Phenanthroline complexes of zinc and calcium carbamates

Bis(N,N‐di‐n‐butyl­di­thio­carbamato‐κ²S,S′)(1,10‐phenanthroline‐κ²N,N′)­zinc(II) ethanol hemisolvate, [Zn(C₉H₁₈NS₂)₂(C₁₂H₈N₂)]·0.5C₂H₆O, (I), and bis(N,N‐di‐n‐hexyldithiocarbamato‐κ²S,S′)­bis(1,10‐phenanthroline‐κ²N,N′)calcium(II), [Ca(C₁₃H₂₆NS₂)₂(C₁₂H₈N₂)₂], (II), are mixed‐ligand com­plexes. In the first compound, the Zn atom has a distorted octahedral coordination, while in the second compound, the Ca atom is eight‐coordinate, with four S and four N atoms forming a highly distorted cube.     

Tri­phenyl(3,4,5‐tri­iodo­phenyl)­methane

The crystal structure of the title compound, alternatively called 1,2,3‐triiodo‐5‐(triphenylmethyl)benzene, C₂₅H₁₇I₃, is analysed in terms of I⋯I and I⋯π interactions and the herring‐bone T motif between phenyl groups. There are two mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit, denoted A and B. Inversion‐related A mol­ecules are connected via an I⋯π interaction (3.641 Å, to a C—C bond mid‐point) to form an I⋯π dimer, and these dimers are connected through symmetry‐independent B mol­ecules via I⋯I [3.5571 (15) Å] and I⋯π (3.561 Å, to a C—C bond mid‐point) interactions.     

Epitaxial growth of sexiphenyl on Al(111): from monolayer to crystalline films

A combination of in situ surface sensitive-techniques, UV photoemission and low energy electron diffraction, with ex situ bulk sensitive X-ray diffraction reveals the formation of epitaxial thin films of sexiphenyl on Al(111) starting from the first monolayer. For room temperature growth, highly ordered films are formed with a unique alignment of the sexiphenyl molecules with the long axes of all molecules aligned parallel to both the surface and the <10> azimuthal directions of Al(111). This is related to a densely packed highly commensurate first monolayer, which acts as a template for the unique (21) crystallite orientation observed.     

Exploring CH-activation pathways in bifunctional zirconocene/borane systems

The dimethylsilanediyl-bridged ansa-zirconocene dichloride 1, that contains a pendent allyl substituent at a Cp-ring, adds HB(C(6)F(5))(2) to the vinyl group to yield the bifunctional zirconocene/borane complex 2. Substituted benzimidazoles were added to the strongly electrophilic borane moiety as protective groups, which allowed subsequent chloride versus -CH(2)SiMe(3) exchange at zirconium to take place by treatment with the respective alkyllithium reagent. Alternatively, the introduction of active sigma-ligands at zirconium is carried out first, followed by the hydroboration reaction. This route was followed for the synthesis of the diphenyl-ansa-zirconocene/borane complex 12. Complex 12 reacts slowly in solution by intramolecular electrophilic attack of the borane at its adjacent Cp-ring, followed by deprotonation using a [Zr]-Ph group to yield the zwitterionic complex 14 featuring a borata-tetrahydroindenyl moiety as part of the ansa-metallocene framework. Complex 14 was characterized by X-ray diffraction. It adds PMe(3) at zirconium to yield 15. Thermolysis of 12 with excess PMe(3) leads to the formation of the (aryne)zirconocene complex 18, which is stabilized by PMe(3) coordination to zirconium and PMe(3) addition to boron. N-Methylbenzimidazole adds to the -B(C(6)F(5))(2) unit of 12 to give the 1:1 adduct 19. Thermolysis of 19 at 80 degrees C in benzene solution in the presence of one additional equivalent of N-methylbenzimidazole results in deprotonation of the substrate to yield the sigma-N-methylbenzimidazolyl zirconium complex 20 (as a mixture of two diastereoisomers). An additional N-methylbenzimidazole ligand is bonded to the B(C(6)F(5))(2) unit in this product.     

Zn2+-dependent peptide nucleic acids probes

Binding of bis-picolylamine-naphthalene diimide-peptide nucleic acid conjugates to complementary DNA is strongly dependent upon Zn2+; ultimately, hybridization is switched ON in the presence muM Zn2+.     

Interface induced crystal structures of dioctyl-terthiophene thin films

Temperature dependent structural and morphological investigations on semiconducting dioctyl-terthiophene (DOTT) thin films prepared on silica surfaces reveals the coexistence of surface induce order and distinct crystalline/liquid crystalline bulk polymorphs. X-ray diffraction and scanning force microscopy measurements indicate that at room temperature two polymorphs are present: the surface induced phase grows directly on the silica interface and the bulk phase on top. At elevated temperatures the long-range order gradually decreases, and the crystal G (340 K), smectic F (348 K), and smectic C (360 K) phases are observed. Indexation of diffraction peaks reveals that an up-right standing conformation of DOTT molecules is present within all phases. A temperature stable interfacial layer close to the silica-DOTT interface acts as template for the formation of the different phases. Rapid cooling of the DOTT sample from the smectic C phase to room temperature results in freezing into a metastable crystalline state with an intermediated unit cell between the room temperature crystalline phase and the smectic C phase. The understanding of such interfacial induced phases in thin semiconducting liquid crystal films allows tuning of crystallographic and therefore physical properties within organic thin films.     

Paramagnetic aluminium β-diketiminate

The β-diketiminate ligand framework is shown to undergo reduction to form a neutral main group radical stabilized by spiroconjugation of the unpaired electron over the group 13 element centre. The synthesized paramagnetic complex was characterized by EPR spectroscopy and computational chemistry.     

Facile formation of five-membered N-heterocyclic zirconacycloallenoids

The reaction of η(2)-iminozirconocene chloride complexes with trimethylsilylethynyl lithium leads to rapid C-C coupling at room temperature to yield the corresponding five-membered aza-zirconacycloallenoids. Such compounds were also obtained by trapping of in situ generated zirconocene with alkynyl imines.