone-3 and cone-5 bearing three benzyl and three N,N-diethyl-2-aminoethoxy groups, respectively, were synthesized from triol 1. Their complexation with 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethylamine (dopamine), 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin), and 2-phenylethylamine (phenethylamine), which have biologically important activities, has been studied by (1)H-NMR spectroscopy. The chemical shifts of the aromatic protons of the host and guest molecules and the up-field shifts of the ethyl protons of the guest molecules strongly suggest the formation of inclusion complexes in solution. The formation of the host-guest complexes is assisted by a hydrogen bond and/or an electrostatic interaction between the host and ammonium ion (RNH(3)(+)) of the guest. The structures of receptors cone-3 and cone-5 have been determined by X-ray crystallography.     

Application of clathrate compounds for hydrogen storage

The review considers current works on clathrate hydrogen compounds, aimed at creating hydrogen accumulators suitable for practical application. Analysis of published data showed that clathrate hydrates formed by pure hydrogen are unsuitable for this purpose in view of their fairly low limiting hydrogen content and the necessity for their synthesis of extremely high pressures (>100 MPa) that are still industrially unfeasible. The possibilities for hydrogen storage in double (including auxiliary guest molecules along with hydrogen) clathrate hydrates are considered. It is concluded from published data that sorbents on the basis of the so-called “metal-organic frameworks” (MOFs) with a pore size of 1–2 nm hold a greater promise for hydrogen storage at temperatures of about 100 and moderately (up to 10 MPa) high pressures, but the development of all the considered methods of hydrogen storage has not yet grown out of laboratory experiments.     

Thermal expansivity of tetrahydrofuran clathrate hydrate with diatomic guest molecules

The guest dynamics and thermal behavior occurring in the cages of clathrate hydrates appear to be too complex to be clearly understood through various structural and spectroscopic approaches, even for the well-known structures of sI, sII, and sH. Neutron diffraction studies have recently been carried out to clarify the special role of guests in expanding the host water lattices and have contributed to revealing the influence factors on thermal expansivity. Through this letter we attempt to address three noteworthy features occurring in guest inclusion: (1) the effect of guest dimension on host water lattice expansion; (2) the effect of thermal history on host water lattice expansion; and (3) the effect of coherent/incoherent scattering cross sections on guest thermal patterns. The diatomic guests of H 2, D 2, N 2, and O 2 have been selected for study, and their size and mass dependence on the degree of lattice expansion have been examined, and four sII clathrate hydrates with tetrahydrofuran (THF) have been synthesized in order to determine their neutron powder diffraction patterns. After thermal cycling, the THF + H 2 clathrate hydrate is observed to exhibit an irreversible plastic deformation-like pattern, implying that the expanded lattices fail to recover the original state by contraction. The host-water cage dimension after degassing the guest molecules remains as it was expanded, and thus host-guest as well as guest-guest interactions will be altered if guest uptake reoccurs.