Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 1, 2026

Photogeneration of N-Heterocyclic Carbenes: Application in Photoinduced Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization
Published on: November 29, 2018
Synthesis and characterization of a photochromic magnesium(II) coordination polymer based on a naphthalene diimide
Jian Jun Liu1, Teng Liu1, Chang Cang Huang2
1Center for Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau Chemical Functional Materials and Pollution Control, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Naphthalene diimides, which are planar, chemically robust and redox-active, are an attractive class of electron-deficient dyes, which can undergo a single reversible one-electron reduction to form stable radical anions in the presence of electron donors upon irradiation. This makes them excellent candidates for organic linkers in the construction of photochromic coordination polymers. Such a photochromic one-dimensional linear coordination polymer has been prepared using N,N'-bis(3-carboxyphenyl)naphthalene-1,8:4,5-tetracarboximide (H2BBNDI). Crystallization of H2BBNDI with magnesium nitrate in an N,N'-dimethylformamide (DMF)/ethanol/H2O mixed-solvent system under solvothermal conditions afforded the one-dimensional coordination polymer catena-poly[[bis(dimethylformamide-κO)magnesium(II)]-bis[μ-N-(3-carboxylatophenyl)-N'-(3-carboxylphenyl)naphthalene-1,8:4,5-tetracarboximide-κ2O:O']], [Mg(C28H13N2O8)2(C3H7NO)2]n. The asymmetric unit contains half of a magnesium cation, one HBBNDI- ligand and one DMF molecule. Two partially deprotonated HBBNDI- ligands bridge two magnesium cations to form a one-dimensional chain. Strong inter-chain π-π interactions between the naphthalene rings of the HBBNDI- ligand and the imide rings of adjacent chains provide a two-dimensional structure. The supramolecular three-dimensional framework is stabilized by π-π interactions between naphthalene rings of neighbouring two-dimensional supramolecular networks. The complex exhibits a reversible photochromic behaviour, which may originate from the photoinduced electron-transfer generation of radicals in the HBBNDI- ligand.
More Related Videos
12:07Microwave-assisted Intramolecular Dehydrogenative Diels-Alder Reactions for the Synthesis of Functionalized Naphthalenes/Solvatochromic Dyes
Published on: April 1, 2013
05:47Preparation of Polyoxometalate-based Photo-responsive Membranes for the Photo-activation of Manganese Oxide Catalysts
Published on: August 7, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Colors 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...
Structural 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, SCN− can...
Coordination Compounds and Nomenclature
Stereoisomerism
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...
Valence Bond Theory