Hybrid organic-inorganic chlorozincate and a molecular zinc complex involving the in situ formed imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium cation: serendipitous oxidative cyclization, structures and photophysical properties

Synthesis of Membrane-Permeable Macrocyclic Peptides via Imidazopyridinium Grafting

Macrocyclic peptides (MPs) are a class of compounds that have been shown to be particularly well suited for engaging difficult protein targets. However, their utility is limited by their generally poor cell permeability and bioavailability. Here, we report an efficient solid-phase synthesis of novel MPs by trapping a reversible intramolecular imine linkage with a 2-formyl- or 2-keto-pyridine to create an imidazopyridinium (IP+)-linked ring. This chemistry is useful for the creation of macrocycles of different sizes and geometries, including head-to-side and side-to-side chain configurations. Many of the IP+-linked MPs exhibit far better passive membrane permeability than expected for "beyond Rule of 5" molecules, in some cases exceeding that of much lower molecular weight, traditional drug molecules. We demonstrate that this chemistry is suitable for the creation of libraries of IP+-linked MPs and show that these libraries can be mined for protein ligands.

Organic-inorganic hybrid hexa-chlorido-stannate(IV) with 2-methyl-imidazo[1,5-a]pyridin-2-ium cation

The hybrid salt bis-(2-methyl-imidazo[1,5-a]pyridin-2-ium) hexa-chlorido-stannate(IV), (C₈H₉N₂)₂[SnCl₆], crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁/n with the asymmetric unit containing an Sn_0.5Cl₃ fragment (Sn site symmetry ) and one organic cation. The five- and six-membered rings in the cation are nearly coplanar; bond lengths in the pyridinium ring of the fused core are as expected; the C-N/C bond distances in the imidazolium entity fall in the range 1.337 (5)-1.401 (5) Å. The octa-hedral SnCl₆ ^2- dianion is almost undistorted with the Sn-Cl distances varying from 2.4255 (9) to 2.4881 (8) Å and the cis Cl-Sn-Cl angles approaching 90°. In the crystal, π-stacked chains of cations and loosely packed SnCl₆ ^2- dianions form separate sheets alternating parallel to (101). Most of the numerous C-H⋯Cl-Sn contacts between the organic and inorganic counterparts with the H⋯Cl distances above the van der Waals contact limit of 2.85 Å are considered a result of crystal packing.

Organic–inorganic hybrid mixed-halide ZnII and CdII tetrahalometallates with the 2-methylimidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium cation

The three isomorphous hybrid salts are assembled from discrete 2-methyl­imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium cations and Zn^II or Cd^II tetra­halometallate anions that show disorder involving partial substitution of Br by Cl and Cl by I in the [CdBr_2.42Cl_1.58]^2–, [CdCl_3.90I_0.10]^2– and [ZnCl_3.19I_0.81]^2– anions.

Three isomorphous 0-D hybrid salts, namely, 2-methyl­imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium tri­chlorido­iodido­zincate(II), (C₈H₉N₂)₂[ZnCl_3.19I_0.81] or [L]₂[ZnCl_3.19I_0.81], (I), 2-methyl­imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium di­bromido­dichlorido­cadmate(II), (C₈H₉N₂)₂[CdBr_2.42Cl_1.58] or [L]₂[CdBr_2.42Cl_1.58], (II), and 2-methyl­imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium tri­chlorido­iodido­cadmate(II), (C₈H₉N₂)₂[CdCl_3.90I_0.10] or [L]₂[CdCl_3.90I_0.10], (III), are assembled from discrete 2-methyl­imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium cations, L⁺, and mixed-halide tetra­halometallate anions. In the three structures, there are two crystallographically non-equivalent cations that were modelled as being rotationally disordered by 180°. In the lattices of the three compounds, a disordered state exists involving partial substitution of Cl by I for sites 2–4 in (I), Br by Cl for all four sites in (II) and Cl by I for site 2 in (III). In the solid state, the organic and inorganic sheets alternate parallel to the bc plane in a pseudo-layered arrangement. In the organic layer, pairs of centrosymmetic­ally related trans-oriented cations form π-bonded chains. The adjacent tetra­halometallate anions in the inorganic layer show no connectivity with the shortest M⋯M separations being greater than 7 Å. A variety of C—H⋯X—M (X = Cl, Br, I) contacts between the organic and inorganic counterparts provide additional structural stabilization. The title structures are isomorphous with the previously reported structures of the chloride analogues, [L]₂[ZnCl₄] and [L]₂[CdCl₄].

Zinc (II) and AIEgens: The "Clip Approach" for a Novel Fluorophore Family. A Review

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) compounds display a photophysical phenomenon in which the aggregate state exhibits stronger emission than the isolated units. The common term of "AIEgens" was coined to describe compounds undergoing the AIE effect. Due to the recent interest in AIEgens, the search for novel hybrid organic-inorganic compounds with unique luminescence properties in the aggregate phase is a relevant goal. In this perspective, the abundant, inexpensive, and nontoxic d10 zinc cation offers unique opportunities for building AIE active fluorophores, sensing probes, and bioimaging tools. Considering the novelty of the topic, relevant examples collected in the last 5 years (2016-2021) through scientific production can be considered fully representative of the state-of-the-art. Starting from the simple phenomenological approach and considering different typological and chemical units and structures, we focused on zinc-based AIEgens offering synthetic novelty, research completeness, and relevant applications. A special section was devoted to Zn(II)-based AIEgens for living cell imaging as the novel technological frontier in biology and medicine.

Organic-inorganic hybrid tetrachlorocadmates as promising fluorescent agents for cross-linked polyurethanes: synthesis, crystal structures and extended performance analysis

The aim of this work is to apply organic–inorganic hybrid salts made of imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium-based cations and halometallate anions as fluorescent agents to modify cross-linked polyurethane (CPU) for the creation of flexible photoluminescent films. The use of ionic compounds ensures excellent dispersion of the luminescent components in the polymer matrix and prevents solid-state quenching. The absence of phase segregation makes it possible to fabricate uniformly luminescent films with a large area. To this, new tetrachlorocadmate salts [L]₂[CdCl₄] (1) and [L′]₂[CdCl₄] (2), where L⁺ is 2-methyl-3-(pyridin-2-yl)imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium and [L′]⁺ is 2-methylimidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium cations, have been prepared and characterized by IR, NMR, UV-Vis spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The organic cations resulted from the oxidative cyclization-condensation involving CH₃NH₂·HCl and 2-pyridinecarbaldehyde in methanol (1), and formaldehyde, CH₃NH₂·HCl and 2-pyridinecarbaldehyde in an aqueous media (2). In the crystal of 1, loosely packed tetrahedral cations and π–π stacked anions are arranged in separate columns parallel to the a-axis. The pseudo-layered structure of 2 is built of the organic and inorganic layers alternating along the a axis. The adjacent CdCl₄²⁻ anions in the inorganic layer show no connectivity. The organic–inorganic hybrids 1 and 2 were immobilized in situ in the cross-linked polyurethane in low content (1 wt%). The photoluminescent properties of 1 and 2 in the solid state and in the polymer films were investigated. The semi-transparent CPU films, that remain stable for months, retain the photoluminescent ability of both hybrids in the blue region with a prominent red shift in their emission.

Hybrid salts made of imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium-based cations with easily tunable electronic structures, and halometallate anions that do not include any rare-earth or noble metals were used to fabricate flexible luminescent CPU films.

Crystal structure and characterization of a new copper(II) chloride dimer with meth-yl(pyridin-2-yl-methyl-idene)amine

The new copper(II) complex, namely, di-μ-chlorido-bis-{chlorido-[meth-yl(pyri-din-2-yl-methyl-idene)amine-κ2 N,N']copper(II)}, [Cu2Cl4(C7H8N2)2], (I), with the ligand 2-pyridyl-methyl-N-methyl-imine (L, a product of Schiff base condensation between methyl-amine and 2-pyridine-carbaldehyde) is built of discrete centrosymmetric dimers. The coordination about the CuII ion can be described as distorted square pyramidal. The base of the pyramid consists of two nitro-gen atoms from the bidentate chelate L [Cu-N = 2.0241 (9), 2.0374 (8) Å] and two chlorine atoms [Cu-Cl = 2.2500 (3), 2.2835 (3) Å]. The apical position is occupied by another Cl atom with the apical bond being significantly elongated at 2.6112 (3) Å. The trans angles of the base are 155.16 (3) and 173.79 (2)°. The Cu⋯Cu separation in the dimer is 3.4346 (3) Å. In the crystal structure, the loosely packed dimers are arranged in stacks propagating along the a axis. The X-band polycrystalline 77 K EPR spectrum of (I) demonstrates a typical axial pattern characteristic of mononuclear CuII complexes. Compound (I) is redox active and shows a cyclic voltammetric response with E 1/2 = -0.037 V versus silver-silver chloride electrode (SSCE) assignable to the reduction peak of CuII/CuI in methanol as solvent.

Crystal structure of imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium-based hybrid salt (C13H12N3)2[MnCl4]

A new organic-inorganic hybrid salt [L]2[MnCl4] (I) where L + is the 2-methyl-3-(pyridin-2-yl)imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium cation, is built of discrete organic cations and tetra-chlorido-manganate(II) anions. The L + cation was formed in situ in the oxidative cyclo-condensation of 2-pyridine-carbaldehyde and CH3NH2·HCl in methanol. The structure was refined as a two-component twin using PLATON (Spek, 2020 ▸) to de-twin the data. The twin law (-1 0 0 0 - 1 0 0.5 0 1) was applied in the refinement where the twin component fraction refined to 0.155 (1). The compound crystallizes in the space group P21/c with two crystallographically non-equivalent cations in the asymmetric unit, which possess similar structural conformations. The fused pyridinium and imidazolium rings of the cations are virtually coplanar [dihedral angles are 0.89 (18) and 0.78 (17)°]; the pendant pyridyl rings are twisted by 36.83 (14) and 36.14 (13)° with respect to the planes of the remaining atoms of the cations. The tetra-hedral MnCl4 2- anion is slightly distorted with the Mn-Cl distances falling in the range 2.3469 (10)-2.3941 (9) Å. The distortion value of 0.044 relative to the ideal tetra-hedron was obtained by continuous shape measurement (CShM) analysis. In the crystal, the cations and anions form separate stacks propagating along the a-axis direction. The organic cations display weak π-π stacking. The anions, which are stacked identically one above the other, demonstrate loose packing; the minimum Mn⋯Mn separation in the cation stack is approximately 7.49 Å. The investigation of the fluorescent properties of a powdered sample of (I) showed no emission. X-band EPR data for (I) at 293 and 77 K revealed broad fine structure signals, indicating moderate zero-field splitting.

Synthetic strategy towards halometallates with imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium-based counterions

The interaction between formaldehyde, amine and 2-pyridinecarbaldehyde with MX_n (X = halide) in the presence of HX enables creation of a large range of chemical and structural variations for systematic investigation of the entailing properties.

Long magnetic relaxation time of tetracoordinate Co2+ in imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium-based (C13H12N3)2[CoCl4] hybrid salt and [Co(C13H12N3)Cl3] molecular complex

The novel organic-inorganic hybrid salt [L]₂[CoCl₄] (1) and molecular complex [CoLCl₃] (2), where L⁺ is 2-methyl-3-(pyridin-2-yl)imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium cation, feature simple {CoCl₄} and {CoCl₃N} tetrahedral environments of negligible (1) and a slightly higher distortion (2) that are responsible for rather low positive magnetic anisotropy of Co^II ion with D/hc = 12.1(6) (1) and 19.4(15) cm^-1 (2). Both compounds exhibit field-induced slow magnetic relaxation with three relaxation channels [low- (LF), intermediate- and high-frequency (HF) modes] that is frequency and field dependent. With the increased DC field, the peaks referring to the LF relaxation path are moved to lower frequencies so that the applied DC field causes prolongation of the relaxation time. The opposite is true for the HF relaxation branch: the peak is moved to higher frequencies. Considering the simplicity of the coordination environment and moderate magnetic anisotropy of the metal ion in 1 and 2, the compounds are unique with respect to the remarkably long relaxation time for a given applied DC field and temperature: τ_LF = 0.54(4) s at B_DC = 1.0 T and T = 2.0 K for 1, and τ_LF = 1.8(2) s at B_DC = 1.2 T and T = 1.9 K for 2.

Crystal structures of an imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium-based ligand and its (C13H12N3)2[CdI4] hybrid salt

The monocation product of the oxidative condensation-cyclization between two mol-ecules of pyridine-2-carbaldehyde and one mol-ecule of CH3NH2·HCl in methanol, 2-methyl-3-(pyridin-2-yl)imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium, was isolated in the presence of metal ions as bis-[2-methyl-3-(pyridin-2-yl)imidazo[1,5-a]pyridin-2-ium] tetra-iodo-cadmate, (C13H12N3)2[CdI4], (I), and the mixed chloride/nitrate salt, bis-[2-methyl-3-(pyridin-2-yl)imidazo[1,5-a]pyridin-2-ium] 1.5-chlor-ide 0.5-nitrate trihydrate, 2C13H12N3 +·1.5Cl-·0.5NO3 -·3H2O, (II). Hybrid salt (I) crystallizes in the space group P21/n with two [L]2[CdI4] mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit related by pseudosymmetry. In the crystal of (I), layers of organic cations and of tetra-halometallate anions are stacked parallel to the ab plane. Anti-parallel L + cations disposed in a herring-bone pattern form π-bonded chains through aromatic stacking. In the inorganic layer, adjacent tetra-hedral CdI4 units have no connectivity but demonstrate close packing of iodide anions. In the crystal lattice of (II), the cations are arranged in stacks propagating along the a axis; the one-dimensional hydrogen-bonded polymer built of chloride ions and water mol-ecules runs parallel to a column of stacked cations.

Combined experimental and density functional theory studies of an organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite

Single crystals of [C6H5-C2H4-NH3]2ZnCl4 were obtained by slow evaporation at room temperature. Single-Crystal X-Ray Diffraction (SCXRD), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and UV-Visible spectroscopy were used to characterize the crystal structure, and thermal and optical properties, respectively. At 293 K, PEA-ZnCl4 crystallizes in a monoclinic unit-cell in the P21/c space group a = 7.449(2) Å, b = 24.670(3) Å, c = 11.187(2) Å and β = 91.762(5)°, V = 2054.8(2) Å(3) and Z = 4. The DSC and TGA analyses show respectively the presence of two first order reversible phase transitions and a sample thermal stability below 541 K. The optical study reveals that the compound undergoes a direct optical transition and an energy gap about of Eg = 4.46 eV. In parallel, ab initio DFT calculations are performed to study the electronic band structure, to examine electronic density and to calculate the gap energy value. The calculated values are in good agreement with the experimental data.