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The quest for understanding the structure-property correlation in porous materials has remained a persistent focus across various research domains, particularly within the sorption realm. Molecular metal oxide clusters, owing to their precisely tunable atomic structures and long-range order, exhibit significant potential as versatile platforms for sorption investigations. This study presents a series of isostructural Ti8Ce2-oxo clusters with subtle variations in coordinated linkers and explores their gas sorption behavior. Notably, Ti8Ce2-BA (where BA denotes benzoic acid) manifests a distinctive twostep profile during CO2 adsorption, accompanied by a hysteresis loop. This observation marks a pioneering instance within the metal oxide cluster field. Of particular intrigue, the presence of unsaturated Ce(Ⅳ) sites was found to be correlated with the stepped sorption property. Moreover, the introduction of an electrophilic fluorine atom, positioned ortho or para to the benzoic acid, facilitated precise control over gate pressure and stepped sorption quantities. Advanced in-situ techniques systematically unraveled the underlying mechanism behind this unique sorption behavior. The findings elucidate that robust Lewis base-acid interactions are established between CO2 molecules and Ce ions, consequently altering the conformation of coordinated linkers. Conversely, the F atoms primarily contribute to gate pressure variation by influencing the Lewis acidity of the Ce sites. This research advances the understanding in fabricating geometrically "flexible" metal-oxo clusters and provides profound insights into their host-guest interaction motifs. These insights hold substantial promise across diverse fields, particularly in CO2 gas capture and gas-phase catalysis, and offer valuable guidance for future adsorbent designs grounded in fundamental theories of structure-property relationships. 

CALF-20, a Zn-triazolate-based metal-organic framework (MOF), is one of the most promising adsorbent materials for CO2 capture. However, competitive adsorption of water severely limits its performance when the relative humidity (RH) exceeds 40%, limiting the potential implementation of CALF-20 in practical settings where CO2 is saturated with moisture, such as post-combustion flue gas. In this work, three newly designed MOFs related to CALF-20, denoted as NU-220, CALF-20M-w, and CALF-20M-e that feature hydrophobic methyl-triazolate linkers are presented. Inclusion of methyl groups in the linker is proposed as a strategy to improve CO2 uptake in the presence of water. Notably, both CALF-20M-w and CALF-20M-e retain over 20% of their initial CO2 capture efficiency at 70% RH – a threshold at which CALF-20 shows negligible CO2 uptake. Grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations reveal that the methyl group hinders water network formation in the pores of CALF-20M-w and CALF-20M-e and enhances their CO2 selectivity over N2 in the presence of high moisture content. Moreover, calculated radial distribution functions indicate that introducing the methyl group into the triazolate linker increases the distance between water molecules and Zn coordination bonds, offering insights into the origin of the enhanced moisture stability observed for CALF-20M-w and CALF-20M-e relative to CALF-20. Overall, this straightforward design strategy has afforded more robust sorbents that can potentially meet the challenge of effectively capturing CO2 in practical industrial applications. 

Electrochemical stability and delocalization of states critically impact the functions and practical applications of electronically active polymers. Incorporation of a ladder-type constitution into these polymers represents a promising strategy to enhance the aforementioned properties from a fundamental structural perspective. A series of ladder-type polyaniline-analogous polymers are designed as models to test this hypothesis and are synthesized through a facile and scalable route. Chemical and electrochemical interconversions between the fully oxidized pernigraniline state and the fully reduced leucoemeraldine state are both achieved in a highly reversible and robust manner. The protonated pernigraniline form of the ladder polymer exhibits unprecedented electrochemical stability under highly acidic and oxidative conditions, enabling the access of a near-infrared light-absorbing material with extended polaron delocalization in the solid-state. An electrochromic device composed of this ladder polymer shows distinct switching between UV- and near-infrared-absorbing states with a remarkable cyclability, meanwhile tolerating a wide operating window of 4 volts. Taken together, these results demonstrate the principle of employing a ladder-type backbone constitution to impart superior electrochemical properties into electronically active polymers. 

TCNQ (7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane) anion-radical derivatives were used to fine tune the magnetic properties of the [Co II (Fctp) 2 ] 2+ (Fctp = 4′-(2-ferrocenyl)-2,2′:6′2′′-terpyridine) cation in the solid state. The cocrystallization of [Co II (Fctp) 2 ] 2+ with TCNQ˙ − yielded the two pseudo-polymorphic products [Co II (Fctp) 2 ] (TCNQ) 2 ( 1 ) and [Co II (Fctp) 2 ] (TCNQ) 2 ·MeCN ( 2 ) whereas the analogous reaction with TCNQF˙ − (TCNQF = 2-fluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane) exclusively yielded [Co II (Fctp) 2 ] (TCNQF) 2 ·MeCN ( 3 ). Compound 1 exhibits slow relaxation of magnetization under an applied DC field with U eff = 19.1 K and τ 0 = 9.8 × 10 −6 s. Compounds 2 and 3 are isostructural but exhibit different spin-crossover behavior with transition temperatures of T 1/2 = 336 K and 226 K, respectively. Investigations of the solid state structures by DFT calculations indicate that the differences in magnetic properties of the cationic moiety, [Co II (Fctp) 2 ] 2+ , are induced by supramolecular interactions between [Co II (Fctp) 2 ] 2+ and tunable TCNQ˙ − /TCNQF˙ − anion-radical derivatives. 

We report a series of redox-active bis(pincer) Pd( ii ) complexes in which the redox active units are based on either a diarylamido or a carbazolide framework. Compounds 1 and 2 contain two full diarylamido/bis(pincer) PNP units connected either via an Ar–O–Ar linker ( 1 ) or an Ar–Ar bond ( 2 ). Compound 3 is a fused bis(pincer) where the two PNP units share an aromatic ring. Compound 4 is built around an indolo[3,2- b ]carbazole core in which two NNN pincers share an aromatic ring similarly to 3 . These metal complexes all display two reversible oxidation waves with the Δ E values increasing in the order of 1 < 2 < 4 < 3 . The same trend in increasing electronic coupling emerges from the analysis of the IV-CT bands in the NIR portion of the optical spectra. The analysis of these compounds was further advanced by data from EPR spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, and DFT calculations. It is concluded that the monooxidized cations 2+–4+ belong to Class III on the Robin-Day classification of mixed-valence compounds. Compound 4 possesses enforced near-planarity that enables delocalization of the unpaired electron in 4+ across a broader conjugated system compared to 3+ . 

Structural, magnetic and theoretical studies of three octahedral mononuclear Dy III complexes with triphenylphosphine oxide and halide ligands are reported. The Cl − and Br − analogues exhibit SMM behavior with energy barriers of 49.1 K and 70.9 K, respectively under a small dc field. Ab initio calculations were performed, the results of which predict higher energy barriers for iodide containing SMMs. 

A new family of radical-bridged compounds, (Cp* 2 Co)[M 2 Cl 4 (dpq)] (M = Fe ( 1 ), Co ( 2 ), Zn ( 3 )), (dpq = 2,3-di(2-pyridyl)-quinoxaline) is reported. Magnetic studies, DFT and ab initio calculations reveal strong antiferromagnetic metal–radical interactions with coupling constants of J = −213.1 and −218.8 cm −1 for 1 and 2 , respectively. 

Two new homoleptic Dy III compounds [Dy(Tp Me2 ) 2 ][DyCl 3 (Tp Me2 )]·CH 2 Cl 2 ( 1 ) and [Dy(Tp Me2 ) 2 ]I ( 3 ) as well as a heteroleptic (NMe 4 )[DyCl 3 (Tp Me2 )] ( 2 ) (Tp Me2 = tris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)borate) species are reported. Magnetic studies revealed that 1 is a single-molecule magnet (SMM) with an energy barrier of U eff = 80.7 K with τ 0 = 6.2 × 10 −7 s under a zero applied field. Compound 3 exhibits a U eff of 13.5 K with τ 0 = 1.6 × 10 −6 s under a 0.08 T applied field. Ab initio CASSCF + RASSI-SO calculations were performed to further investigate the magnetic behavior of complexes 1–3 . The results support experimental magnetic data for 1 and 3 and indicate that an intermolecular dipolar interaction of ( zJ = −0.1 cm −1 ) is responsible for the SMM behavior of 1 .