Functional Nanostructures Based on Organometallic Half-Sandwich Complexes

Hexanuclear coordination cages of the formula [(C5Me4R)M(C7H3NO 4)]6 (M = Rh, Ir; R = Me, H) were obtained by stepwise reaction of [(C5Me4R)M(μ-Cl)Cl]2 with, first AgOAc and then pyridine-3,5-dicarboxylic acid. Crystallographic analyses show that the cages adopt a distorted octahedral geometry with the pyridine-3,5-dicarboxylates functioning as dianionic bridging ligands, each of which connects three different (C5Me4R)M fragments. The cages act as exoreceptors for large alkali metal cations K+ and Cs+, as well as NH4+, but show low affinity for Na+. Crystallographic and NMR spectroscopic analyses indicate that two metal ions can be coordinated to the surface of the cages. The respective binding sites comprise three carbonyl O-atoms from the bridging pyridine-3,5-dicarboxylate ligands. Novel supramolecular architectures were obtained by reacting the dinuclear macrocycle [(cymene)Ru(μ-C12H12O4)(H 2O)]2 with different N-donor ligands. A tetranuclear assembly was obtained with 1,2-di(4-pyridyl)ethylene, whereas hexanuclear complexes were formed with 2,4,6-tris(4-pyridyl)triazine and 1,3,5-tris(4-pyridylethynyl)benzene. The reaction with 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-pyridyl)porphyrine, on the other hand gave tetra- or octanuclear complexes, depending on the stoichiometry that was employed. The 2,4,6-tris(4-pyridyl)triazine complex was shown to act as a host for polycyclic aromatic compounds such as pyrene, triphenylene and coronene. A hexanuclear coordination cage has been formed by self-assembly of three elongated [(cymene)Ru(μ-C14H10O6)] 2 dinuclear macrocycles and two equivalents of 2,4,6-tris(4-pyridyl)triazine. The twisted coordination prism with a height of 3.5 Å (bottom to top) could be untwined by addition of coronene to – for half-sandwich complex-based cages – unprecedented size of 10.8 Å (bottom to top). Crystallographic and NMR spectroscopic analyses indicate that two coronene molecules can be encapsulated inside this cage.