More Like this

1. Supramolecular Paradigm for Capture and Co‐Precipitation of Gold(III) Coordination Complexes

   https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202003680  

   Shaffer, Cassandra_C; Liu, Wenqi; Oliver, Allen_G; Smith, Bradley_D (November 2020, Chemistry – A European Journal)

   Abstract A new supramolecular paradigm is presented for reliable capture and co‐precipitation of haloauric acids (HAuX₄) from organic solvents or water. Two classes of acyclic organic compounds act as complementary receptors (tectons) by forming two sets of directional non‐covalent interactions, (a) hydrogen bonding between amide (or amidinium) NH residues and the electronegative X ligands on the AuX₄⁻, and (b) electrostatic stacking of the electron deficient Au center against the face of an aromatic surface. X‐ray diffraction analysis of four co‐crystal structures reveals the additional common feature of proton bridged carbonyls as a new and predictable supramolecular design element that creates one‐dimensional polymers linked by very short hydrogen bonds (CO⋅⋅⋅OC distance <2.5 Å). Two other co‐crystal structures show that the amidinium‐π⋅⋅⋅XAu interaction will reliably engage AuX₄⁻with high directionality. These acyclic compounds are very attractive as co‐precipitation agents within new “green” gold recovery processes. They also have high potential as tectons for controlled self‐assembly or co‐crystal engineering of haloaurate composites. More generally, the supramolecular paradigm will facilitate the design of next‐generation receptors or tectons with high affinity for precious metal square planar coordination complexes for use in advanced materials, nanotechnology, or medicine. 

   more » « less
2. Effect of halogen substitution on energies and dynamics of reversible photomechanical crystals based on 9-anthracenecarboxylic acid

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D1CE00846C  

   Gately, Thomas J.; Sontising, Watit; Easley, Connor J.; Islam, Imadul; Al-Kaysi, Rabih O.; Beran, Gregory J.; Bardeen, Christopher J. (January 2021, CrystEngComm)

   null (Ed.)

   9-Anthracene carboxylic acid derivatives comprise a family of thermally reversible photomechanical molecular crystals. The photomechanical response relies on a [4 + 4] photodimerization followed by dissociation that occurs on timescales of seconds to minutes. A combined theoretical and experimental investigation is undertaken to better understand how chemical modification of the anthracene core influences energetics of both the isolated molecule and the crystal lattice. We use both density functional theory and dispersion-corrected Moller–Plesset perturbation theory computational methods to establish orbital energies, photodimerization reaction energies, and lattice energies for a set of substituted 9-anthracene carboxylic acid molecules. The calculations reveal that steric interactions play a dominant role in the ability to form photodimers and indicate an energetic threshold of 80–90 kJ per mole for the dimerization reaction. Examination of intermolecular bonding in a subset of fluorinated 9ACs revealed the absence of H⋯F intermolecular bond formation and energy differences that can explain observed trends in the dissociation kinetics and mechanical reset times. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments shows that the photodimer dissociation kinetics depend on the amount of initial photodimer, preventing a straightforward correlation between halogen atom substitution and dissociation rates using the Bell–Evans–Polanyi principle. The results clarify how molecular structure affects intermolecular interactions and photoreactivity in this family of molecular crystals, but the origin of the complex photodimer dissociation dynamics remains an open question. 

   more » « less
3. π-Complexation and C—H hydrogen bonding in the formation of colored cocrystals

   https://doi.org/10.1107/S2053229623002231  

   Bosch, Eric; Moreno, Bryce S.; Bowling, Nathan P. (April 2023, Acta Crystallographica Section C Structural Chemistry)

   The present study evaluates the potential combination of charge-transfer electron-donor–acceptor π–π complexation and C—H hydrogen bonding to form colored cocrystals. The crystal structures of the red 1:1 cocrystals formed from the isomeric pyridines 4- and 3-{2-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]ethynyl}pyridine with 1-[2-(3,5-dinitrophenyl)ethynyl]-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzene, both C 14 H 4 F 4 N 2 O 4 ·C 15 H 14 N 2 , are reported. Intermolecular interaction energy calculations confirm that π-stacking interactions dominate the intermolecular interactions within each crystal structure. The close contacts revealed by Hirshfeld surface calculations are predominantly C—H interactions with N, O, and F atoms. 

   more » « less
4. Crystal structure of 8-hydroxyquinoline: a new monoclinic polymorph

   https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600536814016110  

   Castañeda, Raúl; Antal, Sofia A.; Draguta, Sergiu; Timofeeva, Tatiana V.; Khrustalev, Victor N. (September 2014, Acta Crystallographica Section E Structure Reports Online)

   In an attempt to grow 8-hydroxyquinoline–acetaminophen co-crystals from equimolar amounts of conformers in a chloroform–ethanol solvent mixture at room temperature, the title compound, C 9 H 7 NO, was obtained. The molecule is planar, with the hydroxy H atom forming an intramolecular O—H...N hydrogen bond. In the crystal, molecules form centrosymmetric dimers via two O—H...N hydrogen bonds. Thus, the hydroxy H atoms are involved in bifurcated O—H...N hydrogen bonds, leading to the formation of a central planar four-membered N 2 H 2 ring. The dimers are bound by intermolecular π–π stacking [the shortest C...C distance is 3.2997 (17) Å] and C—H...π interactions into a three-dimensional framework. The crystal grown represents a new monoclinic polymorph in the space group P 2 1 / n . The molecular structure of the present monoclinic polymorph is very similar to that of the orthorhombic polymorph (space group Fdd 2) studied previously [Roychowdhury et al. (1978). Acta Cryst. B 34 , 1047–1048; Banerjee & Saha (1986). Acta Cryst. C 42 , 1408–1411]. The structures of the two polymorphs are distinguished by the different geometries of the hydrogen-bonded dimers, which in the crystal of the orthorhombic polymorph possess twofold axis symmetry, with the central N 2 H 2 ring adopting a butterfly conformation. 

   more » « less
5. Range-dependence of two-body intermolecular interactions and their energy components in molecular crystals

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0103644  

   Metcalf, Derek P.; Smith, Andrew; Glick, Zachary L.; Sherrill, C. David (August 2022, The Journal of Chemical Physics)

   Routinely assessing the stability of molecular crystals with high accuracy remains an open challenge in the computational sciences. The many-body expansion decomposes computation of the crystal lattice energy into an embarrassingly parallel collection of computations over molecular dimers, trimers, and so forth, making quantum chemistry techniques tractable for many crystals of small organic molecules. By examining the range-dependence of different types of energetic contributions to the crystal lattice energy, we can glean qualitative understanding of solid-state intermolecular interactions as well as practical, exploitable reductions in the number of computations required for accurate energies. Here, we assess the range-dependent character of two-body interactions of 24 small organic molecular crystals by using the physically interpretable components from symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (electrostatics, exchange-repulsion, induction/polarization, and London dispersion). We also examine correlations between the convergence rates of electrostatics and London dispersion terms with molecular dipole moments and polarizabilities, to provide guidance for estimating convergence rates in other molecular crystals. 

   more » « less