The Effect of the Spacer of Bis(biurea) Ligands on the Structure of A2L3‐type (A=anion) Phosphate Complexes

By tuning the length and rigidity of the spacer of bis(biurea) ligands L, three structural motifs of the A₂L₃ complexes (A represents anion, here orthophosphate PO₄^3?), namely helicate, mesocate, and mono‐bridged motif, have been assembled by coordination of the ligand to phosphate anion. Crystal structure analysis indicated that in the three complexes, each of the phosphate ions is coordinated by twelve hydrogen bonds from six surrounding urea groups. The anion coordination properties in solution have also been studied. The results further demonstrate the coordination behavior of phosphate ion, which shows strong tendency for coordination saturation and geometrical preference, thus allowing for the assembly of novel anion coordination‐based structures as in transition‐metal complexes.     

Linking Chiral Clusters with Molybdate Building Blocks: From Homochiral Helical Supramolecular Arrays to Coordination Helices

The synthesis of four new oxo‐centered Fe clusters ( 1 a – c , 2 ) of the form [Fe^III₃(μ₃‐O)(CH₂=CHCOO)₆] with acrylate as the bridging ligand gives rise to potentially intrinsically chiral oxo‐centered {M₃} trimers that show a tendency to spontaneously resolve upon crystallization. For instance, 1 a , [Fe^III₃(μ₃‐O)(CH₂=CHCOO)₆‐(H₂O)₃]⁺, crystallizes in the chiral space group P3₁ as a chloride salt. Crystallization of 1 b , [Fe₃(μ₃‐O)(C₂H₃CO₂)₆(H₂O)₃]NO₃?4.5H₂O, from aqueous solution followed by recrystallization from acetonitrile also gives rise to spontaneous resolution to yield the homochiral salt [Fe₃(μ₃‐O)(C₂H₃CO₂)₆‐(H₂O)₃]NO₃?CH₃CN of 1 c (space group P2₁2₁2₁). Furthermore, the reaction of 1 a with hexamolybdate in acetonitrile gives the helical coordination polymer {[(Fe₃(μ₃‐O)L₆(H₂O))(MoO₄)‐(Fe₃(μ₃‐O)L₆(H₂O)₂)]?2CH₃CN?H₂O}_∞ 2 (L: H₂C?CHCOO), which crystallizes in the space group P2₁. The nature of the ligand geometry allows the formation of atropisomers in both the discrete ( 1 a – c ) and linked {Fe₃} clusters ( 2 ), which is described along with a magnetic analysis of 1 a and 2 .     

Millimeter and submillimeter detection using Ga1?xAlxAs/GaAs heterostructures

We have shown that a Ga_1–xAl_xAs/GaAs heterostructure can be used as a sensitive tunable detector of mm-wave/sub-mm-wave radiation. The mechanism for detection requires the application of a magnetic field varying from approximately 0.2T at 94GHz (3.2mm wavelength) to 6.2T at 2500GHz (119m wavelength). The responsivity and N.E.P. at 3.2mm have been roughly estimated at 200V/W and 5×10^–11W/Hz respectively. The speed of such a detector could be several orders of magnitude greater than comparable InSb detectors.     

Controllable growth of chains and grids from polyoxomolybdate building blocks linked by silver(I) dimers

Molecular growth processes utilizing a beta-octamolybdate synthon and {Ag2} dimers are described and the directing influence of "encapsulating" cations and coordinating solvent is also demonstrated. The growth of two 1D chains, (nBu4N)2n[Ag2Mo8O26]n (1) and (nBu4N)2n[Ag2Mo8O26(CH3CN)2]n (2), is achieved when nBu4N+ ions are used, and the diameter of the chains can be expanded by the coordination of CH3CN solvent (2). The formation of a type of gridlike structure in which 1D chains are crossed-over each other in alternatively packed layers is achieved in DMSO as the solvent; DMSO acts as a linking group to give (nBu4N)2n[Ag2Mo8O26(dmso)2]n (3), which, similar to 1 and 2, still incorporates the Bu4N+ ions that exert an "encapsulating" influence. However, in (HDMF)n[Ag3(Mo8O26)(dmf)4]n (4) the relatively bulky Bu4N+ ions are exchanged for protonated DMF cations, thereby allowing the chains to condense to a 2D array. The building block concept is further enforced by the isolation of a "monomeric" unit (Ph4P)2[Ag2Mo8O26(dmso)4] (5), which is isolated when the Ph4P+ ions are so "encapsulating" as to prevent aggregation of the {Ag-Mo8-Ag} building blocks. The nature of the AgAg dimers in each of the compounds 1-4 is examined by DFT calculations and the interplay between these Ag-Ag interactions and the structure types is described.     

Anion control of isomerism, crystal packing and binding properties in a mononuclear zinc complex

The coordination chemistry of the tetradentate pyridyl N-donor ligand cis-3,5-bis-[2-pyridinyleneamin]-trans-hydroxycyclohexane (DDOP) has been investigated with zinc(II) nitrate and triflate. The resulting complexes, [Zn(DDOP)(H₂O)(NO₃)](NO₃) (1), and [Zn(DDOP)(H₂O)(OTf)](OTf) (2) differ not only in their counterions, but also the arrangement of the axial ligands and their solid state hydrogen bonded networks. Isothermal titration calorimetry was used to assess the difference in binding properties exhibited by the two zinc complexes at physiological pH in an aqueous environment. A series of coordinating amino acids were found to preferentially bind to the mononuclear zinc triflate (1) complex over the corresponding nitrate (2) assembly, with histidine exhibiting a two centre binding mode.