Oxidative Addition of a Mechanically Entrapped C(sp)–C(sp) Bond to a Rhodium(I) Pincer Complex

Modulation of Metal Carbonyl Stretching Frequencies in the Second Coordination Sphere through the Internal Stark Effect

Spectroscopic and computational examination of a homologous series of rhodium(I) pybox carbonyl complexes has revealed a correlation between the conformation of the flanking aryl-substituted oxazoline donors and the carbonyl stretching frequency. This relationship is also observed experimentally for octahedral rhodium(III) and ruthenium(II) variants and cannot be explained through the classical, Dewar-Chatt-Duncanson, interpretation of metal-carbonyl bonding. Instead, these findings are reconciled by local changes in the magnitude of the electric field that is projected along the metal-carbonyl vector: the internal Stark effect.

Anion-π Catalysis Enabled by the Mechanical Bond

We report a series of rotaxane‐based anion–π catalysts in which the mechanical bond between a bipyridine macrocycle and an axle containing an NDI unit is intrinsic to the activity observed, including a [3]rotaxane that catalyses an otherwise disfavoured Michael addition in >60 fold selectivity over a competing decarboxylation pathway that dominates under Brønsted base conditions. The results are rationalized by detailed experimental investigations, electrochemical and computational analysis.

Rotaxane CoII Complexes as Field-Induced Single-Ion Magnets

Mechanically chelating ligands have untapped potential for the engineering of metal ion properties. Here we demonstrate this principle in the context of CoII -based single-ion magnets. Using multi-frequency EPR, susceptibility and magnetization measurements we found that these complexes show some of the highest zero field splittings reported for five-coordinate CoII complexes to date. The predictable coordination behaviour of the interlocked ligands allowed the magnetic properties of their CoII complexes to be evaluated computationally a priori and our combined experimental and theoretical approach enabled us to rationalize the observed trends. The predictable magnetic behaviour of the rotaxane CoII complexes demonstrates that interlocked ligands offer a new strategy to design metal complexes with interesting functionality.