Chiral lanthanide complexes: coordination chemistry and applications

Effect of magnetic anisotropy on direct chiral discrimination in paramagnetic NMR spectroscopy

We have studied the effect of thermally populated crystal field states on room temperature chiral discrimination in NMR spectroscopy.

Asymmetric catalysis in direct nitromethane-free Henry reactions

This review summarizes the current state and applications of catalytic Henry reactions involving complex nitroalkanes coupling with various carbonyl compounds to generate chiral β-nitro alcohol scaffolds with four adjacent stereogenic centers.

Carbonyl group and carbon dioxide activation by rare-earth-metal complexes

The rare-earth elements (Ln = Sc, Y, La-Lu) are widely used in stoichiometric and catalytic carbonyl group transformations. Sufficient availability, non-toxicity, high oxophilicity, tunable ion size/Lewis acidity and enhanced ligand exchangeability have been major driving factors for their successful implementation. Routinely employed reagents for stoichiometric carbonyl group transformations are divalent ytterbium and samarium compounds (e.g., ketone reduction), bimetallic CeCl3/LiR (C-C coupling), or ceric ammonium nitrate CAN (cyclic ketone oxidation). Rare-earth-metal triflates, and in particular Sc(OTf)3, are prominent examples of Lewis acid catalysts for versatile use in organic synthesis (e.g., Aldol and Michael reactions). Moreover, Ln(ii) and Ln(iii) complexes efficiently catalyze the (co)polymerization of carbonyl group-containing monomers including lactones, lactides, acrylates, and carbon dioxide. Featuring the most notorious greenhouse gas, CO2 is currently assessed as a cheap, abundant, and non-toxic C1 building block. Ln(iii) complexes are not only capable of efficient CO2 capture via reversible insertion but also of CO2 activation for catalytic conversions (copolymerization/cycloaddition with epoxides). This perspective focuses on structurally elucidated Ln complexes resulting from ketone or carbonyl derivative activation/insertion as well as carbon dioxide insertion products. The respective compounds will be sorted by structural motifs and, if applicable, details on reactivity and feasibility of catalytic reactions are presented. The article is subdivided in three parts: (i) donor and insertion products of ketones and aldehydes, (ii) redox-enhanced activation of carbonyl derivatives, and (iii) CO2 insertion/redox products and homogeneous catalytic conversion.

Inverse-Electron-Demand oxa-Diels-Alder Reactions of α-Keto-β,γ-unsaturated Esters and α,β-Unsaturated Hydrazones

A concise synthetic method for dihydropyrans has been developed by inverse-electron-demand oxa-Diels-Alder reaction of α-keto-β,γ-unsaturated esters with α,β-unsaturated hydrazones as electron-rich olefins. This reaction is catalyzed by Eu(hfc)₃ and proceeds in an endo-selective manner. This umpolung cycloaddition affords a variety of substituted dihydropyrans stereoselectively in high yields. In addition, indirect synthesis of formyl-substituted dihydropyran was achieved by dehydrazonation of the cycloadduct. This method is expected to be useful for the synthesis of dihydropyrans and tetrahydropyrans with unusual substitution patterns.

Probing Molecular Chirality by Orbital-Angular-Momentum-Carrying X-ray Pulses

A twisted X-ray beam with orbital angular momentum is employed in a theoretical study to probe molecular chirality. A nonlocal response description of the matter-field coupling is adopted to account for the field short wavelength and the structured spatial profile. We use the minimal-coupling Hamiltonian, which implicitly takes into account the multipole contributions to all orders. The combined interactions of the spin and orbital angular momentum of the X-ray beam give rise to circular-helical dichroism signals, which are stronger than ordinary circular dichroism signals, and may serve as a useful tool for the study of molecular chirality in the X-ray regime.

A chiral sensor for recognition of varied amines based on 19F NMR signals of newly designed rhodium complexes

A novel chiral octahedral rhodium complex containing fluorine has been developed to be an excellent chiral sensor for a variety of amines including diamines, monoamines, amino alcohols and amino acids, showing well distinguishable 19F NMR signals and an accurate measurement of enantiomeric determination.

Europium and ytterbium complexes with o-iminoquinonato ligands: synthesis, structure, and magnetic behavior

Complexes of divalent ytterbium (1) and europium (2) with a dianionic o-amidophenolate ligand were prepared by both the direct reduction of 4,6-di-tert-butyl-N-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-o-iminobenzoquinone (dpp-IQ) and the salt metathesis reaction of potassium o-amidophenolate with LnI2 (Ln = Yb, Eu). Oxidation of o-amidophenolates 1, 2 with one equivalent of dpp-IQ as well as the salt metathesis reaction of potassium o-iminosemiquinolate with LnI2 afforded ligand mixed-valent o-iminosemiquinonato-amidophenolato complexes of trivalent ytterbium (3) and europium (4). All novel complexes 1-4 were fully characterized, including the solid state structures of 1 and 2 determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The magnetic properties of paramagnetic 2-4 were examined.

Advances in helicene derivatives with circularly polarized luminescence

This review summarizes the recent research progress of helicenes and their derivatives with circularly polarized luminescence properties.

Inverse-electron-demand Diels-Alder reactions of α,β-unsaturated hydrazones with 3-methoxycarbonyl α-pyrones

Inverse-electron-demand Diels-Alder reactions of 3-electron-withdrawing group substituted α-pyrones with α,β-unsaturated hydrazones as electron-rich counterparts are catalyzed by Eu(hfc)3 to afford bicyclic lactone cycloadducts. This is an example of umpolung cycloaddition based on functional transformation of carbonyls to hydrazones. A subsequent dehydrazonation reaction enables indirect synthesis of carbonyl group-containing bicyclic lactones, which cannot be easily obtained by the cycloaddition of α-pyrones and enals.

A robust zirconium amino acid metal-organic framework for proton conduction

Proton conductive materials are of significant importance and highly desired for clean energy-related applications. Discovery of practical metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with high proton conduction remains a challenge due to the use of toxic chemicals, inconvenient ligand preparation and complication of production at scale for the state-of-the-art candidates. Herein, we report a zirconium-MOF, MIP-202(Zr), constructed from natural α-amino acid showing a high and steady proton conductivity of 0.011 S cm^-1 at 363 K and under 95% relative humidity. This MOF features a cost-effective, green and scalable preparation with a very high space-time yield above 7000 kg m^-3 day^-1. It exhibits a good chemical stability under various conditions, including solutions of wide pH range and boiling water. Finally, a comprehensive molecular simulation was carried out to shed light on the proton conduction mechanism. All together these features make MIP-202(Zr) one of the most promising candidates to approach the commercial benchmark Nafion.

Chiroptical methods in a wide wavelength range for obtaining Ln3+ complexes with circularly polarized luminescence of practical interest

We studied enantiopure chiral trivalent lanthanide (Ln3+ = La3+, Sm3+, Eu3+, Gd3+, Tm3+, and Yb3+) complexes with two fluorinated achiral tris(β-diketonate) ligands (HFA = hexafluoroacetylacetonate and TTA = 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetonate), incorporating a chiral bis(oxazolinyl)pyridine (PyBox) unit as a neutral ancillary ligand, by the combined use of optical and chiroptical methods, ranging from UV to IR both in absorption and circular dichroism (CD), and including circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). Ultimately, all the spectroscopic information is integrated into a total and a chiroptical super-spectrum, which allows one to characterize a multidimensional chemical space, spanned by the different Ln3+ ions, the acidity and steric demand of the diketone and the chirality of the PyBox ligand. In all cases, the Ln3+ ions endow the systems with peculiar chiroptical properties, either allied to f-f transitions or induced by the metal onto the ligand. In more detail, we found that Sm3+ complexes display interesting CPL features, which partly superimpose and partly integrate the more common Eu3+ properties. Especially, in the context of security tags, the pair Sm/Eu may be a winning choice for chiroptical barcoding.

Hierarchical Emergence and Dynamic Control of Chirality in a Photoresponsive Dinuclear Complex

Chiroptical photoswitches are of interest from a viewpoint of applications in advanced information technologies. We report dynamic on-off photoswitching of circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) in a binuclear europium complex system. Two coordination units are arranged closely in a chiral fashion by a photoresponsive ligand with a one-handed helical structure. The chirality in the helical scaffold is hierarchically transferred to the chirality in nine-coordinate complex sites. The chiral close arrangement of complex units induces the enrichment of a specific chiral coordination structure in the nine-coordinate europium sites. The chiral arrangement of complex units is switched in conjunction with the photoinduced helix-nonhelix structural change in the photoresponsive framework, demonstrating on-off switching of CPL with high contrast.

Dual catalysis for enantioselective convergent synthesis of enantiopure vicinal amino alcohols

Enantiopure vicinal amino alcohols and derivatives are essential structural motifs in natural products and pharmaceutically active molecules, and serve as main chiral sources in asymmetric synthesis. Currently known asymmetric catalytic protocols for this class of compounds are still rare and often suffer from limited scope of substrates, relatively low regio- or stereoselectivities, thus prompting the development of more effective methodologies. Herein we report a dual catalytic strategy for the convergent enantioselective synthesis of vicinal amino alcohols. The method features a radical-type Zimmerman–Traxler transition state formed from a rare earth metal with a nitrone and an aromatic ketyl radical in the presence of chiral N,N′-dioxide ligands. In addition to high level of enantio- and diastereoselectivities, our synthetic protocol affords advantages of simple operation, mild conditions, high-yielding, and a broad scope of substrates. Furthermore, this protocol has been successfully applied to the concise synthesis of pharmaceutically valuable compounds (e.g., ephedrine and selegiline).

Chiral vicinal amino alcohols are found in many bioactive compounds and may serve as chiral ligands. Here, the authors report a photocatalytic enantioselective cross-coupling of nitrones with aromatic aldehydes with a chiral ligand-coordinated rare earth ion synergistically producing enantiopure vicinal amino alcohols.

Elucidation of 1H NMR Paramagnetic Features of Heterotrimetallic Lanthanide(III)/Manganese(III) 12-MC-4 Complexes

The paramagnetic one-dimensional ¹H NMR spectra of twelve Ln^IIINa^I(OAc)₄[12-MC_Mn^III(N)shi-4] complexes, where Ln^III is Pr^III-Yb^III (except Pm^III) and Y^III, are reported. Their solid-state isostructural nature is confirmed in methanol-d₄ solution, as a similar pattern in the ¹H NMR spectra is observed along the series. Notably, a relatively well-resolved spectrum is reported for the Gd^III complex. The chemical shift data are analyzed using the "all lanthanides" method, and the Fermi contact and pseudo-contact contributions are calculated for the lanthanide-induced shift (LIS). For the Tb^III-Yb^III complexes, the pseudo-contact contributions are typically 1 order of magnitude higher than the Fermi contact contributions; however, for the Gd^III complex, the Fermi contact is the main contribution to the paramagnetic chemical shift. For the methyl protons of the axial acetate (^-OAc) ligands, the LIS is opposite in sign, with respect to that of the aromatic salicylhydroximate (shi^3-) protons, because of structural rearrangements that occur upon dissociation of the Na^I cation in solution. The calculated crystal field parameters (B_Ln) for the Tb^III (360 cm^-1), Dy^III (250 cm^-1), Ho^III (380 cm^-1), Er^III (410 cm^-1), Tm^III (620 cm^-1), and Yb^III (380 cm^-1) complexes are not constant, likely as a consequence of the inaccuracy of the Bleaney's constants and, to a smaller extent, the small structural changes that occur in solution. Overall, the metallacrown scaffold retains structural integrity and similarity in solution for the entire series; however, small structural features, which do not affect the overall similarity, do likely occur.

Crystal structure of {(R)-N2-[(benzo[h]quinolin-2-yl)meth-yl]-N2'-[(benzo[h]quinolin-2-yl)methyl-idene]-1,1'-binaphthyl-2,2'-di-amine-κ4N,N',N'',N'''}(trifluoromethane-sulfonato-κO)zinc(II)} trifluoromethane-sulfonate di-chloro-methane 1.5-solvate

The zinc(II) atom in the title compound, [Zn(C48H31N4)(CF3SO3)](CF3SO3)·1.5CH2Cl2, adopts a distorted five-coordinate square-pyramidal geometry. It is coordinated by one tri-fluoro-methane-sulfonate ligand and four N atoms of the N2-[(benzo[h]quinolin-2-yl)meth-yl]-N2'-[(benzo[h]quinolin-2-yl)methyl-idene]-1,1'-binaphthyl-2,2'-di-amine ligand. The complex is present as a single-stranded P-helimer monohelical structure incorporating π-π and/or σ-π inter-actions. One of the imine bonds present in the original ligand framework is reduced, leading to variations in bond lengths and torsion angles for each side of the ligand motif. The imine-bond reduction also affects the bond lengths involving the metal atom with the N-donor atoms located on the imine bond. There are two mol-ecules of the complex in the asymmetric unit. One of the mol-ecules exhibits positional disorder within the coordinating tri-fluoro-methane-sulfonate ion making the mol-ecules symmetric-ally non-equivalent.

Adducts of aqua complexes of Ln3+ with a di-hydroxylated symmetrical octamethyl-substituted cucurbituril: potential applications for isolation of heavier lanthanides

In the present work, we have demonstrated that t(OH)₂OMeQ[6] could be used for isolating heavy lanthanides from their lighter counterparts.

Chiral and non-conjugated fluorescent salen ligands: AIE, anion probes, chiral recognition of unprotected amino acids, and cell imaging applications

Chiral and non-conjugated fluorescent salen ligands with a cyclohexane/1,2-diphenylethane bridge have small π-conjugated systems but exhibit strong aggregation/anion/amino acid-induced emission.

Synthesis, structure and paramagnetic NMR analysis of a series of lanthanide-containing [LnTi6O3(OiPr)9(salicylate)6] cages

The influence of paramagnetic Ln³⁺ ions on the NMR behaviour is investigated via a series of new isostructural lanthanide-containing cages with the general formula [LnTi₆O₃(OⁱPr)₉(salicylate)₆] (Ln = La–Er).

Synthesis and characterization of dinuclear rare-earth complexes supported by amine-bridged bis(phenolate) ligands and their catalytic activity for the ring-opening polymerization of l-lactide

Reactions of amine-bridged bis(phenolate) protio-ligands N,N-bis(3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzyl)aminoacetic acid (L(1)-H3) and N,N-bis[3,5-bis(α,α'-dimethylbenzyl)-2-hydroxybenzyl]aminoacetic acid (L(2)-H3), with 1 equiv. M[N(SiMe3)2]3 (M = La, Nd, Sm, Gd, Y) in THF at room temperature yielded the neutral rare-earth complexes [M2(L)2(THF)4] (L = L(1), M = La (), Nd (), Sm (), Gd (), Y (); L = L(2), M = La (), Nd (), Sm (), Gd (), Y ()). All of these complexes were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis and in the case of yttrium and lanthanum complexes, (1)H NMR spectroscopy. The molecular structure of revealed dinuclear species in which the eight-coordinate lanthanum centers were bonded to two oxygen atoms of two THF molecules, to three oxygen atoms and one nitrogen atom of one L(1) ligand, and two oxygen atoms of the carboxyl group of another. Complexes were also dinuclear species containing seven-coordinate metal centers similar to , albeit with bonding to one rather than two carboxyl group oxygens of another ligand. Further treatment of with excess benzyl alcohol provided dinuclear complex [La2(L(1))2(BnOH)6] (), in which each lanthanum ion is eight-coordinate, bonded to three oxygen atoms and one nitrogen atom of one ligand, three oxygen atoms of three BnOH molecules, as well as one oxygen atom of bridging carboxyl group of the other ligand. In the presence of BnOH, complexes efficiently catalyzed the ring-opening polymerization of l-lactide in a controlled manner and gave polymers with relatively narrow molecular weight distributions. The kinetic and mechanistic studies associated with the ROP of l-lactide using /BnOH initiating system have been performed.

Room Temperature Chiral Discrimination in Paramagnetic NMR Spectroscopy

A recently proposed theory of chiral discrimination in NMR spectroscopy based on the detection of a molecular electric polarization P rotating in a plane perpendicular to the NMR magnetic field [A. D. Buckingham, J. Chem. Phys. 140, 011103 (2014)] is generalized here to paramagnetic systems. Our theory predicts new contributions to P, varying as the square of the inverse temperature. Ab initio calculations for ten Dy^{3+} complexes, at 293 K, show that, in strongly anisotropic paramagnetic molecules, P can be more than 1000 times larger than in diamagnetic molecules, making paramagnetic NMR chiral discrimination amenable to room temperature detection.

The role of dynamic ligand exchange in the oxidation chemistry of cerium(iii)

We report the exchange processes and reactivity of 1-Ce(het), which establish the effects of ligand redistribution and ligand reorganization in Ce^III oxidation chemistry.

The Ce^III/IV couple is useful for many applications in organic, inorganic, and materials chemistry. However, attaining a general method to access both oxidations states through reversible solution redox chemistry remains challenging. Herein we report the synthesis, characterization, and oxidation chemistry of the novel Ce/Li REMB heterochiral diastereomer, 1-Ce(het). The solution exchange processes of 1-RE(het) (RE = Ce and Yb) were investigated to estimate rates of ligand and cation exchange relevant in homochiral and heterochiral frameworks. A detailed mechanistic investigation following the solution dynamics of 1-Ce(het) revealed reactivity controlled both by ligand reorganization and redistribution processes. Ligand reorganization was responsible for the kinetics associated with the chemical oxidation reaction, whereas ligand redistribution and exchange dictated the isolated products.

A highly-efficient blue-light excitable red phosphor: intramolecular π-stacking interactions in one dinuclear europium(iii) complex

A series of ternary dinuclear europium(iii) complexes [Eu2(2,7-BTFDBC)3-n(DBM)2n(Phen)2] (n = 0, 1, or 2) were synthesized by using 2,7-bis(4'4'4'-trifluoro-1,3-dioxobutyl)-(9-ethyl-9H-carbazole) (2,7-BTFDBC), dibenzoylmethane (DBM), 1,10-phenanthroline (Phen) and europium(iii) ions. All these complexes display a broad excitation band in the blue region and high intensity emission with high colour purity. The intensity of emission significantly increases with the increase of DBM in [Eu2(2,7-BTFDBC)3-n(DBM)2n(Phen)2] (n = 0, 1, or 2). The theoretical predictions of the molecular geometry and electronic absorption spectrum of [Eu2(2,7-BTFDBC)(DBM)4(Phen)2] confirm that the pendant phenyl domains engage in multiple T-shaped and parallel-displaced π-stacking interactions with the coordination sphere of two europium(iii) centers. Using [Eu2(2,7-BTFDBC)(DBM)4(Phen)2] as a red phosphor, a single red LED has been obtained with a ∼460 nm-emitting GaN chip.

New perspectives in organolanthanide chemistry from redox to bond metathesis: insights from theory

A fifteen year contribution of computational studies carried out in close synergy with experiments is summarized.

Field-induced ferromagnetism due to magneto-striction in 1-D helical chains

Under high magnetic field and at lower temperature orthogonality of d-orbitals of Cu(ii) centers increases significantly due to contraction of lattice parameters giving rise to long range ferromagnetic ordering in the helical chain.

Chirality sensing of tertiary alcohols by a novel strong hydrogen-bonding donor - selenourea

In this paper, a novel type of chiral bisselenourea sensor was first synthesized and used as a strong hydrogen-bonding donor for highly efficient chiral recognition of a diverse range of tertiary alcohols.

Chemical sensors are powerful for the fast recognition of chiral compounds. However, the established sensing systems are less effective for chiral tertiary alcohols. The chiral tertiary alcohol group is an important structural unit in natural products and drug molecules, and its enantioselective recognition represents a significant and challenging task. In this paper, a novel type of chiral bisselenourea sensor was first synthesized and used as a strong hydrogen-bonding donor for highly efficient chiral recognition of a diverse range of tertiary alcohols. The obtained sharply split NMR signals are well-distinguishable with a large (up to 0.415 ppm) chemical shift nonequivalence. The NMR signal of the hydroxyl hydrogen atom was first employed for enantiomeric excess determination of tertiary alcohols, giving accurate results with <2% absolute errors. The 2D NOESY spectra and computational studies suggest that the geometrical differentiation of the formed diastereomeric complexes between the sensor and tertiary alcohols enables the chiral discrimination of the hydroxyl hydrogen signals of the tertiary alcohol in the ¹H NMR spectrum.

Chirality detection of two enantiomorphic 3D lanthanide coordination polymers by vibrational circular dichroism spectra

Two enantiomorphic 3D lanthanide coordination polymers of {[Dy5(L)4(H2O)10][Dy(H2O)7][Na(H2O)5]}·(ClO4)7·(H2O)15 (1a for R and 1b for S) with chiral helical chains were synthesized based on an achiral ligand N-(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediamine-N,N',N'-triacetic acid (H3L) and Dy(ClO4)3. Crystal analysis revealed that 1a and 1b were crystallized in chiral space groups P4132 and P4332, respectively. The absolute configurations of the two structures were evidenced by vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectra with one single crystal sample.