(Pyrazole)silver(I) and -gold(I) Complexes with Strong and Weak Hydrogen-Bonding Interactions as the Basis of One- or Two-Dimensional Structures

Multinuclear silver(I) XPhos complexes with cyclooctatetraene: photochemical C-C bond cleavage of acetonitrile and cyanide bridged Ag cluster formation

Cationic mono-, di-, tri- and tetra-nuclear silver complexes with Buchwald-type phosphane (XPhos) and cyclooctatetraene (COT) have been synthesized and characterized. Formation of [(XPhos-Ag)n(COT)][SbF6]n (n = 1 and 2) complexes was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy. Variable-temperature NMR spectroscopy in CD2Cl2 solution shows the fluxionality of the COT ring in the mono-Ag(i) XPhos complex. Fluxionality of COT was also confirmed in the case of the di-Ag(i) XPhos complex by solid-state and solution (31)P NMR spectroscopy. The C-C bond cleavage of coordinated acetonitrile [XPhos-Ag(i)-NCCH3] resulting in cyanide bridged Ag cluster formation [(XPhos-Ag)2(μ-CN)n(μ-Ag)n-1] (n = 1, 2, 3 and 4) upon light excitation of [(XPhos-Ag)n(COT)] was confirmed by HRESI-MS, UV-Absorption and HR-TEM.

Halide-modulated bistate and tristate fluorescence switching for Cu(i) and Ag(i) complexes

Herein, a facile reversible tristate fluorescence switching system “L^Ph ↔ 1·ClO₄ ↔ 2 or 3 ↔ L^Ph” for copper(i) complexes and a simple ON ↔ OFF bistate fluorescence switching “L^Ph ↔ 5·ClO₄” for a silver(i) complex were presented.

Novel composite plastics containing silver(I) acylpyrazolonato additives display potent antimicrobial activity by contact

New silver(I) acylpyrazolonato derivatives displaying a mononuclear, polynuclear, or ionic nature, as a function of the ancillary azole ligands used in the synthesis, have been fully characterized by thermal analysis, solution NMR spectroscopy, solid-state IR and NMR spectroscopies, and X-ray diffraction techniques. These derivatives have been embedded in polyethylene (PE) matrix, and the antimicrobial activity of the composite materials has been tested against three bacterial strains (E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and S. aureus): Most of the composites show antimicrobial action comparable to PE embedded with AgNO3 . Tests by contact and release tests for specific migration of silver from PE composites clearly indicate that, at least in the case of the PE, for composites containing polynuclear silver(I) additives, the antimicrobial action is exerted by contact, without release of silver ions. Moreover, PE composites can be re-used several times, displaying the same antimicrobial activity. Membrane permeabilization studies and induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation tests confirm the disorganization of bacterial cell membranes. The cytotoxic effect, evaluated in CD34(+) cells by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide) and CFU (colony forming units) assays, indicates that the PE composites do not induce cytotoxicity in human cells. Studies of ecotoxicity, based on the test of Daphnia magna, confirm tolerability of the PE composites by higher organisms and exclude the release of Ag(+) ions in sufficient amounts to affect water environment.

The gold-hydrogen bond, Au-H, and the hydrogen bond to gold, Au∙∙∙H-X

In the first part of this review, the characteristics of Au-H bonds in gold hydrides are reviewed including the data of recently prepared stable organometallic complexes with gold(I) and gold(III) centers. In the second part, the reports are summarized where authors have tried to provide evidence for hydrogen bonds to gold of the type Au∙∙∙H-X. Such interactions have been proposed for gold atoms in the Au(-I), Au(0), Au(I), and Au(III) oxidation states as hydrogen bonding acceptors and H-X units with X = O, N, C as donors, based on both experimental and quantum chemistry studies. To complement these findings, the literature was screened for examples with similar molecular geometries, for which such bonding has not yet been considered. In the discussion of the results, the recently issued IUPAC definitions of hydrogen bonding and the currently accepted description of agostic interactions have been used as guidelines to rank the Au∙∙∙H-X interactions in this broad range of weak chemical bonding. From the available data it appears that all the intra- and intermolecular Au∙∙∙H-X contacts are associated with very low binding energies and non-specific directionality. To date, the energetics have not been estimated, because there are no thermochemical and very limited IR/Raman and temperature-dependent NMR data that can be used as reliable references. Where conspicuous structural or spectroscopic effects have been observed, explanations other than hydrogen bonding Au∙∙∙H-X can also be advanced in most cases. Although numerous examples of short Au∙∙∙H-X contacts exist in the literature, it seems, at this stage, that these probably make only very minor contributions to the energy of a given system and have only a marginal influence on molecular conformations which so far have most often attracted researchers to this topic. Further, more dedicated investigations will be necessary before well founded conclusions can be drawn.

Silver-pyrazole complexes as hybrid multifunctional materials with metallomesogenic and photoluminescent behaviour

New pyridine-functionalised pyrazole compounds [Hpz(R(n)py)] (R(n) = C(6)H(4)OC(n)H(2n+1); n = 12, 14, 16, 18; 1-4) and their corresponding silver complexes [Ag(Hpz(R(n)py))(2)][A] ([A] = NO(3)(-), BF(4)(-); ) have been synthesised and characterised. All of them, with the exception of 1, are liquid crystal materials exhibiting monotropic or enantiotropic SmA mesophases, in contrast to the non-mesomorphic related R(n)-monosubstituted compounds. Because the molecular shape is a factor determinant in the organisation of molecules in the liquid crystal phase, we were interested in solving the crystal structure of representative examples of the mentioned compounds, such as 1 and 6. So, the X-ray crystal structure of [Hpz(R(12)py)] 1 shows the presence of dimeric units through N-H···N hydrogen bonds, which conform to an elongated molecular shape containing a double chain length. On the other hand, the structure of [Ag(Hpz(R(14)py))(2)][NO(3)] 6 also evidenced Ag-Ag bonded dimers from 'U'-shaped cationic entities. These dimers exhibit four chains, two by two alternated, so giving rise to a longer molecular length. Of particular interest was to observe that in both structures, the dimers are layer-like packed, their lamellar structures being related to that of the mesophases found in both kinds of compounds. Furthermore, the analysis of the optical data of the compounds 2 and 4 and the silver compounds 5, 6, 9 and 10 as representative examples pointed out their luminescent behaviour as well as their good ability to act as fluorescent probes for Zn(2+), Cu(2+) and Ag(+). An increase in the fluorescence quantum yields is observed in the final complexes produced in the titrations, this fact being specially notable when 9 was used as the starting compound.

Synthesis and characterization of azolate gold(I) phosphane complexes as thioredoxin reductase inhibiting antitumor agents

Following an increasing interest in the gold drug therapy field, nine new neutral azolate gold(I) phosphane compounds have been synthesized and tested as anticancer agents. The azolate ligands used in this study are pyrazolates and imidazolates substituted with deactivating groups such as trifluoromethyl, nitro or chloride moieties, whereas the phosphane co-ligand is the triphenylphosphane or the more hydrophilic TPA (TPA = 1,3,5-triazaphosphaadamantane). The studied gold(I) complexes are: (3,5-bis-trifluoromethyl-1H-pyrazolate-1-yl)-triphenylphosphane-gold(I) (1), (3,5-dinitro-1H-pyrazolate-1-yl)-triphenylphosphane-gold(I) (2), (4-nitro-1H-pyrazolate-1-yl)-triphenylphosphane-gold(I) (5), (4,5-dichloro-1H-imidazolate-1-yl)-triphenylphosphane-gold(I) (7), with the related TPA complexes (3), (4), (6) and (8) and (1-benzyl-4,5-di-chloro-2H-imidazolate-2-yl)-triphenylphosphane-gold(I) (9). The presence of deactivating groups on the azole rings improves the solubility of these complexes in polar media. Compounds 1-8 contain the N-Au-P environment, whilst compound 9 is the only one to contain a C-Au-P environment. Crystal structures for compounds 1 and 2 have been obtained and discussed. Interestingly, the newly synthesized gold(I) compounds were found to possess a pronounced cytotoxic activity on several human cancer cells, some of which were endowed with cis-platin or multidrug resistance. In particular, among azolate gold(I) complexes, 1 and 2 proved to be the most promising derivatives eliciting an antiproliferative effect up to 70 times higher than cis-platin. Mechanistic experiments indicated that the inhibition of thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) might be involved in the pharmacodynamic behavior of these gold species.

Bis(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazole-κN)silver(I) hexa-fluorido-anti-monate

The title compound, [Ag(C₅H₈N₂)₂]SbF₆, contains an Ag⁺ cation almost linearly bonded to two N atoms of dimethylpyrazole ligands [N—Ag—N = 176.54 (18)°]. The structure exhibits hydrogen bonding between the two dimethyl­pyrazole H atoms and two F atoms of one hexa­fluorido­anti­monate anion. Three relatively short Ag⋯F contacts [2.869 (6), 2.920 (7), and 3.094 (7) Å] exist between the cation and three different SbF₆⁻ anions. The crystal used for data collection was found to be twinned by non-merohedry, with the two components being related by a 180° rotation around the real or reciprocal a axis. Integration resulted in 11.2% of the total peaks being assigned to component 1, 11.2% to component 2, and 77.6% to both components.

Pyrazoles and pyrazolides-flexible synthons in self-assembly

This Perspective summarises the chemistry of the pyrazole ring, and reviews the metal coordination modes adopted by 1H-pyrazoles and their anions. Pyrazolide anions are probably the most versatile ligands in coordination chemistry, with 20 different terminal or bridging coordination modes having been identified so far. Metal cluster compounds supported by pyrazolido ligation are surveyed, concentrating on those reported during the past ten years. Highlights include the wide structural diversity in apparently simple main group pyrazolides; luminescence and charge-transfer complexes in coinage metal pyrazolide clusters; the use of robust metal pyrazolide clusters to construct liquid crystals, supramolecular materials and metal-organic frameworks; and supramolecular complexes formed by pyrazolide-supported metallacrowns.

Phototriggered sulfoxide isomerization in [Ru(pic)2(dmso)2]

We report the characterization and photochemistry of a simple ruthenium coordination complex containing only picolinate (pic) and dmso, which exhibits a large isomerization quantum yield (Phi(SS-->OO) = 0.50) in various solvents. The picolinate ligands of [Ru(pic)(2)(dmso)(2)] are in a cis arrangement so that the carboxylate oxygen of one pic ligand (O1) is trans to the pyridine of the second picolinate (N2). One dmso ligand (S1) is trans to a pyridine nitrogen (N1), while the second dmso (S2) is trans to a carboxylate oxygen (O3). The cyclic voltammetry, (1)H NMR, IR, and UV-vis spectroscopy data suggest that while both dmso ligands isomerize photochemically, only one dmso ligand isomerizes electrochemically. Isomerization quantum yields for each dmso ligand differ by an order of magnitude (Phi(SS-->SO) = 0.46 and Phi(SO-->OO) = 0.036). In agreement with previous results, the isomerization quantum yield for each dmso is dependent on the ligand that is trans to the dmso.

Pyrazole Complexes as Anion Receptors

The behavior of the receptors [Re(CO)3(Hdmpz)3]BAr'4 (Hdmpz = 3,5-dimethylpyrazole) (1) and [Re(CO)3(HtBupz)3]BAr'4 (HtBupz = 3(5)-tert-butylpyrazole) (2; Ar' = 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl) toward the anions fluoride, chloride, bromide, iodide, hydrogensulfate, dihydrogenphosphate, nitrate, and perrhenate was studied in CD3CN solution. In most cases, the receptors were stable. Anion exchange was fast, and binding constants were calculated from the NMR titration profiles. The structure of the adduct [Re(CO)3(HtBupz)3] x NO3 (3) was determined by X-ray diffraction. Two pyrazole moieties are hydrogen-bonded to one nitrate oxygen atom, and the third pyrazole moiety is hydrogen-bonded to an oxygen atom of an adjacent nitrate, leading to infinite chains. The structure of the adduct [Re(CO)3(Hdmpz)3]BAr'4acetone (4), also determined by X-ray diffraction, showed a similar interaction of two pyrazole N-H groups with the acetone oxygen atom. F- and H2PO4(-) deprotonate the receptors, and HSO4(-) decomposed 1. The structure of one of the decomposition products (5), determined by X-ray diffraction, is consistent with pyrazole protonation and substitution by sulfate.