European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry

The chemistry of mono- and polydentate N-heterocyclic carbene analogues of the group 14 elements is reviewed focussing on the preparation, aggregation behaviour and coordination chemistry of benzannulated germylenes, stannylenes and plumbylenes.

An old material dressed up: A chemical approach has been developed to selectively synthesize a core shell structure of aluminium nanowires coaxially wrapped up in an Al₂O₃ shell. The wires have reproducible thickness and length.

A carbon-templated zeolite ZSM-5 was desilicated to obtain a multi-level hierarchical material with a very high mesopore volume. Carbon-templating and desilication can produce mesopores of different sizes, and by coupling the two protocols we observe contributions to mesoporosity over a wide range.

Ga^III halide and benzene reaction media have been utilized to synthesize a selection oforganometallic lanthanide–arene complexes in high yields. The lability of the arene ligands provides a straightforward route for the exchange of larger polyaromatic hydrocarbon ligands, such as naphthalene or pyrene, resulting in the isolation and characterization of new compounds.

The new bismuth subhalide Bi₁₆I₄ has been synthesized and structurally characterized. It consists of 1D ribbons with a corrugated Bi-atom structure highly similar to the layered structure of bismuth metal. The electronic and geometric structural features of all three known bismuth-rich subhalides are described and rationalized, giving some insights into the stability of this family of compounds.

Trigonal-bipyramidal oxidovanadium(V) complexes {V} containing ligands such as those derived from the trichiral amino-tetraol (shown) are able to model vanadate-dependent peroxidases. They catalyse, in homogeneous systems or anchored to a resin, the sulfoxygenation of prochiral thioanisol to chiral sulfoxide.

The Re^I complex acts as a luminescence probe specific for singlet oxygen (¹O₂) under visible light excitation at 410 nm, which results in remarkable luminescence enhancements, with 8- and 18.7-fold increases in the luminescence quantum yields in neutral and alkaline media, respectively. The visible light excitation may allow the complex to be useful for biosystems.

The sublimation of TeBr₄ and TeI₄ was studied by gas-phase electron diffraction/mass spectrometry (GED/MS). TeBr₄(s) forms gaseous TeBr₂ and Br₂. TeI₄(s) decomposes to I₂(g) and Te(s) with a small amount of TeI₂ forming. “Metallic” Te accumulated in the solid phase vaporizes at above 400 °C as predominately Te₂.

Langmuir–Schäfer (LS) deposition allows the fabrication of multilayer films of dipodal Ni^II and Zn^II Schiff base complexes; the latter exhibit fluorescence emission in the presence of arachidic acid as suitable spacer diluent.

3d Schiff base complexes (3d = Cu, Ni) used as ligands react with gadolinium ions to yield dinuclear 3d-Gd or trinuclear 3d-Gd-3d complexes depending on the 3d/4f ratio if poorly coordinating anions such as triflate are used, whereas the strong affinity of nitrato anions for lanthanides onlyyields dinuclear complexes regardless of the 3d/4f ratio.

N-Alkylammonioundecahydrododecaborates form ionic liquids with organic and alkali counterions. Methods for their preparation are described. Ways to introduce two different side chains are presented.

The ligands in [Al(hydrazonido)₃] complexes were found to bond to aluminum as chelating alkyl, monodentate alkyl, and monodentate hydrazido ligands. In solution, the monodentate alkyl and hydrazido isomers are in equilibrium.

An extended metal atom chain (EMAC) with an unsymmetrical trinickel core, Ni₃(dpa)₄(CH₃CN)(PF₆)₂·2CH₂Cl₂, (1·2CH₂Cl₂) was synthesized in crystalline form. Compound 1 contains two non-magnetic Ni^II units in a nearly square-planar arrangement and a paramagnetic entity in a pyramidal environment. The magnetic behavior differs considerably from that of symmetrical trinickel EMACs.

The process of coating spherical alumina pellets with dielectric materials derived from sol–gel synthesis was investigated. An impregnation zone with a depth of 50 μm was obtained for Li_xTi_yNi_(1–x), while a homogeneous deposit of 5 μm was obtained for BaTiO₃ materials.

The coordination polymer [Mn₆O₂(O₂CEt)₁₀(H₂O)₄]_n (2), aggregated from newly prepared hexanuclear, mixed-valence Mn oxide clusters [Mn₆O₂(O₂CEt)₁₀(H₂O)₄] (1), is reported. Complex 2 contains cage-likeMn₆ cluster building units linked by the propionato ligands to form a 1D, zigzag-like chain network. Both the polymeric 2 and the discrete cluster 1 display moderately strong antiferromagnetic behavior.

Copper(II) hydroxide reacts in acidic water with 2,2′-bipyridine and sodium pyrophosphate to give the neutral dinuclear complex {[Cu(bipy)]₂(μ-HP₂O₇)(μ-Cl)}·H₂O. The asymmetric [Cu(bipy)]²⁺ units are bridged by bis-bidentate pyrophosphate and an axially bridging chlorine atom. The incorporation of an additional bridge (halide) and the presence of protonated pyrophosphate (HP₂O₇^3–) in the structure are both rare for this family of structures. The complex is analyzed and discussed with respect to the magneto-structure characteristics.

The reaction of cis-{(tBuNH)₂(PNtBu)₂} with AlEt₃, AlBrEt₂, AlBr₂Et, and AlBr₃ led, dependending on the Lewis acidity of the aluminum compound, to either P- or N-coordinated compounds. No ethane elimination was observed.