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The 1967 attempt of structural analysis of the solid-state complex of caffeine and pyrogallol was a pioneering structural investigation in the supramolecular chemistry of caffeine, of what today would easily be considered an archetype of a model pharmaceutical cocrystal. Re-investigating this historically important system demonstrates that this long overlooked complex is most likely a tetrahydrate with a different structure and composition than initially proposed, and provides the crystal structure of the anhydrous cocrystal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conceptual replacement of nitrogen with phosphorus in common organic functional groups unlocks new properties and reactivity. The phosphorus‐containing analogues of triazenes are underexplored but offer great potential as flexible and small bite‐angle ligands. This manuscript explores the synthesis and characterisation of a family of air‐stable azophosphine‐borane complexes, and their subsequent deprotection to the free azophosphines. These compounds are structurally characterised, both experimentally and computationally, and highlight the availability of the phosphorus lone pair for coordination. This is confirmed by demonstrating that neutral azophosphines can act as ligands in Ru complexes, and can coordinate as monodentate or bidentate ligands in a controlled manner, in contrast to their nitrogen analogues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal‐organic cages (MOCs) are popular host architectures assembled from ligands and metal ions/nodes. Assembling structurally complex, low‐symmetry MOCs with anisotropic cavities can be limited by the formation of statistical isomer libraries. We set out to investigate the use of primary coordination‐sphere engineering (CSE) to bias isomer selectivity within homo‐ and heteroleptic PdnL2n cages. Unexpected differences in selectivities between alternative donor groups led us to recognise the significant impact of the second coordination sphere on isomer stabilities. From this, molecular‐level insight into the origins of selectivity between cis and trans diastereoisomers was gained, highlighting the importance of both host–guest and host‐solvent interactions, in addition to ligand design. This detailed understanding allows precision engineering of low‐symmetry MOC assemblies without wholesale redesign of the ligand framework, and fundamentally provides a theoretical scaffold for the development of stimuli‐responsive, shape‐shifting MOCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dolabellane‐type diterpene dictyoxetane represents a significant challenge to synthetic organic chemistry. Methodology directed towards the total synthesis of naturally occurring (+)‐dictyoxetane is reported. Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of the trans‐hydrindane ring system is achieved through chemoselective deoxygenation of the Hajos‐Parrish ketone. An alternative to the Garst‐Spencer furan annulation is developed for the synthesis of a 2,5‐dimethyl, tetrasubstituted furan, employing a tandem 5‐exo‐dig alcohol to alkyne cyclisation/aromatisation reaction as a key step. The (4+3) cycloaddition reaction of an oxyallyl cation with a tetrasubstituted furan is established on a cyclohexanone‐derived model system, and a range of related (4+3) cycloadditions investigated on a homochiral, trans‐hydrindane‐fused furan, where regio‐ and diastereoselectivity is required for the natural product synthesis. In an alternative (4+2) Diels‐Alder approach, a C2‐symmetric vinyl sulfoxide‐based chiral ketene equivalent is used to prepare oxanorbornenes with the same oxygen bridge stereochemistry found in the 2,7‐dioxatricyclo[4.2.1.03,8]nonane ring system of the natural product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the structures of three new materials in the MDABCO-based perovskite family. Analysis of the Goldschmidt tolerance factor and octahedral factor enable us to propose compositional limits for pseudo-cubic perovskite phase formation and suggest directions for further materials discovery in this family of new ferroelectrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a library of trifluoroethyl substituted aminomaleimide derivatives are reported with small size and enhanced emissions in both solution and solid‐state. A diCH2CF3 substituted aminochloromaleimide exhibits the most efficient dual‐state emission (Φf >50 % in solution and solid‐state), with reduced quenching from protic solvents. This is attributed to the reduction of electron density on the maleimide ring and suppressed π‐π stacking in the solid‐state. This mechanism was explored in‐depth by crystallographic analysis, and modelling of the electronic distribution of HOMO‐LUMO isosurfaces and NCI plots. Hence, these dual‐state dyes overcome the limitations of single‐state luminescence and will serve as an important step forward for this rapidly developing nascent field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual detection systems are of interest for rapid, accurate data collection in sensing systems and in vitro testing. We introduce an IrIII complex with a boronic acid receptor site attached to the 2‐phenylpyridine ligand as an ideal probe with photo‐ and electrochemical signals that is sensitive to monosaccharide binding in aqueous solution. The complex displays orange luminescence at 618 nm, which is reduced by 70 and 40 % upon binding of fructose and glucose, respectively. The electro‐chemiluminescent signal of the complex also shows a direct response to monosaccharide binding. The IrIII complex shows the same response upon incorporation into hydrogel matrices as in solution, thus demonstrating the potential of its integration into a device, as a nontoxic, simple‐to‐use tool to observe sugar binding over physiologically relevant pH ranges and saccharide concentrations. Moreover, the complex's luminescence is responsive to monosaccharide presence in cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The FK506-FKBP12 binding domain of the kinase FRAP(FRB) forms a classic up-down four-helical bundle and the folding pathway of this protein is investigated using combination of equilibrium and kinetic studies. It is concluded that the four helical bundle proteins FRB populates an intermediate state during folding.

Carbazoles are widely exploited for their interesting photophysical and electronic properties, however bay (4,5-) functionalization is challenging, and previously inaccessible through carbazole C–H activation. We report a simple methodology which introduces a range of versatile 4,5-functionality, enabling the wider investigation of ring annulation and close proximity effects on carbazole properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new chiral organometallic nucleoside analogue containing ruthenocene is reported, in which alkylthymine and alkylhydroxyl groups are attached in adjacent positions on one cyclopentadienyl ring. The synthetic procedures for this metallocene derivative and two control compounds are described, along with their characterisation by cyclic voltammetry and X-ray crystallography. Their biological activities in a human pancreatic cancer cell line (MIA-Pa-Ca-2) were significantly lower than those of three previously reported analogous ferrocene compounds, indicating that the choice of metallocene metal atom (Fe or Ru) plays a pivotal role in determining the anticancer properties of these nucleoside analogues, which in turn suggests a different mode of action from that of a conventional nucleoside analogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation (AD) finds widespread use in natural product and drug molecule syntheses, in part, due to its efficiency and predictability. However, the tandem AD of dienes is much less studied, but important in complex molecular synthesis. Herein, a biologically relevant tandem AD is reported, and several anomalies are discovered with the accepted model. These include the formation of unpredicted diastereoisomers, with matched and mismatched stereocenters contradicting the Sharpless mnemonic device. From a structural analysis of the tandem AD, we present a strategy to improve asymmetric induction in sterically hindered alkenes using double diastereodifferentiation from a 9‐bond distant stereocenter. A theoretical justification for the unpredicted stereoselectivity, accounting for the influence of steric hindrance and pre‐installed chirality, is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(NH4)2[Zn2(O3PCH2CH2COO)2]⋅5 H2O (BIRM‐1) is a new metal phosphonate material, synthesized through a simple hydrothermal reaction between zinc nitrate and 3‐phosphonopropionic acid, using urea and tetraethylammonium bromide as the reaction medium. In common with other metal–organic framework materials, BIRM‐1 has a large three‐dimensional porous structure providing potential access to a high internal surface area. Unlike most others, it has the advantage of containing ammonium cations within the pores and has the ability to undergo cation exchange. Additionally, BIRM‐1 also exhibits a reversible dehydration behavior involving an amorphization‐recrystallization cycle. The ability to undergo ion exchange and dynamic structural behavior are of interest in their own right, but also increase the range of potential applications for this material. Here the crystal structure of this new metal phosphonate and its ion exchange behavior with K+ as an exemplar are studied in detail, and its unusual structure‐reviving property reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyrrolidine enamines derived from three 1,3-dioxan-5-ones have undergone [alpha],[alpha]E-annelation reactions with methyl [alpha]-(bromomethyl)acrylate to produce bridged 2,4-dioxabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane ring systems with complete stereocontrol. Base-mediated ester epimerization has provided the stereochemical array found in the highly oxygenated cyclohexane ring of phyllaemblic acid and glochicoccins B and D.

A chiral ferrocene-based boronic acid was interacted with (R)- and (S)-binol to produce two complexes that exhibited significantly different ferrocene-based electrode potentials. The differences in the redox behavior could be exploited to demonstrate in principle how high levels of enantiomeric excess in a mixture of enantiomers could be quantified and read-out using an electrochemical method.

Halide abstraction is shown to be a good method for the generation of mononuclear cationic complexes containing gallium donor ligands. The ligand properties are compared with related ten valance electron systems such as [N.sub.2], CO and BF.

Changes in the optical properties of an alkynyldigold(I) complex upon reaction with Cu(I) are associated with a complicated structural change to form an unusual Au4Cu4 cluster. This complex involves weak Cu...Cu/Au interactions and pi-alkyne coordination.

The study of organosulfates is a burgeoning area in biology, yet there are significant challenges with their synthesis. We report the development of a tributylsulfoammonium betaine as a high yielding route to organosulfates. The optimised reaction conditions were interrogated with a diverse range of alcohols, including natural products and amino acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four novel bis-boronic acid compounds were synthesised via copper catalysed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reactions. Glucose selectivity was observed for a particular structural motif. Moreover, a new glucose selective fluorescent sensor was designed and synthesised as a result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new series of chiral ferrocene derivatives containing both a hydroxyalkyl group and a thyminyl group on one cyclopentadienyl ring have been synthesised to probe structure-activity relationships in cancer cell line cytotoxicities. The stereoisomers of enantiomeric pairs of these so-called ferronucleosides have been studied and characterised by a combination of chiral analytical HPLC and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Biological activity studies revealed that changing the length of the hydroxyalkyl group had marked effects on IC50 values, with compounds having shorter arms that more closely resemble endogenous nucleosides exhibiting lower cytotoxicities. The lipophilicities and electrochemical properties of this compound series have been studied to rationalise these trends and indicate future directions of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A doubly pyrene-grafted bis-cyclometallated iridium complex with engineered electronically excited states demonstrates reversible electronic energy transfer between adjacent chromophores giving rise to extremely long-lived red luminescence in solution (τ = 480 μs). Time-resolved spectroscopic studies afforded determination of pertinent photophysical parameters including rates of energy transfer and energy distribution between constituent chromophores in the equilibrated excited molecule (ca. 98% on the organic chromophores). Incorporation into a nanostructured metal–oxide matrix (AP200/19) gave highly sensitive O2 sensing films, as the detection sensitivity was 200–300% higher than with the commonly used PtTFPP and approaches the sensitivity of the best O2-sensing dyes reported to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of electron-withdrawing substituents on the orthometalated phenyl ring is a common strategy to blue shift the emission of cyclometalated iridium complexes by stabilizing the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), that is, increasing the oxidation potential of the complex. However, for application in blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), this approach imposes host materials with a deep HOMO, which negatively impacts the injection of charges, and hence the performance of the devices. In this context, we report new iridium complexes with an electron-donating substituent on the cyclometalated ligand to blue shift the emission while keeping a relatively low oxidation potential. As a result, bluish-green OLEDs based on host materials with shallow HOMOs (TCTA = 4,4′,4′′-tri(N-carbazolyl)-triphenylamine) display a higher performance than devices using FIrpic in the same architecture. The improvements are primarily attributed to the lower turn-on voltage (2.8 to 3 V) compared to those of FIrpic-device (3.6 V). White OLED was then prepared with a maximum brightness of 20 226 cd m−2 and current efficiency of 20.4 cd A−2 (at 100 cd m−2). Interestingly, a very small efficiency roll-off of about 1% at 1000 cd m−2 and high color stability were achieved. At a luminance level of 5000 cd m−2 the roll-off efficiency was still below 20%. The introduction of electron-donating substituents on a 2-phenylpyridine scaffold to obtain blue emitters with low oxidation potentials provides an alternative to strategies based on replacing the pyridine with imidazole, carbene, and pyrazole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regioselective gold-catalysed hydration of propargylic alcohols to β-hydroxy ketones can be achieved by diverting the gold-catalysed Meyer-Schuster rearrangement through the addition of a protic additive with a p Ka of 7-9 such as p-nitrophenol, boric acid or a boronic acid. This provides an interesting alternative to an aldol reaction when combined with the straightforward addition of an alkyne to an aldehyde or ketone. The gold-catalysed reaction of an electron-deficient, sterically hindered propargylic alcohol with a boronic acid led to the formation of an unusually stable cyclic boron enolate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crystal structures of six 1 : 1 triiodide salts of a series of enantiopure bis(pyrrolo[3,4-d])TTF derivatives, the first structures of radical cation salts reported for this bis(pyrrolo) donor system, show three different arrangements of triiodide ions, organised either in head-to-tail pairs, in infinite lines, or in a castellated arrangement. The complex crystal structures, obtained by electrocrystallisation, are influenced by the presence of solvent, for example changing an ABCABC packing arrangement to ABAB with inclusion of THF, as well as by the size of the chiral side chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic strategies towards molecular dyads based on peri-substituted dichalcogenide (S,Se) [FeFe]-hydrogenase synthetic mimics covalently linked to a ZnTPP photosensitizer are described. Dithiolate and diselenolate model systems 2- 5 are prepared through condensation of 2-naphthaldehydes with p-methoxyaniline, reduction of the resulting Schiff base and oxidative insertion of Fe2(CO)6 into the dichalcogen bond of the imine or amine. Diselenolate-based [FeFe] complexes (imine 3 and amine 5) are more efficient in electrocatalysis of proton reduction than their sulfur analogues 2 and 4 with increasing concentrations of pTsOH. Molecular dyad 1 containing a peri-substituted naphthalene dithiolate Fe2(CO)6 cluster covalently linked via an amine to ZnTPP is prepared through sequential zinc insertion into the porphyrin followed by iron insertion into the disulfide bond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new series of chiral ureas containing one or two redox-active ferrocene units was synthesised and studied in order to investigate the effect of planar chirality and central chirality on electrochemical chiral sensing. Binding of chiral carboxylate anions in organic solvents through H-bond formation caused a negative shift in the potentials of the ferrocene/ferrocenium (Fc/Fc+) couples of the receptors, demonstrating their use as electrochemical sensors in solution. While the presence of two ferrocene units gave no marked improvement in the chiral sensing capabilities of these systems, the introduction of planar chirality, in addition to central chirality, switched the enantiomeric binding preference of the system and also caused an interesting change in the appearance of some voltammograms, with unusual two-wave behaviour observed upon binding a protected prolinate guest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]