Organic molecules with heavy main-group elements frequently form supramolecular links to electron-rich centres. One particular case of such interactions is halogen bonding. Most studies of this phenomenon have been concerned with either dimers or infinitely extended structures (polymers and lattices) but well-defined cyclic structures remain elusive. Here we present oligomeric aggregates of heterocycles that are linked by chalcogen-centered interactions and behave as genuine macrocyclic species. The molecules of 3-methyl-5-phenyl-1,2-tellurazole 2-oxide assemble a variety of supramolecular aggregates that includes cyclic tetramers and hexamers, as well as a helical polymer. In all these aggregates, the building blocks are connected by Te…O–N bridges. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic experiments demonstrate that the two types of annular aggregates are persistent in solution. These self-assembled structures form coordination complexes with transition-metal ions, act as fullerene receptors and host small molecules in a crystal.

High-resolution solid-state (7)Li NMR was used to characterize the structure and dynamics of lithium ion transport in monoclinic Li(3)V(2)(PO(4))(3). Under fast magic-angle spinning (MAS) conditions (25 kHz), three resonances are clearly resolved and assigned to the three unique crystallographic sites. This assignment is based on the Fermi-contact delocalization interaction between the unpaired d-electrons at the vanadium centers and the lithium ions. One-dimensional variable-temperature NMR and two-dimensional exchange spectroscopy (EXSY) are used to probe Li mobility between the three sites. Very fast exchange, on the microsecond time scale, was observed for the Li hopping processes. Activation energies are determined and correlated to structural properties including interatomic Li distances and Li-O bottleneck sizes.

DFT calculations were used to compare the magnitude of steric repulsion to the strength of secondary bonding interactions (SBIs) in the (Te−N)2 supramolecular synthon to explain or predict the supramolecular structures assembled by two derivatives of the 1,2,5-telluradiazole ring:  benzo-2,1,3-telluradiazole (4c) and 3,6-dibromobenzo-2,1,3-telluradiazole (5). The crystallographically determined structures were consistent with the computational predictions. In sharp contrast with the previously known structures of its sulfur and selenium analogues, 4c forms infinite ribbon chains in the solid state with 2.682(7)−2.720(7) Å Te−N SBIs. Steric hindrance in 5 restricted the supramolecular association to form discrete dimers with 2.697(8) Å Te−N SBIs. In addition to discrete dimers, the dibromo derivative crystallizes as solvated dimers in 5·DMSO with 2.834(5) Å Te−O SBIs. Other weaker SBIs were identified in the crystal lattices and were assessed by the computational method.

A new NON-donor ligand, 4,5-bis(2,6-diisopropylanilino)-2,7-di-tert-butyl-9,9-dimethylxanthene (H 2 -[XA 2 ], 1), was prepared by palladium-catalyzed coupling of 2,6-diisopropylaniline with the appropriate dibromoxanthene precursor. Stable K 2 (dme) 2 [XA 2 ] (2) and Na 2 [XA 2 ] (3) salts were accessible by deprotonation of H 2 [XA 2 ] with KH in dme or NaH in toluene. The thermally unstable lithium salt of McConville's 2,6-bis(2,6-diisopropylanilidomethyl)pyridine ligand (Li 2 [BDPP], 4) was isolated by deprotonation with nBuLi or LiCH 2 SiMe 3 in hexanes at low temperature. Reaction of [ThCl 4 (dme) 2 ] with Li 2 [BDPP] or M 2 (dme) n [XA 2 ] resulted in the formation of pentagonal bipyramidal [LThCl 2 (dme)] complexes (L ) BDPP, 5; XA 2 , 6). Subsequent reaction of 5 or 6 with LiCH 2 SiMe 3 gave base-and salt-free dialkyl complexes, [LTh(CH 2 SiMe 3 ) 2 ] (L ) BDPP, 7; XA 2 , 8), which are stable for days in solution at 90 and 70°C, respectively. Complexes 5, 7, and 8 were also accessible by initial combination of 2 or 4 equiv of LiCH 2 SiMe 3 with [ThCl 4 (dme) 2 ], followed by addition of H 2 L. These reactions likely proceed by alkane elimination, but dialkyl or tetraalkyl thorium intermediates were not identified. The X-ray crystal structure of 8 suggests the presence of R-agostic C-H-Th interactions for both alkyl groups. In solution, 7 and 8 exhibit temperature-dependent 1 J C,H coupling constants for ThCH 2 , demonstrating the presence of R-agostic interactions which become increasingly favored at lower temperature. Reaction of 5 with Li 2 [BDPP] at 0°C or 7 with H 2 [BDPP] at 100°C resulted in the formation of extremely sterically encumbered [Th(BDPP) 2 ] (9), which adopts a highly distorted six-coordinate geometry with the four anilido groups arranged in an approximate tetrahedron around thorium. Bisligand complexes were not accessible with the XA 2 platform, presumably due to increased ligand rigidity.

Co(cyclen)(OH2)2]3+ (1) efficiently catalyzes hydration of acetonitrile to acetamide in a three-step cycle at pH 7, 40 °C (cyclen = 1,4,7,11-tetraazacyclododecane). The mechanism involves (a) equilibrium coordination of acetonitrile to 1 (A) = 2.5 M_1) followed by (b) intramolecular metal hydroxide attack on the coordinated nitrile resulting in formation of the chelated acetamide (k2 = 4.7 X 10~1 23 s-1) and (c) dissociation of the chelated amide (k2 = 3.3 X lO-4 s-1). Both intermediates in the catalytic cycle (coordinated acetonitrile and chelated acetamide) have been detected by visible absorbance spectroscopy and 13C NMR. The crystal structure of the chelated benzamide has been determined. Joint Lewis acid activation and metal hydroxide activation provides over a 1010-fold rate acceleration for the hydration reaction.