Hydrophobicity-Driven Self-Assembly of an Eighteen-Membered Honeycomb Lattice with Almost Classical Spins

Recent advances in structures and applications of coordination polymers based on cyclohexanepolycarboxylate ligands

Coordination polymers (CPs) are emerging crystalline materials constructed by metal entities and organic ligands through coordination bonds, containing infinite coordination units in one, two, or three dimensions. Here an overview...

Intense multi-colored luminescence in a series of rare-earth metal-organic frameworks with aliphatic linkers

Two series of highly luminescent yttrium(iii), europium(iii) and terbium(iii) metal-organic frameworks containing diimine aromatic ligands and the dicarboxylate linker trans-1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate (chdc^2-) which can be described by the general formulas [M₂(bpy)₂(chdc)₃], where M = Y³⁺ (1), Eu³⁺ (2), and Tb³⁺ (3) and bpy = 2,2'-bipyridyl, and [M₂(phen)₂(chdc)₃], where M = Y³⁺ (4), Eu³⁺ (5), and Tb³⁺ (6) and phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, were synthesized and characterized. All compounds are based on the same dinuclear {M₂(L)₂(OOCR)₆} building blocks and possess a similar topology of the 3D framework with narrow pores. The chelate aromatic ligands act as efficient light-harvesting antennas for subsequent energy transfer to the emitting metal center (M = Eu³⁺, Tb³⁺) or intraligand photoemission (M = Y³⁺). As a result, the reported compounds display intense emission in the red (Eu³⁺), green (Tb³⁺) or blue (Y³⁺) regions representing three basic colors (RGB) of visible light. The measured quantum yields (QYs) of the solid-state luminescence for individual compounds were found to be 63% (1), 46% (2), 59% (3), 2.3% (4), 55% (5) and 49% (6). The drastic reduction of the luminescence efficiency for 4 is explained by the strong disorder of phen ligands. The high thermal stability (up to 300 °C) and exceptional moisture resistance of the bpy-based frameworks 1-3 were confirmed by TG and PXRD measurements. Various bimetal or trimetal compositions were also prepared for the bpy-series. The luminescence properties of these mixed-metal compounds depend on both the chemical composition and excitation wavelength (λ_ex). Remarkably, pure white emission with color temperature = 6126 K was achieved for [Y_1.68Eu_0.08Tb_0.24(bpy)₂(chdc)₃] at λ_ex = 360 nm with QY = 20%. The reported results suggest that the obtained coordination framework series is a convenient platform for the design of highly efficient light emitting materials with tunable properties.

A Series of Manganese(III) Salen Complexes as a Result of Team-Based Inquiry in a Transnational Education Programme

The development of a team-based approach to research-led transnational practical chemistry teaching is described in which a team of five Chinese students on an articulated transnational degree programme, supported by a team of academic and technical staff, carried out a study examining the structural chemistry of a series of manganese(III) salen complexes. A series of four crystallographically characterized manganese(III) salen complexes with ancillary carboxylate ligands are reported here. The carboxylate coordination modes range from the bridging syn-anti μ² -κO : κO' mode observed in the predominant cyclohexanoate and isobutyrate species, to a capping terminal monodentate mode for the adamantanoate species, and an unusual mixture of bridging and terminal coordination modes observed in a second minor phase of the cyclohexanoate species. The variation on extended structures based on the weakly interacting aliphatic backbones may provide a useful basis for further structural studies.

Transition Metal Coordination Polymers with Trans-1,4-Cyclohexanedicarboxylate: Acidity-Controlled Synthesis, Structures and Properties

Five trans-1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate (chdc²⁻) metal–organic frameworks of transition metals were synthesized in aqueous systems. A careful control of pH, reaction temperature and solvent composition were shown to direct the crystallization of a particular compound. Isostructural [Co(H₂O)₄(chdc)]_n (1) and [Fe(H₂O)₄(chdc)]_n (2) consist of one-dimensional hydrogen-bonded chains. Compounds [Cd(H₂O)(chdc)]_n∙0.5nCH₃CN (3), [Mn₄(H₂O)₃(chdc)₄]_n (4) and [Mn₂(Hchdc)₂(chdc)]_n (5) possess three-dimensional framework structures. The compounds 1, 4 and 5 were further characterized by magnetochemical analysis, which reveals paramagnetic nature of these compounds. A presence of antiferromagnetic exchange at low temperatures is observed for 5 while the antiferromagnetic coupling in 4 is rather strong, even at ambient conditions. The thermal decompositions of 1, 4 and 5 were investigated and the obtained metal oxide (cubic Co₃O₄ and MnO) samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.

Large and tunable magnetocaloric effect in gadolinium-organic framework: tuning by solvent exchange

Magnetic properties of three variants of MOF-76(Gd), {[Gd(BTC)(H2O)]·G}n (BTC = benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate, G = guest molecules) were investigated by static susceptibility, isothermal magnetization and specific heat capacity measurements. In the study we used as synthesized MOF-76(Gd)-DMF (1) (G = DMF = dimethylformamide), containing DMF molecules in the cavity system, compound MOF-76(Gd) (2), activated complex without solvents in the cavities and water exchanged sample MOF-76(Gd)-H2O (3). A pronounced change in the magnetic entropy was found near the critical temperature for all three compounds. It was shown, that magnetic entropy change depends on the solvatation of the MOF. The highest value entropy change, ΔSMpk(T) was observed for compound 2 (ΔSMpk(T) = 42 J kg-1 K-1 at 1.8 K for ΔH = 5 T). The ΔSMpk(T) for the compounds 1, 2 and 3 reached 81.8, 88.4 and 100% of the theoretical values, respectively. This suggests that in compound 3 Gd3+···Gd3+ antiferromagnetic interactions are decoupled gradually, and higher fields promote a larger decoupling between the individual spin centers. The observed entropy changes of compounds were comparable with other magnetic refrigerants proposed for low-temperature applications. To study the magnetothermal effect of 2 (the sample with largest -ΔSMpk), the temperature-dependent heat capacities (C) at different fields were measured. The value of magnetic entropy S obtained from heat capacities (39.5 J kg-1 K-1 at 1.8 K for an applied magnetic field change of 5 T) was in good agreement with that derived from the magnetization data (42 J kg-1 K-1 at 1.8 K).