Double-stranded dimetallic helicates: assembling-disassembling driven by the Cu(I)/Cu(II) redox change and the
Massimo Boiocchi1, Luigi Fabbrizzi
1Centro Grandi Strumenti, Università di Pavia, via Bassi 21, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
Abstract:
In the presence of d(10) metal ions, prone to tetrahedral coordination, ligands containing two bidentate subunits will give rise to double-stranded helical complexes (helicates). Upon electrochemical oxidation of Cu(I) to Cu(II), the helicate complex tends to disassemble, thus giving rise to two mononuclear Cu(II) complexes with tetragonal geometry. Upon subsequent Cu(II)-to-Cu(I) electrochemical reduction, two Cu(I) complexes instantaneously re-assemble to give the helicate complex. A helicand containing a chiral subunit (e.g. 1,2-substituted cyclohexanediamine) contains a racemic mixture of the R,R and S,S enantiomers. The racemic helicand, reacting with Cu(I), forms dimetallic helicates, in which the two strands show the same chirality, whether R,R or S,S, thus obeying the principle of homochiral recognition.
Related Concept Videos
02:51Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
01:19Complexation Equilibria: The Chelate Effect
02:34Structural Isomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula. Structural isomerism of coordination compounds can be divided into two subcategories, the linkage isomers and coordination-sphere isomers.
Linkage isomers occur when the coordination compound contains a ligand that can bind to the transition metal center through two different atoms. For example, the CN− ligand can bind through the carbon atom or through the nitrogen atom. Similarly,...
03:02Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human...
02:42Valence Bond Theory
02:52Stereoisomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...