Hydrogen bonding in substituted-ammonium salts of the tetracarbonylcobaltate(−I) anion: some insights into potential roles for transition metals in organometallic crystal engineering

Organometallic chemistry meets crystal engineering to give responsive crystalline materials

Dynamically porous crystalline materials have been obtained by engineering organometallic molecules. This feature article deals with organometallic wheel-and-axle compounds, molecules with two relatively bulky groups (wheels) connected by a linear spacer. The wheels are represented by half-sandwich Ru(ii) moieties, while the spacer can be covalent or supramolecular in character. Covalent spacers are obtained using divergent bidentate ligands connecting two [(arene)RuX2] groups. Supramolecular spacers are instead obtained by exploiting the dimerization of COOH or C(O)NH2 groups appended to N-based ligands. A careful choice of ligand functional groups and X ligands leads to the isolation of crystalline materials with remarkable host-guest properties, evidenced by the possibility of reversibly capturing/releasing volatile guests through heterogenous solid-gas reactions. Structural correlations between the crystalline arrangement of the apohost and the host-guest compounds allow us to envisage the structural path followed by the system during the exchange processes.

Hydrothermal synthesis and crystal structure of novel bis(6-carboxypyridine-2-carboxylato-κ3O2,N,O6)nickel(II) trihydrate, Ni(Hpydc)2·3H2O

The synthesis and crystal structure of the compound bis(6-carboxypyridine-2-carboxylato-κ(3)O(2),N,O(6))nickel(II) trihydrate, Ni(Hpydc)(2)·3H(2)O, with a supramolecular network is reported (H(2)pydc is pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid). The compound has been prepared by hydrothermal methods. The crystal structure has been solved by direct methods using single-crystal X-ray diffraction data collected at 293 K and refined by full-matrix least-squares procedures to a final R value of 0.0323 for 2779 observed reflections. The compound has distorted octahedral geometry around the metal centre. The complex contains two identical singly ionized ligand molecules. The nickel(II) is bonded to four O atoms and two N atoms from the tridentate ligand molecules, which are nearly perpendicular to each other. Hydrogen-bonded interactions create a three-dimensional supramolecular porous network. The supramolecular structure accounts for the porous structure of the compound as is evident from the Brunauer, Emmett & Teller (BET) surface area of 80 m(2) g(-1). Thermal degradation of the compound shows that lattice water molecules give stability to the crystal structure.

Self-Organization of -Crown Ether Derivatives into Double-Columnar Arrays Controlled by Supramolecular Isomers of Hydrogen-Bonded Anionic Biimidazolate Ni Complexes

Anionic tris (biimidazolate) nickelate (II) ([Ni(Hbim)3]−), which is a hydrogen-bonding (H-bonding) molecular building block, undergoes self-organization into honeycomb-sheet superstructures connected by complementary intermolecular H-bonds. The crystal obtained from the stacking of these sheets is assembled into channel frameworks, approximately 2 nm wide, that clathrate two cationic K+-crown ether derivatives organised into one-dimensional (1D) double-columnar arrays. In this study, we have shown that all five cationic guest-included crystals form nanochannel structures that clathrate the 1-D double-columnar arrays of one of the four types of K+-crown ether derivatives, one of which induces a polymorph. This is accomplished by adaptably fitting two types of anionic [Ni(Hbim)3]−host arrays. One is a network with H-bonded linkages alternating between the two different optical isomers of the and types with flexible H-bonded [Ni(Hbim)3]−. The other is a network of a racemate with 1-D H-bonded arrays of the same optical isomer for each type. Thus, [Ni(Hbim)3]−can assemble large cations such as K+crown-ether derivatives into double-columnar arrays by highly recognizing flexible H-bonding arrangements with two host networks of and .

Proton Transfer to Organometallic Hydrides via Unconventional Hydrogen Bonding: Problems and Perspectives

This review summarizes the spectral and theoretical results concerning different ways of proton transfer through hydrogen bonds (HB) to metal atoms (XH···M) and hydride ligands (XH···HM) leading to classical and nonclassical cationic hydrides. The spectral (NMR, IR, UV-Vis in the temperature range 190–290K) and theoretical studies of the structural and energetic characteristics of HB intermediates and proton transfer allow the representation of the experimental energy profiles. The problems concerning the influence of different factors on the processes and potential energy surfaces requiring active investigations in this new area are discussed