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A Dicobalt Complex with an Unsymmetrical Quinonoid Bridge Isolated in Three Units of Charge: A Combined Structural, (Spectro)electrochemical, Magnetic and Spectroscopic Study
Author(s) -
van der Meer Margarethe,
Rechkemmer Yvonne,
Frank Uta,
Breitgoff Frauke D.,
Hohloch Stephan,
Su ChengYong,
Neugebauer Petr,
Marx Raphael,
Dörfel María,
van Slageren Joris,
Sarkar Biprajit
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201601579
Subject(s) - comproportionation , redox , chemistry , electron paramagnetic resonance , electrochemistry , crystallography , bridging ligand , spectroscopy , oxidation state , crystal structure , photochemistry , inorganic chemistry , catalysis , electrode , organic chemistry , nuclear magnetic resonance , physics , quantum mechanics
Abstract Quinonoid ligands are excellent bridges for generating redox‐rich dinuclear assemblies. A large majority of these bridges are symmetrically substituted, with examples of unsymmetrically substituted quinonoid bridges being extremely rare. We present here a dicobalt complex in its various redox states with an unsymmetrically substituted quinonoid bridging ligand. Two homovalent forms and one mixed‐valent form have been isolated and characterized by single crystal X‐ray diffraction. The complex displays a large comproportionation constant for the mixed‐valent state which is three orders of magnitude higher than that observed for the analogous complex with a symmetrically substituted bridge. Results from electrochemistry, UV/Vis/NIR spectroelectrochemistry, SQUID magnetometry, multi‐frequency EPR spectroscopy and FIR spectroscopy are used to probe the electronic structures of these complexes. FIR provides direct evidence of exchange coupling. The results presented here display the advantages of using an unsymmetrically substituted bridge: site specific redox chemistry, high thermodynamic stabilization of the mixed‐valent form, isolation and crystallization of various redox forms of the complex. This work represents an important step on the way to generating heterodinuclear complexes for use in cooperative catalysis.