Utilizing "Latent" Carbon: Repositioning Hydrogen-Bonded Synthons and Assemblies via Halogen Bonding to π-Systems

Molecules bearing carboxylic acid, amide, and hydroxyl groups are ubiquitous in crystal engineering, where robust hydrogen-bonded synthons centred on these functionalities enable reliable crystal structure design. We now show that halogen bonding to the carbon π-system of such molecules, traditionally ignored in crystal engineering, permits the recognition and directional assembly of the resulting hydrogen-bonded structural subunits, leaving the archetypal hydrogen-bonded ring, ladder, and chain homosynthons intact, but repositioned in space. When applied to heteromolecular synthons, this enables rearranging more complex hydrogen-bonded motifs and the evolution of binary cocrystals into ternary ones through "latent" carbon-based recognition sites, demonstrating a rational approach to build higher-order solid-state supramolecular assemblies.

2-Bromo-acetamide

The title compound, C2H4BrNO, crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c with one mol-ecule in the asymmetric unit. The almost planar mol-ecules are organized via N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds into a ladder-type network, which can be characterized by the graph sets R 2 2(8) and R 2 4(8). In addition, the mol-ecules are connected by C-H⋯O and C-H⋯Br contacts.

Ortho-Alkoxy-benzamide Directed Formation of a Single Crystalline Hydrogen-bonded Crosslinked Organic Framework and Its Boron Trifluoride Uptake and Catalysis

Boron trifluoride (BF3 ) is a highly corrosive gas widely used in industry. Confining BF3 in porous materials ensures safe and convenient handling and prevents its degradation. Hence, it is highly desired to develop porous materials with high adsorption capacity, high stability, and resistance to BF3 corrosion. Herein, we designed and synthesized a Lewis basic single-crystalline hydrogen-bond crosslinked organic framework (HC OF-50) for BF3 storage and its application in catalysis. Specifically, we introduced self-complementary ortho-alkoxy-benzamide hydrogen-bonding moieties to direct the formation of highly organized hydrogen-bonded networks, which were subsequently photo-crosslinked to generate HC OFs. The HC OF-50 features Lewis basic thioether linkages and electron-rich pore surfaces for BF3 uptake. As a result, HC OF-50 shows a record-high 14.2 mmol/g BF3 uptake capacity. The BF3 uptake in HC OF-50 is reversible, leading to the slow release of BF3 . We leveraged this property to reduce the undesirable chain transfer and termination in the cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers. Polymers with higher molecular weights and lower polydispersity were generated compared to those synthesized using BF3  ⋅ Et2 O. The elucidation of the structure-property relationship, as provided by the single-crystal X-ray structures, combined with the high BF3 uptake capacity and controlled sorption, highlights the molecular understanding of framework-guest interactions in addressing contemporary challenges.

Anion-assisted supramolecular assemblies of zinc(II) complexes with isonicotinamide

Five zinc(II) coordination compounds, [ZnCl₂(isn)₂] (1), [ZnBr₂(isn)₂] (2), [Zn(NO₃)₂(H₂O)(isn)₂] (3), [Zn(CH₃COO)₂(isn)]₂ (4) and [Zn(isn)₄(H₂O)₂](ClO₄)₂ (5) (isn = isonicotinamide), were prepared by the reactions of the isonicotinamide (pyridine-4-carboxamide, isn) and corresponding zinc(II) salts. Their crystal structures were determined by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction method. The coordination environment of zinc(II) is tetrahedral in the compounds containing small halide anions (chloride, bromide), 1 and 2. An expansion of the zinc(II) coordination environment to the octahedral is observed in the presence of the monodentate and bridging nitrate ions in 3. The coordination environments of both zinc(II) ions in dimeric acetate complex 4 is also enlarged in the comparison with 1 and 2, one zinc(II) ion being octahedrally coordinated and the other being pentacoordinated. The zinc(II) ion in 5 also reaches higher coordination environment (octahedral), which is enabled by binding of additional water molecules, since the perchlorate ion is uncoordinated. The supramolecular amide-amide homosynthon R 2 2 ( 8 ) is preserved in the presence of halide, nitrate and acetate ions (1-4), but it is completely disrupted in the crystal packing of 5 due to the presence of the bulky perchlorate anion. Spectroscopic analysis of compounds 1-5 was performed by IR spectroscopy in the solid state and by ¹³C NMR spectroscopy in the DMSO solutions. The NMR data support a complete decomposition of 3 in the DMSO solution, but 1, 2, 4 and 5 remain unchanged in the solution. Thermal properties of the coordination compounds were also investigated by TGA and DSC methods.

Cocrystal trimorphism as a consequence of the orthogonality of halogen- and hydrogen-bonds synthons

True trimorphic cocrystals, i.e. multi-component molecular crystals of identical composition that exhibit three polymorphic structures, are exceedingly rare and so far no halogen-bonded cocrystal system has been reported to exhibit trimorphism. Here we describe a unique example of a trimorphic cocrystal exhibiting both hydrogen and halogen bonds in which the differences between polymorphs reveal their orthogonality, evident by the apparently independent variation of well-defined hydrogen- and halogen-bonded motifs.

Will they co-crystallize?

Co-crystal screening data and machine learning models allows prediction of the most likely co-formers to use for new molecules.

Odd–even effect in a thiazole based organogelator: understanding the interplay of non-covalent interactions on property and applications

The effects of systematic change in the alkyl chain appended to the thiazole moiety on supramolecular gelation and nanoparticle synthesis were investigated.

Establishing amide...amide reliability and synthon transferability in the supramolecular assembly of metal-containing one-dimensional architectures

On the basis of a combination of new structural data (eleven single-crystal structure determinations are presented) and information from the Cambridge Structural Database, it has been shown that self-complementary hydrogen-bond based amide...amide dimers can be relied upon as effective supramolecular synthons for the assembly and organization of acac- and paddle-wheel complexes of a variety of metal(II) ions. The targeted molecular recognition event and intended extended one-dimensional motif appear with a supramolecular yield of 78% (a total of 28 structures were examined). Despite the fact that the hydrogen bonds that give rise to the R2(2)(8) motif can be disrupted by both carboxylate- and acac-ligands, as well as by solvent molecules, they remain remarkably resilient and therefore represent useful synthetic tools in inorganic crystal engineering.