Dalton Transactions Blog

Walter Baratta and colleagues describe the first examples of osmium catalysts used for the racemization and deuteration of alcohols. The group found that diphosphine based pincer complexes based on ruthenium and osmium are are efficient catalysts for the racemization of secondary alcohols and also efficiently catalyze the deuteration of both primary and secondary alcohols.

Read their HOT article to find out more. This article is free to read for four weeks.

Pincer Ru and Os complexes as efficient catalysts for racemization and deuteration of alcohols
Gianluca Bossi, Elisabetta Putignano, Pierluigi Rigo and Walter Baratta
Dalton Trans., 2011, Advance Article DOI: 10.1039/C1DT10498E

This paper will feature in the forthcoming Pincers themed issue appearing soon – guest editors Professors Gerard van Koten and Bert Klein Gebbink. Look out for the issue when it is published later this summer!

Gerard van Koten and colleagues test a synthetic method for the synthesis of NCN-pincer complexes of early and middle transition metals, in cases where their synthesis via the corresponding lithium reagents fails. The paper also describes the results of tests using these new NCN-pincer metal complexes as olefin polymerisation precatalysts. Read more in their article below – free to read until the 30th June.

Mono N,C,N-pincer complexes of titanium, vanadium and niobium. Synthesis, structure and catalytic activity in olefin polymerisation
Alexey V. Chuchuryukin, Rubin Huang, Ernst E. van Faassen, Gerard P. M. van Klink, Martin Lutz, John C. Chadwick, Anthony L. Spek and Gerard van Koten, Dalton Trans., 2011, Advance Article DOI: 10.1039/C1DT10482A 

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This Hot Article will feature in the forthcoming Pincers themed issue appearing soon – indeed Professor van Koten is a guest editor of this issue, along with Professor Bert Klein Gebbink. Look out for the issue when it is published later this summer!

Do you make or use pincer ligands as part of your own research? Why not tell us your thoughts on your own work or this paper by posting a comment on this blog post below…….

In this Dalton Transactions Hot Article, En-Bo Wang and colleagues synthesised two nanosized, hexameric POM-based solid assemblies, decorated with six 3d–4f heterometallic clusters: (H₂en)₆Na₁₅K₉[Dy₆Fe₆(H₂O)₁₂(SiW₁₀O₃₈)₆]·34H₂O and K₁₃Na₁₇[H₂en]₃[Tb₆Fe₆-(H₂O)₁₂(SiW₁₀O₃₈)₆]·40H₂O.

The assemblies were synthesised by a hydrothermal method and characterised by IR, elemental analyses, magnetic studies and single crystal X-ray analysis. The use of organic ligands, pH and reaction temperature all play an important role in the synthesis. The magnetic studies suggest the presence of antiferromagnetic interactions in both compounds. 

Read more for FREE until 22nd June 2011: 

Hexameric polyoxometalates decorated by six 3d–4f heterometallic clusters
Zhi-Ming Zhang, Yang-Guang Li, Shuang Yao and En-Bo Wang
Dalton Trans., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C1DT10133A, Paper

In their recent paper Han Vinh Huynh and his team from the National University of Singapore discuss the coordination of new CSC pincer ligands with a range of transition metals and compare their catalytic activity in hydroamination reactions.

Specifically the group investigate 4,5-dichloroimidazolin-2-ylidene based ligand systems, in which pincer- versus pseudo-pincer formation is strongly influenced by the electron-donating abilities of the carbenes. Read more in their Dalton Transactions Hot Article – just published! This will be FREE to read until 24th May 2011.

CSC-pincer versus pseudo-pincer complexes of palladium(II): a comparative study on complexation and catalytic activities of NHC complexes
Dan Yuan, Haoyun Tang, Linfei Xiao and Han Vinh Huynh
Dalton Trans., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1DT10269A, Paper

In the mean time why not read some other recent Dalton Transactions themed issues.

The article will appear in Dalton Transactions forthcoming themed issue focussing on Pincer ligands. Look out for this issue when it is published in early autumn this year!

In this Dalton Transactions Hot Article, which is part of an upcoming themed issue on “Contributions of Inorganic Chemistry to Energy Research” Rao et al. studied the effect of simultaneous substitutions of Ca and Nb or Ta in pyrochlore-type solid solutions using XRD, FT NIR Raman spectroscopic techniques and transmission electron microscopy.  The substitutions lead to a more ordered phase being produced.

Recently, pyrochlore oxides have attracted a lot of attention.  Their chemical and structural flexibility lead to a wide range of properites such as:

• superconductivity
• semi-conductivity
• ionic conductivity
• ferromagnetism
• luminescence

Oxide ion-conducting pyrochlores have found applications in solid oxide fuel cells as electrolytes and gas sensors. Within the last decade, the use of pyrochlore oxides for nuclear waste disposal has gained interest due to their high radiation resistance.

Read for free until 22nd March 2011 to find out more about these fascinating and versatile materials here.

Influence of disorder-to-order transition on lattice thermal expansion and oxide ion conductivity in (Ca_xGd_1-x)₂(Zr_1-xM_x)₂O₇ pyrochlore solid solutions
A. N. Radhakrishnan, P. Prabhakar Rao,* K. S. Mary Linsa, M. Deepa and Peter Koshy
Dalton Trans., 2011, Advance Article, 10.1039/c0dt01688h