Dynamic stereochemistry of hypervalent silicon, germanium and tin compounds containing amidomethyl C, O-chelating ligands

The results of NMR-spectroscopy studies of the structure, dynamic stereochemistry, and intermolecular interactions in solutions of organic derivatives of penta-and hexacoordinated silicon, germanium, and tin containing amidomethyl, lactamomethyl, and related bidentate ligands are surveyed. For the series of works “Dynamic stereochemistry of hypervalent compounds of silicon, germanium, and tin,” the author was awarded the Academia Europea Prize for young scientists from CIS in 1996. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 11, pp. 1912–1934. November, 1997.     

Synthesis and reactivity of metal-containing monomers

Acid and neutral Co^II, Cu^II, Ni^II, Zn^II, Fe^II, and Fe^III maleates, fumarates, and itaconates were obtained and characterized. The methods for their synthesis were optimized, and the valence state and coordination of metals were studied. Co^II and Fe^II hydrogen maleates, Co^II maleate, and Co^II fumarate were examined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The ligands based on unsaturated dicarboxylic acids can be mono-, bi-, and tetradentate, which results in the formation of acid salts, chain and three-dimensional coordination polymers, whose double bond is not involved in the coordination. The strong antiferromagnetic exchange (μ_elf=1.41 and 0.34 μ_B at 290 and 80 K, respectively) was detected in Cu^II itaconate. Based on the data of Mössbauer spectroscopy, the partial reduction of Fe^III to Fe^II during the synthesis of Fe^III maleate was shown to occur: δFe=0.43 and 1.27 mm s^?1, ΔE _Q=0.57 and 3.13 mm s^?1 and Γ=0.37 and 0.28 mm s^?1 atT=298 K for Fe^III and Fe^II, respectively.     

Crystal structures of the complexes of rare earth picrates with N, N, N′, N′-tetraphenyl-3, 6-dioxaoctanediamide

The complexes of rare earth picrate with N, N, N′, N′-tetraphenyl-3, 6-dioxaoctanediamide (TDD), [Eu(pic)₃(TDD)]-2CH₃CN and [Y(pic)₃(TDD)], have been synthesized. The crystal structures reveal that TDD acts as a tetradentate ligand, forming a ring-like coordination structure with its oxygen atoms together with one oxygen atom of the bidentate picrate. In the Eu (III) complex, the europium ion with a larger ionic radius lies out of the ring, while in the Y (III) complex, the yttrium ion with a smaller ionic radius enters the cavity of the ligand. The structures of the complexes are greatly affected by the ionic radii due to participation of the picrates in coordination. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Doctoral Foundation of the State Education Commission of China, and the Climb Plan Foundation of the State Science and Technology Commission of China.     

Structure of Sol-Gel-Derived Sodium Dititanate Glass

The sodium dititanate, Na₂O·2TiO₂ glass was prepared by the sol-gel method. The structure of the glass, especially local environment of Ti⁴⁺ ions was examined using X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) analyses, and was compared with that of the melt-derived glass with the same composition. It was found that Ti⁴⁺ ions are rather in five-fold coordination state, forming TiO₅ pyramids with one doubly bonded Ti=O in the gel-glass, while they were in lower coordination state or four-fold coordination in the melt-derived glass.     

Heterobimetallic Cluster-Based Coordination Polymers: Assembly,Structures and Third-Order Nonlinear Optical Properties

Reactions of (NH₄)₂WS₄ with CuCN, CuCN/1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)propane (bppa) or [Cu(MeCN)₄]PF₆/bppa under different reaction conditions afforded a set of two- or three-dimensional W/Cu/S cluster-based coordination polymers including {[Et₄N]₂[WS₄Cu₄(μ-CN)₂(μ-I)₂]}_n ( 1 ), [WS₄Cu₄(μ-CN)₂(bppa)₂]_n ( 2 ) and {[WS₄Cu₄(bppa)₄](PF₆)₂}_n ( 3 ), respectively. Compound 2 can be readily formed from reaction of 1 with bppa under solvothermal conditions. Compounds 1 and 2 feature two-dimensional networks with a “sql” topology, while 3 possesses a two-fold interpenetrated three-dimensional net with a rare “reo” topology. Compounds 1 – 3 in DMF exhibited different third-order nonlinear optical responses, and they all showed a reverse saturable absorption while 2 held a strong self-focusing effect.     

Gas Storage in Porous Molecular Materials

Molecules with permanent porosity in the solid state have been studied for decades. Porosity in these systems is governed by intrinsic pore space, as in cages or macrocycles, and extrinsic void space, created through loose, intermolecular solid-state packing. The development of permanently porous molecular materials, especially cages with organic or metal–organic composition, has seen increased interest over the past decade, and as such, incredibly high surface areas have been reported for these solids. Despite this, examples of these materials being explored for gas storage applications are relatively limited. This minireview outlines existing molecular systems that have been investigated for gas storage and highlights strategies that have been used to understand adsorption mechanisms in porous molecular materials.     

Partial Hydrolysis of Cyanide Coordination Polymers Induced by a Pillar Ligand with Optimized Electrochemical Kinetics for Rechargeable Alkaline Batteries

Coordination polymers are promising cathode materials for rechargeable alkaline batteries. Therefore, the precise modulation of these cathodes by chemical structure and in-depth structure transform study is necessary. Here, two model coordination polymer battery cathodes were designed to demonstrate the dynamic structure–performance relationship. We studied the electrochemical performance of two kinds of nickel-based coordination polymer, comprising a planar 2D cyanide-bridged network and a 3D cyanide-bridged network pillared by pyrazine molecules. The 2D coordination polymer showed serious voltage degradation with poor rate capability, whereas the 3D coordination polymer exhibited stable voltage output coupled with high rate at various current densities. The investigation revealed the underlining relationship of plateau voltage degradation and hydrolysis process of electrodes. It was revealed that the pyrazine pillar molecules in the 3D coordination polymer could suppress the hydrolysis and lead to the in situ formation of partially hydrolyzed structure with excellent electrochemical kinetics; this exhibited obvious smaller peak separation (27 mV compared with 149 mV) and hence an almost twofold increase in capacity retention (31.9 to 50.0 %) and energy density retention (18.2 to 35.9 %) at 10 A g⁻¹.     

Understanding the Chloride Affinity of Barbiturates for Anion Receptor Design

Due to their potential binding sites, barbituric acid (BA) and its derivatives have been used in metal coordination chemistry. Yet their abilities to recognize anions remain unexplored. In this work, we were able to identify four structural features of barbiturates that are responsible for a certain anion affinity. The set of coordination interactions can be finely tuned with covalent decorations at the methylene group. DFT-D computations at the BLYP-D3(BJ)/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory show that the C−H bond is as effective as the N−H bond to coordinate chloride. An analysis of the electron charge density at the C−H⋅⋅⋅Cl⁻ and N−H⋅⋅⋅Cl⁻ bond critical points elucidates their similarities in covalent character. Our results reveal that the special acidity of the C−H bond shows up when the methylene group moves out of the ring plane and it is mainly governed by the orbital interaction energy. The amide and carboxyl groups are the best choices to coordinate the ion when they act together with the C−H bond. We finally show how can we use this information to rationally improve the recognition capability of a small cage-like complex that is able to coordinate NaCl.     

Complexes of Dichlorogermylene with Phosphine/Sulfoxide-Supported Carbone as Ligand

Due to their remarkable electronic features, recent years have witnessed the emergence of carbones L₂C, which consist in two donating L ligands coordinating a central carbon atom bearing two lone pairs. In this context, the phosphine/sulfoxide-supported carbone 4 exhibits a strong nucleophilic character, and here, we describe its ability to coordinate dichlorogermylene. Two original stable coordination complexes were obtained and fully characterized in solution and in the solid state by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis, respectively. At 60 °C, in the presence of 4, the Ge(II)-complex 5 undergoes a slow isomerization that transforms the bis-ylide ligand into an yldiide.