Crystal structure, phase transitions, optical and electrical properties in a new Cu-halide organic-inorganic hybrid

Single Crystal Investigations, Hirshfeld Surface Analysis, DFT Studies, Molecular Docking, Physico-Chemical Characterization, and Biological Activity of a Novel Non-Centrosymmetric Compound with a Copper Transition Metal Precursor

A novel organic-inorganic hybrid non-centrosymmetric superconductor material [2-ethylpiperazine tetrachlorocuprate(II)] has been synthesized and investigated by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray crystallography, thermal analyses, and density functional theory (DFT) studies. The single-crystal X-ray analysis indicates that the studied compound crystallizes in the P2₁2₁2₁ orthorhombic space group. Hirshfeld surface analyses have been used to investigate non-covalent interactions. Organic cations [C₆H₁₆N₂]²⁺ and inorganic moieties [CuCl₄]^2- alternatively connect N-H···Cl and C-H···Cl hydrogen bonds. In addition, the energies of the frontier orbitals, highest occupied molecular orbital, lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, the reduced density gradient analyses and quantum theory of atoms in molecules analyses, and the natural bonding orbital are also studied. Furthermore, the optical absorption and photoluminescence properties were also explored. However, time-dependent/DFT computations were utilized to examine the photoluminescence and UV-vis absorption characteristics. Two different methods, 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl radical and 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid radical scavenging, were used to evaluate the antioxidant activity of the studied material. Furthermore, the title material was docked to the SARS-CoV-2 variant (B.1.1.529) in silico to study the non-covalent interaction of the cuprate(II) complex with active amino acids in the spike protein.