An efficient ionization method of electrospray mass spectrometry: the development of an aromatic-cored matrix that wraps labile metal complexes through molecular recognition

Compound 1a, which possesses a triphenylene core and six tetraethyleneoxide side chains, shows efficient ionization of M(II)-containing (M=Pd, Pt) complexes in electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The molecular ion peaks [M]+, which are hardly detected under common ESI-MS conditions, are clearly observed as their [M x (1a)n]+ (n=1-4) adducts. UV-visible and NMR studies reveal that the electron-rich triphenylene core of 1a binds to the electron-deficient frameworks of the M(II) complexes in solution, giving rise to charge transfer (CT) complexes. We suggest that 1a stabilizes the complexes and promotes efficient ionization through unique donor-acceptor molecular recognition.     

Synthesis and Characterization of 6,13‐Diamino‐Substituted Pentacenes

A series of 6,13‐diamino‐substituted pentacenes 1 a – d has been prepared and characterized as a new class of pentacene derivatives with strong donor ability and enhanced solubility in common organic solvents. The spectroelectrochemical and DFT studies revealed that the two‐electron oxidation process was accompanied by the substantial structural change into a butterfly‐like conformation of the pentacene moiety. More importantly, the extent of deformation from the planar pentacene moiety in the dications of 6,13‐diaminopentacene is tunable by varying the N‐substituents.     

Effects of Spatial Constraints and Brønsted Acid Site Locations on para‐Terphenyl Ionization and Charge Transfer in Zeolites

The locations of Brønsted acid sites (BAS) in the channels of medium‐pore zeolites have a significant effect on the spontaneous ionization of para‐terphenyl (PP₃) insofar as spatial constraints determine the stability of transition states and charge‐transfer complexes relevant to charge separation. The ionization rates and ionization yield values demonstrate that a strong synergy exists between the H⁺ polarization energy and spatial constraints imposed by the channel topology. Spectroscopic and modeling results show that PP₃ incorporation, charge separation, charge transfer and charge recombination differ dramatically among zeolites with respect to channel structure (H‐FER, H‐MFI, H‐MOR) and BAS density in the channel. Compartmentalization of ejected electrons away from the initial site of ionization decreases dramatically the propensity for charge recombination. The main mode of PP₃^.+ decay is hole transfer to form AlO₄H^.+ ??? PP₃ charge‐transfer complexes characterized by intense absorption in the visible range. According to the nonadiabatic electron‐transfer theory, the small reorganization energy in constrained channels explains the slow hole‐transfer rate.     

Electrochemistry and photophysics of donor-substituted triarylboranes: symmetry breaking in ground and excited state

We synthesized a series of amino substituted triarylboranes (TABs) 1-3 by copper(I)-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions. The title compounds were investigated by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and UV-visible absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. Electrochemical oxidation of tris(4-carbazolyl-2,6-dimethylphenyl)borane (3) leads to the formation of an electroactive polymer film on the electrode surface. The charge-transfer (CT) absorption band of all three TABs shows a pronounced negative solvatochromism, while the emission is positively solvatochromic. By combining Jortner's theory, AM1 computations, and electrooptical absorption measurements (EOAM), this unexpected behavior was shown to be due to a dipole inversion upon S0-->S1 excitation. Furthermore, polarized steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy and EOAM prove that the ground-state geometry of 3 is of lower symmetry than D3 and that the excitation energy can be transferred from one subchromophore to another within the lifetime of the excited state. Exciton-coupling theory was used to quantitatively analyze this excitation transfer.     

Synthesis, spectroscopy, and electrochemistry of tetra-tert-butylated tetraazaporphyrins, phthalocyanines, naphthalocyanines, and anthracocyanines, together with molecular orbital calculations

Tetraazaporphyrins (TAPs), phthalocyanines (Pcs), naphthalocyanines (Ncs), and anthracocyanines (Acs) with four tert-butyl groups attached at similar positions have been synthesized, and their electronic absorption, magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), IR, and voltammetric properties were studied and interpreted with the help of quantum-mechanical calculations. Through the preparation of a series of compounds with the same number of the same substituent, the effects of the increase in the size of the ring system were clearly derived. The main results may be summarized as follows. 1) The Q band shifts to longer wavelength and its intensity increases, but with decreasing degree of change with increasing molecular size. If the size of the effect of benzene directly fused to the TAP skeleton is set at unity, the effects of the second and third benzene units are roughly 0.8 and 0.5, respectively. 2) The splitting of the Q bands in metal-free compounds decreases with increasing molecular size, so that the Q bands of H2Nc and H2Ac appear as single bands. 3) The magnitude of the orbital angular momentum of the excited state of the ligand decreases with increasing molecular size. 4) Interestingly, the ring current, as judged from the positions of pyrrole proton signals in the 1H NMR spectrum, appears to decrease with increasing molecular size. 5) The first reduction potential becomes less negative, but only slightly, whereas the first oxidation potential shows a marked shift to less positive values with increasing molecular size, indicating that the HOMO destabilizes significantly as the molecule becomes larger. 6) In 5), the extent of the HOMO destabilization with molecular size differs depending on the central metal, so metals producing smaller destabilization effects can allow larger macrocycles. Of the metals studied, the most effective is cobalt, and the practical size limit is represented by the Acs. 7) The IR spectra become simpler the larger the molecule, and the main bands were assigned by DFT calculations. 8) The trend in experimentally determined redox potentials and electronic absorption and MCD spectra were reasonably reproduced by MO calculations using the ZINDO/S Hamiltonian. 9) EPR data for several metallocomplexes are also reported.     

Electronic and magnetic properties of bimetallic ytterbocene complexes: the impact of bridging ligand geometry

Bimetallic ytterbocene complexes with bridging N-heterocylic ligands have been studied extensively in recent years due to their potential applications ranging from molecular wires to single-molecule magnets. Herein, we review our recent results for a series of ytterbocene polypyridyl bimetallic complexes to highlight the versatility and tunability of these systems based on simple changes in bridging ligand geometry. Our work has involved structural, electrochemical, optical, and magnetic measurements with the goal of better understanding the electronic and magnetic communication between the two ytterbium metal centers in this new class of bimetallics.     

Experimental and Computational Probes of the Nature of Halogen Bonding: Complexes of Bromine‐Containing Molecules with Bromide Anions

The nature of halogen bonding is examined via experimental and computational characterizations of a series of associates between electrophilic bromocarbons R? Br (R? Br=CBr₃F, CBr₃NO₂, CBr₃COCBr₃, CBr₃CONH₂, CBr₃CN, etc.) and bromide anions. The [R? Br, Br^?] complexes show intense absorption bands in the 200–350 nm range which follow the same Mulliken correlation as those observed for the charge‐transfer associates of bromide anions with common organic π‐acceptors. For a wide range of the associates, intermolecular R? Br???Br^? separations decrease and intramolecular C? Br bond lengths increase proportionally to the Br^?→R? Br charge transfer; and the energies of R? Br???Br^? bonds are correlated with the linear combination of orbital (charge‐transfer) and electrostatic interactions. On the whole, spectral, structural and thermodynamic characteristics of the [R? Br, Br^?] complexes indicate that besides electrostatics, the orbital (charge‐transfer) interactions play a vital role in the R? Br???Br^? halogen bonding. This indicates that in addition to controlling the geometries of supramolecular assemblies, halogen bonding leads to electronic coupling between interacting species, and thus affects reactivity of halogenated molecules, as well as conducting and magnetic properties of their solid‐state materials.     

Hydrogen-bonded self-assembly of pyridinium and anilinium bisphenols mediated by the hydrogen difluoride ion: towards control of C-H...pi (aromatic) interactions

The role of C-H...pi and C-H...O interactions in HF(2)(-)-assisted self-assembly of nitrogen-containing bisphenols are investigated. Unusual control on the end-face and edge-face geometries of aromatic C-H...pi interactions by a water molecule in the 4-[(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethylphenyl)methyl]pyridinium difluoride lattice is observed. The bis(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethylphenyl)(4-ammoniophenyl)methane.HF(2)(-) self-assembles through the formation of hydrogen-bonded cyclic hexamers.     

Synthesis, spectroscopic and electrochemical studies of a series of transition metal complexes with amino- or bis(bromomethyl)-substituted dppz-ligands: Building blocks for fullerene-based donor-bridge-acceptor dyads

Transition metal complexes with ligands based on dipyrido[3,2-a:2′,3′-c]phenazine (dppz) have been synthesized. As metal fragments the [Ru(bpy)₂]⁺, Re(CO)₃Cl and the [Cu(PPh₃)₂]⁺ moieties have been used. The complexes containing amino- or bis(bromomethyl) substituted dppz ligands can be used for fullerene-based donor-bridge-acceptor dyads. The electronic absorption spectra of these complexes and of the dppz ligands were investigated. The dppz ligands show strong absorptions in the 300 and 390 nm region. An additional absorption band in the visible region (∼440 nm) is observed for the amino-substituted dppz-ligands. Ruthenium complexes exhibited broad absorption bands at 350-500 nm arising from intraligand-based transitions and the MLCT transition. MLCT transitions of the Re(I) and Cu(I) complexes are observed as shoulders of the stronger ligand-based absorption band tailing out to 400-500 nm. The electrochemically active complexes and ligands were studied by cyclic voltammetry and square-wave voltammetry. All ligands show one first reversible one-electron reduction located at the phenazine portion. These reductions are shifted to more positive redox potentials upon complexation. Oxidation potentials for reversible processes could be determined for the Ru²⁺/Ru³⁺ couple. For rhenium(I) and copper(I) complexes one irreversible oxidation process is observed.     

Oxidative electrochemical switching in dithienylcyclopentenes, part 1: effect of electronic perturbation on the efficiency and direction of molecular switching

The electro- and spectroelectrochemical properties of dithienylhexahydro- and dithienyhexafluorocyclopentenes are reported. The large effect of variation in the central cyclopentene moieties on the redox properties of the dithienylcyclopentenes is in striking contrast to the minor effect on their photochemical properties. The electronic properties of the oxidised compounds in the +1 and +2 oxidation state are reported, and the possibility of electrochemical cyclisation and cycloreversion were explored by UV/Vis spectroelectrochemistry. The efficiency of electrochemical switching is found to be dependent both on the central cyclopentene unit and on the nature of the substituents at C5 of the thienyl rings. For the hexahydrocyclopentene-based compounds oxidative ring closure of the ring-open form is observed, while for the hexafluorocyclopentene-based compounds oxidative ring opening of the ring-closed form is observed. However, the introduction of electroactive groups such as methoxyphenyl allows oxidative ring closure to occur in the hexafluoro compounds. The effect of electrolyte, solvent and temperature on the spectroelectrochemical properties were examined, and the switching process was found to be sensitive to the donor properties of the solvent/electrolyte system employed. In addition, thermally activated reversible isomerisation of the dicationic closed form was observed. The driving force for electrochemical ring opening and closure appears to be dependent on the relative stabilisation of the dicationic ring-open and ring-closed states. This study provides insight into the factors which determine the direction of cyclisation.     

Oxidative electrochemical switching in dithienylcyclopentenes, Part 2: effect of substitution and asymmetry on the efficiency and direction of molecular switching and redox stability

The electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical properties of a series of C5-substituted dithienylhexahydro- and dithienylhexafluorocyclopentenes are reported. The effect of substitution at C5 of the thienyl moiety on the redox properties is quite dramatic, in contrast to the effect on their photochemical properties. The efficiency of electrochemical switching is dependent both on the central cyclopentene unit and on the nature of the substituents, whereby electron-donating moieties favour oxidative electrochemical ring-closure and vice versa. Asymmetrically substituted dithienylcyclopentenes were investigated to explore the ring-closure process in more detail. The results indicate that electrochemically induced ring-closure occurs via the monocation of the open form. In the presence of electroactive groups at C5 of the thienyl ring (e.g., methoxyphenyl) initial oxidation of these groups is followed by intermolecular electron transfer, which drives ring-closure of the open forms.