Rapid Determination of Simple Polyphenols in Grapes by LC Using a Monolithic Column

The development of a rapid, reliable and reproducible LC method for the determination and quantification of 13 polyphenols (gallic acid, protocatechuic aldehyde, gentisic acid, catechin, vanillinic acid, caffeic acid, vanillin, epicatechin, syringaldehyde, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, sinapic acid and resveratrol) in grapes and derived products is reported. The polyphenols were separated in less than 8 min. Employed was an RP-18e (100 mm × 4.6 mm) monolithic type column. A gradient method with the following solvents was utilised for the chromatographic separation: A: 90% water, 2% acetic acid in methanol, and B: 90% methanol, 2% acetic acid in water. Two detectors in series were employed: a UV–Vis detector and a fluorescence excitation/emission detector. Influence of temperature (15–40 °C) and solvent flow rate (2–5 mL min^?1) on the separation were studied, and 25 °C and 2.5 mL min^?1 were found to be the optimum conditions. The relative standard deviations of the resulting peak areas, for both intra- and inter- experiments, were less than 2.4 and 2.6%, respectively. Finally, the developed method has been utilised for the quantification of the polyphenols in real samples.     

The Sequential Building of Chiral Macrocyclic Bis‐β‐Lactams by Double Staudinger–Cu‐Catalyzed Azide–Alkyne Cycloadditions

A novel approach for the synthesis of macrocyclic bis‐β‐lactams based on the Cu‐catalyzed alkyne–azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) is reported. The procedure is general and allows access to a full range of diastereomerically or enantiomerically pure macrocyclic cavities in good yields. The incorporation of chiral oxazolidinone fragments at C3 in the β‐lactam rings allows the total enantiocontrol of the process.     

Theoretical Studies on the Intermolecular Interactions of Potentially Primordial Base‐Pair Analogues

Recent experimental studies on the Watson–Crick type base pairing of triazine and aminopyrimidine derivatives suggest that acid/base properties of the constituent bases might be related to the duplex stabilities measured in solution. Herein we use high‐level quantum chemical calculations and molecular dynamics simulations to evaluate the base pairing and stacking interactions of seven selected base pairs, which are common in that they are stabilized by two N? H???O hydrogen bonds separated by one N? H???N hydrogen bond. We show that neither the base pairing nor the base stacking interaction energies correlate with the reported pK_a data of the bases and the melting points of the duplexes. This suggests that the experimentally observed correlation between the melting point data of the duplexes and the pK_a values of the constituent bases is not rooted in the intrinsic base pairing and stacking properties. The physical chemistry origin of the observed experimental correlation thus remains unexplained and requires further investigations. In addition, since our calculations are carried out with extrapolation to the complete basis set of atomic orbitals and with inclusion of higher electron correlation effects, they provide reference data for stacking and base pairing energies of non‐natural bases.     

Nuclearity controlled cyanide-bridged bimetallic CrIII-MnII compounds: synthesis, crystal structures, magnetic properties and theoretical calculations

The preparation, X-ray crystallography and magnetic investigation of the compounds PPh4[Cr(bipy)(CN)4].2 CH3CN.H2O (1) (mononuclear), [[Cr(bipy)(CN)4]2Mn-(H2O)4].4H2O (2) (trinuclear), [[Cr(bipy)(CN)4]2Mn(H2O)2] (3) (chain) and [[Cr(bipy)(CN)4]2Mn(H2O)].H2O.CH3CN (4) (double chain) [bipy=2,2'-bipyridine; PPh4 (+)=tetraphenylphosphonium] are described herein. The [Cr(bipy)(CN)4]- unit act either as a monodentate (2) or bis-monodentate (3) ligand toward the manganese atom through one (2) or two (3) of its four cyanide groups. The manganese atom is six-coordinate with two (2) or four (3) cyanide nitrogens and four (2) or two (3) water molecules building a distorted octahedral environment. In 4, two chains of 3 are pillared through interchain Mn-N-C-Cr links which replace one of the two trans-coordinated water molecules at the manganese atom to afford a double chain structure where bis- and tris-monodenate coordination modes of [Cr(bipy)(CN)4]- coexist. The magnetic properties of 1-4 were investigated in the temperature range 1.9-300 K. A Curie law behaviour for a magnetically isolated spin quartet is observed for 1. A significant antiferromagnetic interaction between CrIII and MnII through the single cyanide bridge [J=-6.2 cm(-1), the Hamiltonian being defined as H=-J(SCr1.SMn+SCr2.SMn] occurs in 2 leading to a low-lying spin doublet which is fully populated at T <5 K. A metamagnetic behaviour is observed for 3 and 4 [the values of the critical field Hc being ca. 3000 (3) and 1500 Oe (4)] which is associated to the occurrence of weak interchain antiferromagnetic interactions between ferrimagnetic Cr2III MnII chains. The analysis of the exchange pathways in 2-4 through DFT type calculations together with the magnetic bevaviour simulation using the quantum Monte Carlo methodology provided a good understanding of their magnetic properties.     

mer-[Fe III(bpca)(CN)3]-: a new low-spin iron(III) complex to build heterometallic ladder-like chains

The novel mononuclear complex PPh(4)-mer-[Fe(III)(bpca)(3)(CN)(3)].H(2)O (1) [PPh(4)(+) = tetraphenylphosphonium cation and bpca = bis(2-pyridylcarbonyl)amidate anion] and ladder-like chain compound [[Fe(III)(bpca)(micro-CN)(3)Mn(II)(H(2)O)(3)] [Fe(III)(bpca)(CN)(3)]].3H(2)O (2) have been prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis. Compound 1 is a low-spin iron(III) compound with three cyanide ligands in mer arrangement and a tridentate N-donor ligand building a distorted octahedral environment around the iron atom. Compound 2 is an ionic salt made up of cationic ladder-like chains [[Fe(III)(bpca)(micro-CN)(3)Mn(II)(H(2)O)(3)]](+) and uncoordinated anions [Fe(III)(bpca)(3)(CN)(3)](-). The magnetic properties of 2 correspond to those of a ferrimagnetic chain with significant intrachain antiferromagnetic coupling between the low-spin iron(III) centers and the high-spin manganese(II) cations. This compound exhibits ferrimagnetic ordering below 2.0 K.     

Heteronuclear rhodium, palladium, platinum, and gold organoimido complexes from dinuclear organoamido rhodium precursors

Treatment of the organoamido complexes [Rh(2)(mu-4-HNC(6)H(4)Me)(2)(L(2))(2)] (L(2) = 1,5-cyclooctadiene (cod), L = CO) with nBuLi gave solutions of the organoimido species [Li(2)Rh(2)(mu-4-NC(6)H(4)Me)(2)(L(2))(2)]. Further reaction of [Li(2)Rh(2)(mu-4-NC(6)H(4)Me)(2)(cod)(2)] with [Rh(2)(mu-Cl)(2)(cod)(2)] afforded the neutral tetranuclear complex [Rh(4)(mu-4-NC(6)H(4)Me)(2)(cod)(4)] (2), which rationalizes the direct syntheses of 2 from [Rh(2)(mu-Cl)(2)(cod)(2)] and Li(2)NC(6)H(4)Me. Reactions of [Li(2)Rh(2)(mu-4-NC(6)H(4)Me)(2)(CO)(4)] with chloro complexes such as [Rh(2)(mu-Cl)(2)(CO)(4)], [MCl(2)(cod)] (M = Pd, Pt), and [Ru(2)(mu-Cl)(2)Cl(2)(p-cymene)(2)] afforded the homo- and heterotrinuclear complexes PPN[Rh(3)(mu-4-NC(6)H(4)Me)(2)(CO)(6)] (5; PPN=bis(triphenylphosphine)iminium), [(CO)(4)Rh(2)(mu-4-NC(6)H(4)Me)(2)M(cod)] (M = Pd (6), Pt(7)) and [(CO)(4)Rh(2)(mu-4-NC(6)H(4)Me)(2)Ru(p-cymene)] (8), while the reaction with [AuCl(PPh(3))] gave the tetranuclear compound [(CO)(4)Rh(2)(mu--4-NC(6)H(4)Me)(2)[Au(PPh(3))](2)] (9). The structures of complexes 6, 8, and 9 were determined by X-ray diffraction studies. The anion of 5 reacts with [AuCl(PPh(3))] to give the butterfly cluster [[Rh(3)(mu-4-NC(6)H(4)Me)(2)(CO)(6)]Au(PPh(3))] (10), in which the Au atom is bonded to two rhodium atoms. Reaction of the anion of 5 with [Rh(cod)(NCMe)(2)](BF(4)) gave the tetranuclear complex [Rh(4)(mu-4-NC(6)H(4)Me)(2)(CO)(6)(cod)] (11) in which the Rh(cod) fragment is pi-bonded to one of the arene rings, while the reaction of the anion of 5 with [PdCl(2)(cod)] afforded the heterotrinuclear complex 6 through a metal exchange process.     

Monohelical Metal Complexes of a Bis‐Bidentate Schiff Base with a Short Rigid Spacer. The Spontaneous Resolution of P‐[Ni(FTs)]·CH3CN

The electrochemical reaction of the bis‐bidentate Schiff base H₂FTs [N, N′‐bis(2‐tosylaminobenzylidene)‐1, 2‐diaminobencene] with cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc and cadmium, lead to the isolation of neutral [M(FTs)] complexes. All of them were characterized by elemental analyses, mass spectrometry, IR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy and magnetic measurements, where appropriate. Recrystallization of the nickel complex yields single crystals of [Ni(FTs)]·CH₃CN ( 1 ). The x‐ray characterization shows a distorted square‐planar environment for the nickel atom, with the Schiff base acting as a tetradentate N₄ donor. Complex 1 can be described as a mononuclear single‐stranded helical compound, with spontaneous resolution of the P enantiomer upon crystallisation.     

XRD structure of two heptacoordinated Mn(II) complexes containing 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (phen), nitrato and nicotinato bidentate anions: [Mn(phen)(nicot)(NO3)(H2O)]·EtOH·H2O and [Mn(phen)(NO3)2(H2O)]

The XRD structure of two seven-coordinated Mn(II) complexes with the formula [Mn(phen)(nicot)(NO₃)(H₂O)]·EtOH·H₂O (1) and [Mn(phen)(NO₃)₂(H₂O)] (2) are reported. The 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline, nitrato and nicotinato anions act as bidentate ligands, with Mn–N distances of 2.21–2.29 Å and Mn–O distances of 2.17–2.40 Å. In both compounds, the water molecule seems to be the strongest coordinated ligand, with bond distances of 2.139(2) Å in 1 and 2.195(2) Å in 2. The average ratio between coordinated unidentate and bidentate bond lengths less than the unity justifies, from an energetical point of view, the shape of the coordination polyhedra. In the structure of 1, the coordination polyhedron may be best-described as a distorted pentagonal bipyramid with a nitrogen from phenanthroline and the water molecule occupying the apical sites. The polyhedron shape for 2 is close to a square-capped trigonal prism, the capping site being occupied by the water molecule. The crystal structures are built by H-bonded bidimensional sheets piled up by π–π stacking of the partially interpenetrated aromatic moieties of adjacent layers.     

Two‐Step Thermal Spin Transition and LIESST Relaxation of the Polymeric Spin‐Crossover Compounds Fe(X‐py)2[Ag(CN)2]2 (X=H, 3‐methyl, 4‐methyl, 3,4‐dimethyl, 3‐Cl)

In the series of polymeric spin‐crossover compounds Fe(X‐py)₂[Ag(CN)₂)]₂ (py=pyridine, X=H, 3‐Cl, 3‐methyl, 4‐methyl, 3,4‐dimethyl), magnetic and calorimetric measurements have revealed that the conversion from the high‐spin (HS) to the low‐spin (LS) state occurs by two‐step transitions for three out of five members of the family (X=H, 4‐methyl, and X=3,4‐dimethyl). The two other compounds (X=3‐Cl and 3‐methyl) show respectively an incomplete spin transition and no transition at all, the latter remaining in the HS state in the whole temperature range. The spin‐crossover behaviour of the compound undergoing two‐step transitions is well described by a thermodynamic model that considers both steps. Calculations with this model show low cooperativity in this type of systems. Reflectivity and photomagnetic experiments reveal that all of the compounds except that with X=3‐methyl undergo light‐induced excited spin state trapping (LIESST) at low temperatures. Isothermal HS‐to‐LS relaxation curves at different temperatures support the low‐cooperativity character by following an exponential decay law, although in the thermally activated regime and for aX=H and X=3,4‐dimethyl the behaviour is well described by a double exponential function in accordance with the two‐step thermal spin transition. The thermodynamic parameters determined from this isothermal analysis were used for simulation of thermal relaxation curves, which nicely reproduce the experimental data.