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It is a crucial challenge to address both magnetic anisotropy and stability for single-molecule magnets (SMMs) used in next-generation nanodevices. Highly axial lanthanide SMMs with neutral charge ...

It is important to achieve a moderate sustained release rate for drug delivery, so it is critical to regulate the host-guest interactions for the rational design of a carrier. In this work, a nano-sized biocompatible metal-organic framework (MOF), Mg(H

The first isolable Ge5-spiropentadiene 1 was synthesized via the reduction of (iPr3Si)2NGeCl (3) with potassium. The crystal structure of 1 reveals a spirocyclic Ge5 skeleton containing two Ge-Ge double bonds (avg. 2.34 A), which are fettered in two Ge3 rings with a dihedral angle of 70.193°. The DFT calculations and orbital analysis show that the σ-delocalization of the Ge5 skeleton and the 2π-delocalized aromatic Ge3 rings enhance the stability of molecule 1.

Host-Guest interaction is crucial to the sensitivity of heterogeneous sensors. Here, a series of isomorphic three-dimensional lanthanide metal-organic frameworks (Ln-MOFs), [Ln(TCBA)(H2O)2]2·DMF [H3TCBA = tris(3'-carboxybiphenyl)amine; Ln = Tb (1), Eu (2), and Gd (3); DMF = dimethylformamide] was synthesized and characterized, in which the propeller-like TCBA3- ligands adopt special torsional link between Tb(III) ions to form one-dimensional triangular channels. Optical experiments show that 1 exhibits bright green luminescence with an overall quantum yield of 26%, a 5D4 lifetime of 478 μs, and can act as an excellent heterogeneous fluorescent sensor to detect 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) explosive with an extremely low detection limit of 1.64 ppb. Because the confined channels within 1 exhibit matched dimensions toward TNP and feature multiple guest-response sites including rich π-conjugated groups, electron-donating N centers, and open metal nodes, strong host-guest interactions between 1 and TNP are captured and accurately determined by online microcalorimetry, which provides a distinctive thermodynamic perspective to understand the heterogeneous sensing behaviors. Additionally, the finely modulated heterometallic isomorphism [Tb0.816Eu0.184(TCBA)(H2O)2]2·DMF emits bright white light when excited at 380 nm and could potentially be used as single-phase white light-emitting diode phosphors materials.

A new ABW-type luminescent metal–organic framework (MOF) namely (H3O)[Zn2L(H2O)]·3NMP·6H2O (1), constructed with eco-friendly Zn2+ and the multicarboxylate intraligand (LH5) was designed, synthesized and fully characterized by X-ray single-crystal diffraction, steady-state absorption and emission spectroscopy, and SEM observations. The MOF-based suspension sensor 1 (NMP) demonstrated high sensitivity to low-concentration pesticides of chlorothalonil (CTL), nitrofen (NF), trifluralin (TFL), and 2,6-dichloro-4-nitroaniline (DCN), which was assigned to the synergistic effect of the photoinduced electron transfer and the fluorescence resonance energy transfer. With the highest luminescent detection efficiency (KSV up to 11.194 μmol−1 and LOD down to 2.93 ppm) to DCN, 1 (NMP) was successfully applied for the selective sensing of DCN. The MOF-based film sensor 1 (film) illustrated the selective visualization sensing of trace amounts of DCN. In addition, based on the high saturated vapor pressure of TFL and the unique bathochromic shift effect to the emission maxima of 1, the MOF-based luminescent vapor sensing device 1 (LED) successfully exhibited operability for sensing of TFL vapor. The results illustrated a feasible approach to construct new MOF-based luminescent sensors for selective sensing and visualization of pesticides.

A series of binuclear dysprosium compounds, namely, [Dy(api)]2 (1), [Dy(api)]2·2CH2Cl2 (2), [Dy(Clapi)]2·2C4H8O (3), and [Dy(Clapi)]2·2C3H6O (4) (H3api = 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-1,3-bis[4-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-3-azabut-3-enyl]-1,3-imidazoline; H3Clapi = 2-(2′-hydroxy-5′-chlorophenyl)-1,3-bis[3′-aza-4′-(2′′-hydroxy-5′′-chlorophenyl)prop-4′-en-1′-yl]-1,3-imidazolidine), have been isolated by the reactions of salen-type ligands H3api/H3Clapi with DyCl3·6H2O in different solvent systems. Structural analysis reveals that each salen-type ligand provides a heptadentate coordination pocket (N4O3) to encapsulate a DyIII ion and all of the DyIII centers in 1–4 adopt a distorted square antiprism geometry with D4d symmetry. Magnetic studies showed that compound 1 did not exhibit single-molecule magnetic (SMMs) behavior. With the introduction of different lattice solvents, compounds 2–4 showed filed-induced slow magnetic relaxation with barriers Ueff of 18.2 K (2), 28.0 K (3) and 16.4 K (4), respectively. Ab initio calculations were employed to interpret the magnetization behavior of 1–4. The combination of experimental and theoretical data reveal the importance of the weak exchange interaction between the DyIII ions in the observation of slow magnetic relaxation, and a relaxation mechanism has been developed to rationalize the observed difference in the Ueff values. The different lattice solvents influence Dy–O–Dy bond angles and thus alter the torsion of the square antiprism geometry, consequently resulting in distinct magnetic interactions and the magnetic behavior.

International audience; We report here a dinuclear DyIII iodine-bridged single-molecule magnet self-assembled by cis/trans coordination chemistry that displays a large anisotropy barrier of ca. 1300 K and a hysteresis opening temperature of 16 K. High temperature quantum tunnelling of magnetization is observed up to 56 K in zero-field and explained by the combination of the large anisotropy barrier and the local transverse field at the trans site. The results provide a model for thorough understanding of the effect of electronic structure on the magnetic behavior of lanthanide complexes.

Optimizing the microenvironment of MOF pore is an effective strategy to improve the sensitivity of MOF-based electrochemical biosensors. In this work, a series of isomorphic 3D chiral Ni-MOFs with different pore sizes were prepared and used to construct acetylcholinesterase (AChE) biosensors for the electrochemical detection of chiral drug inhibitor galantamine hydrobromide (GH). The combination of the dense metal nodes with intrinsic oxidase-like activity and the high active AChE, creates synergistic catalysis hydrolysis of acetylthiocholine chloride (ATCl) to produce fast sensing response. The more matched size and chirality of MOF pore significantly enhance the host–guest interactions between the substrate and biosensor, which allows the optimum AChE/L-Ni-BPY/DpAu/GCE platform to exhibit highly sensitive detection of GH, with a lowest detection limit of 0.31 pM and a wide linear range of 1 × 10−12 ~ 1 × 10−6 M among the reported pharmaceutical AChE inhibitor sensing systems. Such matching effect is identified and quantified with accurate apparent energy through the detailed microcalorimetry investigations, which well illustrates the structure–activity relationship of the as-synthesized biosensors. The thermodynamically-guided assembling strategy provides new insights into the development of practical MOF-based electrochemical sensors.

The rational design of component and coordination configuration of active center is critical and useful to the development of multifunctional MOF-based catalysts. Herein, a bifunctional Zn-MOF, Zn-ADBA, constructed by photoactive 4,4’-(9,10-anthracenediyl)dibenzoic acid (H2ADBA) ligand and Zn(II) ions, is employed as heterogeneous catalyst for efficient cyanosilylation and photocatalytic oxidative carbon–carbon coupling reactions. The unsaturated Zn(II) centers with strong Lewis acid character can effectively active aldehyde substates, which promotes Zn-ADBA to catalyze cyanosilylation of electron-withdrawing substituted benzaldehyde with a turnover frequency value up to 53.1 h−1. Meanwhile, the photo-functional ADBA2- ligands featuring large steric hindrance drive the Zn(II) center adopt the liver alcohol dehydrogenase (LADH) like characteristics, which renders Zn-ADBA (λmax absorption ​= ​406 ​nm) high-efficient photocatalytic oxidation of N-aryl-tetrahydroisoquinoline substrates with yields above 95% over 4 ​h under visible light. The recyclability of Zn-ADBA and the possible catalytic mechanisms are also systematically investigated by a series of experiments including PXRD, IR, EPR and DFT analyses.

A family of new structurally manipulable pentagonal-bipyramidal (PBP) DyIII SMMs, with formulas [Dy(Hbpen)(Cl)3] (1), [Dy(Hbpen)Cl(OPhBr2NO2)2] (2), [Dy(Hbpen)(OPhCl2NO2)3] (3) and [Dy(Mbpen)(Cl)3] (1CH3), were controllably prepared based on a H-substituted amine-based ligand N,N′-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-ethylenediamine (Hbpen) or a CH3-substituted amine-based ligand N,N′-dimethyl-N,N′-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-ethylenediamine (Mbpen) and are compared with the reported imine-based DyIII analogues (1′–3′). Upon fine-modulating the type of nitrogen donor on the pentagon plane, the electronic effect is efficiently implemented to significantly modify the magnetic anisotropy and SMM behavior of PBP complexes. Notably, the amine-based 2 shows a three-fold improved energy barrier and an observable hysteresis opening up to 3 K. 1 and 1CH3 exhibit slower relaxation and enhanced anisotropy compared to the imine-based analogue, accompanied by the reorientation of magnetic easy axes. Conversely, poor magnetic properties are observed in 3 after the reduction of imine. The changes in SMM behavior and uniaxial anisotropies are rationalized by both experimental and theoretical studies. The H-substituted amine has formally a larger magnitude of negative charge than imine due to the polarized N–H σ bond. However the repulsion generated by the sp3 N of amine towards the DyIII ion is also affected by the orientation of lone pair electrons. The present work provides a feasible way to rationally optimize the SMM performance of DyIII complexes, highlighting the importance of the electronic properties of an equatorial donor in controlling the quantum tunneling and the magnetic relaxation of PBP DyIII-SMMs.

International audience; We report the first bromine-bridged dinuclear [Dy(CyPO)(μ-Br)(Br)]·2CH single-molecule magnet with an effective energy barrier of 684 K and magnetic hysteresis below 3 K. The asymmetric Dy centres present two unique stereoisomeric octahedral coordination environments depending on the cis/trans disposition of the CyPO ligands, leading to the orthogonality of the easy magnetic axes that annihilates the dipolar interactions.

AIE-active luminogens are attractive for bioimaging, sensors, and optical detections. However, controllably switching and adjusting the AIE activity of luminogens in aqueous media to perform the best of AIE performance under appropriate water fraction remains a challenge. Herein, we report the first case of switchable and adjustable AIE activity based on Pt(II) complexes. The AIE activity of Pt(II) complexes in aqueous media can be flexibly switched and adjusted via finely tuning the rotation activity of the substituents. And the rotation activity of the substituents have been experimentally confirmed by the luminescent lifetimes and theoretically verified by the dipole moments of Pt(II) complexes. Furthermore, luminescent oxygen sensing films were constructed by combining the AIE-active Pt(II) complexes with commercially available, low-cost ethyl cellulose (EC). With the attenuation of EC film thickness, swift-responding quenching/recovering cycles (7.7 s) of the PtTPA-EC(N10) oxygen sensing film were demonstrated. And the controllable AIE property of Pt(II) complexes can effectively improve the oxygen sensitivity and the homogeneity of oxygen sensing films.

The reasonable selection of functional ligands and active metal centers is a priority to fabricate multifunctional metal-organic framework (MOF) materials. Herein, a 3D bifunctional TbIII-MOF, [Tb(TCBPA)∙DMF]n (1) (H3TCBPA ​= ​tris(4′-carboxybiphenyl)amine), is constructed by photoelectricity active triarylamine chromophore and Tb(III) to show excellent photochemical sensing and supercapacitor performances. In 1, the TCBPA3− linkers bridge Tb(III) nodes in a highly torsional fashion to form a non-interpenetrating structure containing 1D rhombic channels with an effective window size of 10.6 ​× ​11.4 ​A2. The strong green emission and multiple nitrogen/oxygen active sites make 1 work as a reusable heterogeneous fluorescent sensor for ultrasensitive detection of Fe3+ ion with a low detection limit of 3.56 ​ppb. Electrochemical experiments show that the TbIII-MOF exhibits a high specific capacitance of 346 ​F ​g−1 ​at 1 ​A ​g−1 and a remarkable capacitance retention of 93% after 2000 cycles, suggesting outstanding long-term cycling stability and reversibility. Additionally, the possible Fe3+ sensing mechanism was also investigated systematically.

The production and availability of enantiomerically pure compounds that spurred the development of chiral technologies and materials are very important to the fine chemicals and pharmaceutical industries. By coordinative alignment of enantiopure guests in the metal‒organic frameworks, we reported an approach to control over the chirality of homochiral crystallization and asymmetric transformation. Synthesized by achiral triphenylamine derivatives, the chirality of silver frameworks was determined by the encapsulated enantiopure azomethine ylides, from which clear interaction patterns were observed to explore the chiral induction principles. With the changing of addition sequence of substrates, the enantioselectivity of asymmetric cycloaddition was controlled to verify the determinant on the chirality of the bulky MOF materials. The economical chirality amplification that merges a series of complicated self-inductions, bulk homochiral crystallization and enantioselective catalysis opens new avenues for enantiopure chemical synthesis and provides a promising path for the directional design and development of homochiral materials.

Modifying electron transfer pathways is essential to controlling the regioselectivity of heterogeneous photochemical transformations relevant to saturated carbonyls, due to fixed catalytic sites. Here we show that the interpenetration of metal–organic frameworks that contain both photoredox and asymmetric catalytic units can adjust the separations and electron transfer process between them. The enforced close proximity between two active sites via framework interpenetration accelerates the electron transfer between the oxidized photosensitizer and enamine intermediate, enabling the generation of 5πe− β-enaminyl radicals before the intermediates couple with other active species, achieving β-functionalized carbonyl products. The enriched benzoate and iminium groups in the catalysts provide a suitable Lewis-acid/base environment to stabilize the active radicals, allowing the protocol described to advance the β-functionalization of saturated cyclic ketones with aryl ketones to deliver γ-hydroxyketone motifs. The homochiral environment of the pores within the recyclable frameworks provides additional spatial constraints to enhance the regioselectivity and enantioselectivity., Metal organic frameworks are promising catalysts due to their porous structure and the possible incorporation of multiple active sites. Here, the authors show that interpenetrated metal-organic frameworks containing both a photocatalyst and an organocatalyst catalyse the β-alkylation of carbonyl compounds.