Controlling Through-Space and Through-Bond Exchange Pathways in Bis-Cobaltocenes for Molecular Spintronics.

Pinching molecules via chemical strain suggests intuitive consequences, such as compression at the pinched site and clothespin-like opening of other parts of the structure. If this opening affects two spin centers, it should result in reduced communication between them. We show that for naphthalene-bridged biscobaltocenes with competing through-space and through-bond pathways, the consequences of pinching are far less intuitive: despite the known dominance of through-space interactions, the bridge plays a much larger role for exchange spin coupling than previously assumed. Based on a combination of chemical synthesis, structural, magnetic, and redox characterization, and a newly developed theoretical pathway analysis, we can suggest a comprehensive explanation for this non-intuitive behavior. These results are of interest for molecular spintronics, as naphthalene-linked cobaltocenes can form wires on surfaces for potential spin-only information transfer.

Unexpected High Second-Order Nonlinear Optical Activity of Metal Complexes with Three-Branched Hexadentate 2,2'-Bipyridine Ligands.

Two hexadentate bipyridine ligands and their RuII and NiII complexes were prepared. The helical alignment of the three electron-donor-π-bridge-electron-acceptor (d-π-A) single-strands with bundle architecture in cooperation with the metal center can strongly enhance the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties. The complexation of the novel cage-type hexadentate ligands with a paramagnetic NiII -core almost doubles the ßHRS values compared with the corresponding diamagnetic RuII complexes. The hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) was performed with a highly sensitive setup for simultaneous discrimination between multi-photon fluorescence and the molecular first hyperpolarizability.

Synthesis, characterization and magnetic properties of head-to-head stacked vanadocenes.

In order to design magnetically active molecular materials, it is desirable to arrange paramagnetic molecules in one dimension, which may lead to a molecular bar magnet. For this purpose, vanadocenyl units with three unpaired electrons each can be stacked in a head-to-head fashion. The target compound in this work is 1,8-bisvanadocenyl naphthalene, where the naphthalene backbone serves as a clamp keeping two vanadocene units together. The target compound in this work is obtained through the reaction of the disodium salt of 1,8-biscyclopentadiendiylnaphthalene with the cyclopentadienyl vanadium (CpV) transfer reagent [V(µ2-Cl)(η5-Cp)(thf)]2. The 1,8-bisvanadocenyl naphthalene is fully characterized. In addition, variable temperature 1H NMR spectroscopy, X-ray structure analysis, magnetic measurements and DFT calculations have been performed. In both experiment and theory, a weak antiferromagnetic coupling between the spin centers is found, with the spin highly localized on the V(ii) ions.

Ligand-Induced Energy Shift and Localization of Kondo Resonances in Cobalt-Based Complexes on Cu(111).

Magnetic sandwich complexes are of particular interest for molecular spintronics. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we evidence the successful deposition of 1,3,5-tris(η6-borabenzene-η5-cyclopentadienylcobalt) benzene, a molecule composed of three connected magnetic sandwich units, on Cu(111). Scanning tunneling spectra reveal two distinct spatial-dependent narrow resonances close to the Fermi level for the trimer molecules as well as for molecular fragments composed of one and two magnetic units. With the help of density functional theory, these resonances are interpreted as two Kondo resonances originating from two distinct nondegenerate d-like orbitals. These Kondo resonances are found to have defined spatial extents dictated by the hybridization of the involved orbitals with that of the ligands. These results opens promising perspectives for investigating complex Kondo systems composed of several "Kondo" orbitals.

Why Are Dithienylethene-Linked Biscobaltocenes so Hard to Photoswitch?

Attaching an organometallic unit to a dithienylethene (DTE) molecular switch can allow one to vary its switching and spectroscopic properties, and to create switchable magnetic properties. In this work, two different dithienylethene molecular switches are used as a bridge between two cobalt sandwich units. The only difference between the switching cores is in the size of the cycloalkene ring connecting both thiophene rings. The complexes present different oxidation states for the cobalt atoms, which are demonstrated to determine the switching reaction. The UV/Vis measurements show that while the Co(I) complexes undergo the switching reaction, the Co(II,III) complexes switch poorly. Kohn-Sham density functional theory calculations indicate diabatic ring-closure mechanisms and a large number of excited states hindering the cyclization reaction and favoring the relaxation to the open form of the molecular switch.

Molecular Gold Wire from Mixed-Valent Au(I/III) Complexes.

Crystals of mixed-valent Au complexes have been grown from solutions of cyclohexanecarbonitrile and a stoichiometric amount of gold(I) and gold(III) chloride. The purely obtained compound was characterized as bis(cyclohexanecarbonitrile)gold(I) tetrachloridoaurate(III). The crystal packing of the mixed valent Au(I/III) compound demonstrates a columnar arrangement of the gold(I) and gold(III) atoms. The new structure displays the shortest unsupported gold(I)-gold(III) interactions with the sub-van der Waals distance of 324-325 pm, which is assumed as an aurophilic bonding interaction.

Limits of Molecular Dithienylethene Switches Caused by Ferrocenyl Substitution.

The efficiency of photochromic switches can be modified by attaching organic or organometallic groups to the photochromic core. We studied ferrocene-substituted dithienylethene switches differing by the size of the cycloalkene ring bridging the two thiophene groups. The results were compared with their chlorine-substituted counterparts and an ethynyl-ferrocene substituted switch published earlier by Guirado and co-workers. From the measured UV/Vis spectra, both ferrocene-substituted compounds were found to be considerably less likely to switch than the corresponding chlorine-substituted ones. Kohn-Sham density functional theory calculations suggested that this is due to a multitude of energetically close-lying excited states in the former, which may offer multiple pathways for excitation and relaxation, out of which only one leads to ring opening or closing. By contrast, the chlorine-substituted switches have one energetically more isolated state that is responsible for the switching. The increase in the available excited states in the ferrocene-substituted switches was attributed to mixing between orbitals from the ferrocene units and the π system of the bridge.

Photoswitching Behavior of a Cyclohexene-Bridged versus a Cyclopentene-Bridged Dithienylethene System.

Photoswitching is an intriguing way of incorporating functionality into molecules or their subunits. Dithienylethene switches are particularly promising, but have so far mostly been studied with five-membered ring (cyclopentenyl) backbones. We aim at comparing the switching properties of backbones with five and six carbon atoms in the ring. A major advantage is that cyclohexenyl rings offer new options for chiral functionalization. A slight change in the reaction conditions of a McMurry ring closure reaction leads to the formation of dithienyl derivatives with a cyclohexene backbone in reasonable yield. Density functional theory calculations were carried out, demonstrating the similarity of both compounds. Experimental results confirm the theoretical outcomes.

2,2'-Bipyridine-based dendritic structured compounds for second harmonic generation.

Parallel alignment of dipolar electron-donor-π-bridge-electron-acceptor entities can strongly enhance their nonlinear optical properties. This favorable arrangement can be in principle achieved by linking these units covalently or through metal coordination. Four dipolar single-strand chromophores decorated with a 5-electron-donor-5'-electron-acceptor-modified 2,2'-bipyridine functionality were synthesized. For two of these chromophores triple-stranded dendritic structures were successfully formed. All of the compounds were characterized with respect to their linear and nonlinear optical properties. For the aldehyde derivatives an enhancement of the first hyperpolarizability of 4.5 rather than 3 was obtained when going from single to triple strands. Theoretical calculations with density functional theory suggest that interstrand transitions contribute to the optical properties of the dendritic structures.

Group 8 metallocenes as bulky functional groups in glucopyranosides.

The functionalization of methyl D-glucopyranosides at positions 4 and 6 with bulky moieties was carried out by using ferrocenyl and ruthenocenyl substituents. The synthesis succeeded by reaction of the methyl D-glucopyranosides with the corresponding metallocene monocarbaldehyde dimethyl acetal catalysed by iodine in acetonitrile. The resulting compounds methyl 4,6-O-(metallocenylmethylidene)-α-D-glucopyranoside (M=Fe (1) and M=Ru (3)) and methyl 4,6-O-(metallocenylmethylidene)-ß-D-glucopyranoside (M=Fe (2) and M=Ru (4)) were characterized by (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy, by crystal structure determination as well as elemental analysis.

Electronic coupling through intramolecular π-π interactions in biscobaltocenes: a structural, spectroscopic, and magnetic study.

The paramagnetic dinuclear complexes 1,8-bis(cobaltocenyl)naphthalene (2) and 1,8-bis[(pentamethyl-η(5)-cyclopentadienyl)(η(5)-cyclopentadiendiyl)cobalt(II)]naphthalene (4) were synthesized. The molecular structures were characterized by X-ray structure analysis and consisted of two cobaltocenes linked through a distorted naphthalene clamp. Electronic interactions between the two cobalt atoms were observed by cyclic voltammetric studies. Superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) measurements of the pure compounds and diluted in their diamagnetic iron derivatives, as well as variable-temperature NMR spectroscopy experiments in solution are presented. Magnetic measurements revealed an antiferromagnetic coupling of the electrons in complexes 2 and 4. From NMR spectroscopy experiments, Curie behavior in the temperature range from -60 to +60 °C can be deduced. The electronic structure and magnetic behavior is supported by results of broken-symmetry DFT and multireference calculations along with UV/Vis spectroscopic data, which revealed an intramolecular through space π-π interaction between the cobaltocene units.

Stacked nickelocenes: synthesis, structural characterization, and magnetic properties.

The disubstitution of 1,8-diiodonaphthalene (1) with cyclopentadienyl nucleophiles reveals 1,8-(dicyclopentadienyl)-naphthalene, which rapidly undergoes Diels-Alder reaction forming 1,8-(3a',4',7',7a'-tetrahydro-4',7'-methanoindene-7a',8'-diyl)-naphthalene (2). A subsequent retro-Diels-Alder reaction in the presence of sodium hydride yields the disodium salt of 1,8-(dicyclopentadiendiyl)-naphthalene 3. The disodium salt 3 was the starting material to obtain the paramagnetic bisnickelocene derivative 4, which structure was obtained by X-ray structure analysis, revealing two nickelocenes kept together in a stacked fashion by a 1,8-naphthalene clamp. An electronic interaction between the two nickel atoms is found as a result of cyclic voltammetry, indicating five different oxidation states +4, +3, +2, +1, and 0. The magnetic properties of 4 in solution were studied by variable temperature paramagnetic (1)H NMR spectroscopy and Evans method and revealed Curie behavior between 213 and 293 K. The magnetic susceptibility of a powdered sample of 4 was measured, and an antiferromagnetic interaction with an exchange coupling of J(12) = -31.49 cm(-1) is found. In accord with experimental data, broken symmetry density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed four antiferromagnetically coupled electrons resulting in an open shell singlet ground state.

Second-order nonlinear optical activity of dipolar chromophores based on pyrrole-hydrazono donor moieties.

A series of highly efficient and thermally stable second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) dipolar donor-auxiliary donor-acceptor chromophores have been synthesised in which a hydrazono group and a pyrrole ring act as donor and auxiliary donor components, respectively, in combination with different aromatic and heteroaromatic acceptors. The new dyes have been systematically investigated by NMR spectroscopy, absorption spectroscopy, NLO measurements and thermal stability studies. NLO properties have been studied in detail by electro-optical absorption (EOA) and hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) measurements in 1,4-dioxane and DMSO, respectively. The results originating from the two different methods have been compared and analysed in detail. We found that the NLO properties measured by the EOA and HRS methods correlate with each other and converge to reveal the dye with the acceptor 2-dicyanomethylene-3-cyano-4,5,5-trimethyl-2,5-dihydrofuran as the most efficient system. The unprecedented combination of a strong donor hydrazono group and the auxiliary donor effects of pi-excessive heteroaromatic rings afforded NLO chromophores with very high values (mu(g)beta0(EOA) up to 2038 x 10(-48) esu and beta(HRS) up to 3980 x 10(-30) esu at 1.5 microm).

Three-branched dendritic dipolar nonlinear optical chromophores, more than three times a single-strand chromophore?

To elucidate the dependence of the nonlinear optical (NLO) response on the conformation of triply branched derivatives, a new series of D-pi-A dendrimers has been synthesized. A combined approach of experiments (UV-vis and EOA measurements) and computational predictions (semiempirical and ab initio) was applied both on the dendrimers and on the corresponding single-strand chromophores. It has been shown that depending on the surrounding media the NLO activity of a flexible dendrimer can be very different. Two limiting cases are proposed: (i) the dendrimer resembles a solution of the corresponding single-strand chromophores with about 3-fold concentration, where the hyperpolarizability is the sum of the effect of three noninteracting single-strand subunits ("independent chromophores" limit); (ii) the dendrimers show nearly parallel or helical alignments of the single-strand subunits. Because of this change of conformation the NLO activity can be enhanced up to nine times the value of the "independent chromophores" limit and, thus, are more than a single strand chromophore. Conformers of dendrimers with interacting single-strand chromophores have been identified experimentally in nonpolar solutions by the EOA spectroscopy and possible structures have been revealed by numerical calculations, which could moreover show the tendency of the effects on the hyperpolarizability due to structural changes of the flexible dendritic architecture. Implications for future research developments are given to implement the "more than three times" concept.

Sugar ligands in organotitanium complexes.

Using ligands derived from D-glucose, dinuclear organotitanium compounds with interesting structural features were synthesized.

Iterative Nucleophilic and Electrophilic Additions to Coordinated Cyclooctatetraene: An Efficient Route to cis-5,7-Disubstituted 1,3-Cyclooctadienes.

A great synthetic potential is shown by cis-5,7-disubstituted 1,3-cyclooctadienes 1 with regard to terpenoid cyclo-C8 compounds. Starting from the complexed cyclooctatetraene ligand, such compounds are readily available in good yields with the following procedure: nucleophilic addition, protonation, second nucleophilic addition, second protonation, and cleavage.

Iron-Sulfur Clusters with SiMe(2)-Bridged Cyclopentadienyl Ligands: [Me(2)Si(eta(5)-C(5)H(4))(2)](2)Fe(5)S(12), [Me(2)Si(eta(5)-C(5)H(4))(2)](2)Fe(4)S(6), and [Me(2)Si(eta(5)-C(5)H(4))(2)](2)Fe(4)S(6)(CO).

The synthesis and characterization of iron-sulfur clusters stabilized by dimethylsilyl-bridged cyclopentadienyl groups are reported. The thermal reaction of Me(2)Si(eta(5)-C(5)H(4))(2)Fe(2)(CO)(4) (1) with S(8) yields the tetranuclear cubane-type cluster compound [Me(2)Si(eta(5)-C(5)H(4))(2)](2)Fe(4)S(6) (4) and the pentanuclear cluster compound [Me(2)Si(eta(5)-C(5)H(4))(2)](2)Fe(5)S(12) (3) in high yields. The photochemical reaction of 1 with S(8) yields the tetranuclear cluster compound [Me(2)Si(eta(5)-C(5)H(4))(2)](2)Fe(4)S(6)(CO) (5), which contains one residual terminal carbonyl. The crystal structures of 3 and 4 have been determined. Crystal data: 3.CH(2)Cl(2), monoclinic, C2/c, a = 23.480(13) Å, b = 11.192 (4) Å, c = 17.84 (3) Å, beta = 118.58(9) degrees, V = 4118(7) Å(3), Z = 4, R = 0.078; 4, triclinic, P&onemacr;, a = 8.4787(7) Å, b = 12.9648(9) Å, c = 13.4990(9) Å, alpha = 79.857(8) degrees, beta = 75.293(8) degrees, gamma = 74.041(11) degrees, V = 1370.9(2) Å(3), Z = 2, R = 0.0447. The Fe(5)S(12) core of 3 has a bowtie structure in which a central iron atom is octahedrally coordinated by six sulfur atoms from one tetrasulfido and four disulfido groups. The structure of 4 resembles the structure of the known iron-sulfur cluster Cp(4)Fe(4)S(6). However, 4 shows a markedly enhanced thermal stability compared to Cp(4)Fe(4)S(6). In their cyclic voltammograms, 4 and 5 exhibit electrochemical behavior typical of cubane-type Cp-iron-sulfur clusters, whereas the cyclic voltammogram of 3 is quite different. The nu(CO) mode of 5 has been measured for four different oxidation states of the cluster by means of IR spectroelectrochemical methods. The Mössbauer spectra of 3 and 3(+) are in accordance with their pentanuclear structure.