Carborane-based heteromolecular extended networks driven by directional C-Te⋯N chalcogen bonding interactions

Area of Science:

• Supramolecular Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Organometallic Chemistry

Background:

• Carboranes are versatile cage compounds with unique electronic and structural properties.
• Supramolecular chemistry aims to construct complex architectures through non-covalent interactions.
• Chalcogen bonding (ChB) is an increasingly recognized non-covalent interaction involving the interaction of a Lewis base with an electron-rich region on a chalcogen atom.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential of o-closo-(TeMe)2carborane as a building block for supramolecular networks.
• To explore the role of chalcogen bonding in directing the self-assembly of carborane-based co-crystals.
• To demonstrate the rational design of 1D extended heteromolecular networks using carborane tectons.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis and characterization of o-closo-(TeMe)2carborane.
• Co-crystallization experiments with various linear ditopic neutral Lewis bases.
• Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis to determine the solid-state structures.
• Analysis of intermolecular interactions, focusing on C-Te⋯N chalcogen bonds.

Main Results:

• The o-closo-(TeMe)2carborane successfully formed co-crystals with linear ditopic neutral Lewis bases.
• The co-crystals exhibited 1D extended supramolecular networks.
• Short and quasi-linear C-Te⋯N chalcogen-bonding interactions were identified as the primary stabilizing forces.
• The carborane-based tectons allowed for the rational design of these heteromolecular networks.

Conclusions:

• o-closo-(TeMe)2carborane is an effective tecton for constructing 1D supramolecular networks.
• Chalcogen bonding plays a crucial role in stabilizing these carborane-based co-crystal architectures.
• This work provides a strategy for the rational design of high-dimensional neutral heteromolecular networks using carborane building blocks.