Electronic and steric effects in fragmentation reactions of Os3(CO)9(μ-C4Ph4)

Kinetic study of the reaction of [Rh(6)(CO)(16)] with NO(2)(-): insertion of the nitrogen atom into a Rh(6) cluster core

The cluster [Rh(6)(CO)(16)] reacts with (PPN)NO(2) [PPN = N(PPh(3))(2)] in dichloromethane to form the known cluster [Rh(6)N(CO)(15)](-) in which the nitrogen atom is encapsulated within a trigonal prismatic Rh(6) cluster. A kinetic study shows that the reactions proceed in six kinetically distinguishable steps followed by another four steps that are kinetically unidentifiable but that can nevertheless be identified speculatively on the basis of analogies to other reactions of carbonyl clusters. Stopped-flow studies show that the initial step involves bimolecular nucleophilic attack on a carbon atom of a CO ligand by an oxygen atom in the NO(2)(-) ion. This is followed by CO loss (via a [CO]-dependent and a [CO]-independent path) with formation of [Rh(6)(CO)(14)(OC[combining low line]ON[combining low line]O)](-). Activation parameters have been obtained for all three steps. [Rh(6)(CO)(14)(OC[combining low line]ON[combining low line]O)](-) has been characterized spectroscopically and has the C and N atoms coordinated to one Rh atom. Reaction of this cluster with CO leads to the fairly rapid establishment of an equilibrium with the adduct [Rh(6)(CO)(n)(OC[combining low line]ON[combining low line]O)](-), where n is most probably 15. Both participants in this equilibrium react more slowly with loss of CO(2), and these reactions show negligible dependence on temperature and are therefore largely entropy controlled. The overall reaction is very solvent dependent and numerous side reactions can be identified if the conditions of reaction are not closely controlled.

Construction of a pH-Driven Supramolecular Nanovalve

[Structure: see text] The versatility of supramolecular chemistry has been exploited in constructing nanovalves based on mesoporous silica MCM-41 and the mutual recognition between secondary dialkylammonium ions and dibenzo[24]crown-8 (DB24C8). Naphthalene-containing dialkylammonium threads were tethered to the MCM-41, followed by loading with coumarin 460 and capping with DB24C8. Controlled release of coumarin 460 from the pores of MCM-41 was demonstrated using different bases. The rate of release of coumarin 460 from the nanovalves depends on the size of the base.