1D and 2D End-to-End Azide-Bridged Cobalt(II) Complexes: Syntheses, Crystal Structures, and Magnetic Properties

Magnetic Properties of End-to-End Azide-Bridged Tetranuclear Mixed-Valence Cobalt(III)/Cobalt(II) Complexes with Reduced Schiff Base Blocking Ligands and DFT Study

Two tetranuclear mixed-valence cobalt(III/II) complexes having the general formula [(μ_1,3-N₃){Co^II(L ⁿ )(μ-O₂CC₆H₄NO₂)Co^III(N₃)}₂]PF₆ (where H₂L¹ and H₂L² are two reduced Schiff base ligands) have been synthesized and characterized. The structures of both complexes show cobalt(II) and cobalt(III) centers with a distorted octahedral geometry with cobalt(III) and cobalt(II) centers located at the inner N₂O₂ and outer O₄ cavities of the reduced Schiff base ligands, respectively. The oxidation states of both cobalt centers have been confirmed by bond valence sum (BVS) calculations. The magnetic properties show that both compounds behave as cobalt(II) dimers connected through an end-to-end azido bridging ligand and show moderate antiferromagnetic Co(II)-Co(II) couplings of -11.0 and -14.4 cm^-1 for 1 and 2, respectively, as also corroborated by DFT calculations, J _theo = -13.07 cm^-1 for 1 and -12.49 cm^-1 for 2. The calculated spin densities of both complexes at the cobalt(II) centers are -2.75 and +2.75, respectively, clearly supporting that they are the magnetic centers.

Migratory insertion and hydrogenation of a bridging azide in a thiolate-bridged dicobalt reaction platform

A novel well-defined thiolate-bridged dicobalt azido complex is converted to a rare sulfilimide-bridged dicobalt complex via nitrogen atom migratory insertion into the Co-S bond upon thermolysis. Intriguingly, the homolytic cleavage of hydrogen is achieved by this azide under mild conditions to furnish a partially hydrogenated azido complex.

New Twists and Turns for Actinide Chemistry: Organometallic Infinite Coordination Polymers of Thorium Diazide

Two organometallic 1D infinite coordination polymers and two organometallic monometallic complexes of thorium diazide have been synthesized and characterized. Steric control of these self-assembled arrays, which are dense in thorium and nitrogen, has also been demonstrated: infinite chains can be circumvented by using steric bulk either at the metallocene or with a donor ligand in the wedge.

4-Substituent pyridine directed cobalt(ii) azides: solvothermal synthesis, structure, and magnetic properties

Azido-bridged magnetic complexes: Different 4-substituent groups of pyridine co-ligands directed the linkages between azide and Co(ii) ions, to give three azide–Co(ii) complexes with different structures and magnetic properties.

Versatility of azide in serendipitous assembly of copper(II) magnetic polyclusters

Engineering at the molecular level is one of the most exciting new developments for the generation of functional materials. However, the concept of designing polynuclear extended structures from bottom up is still not mature. Although progress has been made with secondary building units (SBUs) in metal organic frameworks (MOFs), the control seems to be just an illusion when it comes to bridging ligands such as the azide ion. When we say that the azido ligand is versatile in its bridging capabilities, what we mean is that it would be difficult to predict or control its bridging properties. However, this kind of serendipity is not always bad news. For example, scientists have shown that the azido ligand can mediate magnetic exchanges between paramagnetic metals in a predictable fashion (usually depending upon the bonding geometries). Therefore, it is a well-respected ligand in polynuclear assemblies. Serendipitous assemblies offer new magnetic structures that we may not otherwise even think about synthesizing. The azido ligand forms a variety of complexes with copper(II) using different blocking amines or pyridine based ligands. Its structural nature changes upon changing the substitution on amine, as well as the amount of blocking ligand. In principle, if we take any of these complexes and provide more coordination sites to the bridging azido ligands by removing a fraction of the blocking ligands, we can get new complexes with intricate structural networks and therefore different magnetic properties with the same components as used for the parent complex. In this Account, we mainly discuss the development of a number of new topological and magnetic exchange systems synthesized using this concept. Not all of these new complexes can be grouped according to their basic building structures or even by the ratio of the metal to blocking ligand. Therefore, we divided the discussion by the nuclearity of the basic building structures. Some of the complexes with the same nuclearities have very similar or even almost identical basic structures. However, the way these building units are joined together (by the azido bridges) to form the overall extended structures differ almost in every case. The complexes having the Cu6 core are particularly interesting from a structural point of view. Although they have almost identical basic structures, some of them are extended in three dimensions, but two of them are extended in two dimensions by two different bridging networks. In the complexes having linear Cu4 basic units, we find that using similar ligands does not always give the same bridging networks even within the basic building structures. These complexes have also enriched the field of molecular magnetism. One of the complexes with a Cu3 building unit has provided us with the opportunity to study the competing behavior of two different kinds of magnetic exchange mechanism (ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic) acting simultaneously between two metal ions. Through density functional theory calculations, we showed how they work independently and their additive nature to produce the overall effect. The exciting methodology for the generation of copper(II) polyclusters presented in this Account will provide the opportunity to explore analogous serendipitous assembly of diverse structures with interesting magnetic behavior using other transition metal ions having more than one unpaired electrons.

Two EE-azido-bridged nickel(II) layered compounds: vigorous twisted torsion angle Ni-N3-Ni results in ferromagnetic behavior

Two coordination polymers, Ni(endi)(N(3))(2) (endi = 1,2-bis(tetrazol-1-yl)ethane) (1) and Ni(4-acpy)(2)(N(3))(2) (4-acpy = 4-acetylpyridine) (2), are obtained by employing a couple of cobalt complex as references. Both compounds have similar 2D (4,4) EE azide-nickel layer structures, but different interlayer separations. Their EE azide bridges are vigorously twisted, with the torsion angle tau value 88.3 degrees and 107.6 degrees for 1 and 89.2 degrees for 2. Different from most EE azide compounds, ferromagnetism is distinctly present, ordering below T(c) = 25 K for 1 and T(c) = 23 K for 2. Fitting of magnetic susceptibility data using the spin Hamiltonian H = -2J SigmaS(1)S(2) gives the ferromagnetic intralayer coupling J = 14.70(6) cm(-1) for 1 and 14.32(0) cm(-1) for 2, respectively. The magnetostructural correlations of 1 have been calculated using the density function theory based method. The computational results are consistent with the trend of the experimental data. One possible mechanism was proposed to explain the emergence of ferromagnetism based on the theoretical studies, and the ferromagnet construction approach was also proposed accordingly.