Synthesis and Crystal Structures of Neutral Complexes of Tellurium(IV) – [PhTeX3L](X = Br,I; L = ethylenethiourea)

A three‐step one‐pot synthetic procedure to synthesize the neutral tellurium(IV) coordination compounds PhTeX₃L (X = Br, I and L = ethylenethiourea) has been developed and is described in this article. Oxidative halogenation of PhTeTePh in methanol generates the tellurium(II) derivative, PhTeX, which is subsequently complexed with ethylenethiourea, and, finally, further oxidative addition of additional halogen affords the corresponding tellurium(IV) compound PhTeX₃L in good yields. The final product was obtained by the slow evaporation of the reaction mixture as black crystals. The X‐ray structural analyses of the compounds show Te···X and X···X secondary interactions in the solid state and suggest a weak dependence of the formation of supramolecular assemblies on the nature of the halogen bonded to the tellurium atom.     

The Synthesis and Liquid Crystal Properties of Some 2,5-Disubstituted Pyridines

The synthesis is reported of fifteen three-ring 2,5-disubstituted pyridines and two pyridine-N-oxides where the pyridine rings carry a variety of alkyl, aryl, cyclohexyl, cyclohexylethyl and fluorinated-aryl substituents. The mesomorphic transition temperatures for these compounds have been measured; all the compounds show enantiotropic phases. The different substituent effects are discussed and comparisons are made with previous work on analogous systems where the hetero-function is replaced by C-F.     

New Silver Tellurates – The Crystal Structures of a Third Modification of Ag2Te2O6 and of Ag4TeO5

Single crystals of a third modification of Ag₂Te₂O₆ (denoted as Ag₂Te₂O₆–III) and of Ag₄TeO₅ have been obtained as minor by‐products during hydrothermal phase formation experiments in the system Ag‐Hg‐Te‐O. The crystal structure of Ag₂Te₂O₆–III (P2₁/c, Z = 4, a = 6.4255(10), b = 6.9852(11), c = 13.204(2) Å, β = 90.090(3)°, 1885 independent reflections, R[F² > 2σ(F²)] = 0.0334, wR2(F² all) = 0.0817) comprises tellurium in oxidation states +IV and +VI and is topologically related to the structure of the Ag₂Te₂O₆–I modification, which consists of similar layers and interjacent layers of Ag⁺ cations. Ag₄TeO₅ (C2/c, Z = 8, a = 16.271(2), b = 6.0874(10), c = 11.4373(16) Å, β = 106.730(10)°, 2372 independent reflections, R[F² > 2σ(F²)] = 0.0288, wR2(F² all) = 0.0737) is made up of a layer‐like arrangement of isolated [Te^VI₂O₁₀] double octahedra and of Ag⁺ cations situated both in layers parallel and inside the layers of the anionic moieties.     

Mercury bis(phenyltellurolate) as a precursor for the synthesis of binary and ternary nanoclusters

The reaction of Hg(TePh)2 with AgX (X = Cl, NO3) in the presence of PPh3 and PMePh2 in dimethylformamide (DMF) affords the cluster [Hg6Ag4(TePh)16] (1) at room temperature or [Hg6Ag4Te(TePh)14]2 (2) with heating. When Hg(TePh)2 is reacted with [Co(PPh3)2Cl2] or [Ni(PPh3)2Cl2], the clusters [Hg8Te(PhTe)12Cl4]Q [3; Q = [Co(DMF)6]2+ (3a), [Ni(DMF)6]2+ (3b)] are formed. The syntheses of 1 and 2 occur with the incorporation of AgI into the cluster, and the single-crystal analyses show that the two ternary clusters consist of Hg, Ag, and Te centers occupying well-defined positions. Compounds 3a and 3b do not show the incorporation of the metal into the cluster, but the CoII and NiII salts provide the Cl atom to generate the anionic cluster 3 stabilized by the [Co(DMF)6]2+ or [Ni(DMF)6]2+ ion.     

Synthetic Activators of Cell Migration Designed by Constructive Machine Learning

Constructive machine learning aims to create examples from its learned domain which are likely to exhibit similar properties. Here, a recurrent neural network was trained with the chemical structures of known cell-migration modulators. This machine learning model was used to generate new molecules that mimic the training compounds. Two top-scoring designs were synthesized, and tested for functional activity in a phenotypic spheroid cell migration assay. These computationally generated small molecules significantly increased the migration of medulloblastoma cells. The results further corroborate the applicability of constructive machine learning to the de novo design of druglike molecules with desired properties.     

Efficient synthesis of selenol esters from acid chlorides mediated by indium metal

This article describes an efficient and easy one-pot route for the synthesis of a wide range of selenol esters from acyl chloride with diselenides in the presence of indium metal. A variety of functional groups can be tolerated within the diorgano diselenide and the acyl chloride coupling partner.