skip to main content


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Lu, Zhou"

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. Described herein are the synthesis, structure, and photophysics of the iodo-substituted cyclic trinuclear copper( i ) complex, Cu 3 [4-I-3,5-(CF 3 ) 2 Pz] 3 supported by a highly-fluorinated pyrazolate in comparison with its previously reported 4-Br/4-Cl analogues. The crystal structure is stabilised by multiple supramolecular interactions of Cu 3 ⋯I and hydrogen/halogen bonding. The photophysical properties and supramolecular interactions are investigated experimentally/computationally for all three 4-halo complexes vis-à-vis relativistic effects. 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract

    One striking feature of enzyme is its controllable ability to trap substrates via synergistic or cooperative binding in the enzymatic pocket, which renders the shape‐selectivity of product by the confined spatial environment. The success of shape‐selective catalysis relies on the ability of enzyme to tune the thermodynamics and kinetics for chemical reactions. In emulation of enzyme's ability, we showcase herein a targeting strategy with the substrate being anchored on the internal pore wall of metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs), taking full advantage of the sterically kinetic control to achieve shape‐selectivity for the reactions. For this purpose, a series of binding site‐accessible metal metalloporphyrin‐frameworks (MMPFs) have been investigated to shed light on the nature of enzyme‐mimic catalysis. They exhibit a different density of binding sites that are well arranged into the nanospace with corresponding distances of opposite binding sites. Such a structural specificity results in a facile switch in selectivity from an exclusive formation of the thermodynamically stable product to the kinetic product. Thus, the proposed targeting strategy, based on the combination of porous materials and binding events, paves a new way to develop highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts for shifting selectivity.

     
    more » « less
  3. Abstract

    One striking feature of enzyme is its controllable ability to trap substrates via synergistic or cooperative binding in the enzymatic pocket, which renders the shape‐selectivity of product by the confined spatial environment. The success of shape‐selective catalysis relies on the ability of enzyme to tune the thermodynamics and kinetics for chemical reactions. In emulation of enzyme's ability, we showcase herein a targeting strategy with the substrate being anchored on the internal pore wall of metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs), taking full advantage of the sterically kinetic control to achieve shape‐selectivity for the reactions. For this purpose, a series of binding site‐accessible metal metalloporphyrin‐frameworks (MMPFs) have been investigated to shed light on the nature of enzyme‐mimic catalysis. They exhibit a different density of binding sites that are well arranged into the nanospace with corresponding distances of opposite binding sites. Such a structural specificity results in a facile switch in selectivity from an exclusive formation of the thermodynamically stable product to the kinetic product. Thus, the proposed targeting strategy, based on the combination of porous materials and binding events, paves a new way to develop highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts for shifting selectivity.

     
    more » « less
  4. π-stacking in ground-state dimers/trimers/tetramers ofN-butoxyphenyl(naphthalene)diimide (BNDI) exceeds 50 kcal ⋅ mol−1in strength, drastically surpassing that for the*3[pyrene]2excimer (∼30 kcal ⋅ mol−1; formal bond order = 1) and similar to other weak-to-moderate classical covalent bonds. Cooperative π-stacking in triclinic (BNDI-T) and monoclinic (BNDI-M) polymorphs effects unusually large linear thermal expansion coefficients (αa, αb, αc, β) of (452, −16.8, −154, 273) × 10−6⋅ K−1and (70.1, −44.7, 163, 177) × 10−6⋅ K−1, respectively. BNDI-T exhibits highly reversible thermochromism over a 300-K range, manifest by color changes from orange (ambient temperature) toward red (cryogenic temperatures) or yellow (375 K), with repeated thermal cycling sustained for over at least 2 y.

     
    more » « less
  5. Abstract

    The formation of heterobimetallic complexes from parent cyclic trinuclear complexes (CTCs) of gold(I) has become straightforward in recent years with this team and others showing that the strategy leads to strengthened Au−M’ bonding and optoelectronic properties. A new gold(I)‐vinylimidazolate CTC,1, was prepared and the formation of highly emissive sandwich adducts with the soft metal cations Cu+, Ag+, and Tl+,24, respectively, was investigated. Compound1does not exhibit peculiar emissive properties at room or cryogenic temperatures as the adducts do. Its unit cell packing displays an unprecedented collection of repeating units for CTCs. While the intermolecular Au…Au distances are versatile (3.470, 3.673, and 4.045 Å), they connect only single Au centres from adjacent CTCs and form extended circular networks. Hirshfeld surface analyses mapped the new CTC contours underlining the possible cooperative effects of not only metallophilic interactions but also C−H…π and hydrogen bonding in the packing of1(as opposed to the dominance of the former in most other reported CTCs). DFT calculations validate the formation of sandwich‐like structures for compounds24with averaged Au−M distances of 2.665 Å, 2.802 Å, and 3.036 Å, respectively, close by to experimental crystal data obtained for similar sandwich compounds.

     
    more » « less