Proton and Electron Transfer in the Formation of a Copper Dithiolene-Based Coordination Polymer

Metal bis(dithiolene) complexes are promising building blocks for electrically conductive coordination polymers. N-Heterocyclic dithiolene complexes allow their cross-linking via the coordination of N-donor atoms to additional transition metal ions. In this study, we present the formal copper(II) and copper(III) 6,7-quinoxalinedithiolene complexes [Cu(qdt)₂]^- and [Cu(qdt)₂]^2- (qdt^2-: 6,7-quinoxalinedithiolate), as well as the 2D coordination polymer Cu[Cu(Hqdt)(qdt)] (3). The dithiolene complexes were isolated as (Bu₄N)₂[Cu(qdt)₂] (1), Na[Cu(qdt)₂]·4H₂O (2a), [Na(acetone)₄][Cu(qdt)₂] (2b), and [Ni(MeOH)₆][Cu(qdt)₂]₂·2H₂O (2c). Their crystal structures reveal nearly planar complexes with a high tendency of π-stacking. For a better understanding of their coordination behavior, the electronic properties are investigated by UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and DFT simulations. The synthesis of the 2D coordination polymer 3 involves the reduction and protonation of the monoanionic copper(III) complex. A combination of powder X-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility measurements, as well as IR and EPR spectroscopy confirm that formal [Cu^II(Hqdt)(qdt)]^- units link trigonal planar copper(I) atoms to a dense 2D coordination polymer. The electrical conductivity of 3 at room temperature is 2 × 10^-7 S/cm. Temperature dependent conductivity measurements confirm the semiconducting behavior of 3 with an Arrhenius derived activation energy of 0.33 eV. The strong absorption of 3 in the visible and NIR regions of the spectrum is caused by the small optical band gap of E_g,opt = 0.65 eV, determined by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. This study sheds light on the coordination chemistry of N-heterocyclic dithiolene complexes and may serve as a reference for the future design and synthesis of dithiolene-based coordination polymers with interesting electrical and magnetic properties.

Dithione, the antipodal redox partner of ene-1,2-dithiol ligands and their metal complexes

Defining the oxidation state of the central atom in a coordination compound is fundamental in understanding the electronic structure and provides a starting point for elucidating molecular properties. The presence of non-innocent ligand(s) can obscure the oxidation state of the central atom as the ligand contribution to the electronic structure is difficult to ascertain. Redox-active ligands, such as dithiolene ligands, are well known non-innocent ligands that can exist in both a fully reduced (Dt2-) and fully oxidized (Dt0) states. Complexes containing the fully oxidized dithione state of the ligand are uncommon and only a few have been completely characterized. Dithione ligands are of interest due to their electron-deficient nature and ability to act as an electron acceptor for more electron-rich moieties, such as other dithiolene ligands or metal centers. This article focuses the syntheses, structures, and metal coordination, particularly coordination compounds, of dithione ligands. Various examples of mono, bis, and tris dithione complexes are discussed.

Synthesis and characterization of cyano and isocyano complexes of bis(dithiolato) molybdenum using Me3SiCN: a route to a cyanide-bridged multimer to a monomer

The Mo(iv) bis (dithiolate) complex showed diverse reactions with Me₃SiCN in the presence and absence of a coligand and under protic and aprotic media.

A Platinum-Dithiolene Monoanionic Salt Exhibiting Multiproperties, Including Room-Temperature Proton-Dependent Solution Luminescence

The platinum salt C[PtL2], where C = [(R)-Ph(Me)HC*-NMe3](+) and [PtL2](-) = radical monoanion based on [4', 5': 5, 6][1, 4]dithiino[2,3-b]quinoxaline-1',3'dithiolato, shows a variety of properties both in solution and in the solid state thanks to the electronic and/or structural features of the ligand. The complex crystallizes in the chiral space group P1 due to the presence of the enantiopure cation (R)-Ph(Me)HC*-NMe3(+), and it shows paramagnetic behavior relatable to the [PtL2](-) radical monoanion. This anionic complex is redox active and shows a strong near-infrared absorbance peak at 1085 nm tunable with the oxidation state of the complex. This complex exhibits a proton-dependent emission at 572 nm in solution at room temperature. The excitation band corresponds to the HOMO-1 (π-orbitals of the S2C2S2 system) → LUMO (π-orbitals of the quinoxaline and benzene-like moieties) transition suggesting that emission is mainly ligand centered in character. The luminescent properties are highly unusual, since the emission falls well above the energy of the lowest energy absorption (anti-Kasha behavior). Joint experimental and density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT studies are discussed to provide a satisfactory structure/property relationship.

Ultrafast electronic and vibrational relaxations in mixed-ligand dithione-dithiolato Ni, Pd, and Pt complexes

Ultrafast excited-state dynamics of planar Pt, Pd, and Ni dithione-dithiolato complexes were investigated by transient absorption spectroscopy on the femtosecond-picosecond timescale. All studied complexes show a common photobehaviour, although individual kinetics parameters and quantum yields vary with the metal, the dithione ligand and, namely the solvent (DMF, MeCN). Laser pulse irradiation at 800 nm populates the lowest singlet excited state of a dithiolato → dithione charge transfer character, (1)LL'CT. The optically excited state undergoes a solvation-driven sub-picosecond electronic relaxation that enhances the dithione/dithiolato charge separation. The (1)LL'CT state decays with a 1.9-4.5 ps lifetime by two simultaneous pathways: intersystem crossing (ISC) to the lowest triplet state (3)LL'CT and non-radiative decay to the ground state. ISC occurs on a ∼6 ps timescale, virtually independent of the metal, whereas the rate of the non-radiative decay to the ground state decreases on going from Ni (2 ps) to Pd (3 ps) and Pt (∼10 ps). (3)LL'CT is initially formed as a vibrationally excited state. Its equilibration (cooling) takes place on a picosecond timescale and is accompanied by a competitive decay to the ground state. Equilibrated (3)LL'CT is populated with a quantum yield of less than 50%, depending on the metal: Pt > Pd > Ni. (3)LL'CT is long-lived for Pt and Pd (≫500 ps) and short-lived for Ni (∼15 ps). Some of the investigated complexes also exhibit spectral changes due to vibrational cooling of the singlet (2-3 ps, depending on the solvent). Rotational diffusion occurs with lifetimes in the 120-200 ps range. Changing the dithione (Bz2pipdt/(i)Pr2pipdt) as well as dithiolate/diselenolate (dmit/dsit) ligands has only small effects on the photobehavior. It is proposed that the investigated dithione-dithiolato complexes could act as photooxidants (*E(o) ≈ +1.2 V vs. NHE) utilizing their lowest excited singlet ((1)LL'CT), provided that the excited-state electron transfer is ultrafast, competitive with the picosecond decay. On the other hand, the efficiency of any triplet-based processes would be severely limited by the low quantum yield of the triplet population.

Near-infrared pigments based on ion-pair charge transfer salts of dicationic and dianionic metal-dithiolene [M(II) = Pd, Pt] complexes

Mixing [M(Et2dazdt)2](BF4)2 [M = Ni(II), Pd(II), Pt(II); Et2dazdt = N,N'-diethyl-perhydrodiazepine-2,3-dithione] with (Bu4N)2[M(mnt)2] (mnt = maleonitrile-2,3-dithiolate) in CH3CN produces the known mixed ligand dithiolene complex [Ni(Et2dazdt)(mnt)] in the nickel case and ion-pair salts [M(Et2dazdt)2][M(mnt)2] in the palladium (1) and platinum (2) cases. Structural characterization of 2 shows that the anionic (donor) and cationic (acceptor) complexes form an irregular stack that lies in the bc crystallographic plane. The shortest contacts exchanged by the anion and cation molecules within each stack are those occurring through the hydrogen atoms of the CH2 groups of Et2dazdt and the Pt(2)-S(22) segment (d(H(81a)-S(22) = 2.981(3) Å) and the nitrogen atom of the cyano group of mnt and the carbon atom of one of the thione moieties (d(N(12)-C(11) = 3.179(3) Å). The Pt atom of [Pt(mnt)2](2-) is surrounded by two hydrogen atoms of the Et2dazdt ligand, whereas the Pt atom of [Pt(Et2dazdt)2](2+) is surrounded by two carbon atoms of the dithiolate moiety of mnt. Intramolecular interactions are due to contacts exchanged mainly through H-atoms, which are suitable to mediate charge-transfer (CT) interactions. In fact, these salts are characterized by a long wavelength CT peak [λmax = 905 nm (1), 937 nm (2)], which makes them candidates as near-infrared pigments, whose properties are tunable with the redox features of the components, the energy of the NIR absorption being relatable to the driving force of electron transfer from the donor (dianion) to the acceptor (dication). A thorough description of interactions occurring between the complex anions and complex cations has been achieved by investigating the Hirshfeld surface (HS) properties. Computational methods are in agreement with experimental findings and allow us to highlight the electronic features of the components of these CT salts, providing a structure-property relationship, useful in designing new candidates to optimize the desired properties.

Combined experimental and theoretical study on redox-active d8 metal dithione-dithiolato complexes showing molecular second-order nonlinear optical activity

Synthesis, characterization, NLO properties, and theoretical studies of the mixed-ligand dithiolene complexes of the nickel triad [M(II)(Bz(2)pipdt)(mnt)] (Bz(2)pipdt = 1,4-dibenzyl-piperazine-3,2-dithione, mnt = maleonitriledithiolato, M(II) = Ni, 1, Pd, 2, Pt, 3) are reported. Molecular structural characterization of 1-3 points out that four sulfur atoms are in a slightly distorted square-planar geometry. While the M-S bond distances are only slightly different, comparison of the C-C and C-S bonds in the C(2)S(2)MS(2)C(2) core allows us to point out a significant difference between the C-C and the C-S distances in Bz(2)pipdt and mnt. These findings suggest assigning a dithiolato character to mnt (pull ligand) and a dithione one (push ligand) to Bz(2)pipdt. Cyclic voltammetry of 1-3 exhibits two reversible reduction waves and a broad irreversible oxidation wave. These complexes are characterized in the visible region by a peak of moderately strong intensity, which undergoes negative solvatochromism. The molecular quadratic optical nonlinearities were determined by the EFISH technique, which provided the following values μβ(λ) (10(-48) esu) = -1436 (1), -1450 (2), and -1950 (3) converted in μβ(0) (10(-48) esu) = -463 (1), -684 (2), and -822 (3), showing that these complexes exhibit large negative second-order polarizabilities whose values depend on the metal, being highest for the Pt compound. DFT and TD-DFT calculations on 1-3 allow us to correlate geometries and electronic structures. Moreover, the first molecular hyperpolarizabilities have been calculated, and the results obtained support that the most appealing candidate as a second-order NLO chromophore is the platinum compound. This is due to (i) the most extensive mixture of the dithione/metal/dithiolato orbitals, (ii) the influence of the electric field of the solvent on the frontier orbitals that maximizes the difference in dipole moments between the excited and the ground state, and (iii) the largest oscillator strength in the platinum case vs nickel and palladium ones.

Manifestations of noninnocent ligand behavior

The potential of redox-active ligands to behave "noninnocently" in transition-metal coordination compounds is reflected with respect to various aspects and situations. These include the question of establishing "correct" oxidation states, the identification and characterization of differently charged radical ligands, the listing of structural and other consequences of ligand redox reactions, and the distinction between barrierless delocalized "resonance" cases M(n)/L(n) ↔ M(n+1)L(n-1) versus separated valence tautomer equilibrium situations M(n)/L(n) ⇌ M(n+1)L(n-1). Further ambivalence arises for dinuclear systems with radical bridge M(n)(μ-L(•))M(n) versus mixed-valent alternatives M(n+1)(μ-L(-))M(n), for noninnocent ligand-bridged coordination compounds of higher nuclearity such as (μ(3)-L)M(3), (μ(4)-L)M(4), (μ-L)(4)M(4), or coordination polymers. Conversely, the presence of more than one noninnocently behaving ligand at a single transition-metal site in situations such as L(n)-M-L(n-1) or L(•)-M-L(•) may give rise to corresponding ligand-to-ligand interaction phenomena (charge transfer, electron hopping, and spin-spin coupling) and to redox-induced electron transfer with counterintuitive oxidation-state changes. The relationships of noninnocent ligand behavior with excited-state descriptions and perspectives regarding material properties and single-electron or multielectron reactivity are also illustrated briefly.