Crystal Growth & Design
Article
Figure 2. (a) Molecular structure of ZrMC-2. (b) Comparison of the coordination environment of Cp3Zr3 SBBs in ZrMC-2 (b, c). Color code: S,
yellow. H atoms are omitted for clarity.
cm−1): 3350, 1606, 1546, 1462, 1400, 1020, 817, 773, 713, 617, 478.
in the same coordination environment with three BTC linkers
Elemental analysis (%): calculated for ZrMC-1-NH2·12DMA·4CCl4·
with the same orientation (Figure 1a); whereas in ZrMC-1,
3H2O (Zr12C160N18O55H216Cl8): C, 37.9; H, 4.2; N, 4.9. Found: C,
two BDC ligands are in the same orientation, and the other is
37.32; H, 4.66; N, 4.51.
in the opposite orientation (Figure 1b). In other words, the
ZrMC-2. Excess Cp2ZrCl2 (0.015 g) and H2BDC−SO3Na (0.005 g)
carboxylate-bridged Cp3Zr3 SBBs in ZrT-2 are symmetric,
were dissolved in 1 mL of CH3CN and 3 drops of distilled water, and
while those in ZrMC-1 are asymmetric. This reveals that
symmetry breaking in carboxylate-bridged Cp3Zr3 SBB could
be an effective strategy to develop low-symmetric Zr-based
MCs.
the mixture was then heated at 65 °C for 10 h. After the mixture
slowly cooled down to room temperature, colorless block crystals
were obtained. IR (KBr pellet, cm−1): 3350, 1608, 1556, 1452, 1382,
1127, 1190, 1113, 1045, 1018, 997, 819, 771, 713, 623, 480. ZrMC-2·
CH3CN·NaCl·50H2O (Zr18C156NO130H206ClNaS8): C, 30.56; H,
3.38; N, 0.23. Found: C, 30.57; H, 3.42; N, <0.3.
ZrMC-3. Excess Cp2ZrCl2 (0.015 g) and thiophene-2,5-dicarboxylic
acid (0.005 g) were dissolved in 1 mL of MeOH and 3 drops of
distilled water, and the mixture was then heated at 45 °C for 10 h.
After the mixture slowly cooled down to room temperature, colorless
block crystals were obtained. IR (KBr pellet, cm−1): 3350, 1552, 1531,
1390, 1018, 817, 769, 684, 599, 515, 470. ZrMC-3·48H2O
(Zr18C144O108H222S9Cl6): C, 29.68; H, 3.84; N, 0. Found: C, 29.15;
H, 3.30; N, <0.3.
Deacetalization−Knoevenagel Condensation Reactions. The
catalytic reactions were performed with 1 mmol of each substrate in
CDCl3 (2 mL), and the catalyst (1.2 mmol %) was then added,
followed by continuous stirring at 50 °C for 48 h. To follow up the
tandem reaction process, 1H NMR spectroscopy was utilized, and the
yields were calculated by the integration of benzylic protons at the
end of the reaction.
To validate this strategy, H2BDC-NO2 and H2BDC-NH2
were used to replace the mBDC in ZrMC-1, which
unsurprisingly resulted in two new window-shaped Zr-based
MCs, denoted as ZrMC-1-NO2 and ZrMC-1-NH2, respec-
tively. Notably, these two substituents in the 5-position of the
isophthalic acid do not affect their main structures relative to
ZrMC-1 but influence window sizes, environments, and cavity
volumes. The introduction of substituent causes the four
benzene rings of the wall to turn inward, leading to a reduction
in window size. Specifically, the window size and cavity
volumes of ZrMC-1-NO2 and ZrMC-1-NH2 are reduced to
5.7 × 9.7 Å2 and 4.7 × 8.8 Å2, and 117.7 Å3 and 83.53 Å3,
respectively. Moreover, both electron-acceptor −NO2 and
electron-donor −NH2 groups located at the outer edge and
bottom of MCs may serve as additional binding sites to
substrates with different electrical properties.
In the course of continuous exploration, we further
introduced the H2BDC−SO3Na with sulfonate group in the
5-position of the isophthalic acid to determine how this group
affects the resulting structure. Unexpectedly, an unprecedented
bowel-like Zr-based MC with a formula of {[Cp3Zr3(μ3-O)(μ2-
OH)3]3(BDC−SO3)4}Cl·Na·nS, abbreviated as ZrMC-2, built
from three Cp3Zr3 SBBs and four BDC−SO3H linkers, has
been produced (Figure 2a). In the structure of ZrMC-2, three
BDC−SO3 ligands are connected with three Cp3Zr3 SBBs,
forming a triangular prism core. Interestingly, it has been found
that the other deprotonated BDC−SO3 ligand functions as a
tridentate ligand to occupy the remaining uncoordinated sites
of the three Cp3Zr3 SBBs. Since only one sulfonate on the
ligand is coordinated, there are two distinct Cp3Zr3 SBBs in
ZrMC-2. Specifically, two Cp3Zr3 SBBs in this structure are all
coordinated by three carboxylates (Figure 2c), while the
remaining one is coordinated by two carboxylates and one
sulfonate (Figure 2b). To our knowledge, this is the first
Cp3Zr3-based coordination compound in which sulfonate is
involved in coordination. This implies that new Cp3Zr3-based
coordination complexes can be built by using other heterotopic
ligands with both sulfonate and carboxylate sites, disulfonate,
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The reaction between Cp2ZrCl2 and H2BDC in a mixture of
DMF and H2O resulted in the isolation of colorless crystals
with a formula of {[Cp3Zr3(μ3-O)(μ2-OH)3]4(BDC)6}4Cl·nS
(ZrMC-1, S = guest solvent molecule). Single-crystal X-ray
diffraction analysis revealed that ZrMC-1 crystallizes in the
̅
space group P1, featuring a cationic window-shaped container
topology (Figure 1b), whose charge is balanced by four Cl−
counteranions. In this structure, four approximately vertical
benzene rings of the BDC act as the wall, and two benzene
rings function as the bottom of MC. The window size of
ZrMC-1 is about 9.3 × 9.9 Å2, and the optimized intrinsic void
diameter and void volume of this MC are 6.65 and 153.76 Å3,
respectively. Although both ZrMC-1 and the classical Zr-based
tetrahedron, ZrT-2, are composed of four trinuclear Cp3Zr3
SBBs and six ligands, their structures are completely different
(Figure 1). Notably, in response to using lower C2-symmetric
V-shaped BDC compared to C3-symmetric 1,3,5-benzene-
tricarboxylic acid (H3BTC), a reduction in the symmetry of
Cp3Zr3 SBBs was realized. After careful analysis and
comparison of these two structures, it was found that, in the
ZrT-2 structure, the neighboring Zr centers of Cp3Zr3 SBB are
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Cryst. Growth Des. 2021, 21, 692−697