Rational design of metal-organic cages to increase the number of components via dihedral angle control

The general principles of discrete, large self-assemblies composed of numerous components are not unveiled and the artificial formation of such entities is a challenging topic. In metal-organic cages, design strategies for tuning the coordination directions in multitopic ligands by the bend and twist angles were previously developed to solve this problem. In this study, the importance of remote geometric communications between components is emphasized, realizing several types of metal-organic assemblies based on dihedral angle control in multitopic ligands although they have the same coordination directions. Self-assembly of a tritopic ligand with dihedral angles θ = 36.5° and a cis-protected Pd(II) ion affords M9L6 and M12L8 cages as kinetic and thermodynamic products, respectively, whereas an M12L8 sheet is formed when θ = 90°. Geometric analyses of strains in the subcomponent rings reveals that remote geometric communications among neighboring multitopic ligands through coordination bonds are key for large assemblies.

Novel Star-Shaped Viologens Containing Phenyl and Triphenylamine Moieties for Electrochromic Applications

The two star-shaped viologens containing 1,3,5-substituted phenyl (1) and triphenylamine (2) central cores and n-hexyl chains were synthesized and characterized. Both compounds exhibited promising optoelectronic properties and underwent multiple oxidation/reduction processes resulting in various colors. Four possible redox states of tripyridium salt containing a phenyl or triphenylamine core can occur depending on the applied potentials. The wide color range, from colorless through blue, azure to green-gray, was observed during the electrochemical reduction of compound 1. In the case of compound 2, the color change observed during spectroelectrochemical measurements was from yellow to colorless during the cathodic process and from yellow to green during the anodic process. The observed color change for both viologens was reversible. The triphenylamine-cored viologen (2) also exhibited emission in visible range and solvatochromism. It also exhibited luminescence in the solid state when excited with a UV lamp. These studies provide insights into the design of advanced materials for applications in displays.

Structure-Activity Relationship for Di- up to Tetranuclear Macrocyclic Ruthenium Catalysts in Homogeneous Water Oxidation

Two di- and tetranuclear Ru(bda) (bda: 2,2'-bipyridine-6,6'-dicarboxylate) macrocyclic complexes were synthesized and their catalytic activities in chemical and photochemical water oxidation investigated in a comparative manner to our previously reported trinuclear congener. Our studies have shown that the catalytic activities of this homologous series of multinuclear Ru(bda) macrocycles in homogeneous water oxidation are dependent on their size, exhibiting highest efficiencies for the largest tetranuclear catalyst. The turnover frequencies (TOFs) have increased from di- to tetranuclear macrocycles not only per catalyst molecule but more importantly also per Ru unit with TOF of 6 s-1 to 8.7 s-1 and 10.5 s-1 in chemical and 0.6 s-1 to 3.3 s-1 and 5.8 s-1 in photochemical water oxidation per Ru unit, respectively. Thus, for the first time, a clear structure-activity relationship could be established for this novel class of macrocyclic water oxidation catalysts.

Ni nanoparticle-confined covalent organic polymer directed diaryl-selenides synthesis

The present work describes the preparation of a new covalent organic polymer (COP) and its application as a hetero support for diaryl selenides synthesis. A nitrogen rich COP (CGP) has been synthesized via SNAr reaction of cyanuric chloride with guanidinium hydrochloride. The successful confinement of COP with Ni nanoparticles through post-synthetic transformations (Ni@CGP) provides excellent catalytic activity for the transformation of aryl halides into diaryl selenides using elemental selenium powder. The synthetic transformations are well confirmed using various modern analytical and spectroscopic techniques which reveal high chemical and thermal durability. The N-rich framework of CGP fortifies the confinement of Ni NPs. Ni@CGP provides an efficient approach for diaryl selenides synthesis using a very cheap selenating reagent under water benign solvent conditions (DMSO : H2O) at room temperature with high reusability. Significantly, our work not only contributes the opportunity for developing economical and effective non-noble metal decorated COPs as heterogeneous catalysts, but also delivers an efficient approach to produce industrially important C-Se coupling products.

Artificial photosynthesis: opportunities and challenges of molecular catalysts

Molecular catalysis plays an essential role in both natural and artificial photosynthesis (AP). However, the field of molecular catalysis for AP has gradually declined in recent years because of doubt about the long-term stability of molecular-catalyst-based devices. This review summarizes the development history of molecular-catalyst-based AP, including the fundamentals of AP, molecular catalysts for water oxidation, proton reduction and CO2 reduction, and molecular-catalyst-based AP devices, and it provides an analysis of the advantages, challenges, and stability of molecular catalysts. With this review, we aim to highlight the following points: (i) an investigation on molecular catalysis is one of the most promising ways to obtain atom-efficient catalysts with outstanding intrinsic activities; (ii) effective heterogenization of molecular catalysts is currently the primary challenge for the application of molecular catalysis in AP devices; (iii) development of molecular catalysts is a promising way to solve the problems of catalysis involved in practical solar fuel production. In molecular-catalysis-based AP, much has been attained, but more challenges remain with regard to long-term stability and heterogenization techniques.

Ru-bda: Unique Molecular Water-Oxidation Catalysts with Distortion Induced Open Site and Negatively Charged Ligands

A water-oxidation catalyst with high intrinsic activity is the foundation for developing any type of water-splitting device. To celebrate its 10 years anniversary, in this Perspective we focus on the state-of-the-art molecular water-oxidation catalysts (MWOCs), the Ru-bda series (bda = 2,2'-bipyridine-6,6'-dicarboxylate), to offer strategies for the design and synthesis of more advanced MWOCs. The O-O bond formation mechanisms, derivatives, applications, and reasons behind the outstanding catalytic activities of Ru-bda catalysts are summarized and discussed. The excellent performance of the Ru-bda catalyst is owing to its unique structural features: the distortion induced 7-coordination and the carboxylate ligands with coordination flexibility, proton-transfer function as well as small steric hindrance. Inspired by the Ru-bda catalysts, we emphasize that the introduction of negatively charged groups, such as the carboxylate group, into ligands is an effective strategy to lower the onset potential of MWOCs. Moreover, distortion of the regular configuration of a transition metal complex by ligand design to generate a wide open site as the catalytic site for binding the substrate as an extra-coordination is proposed as a new concept for the design of efficient molecular catalysts. These inspirations can be expected to play a great role in not only water-oxidation catalysis but also other small molecule activation and conversion reactions involving artificial photosynthesis, such as CO₂ reduction and N₂ fixation reactions.

P4VP-RuII(bda) polyelectrolyte-metal complex as water oxidation catalyst: on the unique slow-diffusion and multi-charge effects of the polyelectrolyte ligand

In this work, we analyze the catalytic mechanism of P4VP–Ru^II(bda) polyelectrolyte–metal complex (PMC) as a water oxidation catalyst and elucidate how the unique slow diffusion and multi-charge properties of the polyelectrolyte ligand dominate the catalytic process. Four poly(4-vinyl pyridine)–Ru(bda) (P4VP–Ru) PMCs with different chain lengths and controlled Ru loading amounts were prepared and used as catalysts for catalytic water oxidation. These catalysts present excellent catalytic performance with turnover numbers (TON) from ∼1200 to ∼1700 because of the good hydration properties. Surprisingly, the combined catalysis kinetics and kinetic isotope effect (KIE) studies for P4VP–Ru PMCs confirm the single-site water nucleophilic attack (WNA) mechanism in catalysis, rather than the interaction between two metal oxide units (I2M). A combination of dynamic light scattering characterization, zeta-potential measurement and molecular dynamics simulation reveals that the slow diffusion and multi-charge properties of the polyelectrolyte ligand are responsible for the observed mechanism difference between the P4VP–Ru PMC system and small-molecule multi-nuclear system, though the two systems actually own a similar structural feature (flexible linkages between Ru centers). Our experimental and simulation results highlight the fact that though the existence of flexible linkages between Ru centers could provide large conformation entropy for the occurrence of Ru-dimerization in small-molecule and neutral polymer systems, the entropy elasticity could not overcome the electrostatic interaction energy in the PMC system. Clearly, this work unambiguously clarified why both intra-chain and inter-chain Ru-dimerization (I2M) are prohibited for the PMC system from a perspective of macromolecular chemistry and physics.

This work shows how the unique slow diffusion and multi-charge properties of the polyelectrolyte ligand dominate the catalytic mechanism for water oxidation catalysts.