Hiroyoshi Ohtsu

Kinetic Assembly of a Thermally Stable Porous Coordination Network Based on Labile CuI Units and the Visualization of I2 Sorption

A net gain: A kinetically assembled, but thermally stable network is obtained using the labile metal species [Cu4 I4 (PPh3 )4 ]. The network uniquely adsorbs I2 by chemisorption through I3 (-) formation. The chemisorbed I2 readily desorbs above 380 K owing to the dynamic motion of the framework. A thermodynamically assembled network physisorbs I2 , which is an exact fit for the channel.

Direct Observation of Ordered High-Spin-Low-Spin Intermediate States of an Iron(III) Three-Step Spin-Crossover Complex.

A neutral mononuclear Fe(III) complex [Fe(III) (H-5-Br-thsa-Me)(5-Br-thsa-Me)]⋅H2 O (1; H2 -5-Br-thsa-Me=5-bromosalicylaldehyde methylthiosemicarbazone) was prepared that exhibited a three-step spin-crossover (SCO) with symmetry breaking and a 14 K hysteresis loop owing to strong cooperativity. Two ordered intermediate states of 1 were observed, 4HS-2LS and 2HS-4LS, which exhibited reentrant phase-transition behavior. This study provides a new platform for examining multistability in SCO complexes.

Selective trapping of labile S3 in a porous coordination network and the direct X-ray observation.

S3 is one of the basic allotropes of sulfur but is still a mysterious labile species. We selectively trapped S3 in a pore of a thermally stable coordination network and determined S3 structure by ab initio X-ray powder diffraction analysis. S3 in a pore has a C2v bent structure. The network containing trapped S3 is remarkably stable under ambient conditions and is inert to photoirradiation. S3 in the network could be transformed to S6 by mechanical grinding or heating in the presence of NH4X (X = Cl or Br). S6 could be reverse-transformed to S3 by photoirradiation. We also determined the structure of the network containing S6 by ab initio X-ray powder diffraction analysis.

Supramolecular Nanostructures of Chiral Perylene Diimides with Amplified Chirality for High‐Performance Chiroptical Sensing

Chiral supramolecular nanostructures with optoelectronic functions are expected to play a central role in many scientific and technological fields but their practical use remains in its infancy. Here, this paper reports photoconductive chiral organic semiconductors (OSCs) based on perylene diimides with the highest electron mobility among the chiral OSCs and investigates the structure and optoelectronic properties of their homochiral and heterochiral supramolecular assemblies from bottom-up self-assembly. Owing to the well-ordered supramolecular packing, the homochiral nanomaterials exhibit superior charge transport with significantly higher photoresponsivity and dissymmetry factor compared with those of their thin film and monomeric equivalents, which enables highly selective detection of circularly polarized light, for the first time, in visible spectral range. Interestingly, the heterochiral nanostructures assembled from co-self-assembly of racemic mixtures show extraordinary chiral self-discrimination phenomenon, where opposite enantiomeric molecules are packed alternately into heterochiral architectures, leading to completely different optoelectrical performances. In addition, the crystal structures of homochiral and heterochiral nanostructures have first been studied by ab initio X-ray powder diffraction analysis. These findings give insights into the structure-chiroptical property relationships of chiral supramolecular self-assemblies and demonstrate the feasibility of supramolecular chirality for high-performance chiroptical sensing.

Mixed-valence state of a pyrazine-bridged dimer of oxocarboxylatotriruthenium complexes with a nitrosyl ligand.

Three new pyrazine-bridged dimers of oxoacetatotriruthenium with an NO ligand are synthesized. These complexes show two types of stable mixed-valence states. The ν(NO) stretches for five oxidation states were obtained, and the intramolecular electron-transfer rate within the mixed-valence state is evaluated from the IR spectral line-shape simulation based on Bloch-type analysis, which is the first application of this method to a spectator ligand of NO.

Tris(2-hydroxyphenyl)triazasumanene: bowl-shaped excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) fluorophore coupled with aggregation-induced enhanced emission (AIEE)

Tris(2-hydroxyphenyl)triazasumanene ((A)-(+)-1), a bowl-shaped molecule, which possesses 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)pyridine moieties, was successfully synthesised. (A)-(+)-1 showed a single peak emission in CH2Cl2, which overlapped with the emission of the triazasumanene skeleton and diminished at a high concentration, corresponding to the formation of the excited enol form. In contrast, single crystals of (A)-(+)-1 exhibited a dual emission with a large Stokes shift, indicating the presence of the excited keto form by the excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) process. In the solution of (A)-(+)-1 containing a mixture of a large amount of a poor solvent (hexane or MeOH) and a small amount of CH2Cl2, colloidal aggregates emerged with the continuous increment of emission intensity by further addition of the poor solvent, demonstrating aggregation-induced enhanced emission (AIEE). The analysis of the morphology and the structure of the aggregates using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) revealed the well-ordered structure of the aggregates, which possessed a molecular packing pattern similar to that of an (A)-(+)-1 single crystal.

Field-Induced Slow Magnetic Relaxation of GdIII Complex with a Pt-Gd Heterometallic Bond

Heterometallic Gd-Pt complexes ([Gd2 Pt3 (H2 O)2 (SAc)12 ] (SAc=thioacetate), [Y1.4 Gd0.6 Pt3 (H2 O)2 (SAc)12 ], and [Gd2 Pt3 (H2 O)6 (SAc)12 ]⋅7 H2 O have been synthesized. The crystal structures and DFT calculations indicated a Gd-Pt heretometallic bond. Single-crystal ESR spectra determined the direction of magnetic anisotropy as direction of the Gd-Pt bond. In other words, the Gd-Pt bond dictates the direction of magnetic anisotropy. The heterometallic Gd-Pt bond lowers the symmetry of the Gd ion, splitting the Kramers doublet in a dc field. Thus, we observed clear field-induced slow magnetic relaxation of [Y1.4 Gd0.6 Pt3 (H2 O)2 (SAc)12 ] up to 36 K. The relaxation process was determined to be a direct process.

Isolation and evolution of labile sulfur allotropes via kinetic encapsulation in interactive porous networks

Reported here are the isolation and direct observation of extremely reactive S2 and its conversion into bent-S3 via a cyclo-S3 2+ intermediate on interactive sites in porous coordination networks.

Morphogenesis and Optoelectronic Properties of Supramolecular Assemblies of Chiral Perylene Diimides in a Binary Solvent System

Chiral supramolecular structures are attracting great attention due to their specific properties and high potential in chiral sensing and separation. Herein, supramolecular assembling behaviors of chiral perylene diimides have been systematically investigated in a mixed solution of tetrahydrofuran and water. They exhibit remarkably different morphologies and chiral aggregation behaviors depending on the mixing ratio of the solvents, i.e., the fraction of water. The morphogenesis and optoelectronic properties of chiral supramolecular structures have been thoroughly studied using a range of experimental and theoretical methods to investigate the morphological effects of chiral supramolecular assemblies on the electrical performances and photogenerated charge-carrier behaviors. In addition, chiral perylene diimides have been discriminated by combining vibrational circular dichroism with theoretical calculations, for the first time. The chiral supramolecular nanostructures developed herein strongly absorb visible spectral region and exhibit high photoresponsivity and detectivity, opening up new opportunities for practical applications in optoelectronics.

Structural Investigation of Chemiresistive Sensing Mechanism in Redox-Active Porous Coordination Network

By changing the rate of evaporation, two kinds of crystalline films composed of redox-active porous coordination networks (1 and 2) were selectively prepared on a gold-patterned substrate using a DMF solution of 2,5,8-tri(4-pyridyl)1,3-diazaphenalene and Cd(NO3)2. We found the highly sensitive humidity sensing ability of film 1. Single crystal structures and infrared spectroscopic analyses before and after hydration of a single crystal of 1 revealed the sensing mechanism: exchange of nitrate ions with water on Cd atoms occurred in hydrated conditions to generate a conductive cationic network.