Probing mixed valence in a new tppz-bridged diruthenium(III,II) complex {(mu-tppz)[Ru(bik)Cl]2}3+ (tppz=2,3,5,6-tetrakis(2-pyridyl)pyrazine, bik=2,2'-bis(1-methylimidazolyl)ketone): EPR silence, intervalence absorption, and nu(CO) line broadening

The complex dication of the diruthenium(II) compound {(mu-tppz)[Ru(bik)Cl]2}(ClO4)2 can be oxidized and reduced in two one-electron steps each. In CH3CN/0.1 M Bu4NPF6, the odd-electron intermediates{(mu-tppz)[Ru(bik)Cl]2}n+, n=1 and 3, have comproportionation constants of 7x10(8) and 1x10(5), respectively. Both exhibit near-infrared absorptions, in the case of n=3 the 1640 nm band (epsilon=1200 M-1 cm-1, Deltanu1/2=1560 cm-1) is attributed to an intervalence charge-transfer transition. While the mixed-valent intermediate (n=3) is EPR silent even at 4 K, the n=1 form shows g(parallel) 2.005 and g( perpendicular) 1.994 at that temperature, signifying a diruthenium(II) complex of the tppz*- radical anion. The variation of energy and intensity of nuCO and of the ring vibration band around 1590 cm-1 has been monitored not only for {(mu-tppz)[Ru(bik)Cl]2}n+, n=0-4, but also for the mononuclear {(tppz)Ru(bik)Cl}n+, n=0-2. In the dinuclear complex the carbonyl stretching bands of the spectator ligand bik are shifted by about 15 cm-1 on each one-electron-transfer step, increasing with the positive charge. The mixed-valent {(mu-tppz)[Ru(bik)Cl]2}3+ shows a perceptibly broader nuCO band, suggesting incomplete valence averaging (partial localization).     

Redox Non‐Innocence and Isomer‐Specific Oxidative Functionalization of Ruthenium‐Coordinated β‐Ketoiminate

This article deals with isomeric ruthenium complexes [Ru^III(L^R)₂(acac)] (S=1/2) involving unsymmetric β‐ketoiminates (AcNac) (L^R=R‐AcNac, R=H ( 1 ), Cl ( 2 ), OMe ( 3 ); acac=acetylacetonate) [R=para‐substituents (H, Cl, OMe) of N‐bearing aryl group]. The isomeric identities of the complexes, cct (cis‐cis‐trans, blue, a ), ctc (cis‐trans‐cis, green, b ) and ccc (cis‐cis‐cis_, pink, c ) with respect to oxygen (acac), oxygen (L) and nitrogen (L) donors, respectively, were authenticated by their single‐crystal X‐ray structures and spectroscopic/electrochemical features. One‐electron reversible oxidation and reduction processes of 1 – 3 led to the electronic formulations of [Ru^III(L)(L ^? )(acac)]⁺ and [Ru^II(L)₂(acac)]^? for 1 ⁺‐ 3 ⁺ (S=1) and 1^? – 3^? (S=0), respectively. The triplet state of 1 ⁺‐ 3 ⁺ was corroborated by its forbidden weak half‐field signal near g≈4.0 at 4 K, revealing the non‐innocent feature of L. Interestingly, among the three isomeric forms ( a – c in 1 – 3 ), the ctc ( b in 2 b or 3 b ) isomer selectively underwent oxidative functionalization at the central β‐carbon (C?H→C=O) of one of the L ligands in air, leading to the formation of diamagnetic [Ru^II(L)(L ′ )(acac)] (L ′ =diketoimine) in 4 / 4′ . Mechanistic aspects of the oxygenation process of AcNac in 2 b were also explored via kinetic and theoretical studies.     

Near‐IR Absorbing Ruthenium Complexes of Non‐Innocent 6,12‐Di(pyridin‐2‐yl)indolo[3,2‐b]carbazole: Variation as a Function of Co‐Ligands

This article deals with the hitherto unexplored metal complexes of deprotonated 6,12‐di(pyridin‐2‐yl)‐5,11‐dihydroindolo[3,2‐b]carbazole (H₂L). The synthesis and structural, optical, electrochemical characterization of dimeric [{Ru^III(acac)₂}₂(μ‐L^.?)]ClO₄ ([ 1 ]ClO₄, S=1/2), [{Ru^II(bpy)₂}₂(μ‐L^.?)](ClO₄)₃ ([ 2 ](ClO₄)₃, S=1/2), [{Ru^II(pap)₂}₂(μ‐L^2?)](ClO₄)₂ ([ 4 ](ClO₄)₂, S=0), and monomeric [(bpy)₂Ru^II(HL^?)]ClO₄ ([ 3 ]ClO₄, S=0), [(pap)₂Ru^II(HL^?)]ClO₄ ([ 5 ]ClO₄, S=0) (acac=σ‐donating acetylacetonate, bpy=moderately π‐accepting 2,2’‐bipyridine, pap=strongly π‐accepting 2‐phenylazopyridine) are reported. The radical and dianionic states of deprotonated L in isolated dimeric 1 ⁺/ 2 ³⁺ and 4 ²⁺, respectively, could be attributed to the varying electronic features of the ancillary (acac, bpy, and pap) ligands, as was reflected in their redox potentials. Perturbation of the energy level of the deprotonated L or HL upon coordination with {Ru(acac)₂}, {Ru(bpy)₂}, or {Ru(pap)₂} led to the smaller energy gap in the frontier molecular orbitals (FMO), resulting in bathochromically shifted NIR absorption bands (800–2000 nm) in the accessible redox states of the complexes, which varied to some extent as a function of the ancillary ligands. Spectroelectrochemical (UV/Vis/NIR, EPR) studies along with DFT/TD‐DFT calculations revealed (i) involvement of deprotonated L or HL in the oxidation processes owing to its redox non‐innocent potential and (ii) metal (Ru^III/Ru^II) or bpy/pap dominated reduction processes in 1 ⁺ or 2 ²⁺/ 3 ⁺/ 4 ²⁺/ 5 ⁺, respectively.     

Studies on bio-accumulation of <Superscript>51</Superscript>Cr by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Piper nigrum</Emphasis>

The present study is performed to examine the accumulation efficiency of ⁵¹Cr(III) and ⁵¹Cr(VI) by the alkaloid piperine, derived from the fruits of Piper nigrum (Family Piperaceae) as well as using the fruit commonly known as black pepper by radiometric technique. The pH dependence and the effect of the concentration of chromium on the accumulation have also been examined. The maximum accumulation (52%) of Cr(III) is found by black pepper at pH 4 whereas piperine shows slight accumulation at this condition. Accumulation of Cr(VI) by black pepper is always negligible. It has also been observed that some other constituents of the black pepper like gum, terpenoid, etc., besides piperine is responsible for the accumulation of chromium.     

A green approach for sequential extraction of heavy metals from Li irradiated Au target

An aqueous biphasic extraction system was designed using different molecular weights of polyethylene glycol and concentrated salt solutions of sodium sulphate to separate the heavy metals, Hg, Tl and Pb from Li irradiated Au matrix. All the four elements could be separated from one another by this extraction process by simply optimizing the salt rich phase, the pH of the salt rich phase and the molecular weight of the polymer rich phase.     

Probing photochemical transformations at TiO2Pt and TiO2Ir interfaces using x-ray absorption spectroscopy

Structural transformations at the TiO2Pt and TiO2Ir interfaces during UV-irradiation have been probed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Oxidation by the photogenerated holes results in the intercalation of Pt and Ir into the Titania matrix. The structural transformations observed with Pt and Ir nanoparticles anchored on TiO2 is different than the clustering of gold atoms observed in the TiO2/Au system. Implications of such structural transformations on the photocatalytic activity of semiconductor photocatalyts are discussed.     

2,2'-Dipyridylketone (dpk) as ancillary acceptor and reporter ligand in complexes [(dpk)(Cl)Ru(mu-tppz)Ru(Cl)(dpk)]n+ where tppz = 2,3,5,6-tetrakis(2-pyridyl)pyrazine

The tppz-bridged diruthenium(II) complex [(dpk)(Cl)Ru(II)(mu-tppz)Ru(II)(Cl)(dpk)](ClO4)2, [2](ClO4)2, and mononuclear [(dpk)(Cl)Ru(II)(tppz)](ClO4), [1](ClO4) [tppz = 2,3,5,6-tetrakis(2-pyridyl)pyrazine, dpk = 2,2'-dipyridylketone], have been synthesized. The 260 mV separation between successive one-electron oxidation couples in [2]2+ translates to a relatively small comproportionation constant, Kc, of 2.5 x 10(4) for the intermediate. It is shown how electrochemical data (E(ox), E(red), Kc) reflect the donor/acceptor effects of ancillary ligands L in a series of systems [(L)ClRu(mu-tppz)RuCl(L)]n, particularly the competition between L and tppz for electron density from the metal. According to EPR (g1 = 2.470, g2 = 2.195, and g3 = 1.873 at 4 K) the intermediate [2]3+ is a mixed-valent Ru(II)Ru(III) species which shows a rather narrow intervalence charge transfer (IVCT) band at 1800 nm (epsilon = 1500 M(-1) cm(-1)). The width at half-height (Deltanu(1/2)) of 700 cm(-1) of the IVCT band is much smaller than the calculated value of 3584 cm(-1), obtained by using the Hush formula Deltanu(1/2) = (2310E(op))(1/2) (E(op) = 5556 cm(-1), energy of the IVCT transition) which would be applicable to localized (Class II) mixed-valent Ru(II)Ru(III) systems. Valence delocalization in [2]3+ is supported by the uniform shift of the nu(C=O) band of the N,N'-coordinated dpk ligands from 1676 cm(-1) in the Ru(II)Ru(II) precursor to 1690 cm(-1) in the Ru(2.5)Ru(2.5) form, illustrating the use of the dpk acceptor to act as reporter ligand via the free but pi-conjugated organic carbonyl group. The apparent contradiction between the moderate value of Kc and the narrow IVCT band is being discussed considering "borderline" or "hybrid" "Class II-III" concepts of mixed-valency, as well as coordination aspects, i.e., the bis-tridentate nature of the pi-acceptor bridging ligand. Altogether, the complex ions [1]+ and [2]2+ display four and five successive reduction processes, respectively, involving both tppz- and dpk-based unoccupied pi orbitals. The one-electron reduced form [2]+ has been assigned as a tppz*- radical-anion-containing species which exhibits a free-radical-type EPR signal at 4K (g(parallel) = 2.002, g(perpendicular) = 1.994) and one moderately intense ligand-based low-energy band at 965 nm (epsilon = 1100 M(-1) cm(-1)).     

Investigation of short‐range structural order in Zr69.5Cu12Ni11Al7.5 and Zr41.5Ti41.5Ni17 glasses,using X‐ray absorption spectroscopy and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations

Short‐range order has been investigated in Zr_69.5Cu₁₂Ni₁₁Al_7.5 and Zr_41.5Ti_41.5Ni₁₇ metallic glasses using X‐ray absorption spectroscopy and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. While both of these alloys are good glass formers, there is a difference in their glass‐forming abilities (Zr_41.5Ti_41.5Ni₁₇ > Zr_69.5Cu₁₂Ni₁₁Al_7.5). This difference is explained by inciting the relative importance of strong chemical order, icosahedral content, cluster symmetry and configuration diversity.     

Steric-controlled excimer formation in naphthalene analogues of chalcone

Naphthalene analogues of chalcone (typical vinylarenes) are well known for their intramolecular charge transfer (CT) process. The all four possible isomers NC1, NC2, NC3 and NC4 were observed to give structure-less broad CT bands, whereas, excimer formation at higher concentration was reported only for NC4 [Res. Chem. Intermed. 25 (1999) 903]. However, conventional GMMX calculation data reveals that the naphthalene portion of all the isomers are planar, hence, excimer emission is expected from all of them, i.e., if NC4 can form an excimer, then the rests are also capable of doing it. In this paper we have actually succeeded in resolving the excimer peaks for all these four isomers by optimization of concentration, though the extent of excimer formation was observed to be the maximum for NC4. These differential tendencies of excimer formation can be explained by the change in extent of intermolecular stacking interaction of the naphthalene moieties. Variation occurs here due to steric perturbation arising from the specific orientation of the near resident non-planar aroyl component with respect to the naphthalene moiety.