Organo-Zintl clusters soluble in conventional organic solvents: setting the stage for organo-Zintl cluster chemistry

Organo-Zintl cluster ions were synthesized by reactions of alkynes with Ge94- clusters in ethylenediamine. The triple bonds are hydrogenated to double bonds during the process. The resulting dial-kenylated species [RHC=CHGe9CH=CHR]2- have lower charge, their alkali-metal cations can be exchanged for tetralkylammonium cations, and the resulting compounds are soluble in nonpolar solvents. This was demonstrated with [H2C=CHGe9CH=CH2]2-, which was structurally characterized with [K-(18-crown-6)]+, [Me4N]+, and [Pr4N]+ as countercations. The solubility of its salt with [Oc4N]+ in various conventional organic solvents was studied.     

Isomeric structures and structural transformations in small clusters

The temperature dependence of energies of the isomers of a seven-particle system is studied with a view toward understanding ergodicity problems in Monte Carlo simulations. It is found that the phase space of particles in a cluster is not ergodic at lower temperatures.     

Water superstructures within organic arrays; hydrogen-bonded water sheets, chains and clusters

A strategy for encouraging the formation of extended water arrays is presented, in which molecules that contain a 1,4-dihydroquinoxaline-2,3-dione core are used as supramolecular hosts for the accommodation of guest water molecules and arrays. These molecules were selected as they contain a hydrophilic oxalamide-based "terminus" that allows water molecules to hydrogen-bond to the host organic molecules as well as to each other. The host molecules also contain a hydrophobic "end" based upon an aromatic ring, which serves to encourage the formation of discrete water clusters in preference to three-dimensional networks, as the water molecules cannot form strong hydrogen bonds with this part of the molecule. A systematic study of several hydrated structures of four organic molecules based on 1,4-dihydroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (qd) is discussed. The organic molecules, qd, 6-methyl-1,4-dihydroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (mqd), 6,7-dimethyl-1,4-dihydroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (dmqd) and 1,4-dihydrobenzo[g]quinoxaline-2,3-dione (Phqd), act as supramolecular crystal hosts for the clusters of water, with zero-, one- and two-dimensional arrays of water being observed. The hydrogen bonding in the structures, both within the water clusters and between the clusters and organic molecules, is examined. In particular, the structure of dmqd6 H2O contains a two-dimensional water sheet composed of pentagonal and octagonal units. Phqd3 H2O forms a hydrophilic extended structure encouraging the formation of one-dimensional chains consisting entirely of water. Both qd2 H2O and dmqd2 H2O can be considered to form one-dimensional chains, but only by utilising bridging carbonyl groups of the oxalamide moieties to form the extended array; if only the water is considered, zero-dimensional water tetramers are observed. The remaining hydrated structures, [Na+dmqd-]dmqdH2O, dmqd1/3H2O and mqd1/2H2O, all contain discrete water molecules but do not form extended water structures.     

Multicenter ligand transformations of thioureas on ruthenium clusters

The reaction of trirutheniumdodecacarbonyl with various thioureas was found to give, depending upon the substituents and the reaction conditions, a large variety of tri-, tetra-, penta-, and hexanuclear ruthenium clusters. The ligand systems observed in the products are derived from the thioureas employed; the fragmentation of the thiourea molecules involve N-H, C-S, C-H, and C-N activation processes.     

Three-dimensional aromaticity in deltahedral boranes and carboranes

Methods derived from topology and graph theory indicate that the deltahedral boranes B _n H _n ^2– and the corresponding carboranes C₂B_n–2H _n (6 n 12) may be regarded as three-dimensional delocalized aromatic systems in which surface bonding and core bonding correspond to -bonding and -bonding, respectively, in planar polygonal two-dimensional hydrocarbons CinnH _n ^(n–6)+ (n=5/7). The two extreme types of topologies which may be used to model core bonding in deltahedral boranes and carboranes are the deltahedral (D _n ) topology based on the skeleton of the underlying deltahedron and the complete (K _n ) topology based on the corresponding complete graph. Analyses of the Hoffmann-Lipscomb LCAO extended Hückel computations, the Armstrong—Perkins—Stewart self-consistent molecular orbital computations, and SCF MOab initio GAUSSIAN-82 computations on B₆H₆ ^2– indicate that the approximation of the atomic orbitals by the sum of the molecular orbitals, as is typical in modernab initio computations, leads to significantly weaker apparent core bonding approximated more closely by deltahedral (D _n ) topology than by complete (K _n ) topology.This work was presented at the Workshop The Modern Problems of Heteroorganic Chemistry sponsored by the A. N. Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds of the Russian Academy of Sciences (May 8–13, 1993).Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 8, pp. 1353–1360, August, 1993.     

Atom tunneling in organic transformations

There and gone: atoms, such as hydrogen or deuterium, commonly disappear and reappear at different locations in molecular structures. For example, carboxylic acids and hydroxycarbenes isomerize through atom tunneling events. It could happen in your reaction!     

Parallel processing of microwave-assisted organic transformations

Microwave-assisted organic synthesis is an enabling technology that has been exploited for a variety of applications including medicinal chemistry/drug discovery projects where speed is often a critical factor. In this review, applications of microwave-assisted organic synthesis employing a parallel processing regime are summarized. Examples include parallel synthesis in domestic microwave ovens, the use of specialized multivessel rotors and microtiter plates in dedicated multimode microwave reactors, and applications of SPOT synthesis on cellulose matrices.     

Mesoporous compound semiconductors from the reaction of metal ions with deltahedral [Ge9]4- clusters

We report the surfactant-directed assembly of mesoporous metal/germanium-based semiconducting materials from coupling of anionic (Ge 9) (4-) clusters with various linking metal ions. The resulting materials feature a metal/Ge 9 framework perforated by regular arrays of mesoporous channels. The permanent mesoporosity of the materials NU-MGe-2 (M = Sb, In, Sn, Pb, Cd), determined by N 2 physisorption measurements, corresponds to high internal BET surface areas from 127 to 277 m (2)/g and total pore volumes from 0.15 to 0.26 cm (3)/g. The mesoporous structures exhibit energy gaps in the range of 1.48-1.70 eV as well as strong photoluminescence at room temperature with emission energies varying from 740 to 845 nm. The emission depends on pore wall thickness and framework composition. The photoemission intensity in the mesoporous intermetallic germanium-based frameworks can be selectively suppressed by adsorbing electron-acceptor species such as tetracyanoethylene molecules but remains unchanged when exposed to electron-donor species such as tetrathiafulvalene molecules.     

Antiaromaticity in bare deltahedral silicon clusters satisfying Wade's and Hirsch's rules: an apparent correlation of antiaromaticity with high symmetry

Entirely unlike the aromatic closo BnHn2- borane dianions, isoelectronic Si62- and Si122- are antiaromatic. Their Oh and Ih symmetries are responsible, as the other deltahedral silicon dianion clusters do not exhibit this behavior. These high symmetries prevent mixing among the degenerate lone pair and skeletal orbitals, leading to paratropic behavior.     

Plasmonic heterogeneous catalysis for organic transformations

Plasmonic catalysis has been recognised as a promising alternative to many conventional thermal catalytic processes in organic synthesis. In addition to their high activity in fine chemical synthesis, plasmonic photocatalysts are also able to maintain control of selectivity under mild conditions by utilising visible-light as an energy source. This review provides an overview of the recent advances in organic transformations with plasmonic metal nanostructures, including selective reduction, selective oxidation, cross-coupling and addition reactions. We also summarize the photocatalysts and catalytic mechanisms involving surface plasmon resonance. Finally, control of reaction pathway and strategies for tailoring product selectivity in fine chemical synthesis are discussed.     

Radiation-chemical transformations of coumarins in organic solvents

A spectrophotometric investigation into the radiation-chemical transformations of coumarins with different structures was performed. It was shown that the introduction of hydroxy, nitroso, and methyl groups into the coumarin molecule has a substantial effect on its radiation-chemical transformations. The solvated electron was supposed to be a reactive species responsible, for the most part, for coumarin degradation.     

Ligand-free deltahedral clusters of silicon in solution: synthesis, structure, and electrochemistry of Si9(2-)

Deltahedral nine-atom clusters of silicon, Si(9)(2-), were synthesized by mild oxidation of a liquid ammonia solution of K(12)Si(17) with Ph(3)GeCl in the presence of 18-crown-6 (1,4,7,10,13,16-hexaoxacyclooctadecane) or 2,2,2-crypt (4,7,13,16,21,24-hexaoxa-1,10-diazabicyclo[8.8.8]hexacosane). The clusters were structurally characterized in [K(18-crown-6)](2)Si(9).C(5)H(5)N (yellow; orthorhombic, Pnma; a = 14.013(1), b = 18.108 (1), c = 18.320 (1) A; Z = 4) crystallized from a pyridine solution of the product of the aforementioned reaction in liquid ammonia. Si(9)(2-) is the first unequivocally characterized nine-atom cluster of group 14 with a charge of 2-. In addition to pyridine, the product from the reaction in liquid ammonia is also soluble in DMF, and the Si(9)(2-) clusters were characterized by mass spectrometry in such a solution. The more reduced clusters Si(9)(3-) have also been crystallized from pyridine solution. Cyclic voltammetry in both pyridine and DMF solutions clearly shows the Si(9)(2-)/Si(9)(3-) redox couple as one-electron reversible process. The structural similarities and differences between Si(9)(3-) and Si(9)(2-) are discussed herein.     

Dendritic metalloporphyrins as catalysts for organic transformations

Dendritic manganese, iron, and ruthenium porphyrins with dendritic wedges attached to the periphery of meso-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) or meso-triarylporphyrin macrocycle were reported to be active catalysts for epoxidation or cyclopropanation of alkenes or oxidation of sulfides. The dendritic manganese and iron porphyrin catalysts exhibit considerably higher regioselectivity and shape selectivity than the respective parent catalyst [M(TPP)Cl] (M = Mn, Fe). Systematic increase in shape selectivity, diastereoselectivity, epoxide/sulfoxide selectivity, or catalyst stability with increasing generation number of the dendritic wedges is observed for the alkene epoxidation or sulfide oxidation reactions catalyzed by these dendritic manganese, iron, and ruthenium porphyrins. To cite this article: C.-M. Che, C. R. Chimie 6 (2003).     

Selective organic transformations on titanium oxide-based photocatalysts

This article reviews recent advances in selective organic transformations, both in gas and liquid media, using titanium oxide-based photocatalysts. Several photocatalytic reactions, such as oxidation, reduction, and coupling reactions, proceed highly efficiently and selectively without requiring harmful and dangerous chemical reagents and without harmful byproducts. In addition, multistep processes usually required for conventional synthesis of various kinds of valuable compounds can be simplified to a one-pot reaction when in photocatalytic systems. Photocatalytic transformations will therefore play a very important role for organic synthesis in an economically and environmentally friendly way. This review article demonstrates that titanium oxide-based photocatalysts have a great potential as a versatile tool in “green” organic synthesis.     

Cooperative multi-catalyst systems for one-pot organic transformations

One-pot co-catalyst systems are covered in this tutorial review. It is divided into three sections according to the reaction types: i) one catalyst performs a desired reaction as the second catalyst restores the first catalytic species back into its original state for the next catalytic cycles, ii) two catalysts carry out sequential organic transformations, in which the first step is carried out by one catalyst to afford certain intermediates being to be subjected to the second catalyst for the next step, and iii) cooperative catalytic actions on both substrates by suitable catalysts proceed in a substrate-selective manner followed by the subsequent coupling of the two activated adducts providing the desired products.     

Tetrahedral and heteronuclear transition metal clusters through isolobal displacements and functional transformations

The isolobal reaction of the tetrahedral cluster Ph₂C₂Co₂(CO)₆with ⁵-CHOC₅H₄(CO)₃MNa (M = Mo, W) yields ⁵-CHOC₅H₄MCoC₂Ph₂(CO)₅ [(1) M = Mo, (2) M = W], whereas M–M singly-bonded dimers [⁵-RC₅H₄- M(CO)₃]₂ [M = Mo, R = Ac; M = Mo, W, R = CHO] react with Co₂(CO)₈ to give ⁵-AcC₅H₄MoCo₃(CO)₁₁ (7) and ⁵-C₅H₅MCo₃(CO)₁₁ [(8) M = Mo, (9) M = W], respectively. While (1) and (2) react with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine to give phenylhydrazone derivatives ⁵-2,4-(NO₂)₂C₆H₃NHN=CHC₅H₄MCoC₂Ph₂(CO)₅ [(3) M = Mo, (4) M = W], treatment of ⁵-AcC₅H₄MCoFe(CO)₈(₃-S) with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine produces corresponding derivatives ⁵-2,4-(NO₂)₂C₆H₃NHN=C(Me)C₅H₄MCoFe(CO)₈(₃-S) [(5) M = Mo, (6) M = W]. In addition, the cyclopentadienylformaldehyde ligand in the ⁵-CHOC₅H₄MoCoFe(CO)₈(₃-S) cluster can be decarbonylated in the presence of Co₂(CO)₈ to give the parent cluster ⁵-C₅H₅MoCoFe(CO)₈(₃-S)(10). This observation, together with the formation of (8) and (9) in the presence of Co₂(CO)₈ can be explained by the proposed mechanism.