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Updated: May 27, 2026

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding
Published on: March 24, 2018
Hydrogen-bonded inclusion compounds with reversed polarity: anionic metal-complexes and cationic organic linkers
M Jaya Prakash1, Slavi C Sevov
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.
Abstract:
Synthesized and structurally characterized is a new series of soft-host frameworks assembled by charge-assisted hydrogen bonds between an anionic metal complex (MC) and cationic organic linkers (OL), specifically [Co(en)(ox)(2)](-) and diprotonated 4,4'-bipyridinium (H(2)bpy) or 1,2-bis(4-pyridinium)ethylene (H(2)bpye). While frameworks built of cationic complexes and anionic organic linkers are already well-known, the seven new compounds described here represent the first series of frameworks with reversed polarity, that is, made of anionic complexes and cationic organic linkers. The compounds have a general formula [OL][MC](2)·n(guest), where the guest molecules 4,4'-biphenol (bp), 4-methoxyphenol (mp), 1,4-dimethoxybenzene (dmb), 1,6-dimethoxynaphtalene (dmn), and 4-nitroanisole (na). Structurally the compounds can be described as pillared-layer frameworks with layers constructed of MC anions and linked together by hydrogen-bonded cationic OL pillars. The guest molecules occupy the galleries between the pillars while their steric, electronic, and π-π and hydrogen-bonding capabilities influence the overall structure of the soft frameworks.
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