Armand Budzianowski

Redetermination of crystal structure of Ag(II)SO4 and its high-pressure behavior up to 30 GPa

Here we redetermine the crystal structure of Ag(II)SO4, an unusual d9 system, at 1 atm from powder X-ray data and we report hydrostatic pressure X-ray diffraction experiments on Ag(II)SO4 inside the diamond anvil cell. AgSO4 crystallizes in the monoclinic C2/c cell, with a = 12.8476(2) A, b = 13.6690(4) A, c = 9.36678(19) A, β = 47.5653(13)°, and V = 1214.04(5) A3 (Z = 16). AgSO4 exhibits bulk modulus, B0, of 36.9 GPa, and undergoes sluggish decomposition at ∼23 GPa yielding a high-pressure phase of Ag2S2O7 (K2S2O7-type), with the substrate and product coexisting at 30 GPa. Theoretical calculations within Density Functional Theory for the C2/c cell nicely reproduce the observed trend for lattice constants as well as the B0 values of AgSO4, and suggest that the rigidity of the infinite [Ag(SO4)] chains as well as the Jahn–Teller effect for the Ag(II) cation persist even at 30 GPa.

Nickel macrocycles with complex hydrides—new avenues for hydrogen storage research

As part of an investigation into Ni(macrocycle) complexes as a new class of complex hydride hydrogen store catalysts, two isomers of the unusually stable nickel borohydride, Ni(cyclam)(BH4)2 (cyclam = 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane), have been isolated and characterised by means of single crystal X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry and calorimetry. trans-Ni(cyclam)(BH4)2 crystallizes monoclinic (P21/c, a = 7.1397(5) A, b = 12.8109(7) A, c = 8.7041(5) A, β = 109.948(6)°, V = 748.36(8) A3, Z = 2); cis-Ni(cyclam)(BH4)2 crystallizes orthorhombic (Pnma, a = 14.4512(7) A, b = 9.4625(6) A, c = 11.7824(7) A, V = 1611.18(16) A3, Z = 4, with static disorder). The compounds were found to be considerably more thermally stable than the unchelated relative, Ni(BH4)2, with the onset of decomposition for the trans isomer at 170 °C, thus nearly 200 °C higher than the decomposition temperature of Ni(BH4)2. This spectacular stabilisation holds promise for related macrocycle complexes of late transition metals to be used as hydrogenation catalysts on an equal footing with their unligated early transition metal counterparts.

Unusual Thermal Decomposition of AgIISO4 Yielding AgI2S2O7: Bending Hammond’s Rule

“It could be said that among the coinage metals (Cu, Ag, Au), only silver is normal . (...) gold is anomalous due to large relativistic effects. Copper is anomalous as it has a nodeless and therefore very compact d shell, with strong electron–electron repulsion (...)”. The “normality” of elemental silver, is reflected in the prevalence of its monovalent oxidation state, +1 (as expected for a Group 11 element), which also has severe consequences for its second oxidation state—it renders Ag an extremely powerful oxidizer. The standard redox potential for the Ag/Ag redox pair equals +1.98 V versus NHE and it is surpassed only by those of FC/F , F2/2F , ClC/Cl and OHC/OH . Thus Ag is stabilized in connections with fluoride ligands, whereas its oxo and aza compounds are rare and are quite unstable thermodynamically and thermally. Here we investigate in detail the thermal decomposition of recently synthesized Ag sulfate, AgSO4. [4] The activation energy for decomposition turns out to be substantial ( 127 kJmol ) rendering this compound metastable at ambient (p, T) conditions. We show, based on literature about thermal decomposition for over 50 different sulfates and oxo-sulfates (see the Supporting Information), that solely AgSO4 s low-temperature thermal decomposition is associated with the reduction of a metal cation (“reductive decomposition”). We consider the reaction pathway for decomposition and we point out structural links between AgSO4 and crystalline product of its decomposition, AgSO3.5 Ag2S2O7. Ag sulfate was reported to decompose thermally in a single step while yielding Ag disulfate and releasing O2 [Eq. (1)]:

High-Pressure Behavior of Silver Fluorides up to 40 GPa

A combined experimental-theoretical study of silver(I) and silver(II) fluorides under high pressure is reported. For AgI, the CsCl-type structure is stable to at least 39 GPa; the overtone of the IR-active mode is seen in the Raman spectrum. Its AgIIF2 sibling is a unique compound in many ways: it is more covalent than other known difluorides, crystallizes in a layered structure, and is enormously reactive. Using X-ray diffraction and guided by theoretical calculations (density functional theory), we have been able to elucidate crystal structures of high-pressure polymorphs of AgF2. The transition from ambient pressure to an unprecedented nanotubular structure takes place via an intermediate orthorhombic layered structure, which lacks an inversion center. The observed phase transitions are discussed within the broader framework of the fluorite → cotunnite → Ni2In series, which has been seen for other metal difluorides.

Structural polymorphism of pyrazinium hydrogen sulfate: extending chemistry of the pyrazinium salts with small anions

Two polymorphs (alpha, beta) of pyrazinium hydrogen sulfate (pyzH(+)HSO(4)(-), abbreviated as PHS) with distinctly different hydrogen-bond types and topologies but close electronic energies have been synthesized and characterized for the first time. The alpha-polymorph (P2(1)2(1)2(1)) forms distinct blocks in which the pyzH(+) and HSO(4)(-) ions are interconnected through a network of NH...O and OH...O hydrogen bonds. The beta-form (P1) consists of infinite chains of alternating pyzH(+) and HSO(4)(-) ions connected by NH...O and OH...N hydrogen bonds. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate the possible existence of a hypothetical polar P1 form of the beta-polymorph with an unusually high dipole moment.

Ag2S2O8 meets AgSO4: the second example of metal–ligand redox isomerism among inorganic systems

Valence (redox) isomerism based on electron exchange between a metal and a ligand is immensely rare in purely inorganic systems, with only one documented case, that of PbS2 which adopts two polymorphic forms corresponding to Pb(iv)(S2-)2 and Pb(ii)(S22-). Here we have taken advantage of metathetic reactions using salts of weakly coordinating anions and we have prepared for the first time Ag(i)2S2O8, silver(i) peroxydisulphate. The title compound crystallizes in the non-centrosymmetric Cc space group with partial disorder of the anionic sublattice. Ag(i)2S2O8 is a highly thermally unstable diamagnetic and colourless valence isomer of the antiferromagnetic and black Ag(ii)SO4, described by us in the past.