Metal Complexes with Macrocyclic Ligands. Part XXIX.. Structural and kinetic studies of two isomeric Cu2+ complexes with 1,4-dimethyl-8-[2-(2-pyridyl)ethyl]-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane

The synthesis and complexation properties of 1,4-dimethyl-8-[2-(2-pyridyl)ethyl]-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetra-decane ( 2 ) are described. This ligand forms with Cu²⁺ two complexes, one of which has been characterized by X-ray structure analysis. The structural, spectral, and kinetic studies indicate that the two Cu²⁺ complexes are isomers with the macrocycle in the trans-III and trans-I configuration. The rate of the interconversion of the trans-I isomer to the thermodynamically more stable trans-III species is proportional to [OH^?]. A mechanism for this reaction is proposed.     

Metal complexes with macrocyclic ligands. Part XXII. Synthesis two of bis-tetraaza-macrocycles and study of the structures,electrochemistry, VIS and EPR spectra of their binuclear Cu2+ and Ni2+ complexes

The two bis-macrocycles 4 and 5 in which the tetraaza units are separated by a chain of different length, have been synthesized using 1,4,7-tritosyl-1,4,7,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane as starting compound and bifunctional alkylating agents. The bis-macrocycles give binuclear complexes with Ni²⁺ and Cu²⁺, the properties of which have been studied to obtain information about the interaction of the two subunits as a function of the distance. The VIS spectra of the Ni²⁺ and Cu²⁺ complexes indicate that both metal ions are in a square-planar geometry as expected from the results of the analogous complexes with 1,4,7,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane 7 . Cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse polarography of the binuclear Ni²⁺complexes in CH₃CN show a single two-electron step for ligand 5 , whereas two distinct one-electron redox processes can be observed for ligand 4 , indicating that the two metal ions interact with each other when the chain length is shorter. Similarly, the EPR studies of frozen solutions of the binuclear Cu²⁺ complexes clearly show that a magnetic dipolar interaction between the two paramagnetic centers exists, and that the strength of it depends upon the length of the bridge. Finally, from the X-ray structures of the binuclear Ni²⁺ complexes with 4 and 5 , it is seen that the two rings are kept apart as far as possible, the distances between the two metal ions determined in the solid correlate well with the observations in solution.     

The Glass Transition of Water and Aqueous Systems

After a brief introduction of the terms supercooling, amorphous solid state, glass transition and devitrification, the known ways of production of amorphous solid water are discussed. DSC experiments with quench cooled aqueous solutions show the phenomenon of glass transition and devitrification.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On the nature of the trigonal fields in hexaaquachromium(III) in guanidinium aluminum sulfate hexahydrate

Zeeman and site selective luminescence and excitation spectra in the region of the 2E<--4A2 transition are reported for the hexaaquachromium(III) complex in the trigonal ferroelectric guanidinium aluminum sulfate hexahydrate. The two prominent transitions are due to the R1 lines of the two sites of C3 and C3v point symmetry. The two R1 lines display g parallel = -3.1 and g parallel = -3.2, respectively, and show no measurable Zeeman shift or splitting with B perpendicular c. This behavior is consistent with the presence of a very large trigonal field. A peculiar feature of the present system is the conspicuous absence of any prominent R2 line. From the Zeeman data with B perpendicular c and a comparison of vibrational sidelines in excitation and luminescence it is concluded that the R2 level strongly interacts with vibrational levels.     

A Torquospecific 1,5-Electrocyclization

Saponification of homodiazepine 1a and 1b , in the absence of any proton donors, led to the formation of the 6π electron anionic species A which, by virtue of a 1,5-electrocyclization, is in equilibrium with the allylic anion B . This latter tricyclic species is thermodynamically less favoured than its bicyclic isomer A . Nevertheless, B could be trapped by acylation and led tupe- 2 compounds which are the major reaction products. This is due to the fact that B is more nucleophilic and, therefore, much more reactive than A . The transoid topology of the tricyclic products 2 was demonstrated by ¹H-NMR and by an X-ray diagram of 2d . The transoid geometry of 2 is a consequence of a torquospecific 1,5-electrocyclization (of A ), which is due to a steric, and possibly even to an electronic factor.     

Side-hole to anti-hole conversion in time-resolved spectral hole burning of ruby: Long-lived spectral holes due to ground state level population storage

We report time-resolved transient spectral hole burning of Verneuil-grown 20 ppm and ca. 0.6 ppm ruby (Al₂O₃:Cr³⁺) in zero field and low magnetic fields B∥c at 4 K. The hole-burning spectroscopy of the 20 ppm sample implies relatively rapid cross relaxation in the ⁴A₂ ground state on the ∼1 ms timescale both in zero field and in low magnetic fields, B∥c, up to 0.2 T. In the 0.6 ppm sample, side-hole to anti-hole conversion is observed both in zero field and in low magnetic fields. This conversion is caused by population storage in ⁴A₂ ground state levels. Spin-lattice relaxation, on the 200 ms timescale, is directly observed from the time dependence of the resonant hole and anti holes in B∥c, consistent with a very low cross-relaxation rate. However, in zero field cross relaxation in the ⁴A₂ ground state is still a significant relaxation mechanism for the 0.6 ppm sample resulting in hole decay in ∼50 ms.     

Photoinduced electron transfer and persistent spectral hole-burning in natural emerald

Wavelength-selective excited-state lifetime measurements and absorption, luminescence, and hole-burning spectra of a natural African emerald crystal are reported. The (2)E excited-state lifetime displays an extreme wavelength dependence, varying from 190 to 37 μs within 1.8 nm of the R(1)-line. Overall, the excited state is strongly quenched, in comparison to laboratory-created emerald (τ=1.3 ms), with an average quenching rate of ～6 × 10(3) s(-1) at 2.5 K. This quenching is attributed to photoinduced electron transfer caused by a relatively high concentration of Fe(2+) ions. The forward electron-transfer rate, k(f), from the nearest possible Fe(2+) sites at around 5 ? is estimated to be ～20 × 10(3) s(-1) at 2.5 K. The photoreductive quenching of the excited Cr(3+) ions by Fe(2+) is followed by rapid electron back-transfer in the ground state upon deactivation. The exchange interaction based quenching can be modeled by assuming a random quencher distribution within the possible Fe(2+) sites with the forward electron-transfer rate, k(f), given as a function of acceptor-donor separation R by exp[(R(f)-R)/a(f)]; R(f) and a(f) values of 13.5 and 2.7 ? are obtained at 2.5 K. The electron transfer/back-transfer reorganizes the local crystal lattice, occasionally leading to a minor variation of the short-range structure around the Cr(3+) ions. This provides a mechanism for spectral hole-burning for which a moderately high quantum efficiency of about ～0.005% is observed. Spectral holes are subject to spontaneous hole-filling and spectral diffusion, and both effects can be quantified within the standard two-level systems for non-photochemical hole-burning. Importantly, the absorbance increases on both sides of broad spectral holes, and isosbestic points are observed, in accord with the expected distribution of the "photoproduct" in a non-photochemical hole-burning process.