Reactions of (-)-sparteine with alkali metal HMDS complexes : conventional meets the unconventional

Conventional (-)-sparteine adducts of lithium and sodium 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexamethyldisilazide (HMDS) were prepared and characterised, along with an unexpected and unconventional hydroxyl-incorporated sodium sodiate, [(-)-sparteine·Na(-HMDS)Na·(-)-sparteine]+[Na4(-HMDS)4(OH)]--the complex anion of which is the first inverse crown ether anion

A study of allosteric binding behaviour of a 1,3-alternate thiacalix[4]arene-based receptor using fluorescence signal

A novel heteroditopic thiacalix[4]arene receptor L possessing 1,3-alternate conformation, which contains two pyrene moieties attached to the lower rim via urea linkages together with a crown ether moiety appended at the opposite side of the thiacalix[4]arene cavity, has been synthesized. The complexation behaviour of receptor L was studied by means of fluorescence spectra and ¹H NMR titration experiments in the presence of K⁺ ions and a variety of other anions. The results suggested that receptor L can complex efficiently via the urea cavity or the crown ether moiety, and a positive/negative allosteric effect operating in receptor L was observed

Crown Ether-Modified Clays and their Polystyrene Nanocomposites

Crown ether-modified clays were obtained by the combination of sodium and potassium clays with crown ethers and cryptands. Polystyrene nanocomposites were prepared by bulk polymerization in the presence of these clays. The structures of nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Their thermal stability and flame retardancy were measured by thermogravimetric analysis and cone calorimetry, respectively. Nanocomposites can be formed only from the potassium clays; apparently the sodium clays are not sufficiently organophilic to enable nanocomposite formation. The onset temperature of the degradation is higher for the nanocomposites compared to virgin polystyrene, and the peak heat release rate is decreased by 25% to 30%

Gas-phase microsolvation of ubiquitin: investigation of crown ether complexation sites using ion mobility-mass spectrometry.

In this study the gas-phase structure of ubiquitin and its lysine-to-arginine mutants was investigated using ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) and electron transfer dissociation-mass spectrometry (ETD-MS). Crown ether molecules were attached to positive charge sites of the proteins and the resulting non-covalent complexes were analysed. Collision induced dissociation (CID) experiments revealed relative energy differences between the wild type and the mutant crown-ether complexes. ETD-MS experiments were performed to identify the crown ether binding sites. Although not all of the binding sites could be revealed, the data confirm that the first crown ether is able to bind to the N-terminus. IM-MS experiments show a more compact structure for specific charge states of wild type ubiquitin when crown ethers are attached. However, data on ubiquitin mutants reveal that only specific lysine residues contribute to the effect of charge microsolvation. A compaction is only observed for one of the investigated mutants, in which the lysine has no proximate interaction partner. On the other hand when the lysine residues are involved in salt bridges, attachment of crown ethers has little effect on the structure

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/crown ether composite nanofibers for the selective adsorption of cations

In this study, we prepared electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers functionalized with dibenzo-18-crown-6 (DB18C6) crown ether and showed the potential of these fibers for the selective recovery of K+ from other both mono- and divalent ions in aqueous solutions. Nanofibers were characterized by SEM, FTIR and TGA. SEM results showed that the crown ether addition resulted in thicker nanofibers and higher mean fiber diameters, in a range of 138 to 270 nm. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted in order to evaluate the potential of the crown ether modified nanofibers as an adsorbent for ion removal. The maximum adsorption capacity of the crown ether modified nanofibers for K+ was 0.37 mmol g−1 and the nanofibers followed the selectivity sequence of K+ > Ba2+ > Na+ ∼ Li+ for single ion experiments. Adsorption of Ba2+ ions onto crown ether-modified nanofiber was examined by XPS and the results confirmed the adsorption of the ion. Mixed ion adsorption experiments revealed competitive adsorption between K+ and Ba2+ ions for the available binding sites. This effect was not observed for the other monovalent ions present in the solution and exceptionally high selectivities for K+ over Li+ and Na+ were obtained. Also the crown ether modified nanofibers exhibited good regeneration properties and a good reusability over multiple consecutive adsorption–desorption cycles. Electrospinning is thus shown to be a very versatile tool to prepare crown ether functional polymer adsorbents for the selective recovery of ions

Molecular dynamics of 18-crown-6 complexes with alkali-metal cations and urea: Prediction of their conformations and comparison with data from the cambridge structural database

Complexes of 18-crown-6 with alkali-metal cations (Na+, K+, and Rb+), urea, and the uncomplexed crown ether were studied in vacuo with the molecular dynamics method. Conformational data from these calculations (simulation times in the range from 6-15 ns) was compared with information from the Cambridge Structural Database. Despite the differences in condition between the simulations and the solid state, a number of interesting similarities are observed

Synthesis, characterization and spectroscopic studies of two new schiff-base bithienyl pendant-armed 15-crown-5 molecular probes

Nickel(II); Palladium(II); Mercury(II); Sodium(I); ; Crown ether, Schiff base, LuminescenceTwo new ligands provided with a 15-crown-5 as receptor unit and bithiophen unit as emissive probe have been synthesized and characterized in order to evaluate the coordination capabilities and their sensor effect. Ligand L1 presents an aromatic crown ether moiety directed linked to the imine-2,2´-bithiophene π–conjugated system and ligand L2 is constituted by an aliphatic crown ether moiety linked to the same imine-2,2´-bithiophene system through a methylene unit. Solid metal complexes of Ni(II), Pd(II), Hg(II) and Na(I) have been synthesized using both macrocyclic compounds, and have been studied in solution in the presence of the same metal ions. All solid compounds have been characterized by common analytical and spectroscopic techniques. The sensorial effect has been studied using absorption, emission and MALDI-TOF-MS spectroscopies.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Dithiolene complexes as metallo-ligands: a crown-ether approach

International audienceA nickel dithiolene complex substituted with crown ether cyclic moieties incorporating four O atoms, abbreviated as [Ni(S2O4)2]1−,0, is isolated in its radical anionic (as Na+ salt) and neutral forms. The Na+ cation is six-coordinated with short Na[cdots, three dots, centered]O distances (2.46-2.52 Å), involving two crown ether moieties of two different complexes. The oxidized neutral complex [Ni(S2O4)2]0 was also isolated and structurally characterized. In the absence of alkaline cations during the synthesis, a mixed salt associating [Ni(S2O4)2]1− with Ni2+ was isolated, and formulated as (Ni,H2O)[Ni(S2O4)2]2, with the Ni2+ cation weakly bonded to two crown ether moieties. The salt exhibits an unprecedented solid state association with extremely short S[cdots, three dots, centered]S intermolecular contacts [3.332(2) Å], leading to a pairing of the radical [Ni(S2O4)2]− into antiferromagnetic uniform spin chains

Interplay between structure and magnetism in the low-dimensional spin system K(C8H16O4)2CuCl3∗H2OK(C_8H_{16}O_4)_2CuCl_3{*}H_2O

Materials based on a crown ether complex together with magnetic ions, especially Cu(II), can be used to synthesize new low dimesional quantum spin systems. We have prepared the new crown ether complex Di-\mu-chloro-bis(12-crown-4)-aquqdichloro-copper(II)-potassium, $K(C_8H_{16}O_4)_2CuCl_3{*}H_2O$ (1), determined its structure, and analyzed its magnetic properties. Complex (1) has a monoclinic structure and crystallizes in space group $P2_1/n$ with the lattice parameters of $a=9.5976(5)\r{A}$, $b=11.9814\r{A}, c=21.8713\r{A}$ and $\beta=100.945(4)\deg$. The magnetic properties of this compound have been investigated in the temperature range 1.8 K - 300 K. The magnetic susceptibility shows a maximum at 23 K, but no 3-D long range magnetic order down to 1.8 K. The S=1/2 Cu(II) ions form antiferromagnetically coupled dimers with Cu-Cl distances of $2.2554(8)\r{A}$ and $4.683(6)\r{A}$, and a Cu-Cl-Cu angle of $115.12(2)\deg$ with $2J_{dimer}=-2.96meV (-23.78 cm^{-1})$. The influence of $H_2O$ on the Cl-Cu-Cl exchange path is analyzed. Our results show that the values of the singlet-triplet splitting are increasing considering $H_2O$ molecules in the bridging interaction. This is supported by Density functional theory (DFT) calculations of coupling constants with Perdew and Wang (PWC), Perdew, Burke and Ernzenrhof (PBE) and strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) exchange-correlation function show excellent agreement for the studied compound

Studies on metal-ion complex formation of crown ether derivatives incorporating a photoionizable spirobenzopyran moiety by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Metal-ion complexation of crown ether derivatives incorporating one and two spirobenzopyran units was investigated by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.The crowned spirobenzopyran derivatives exhibited very different metal ion-complexing behavior from their corresponding parent crown ether rings,preferring multivalent to monovalent metal ions owing to the additional ionic interaction with the nitrophenolate anion of the merocyanine moiety.The on-line photochemical reaction for mass spectrometry indicated that the metal ion-complexing ability and ion selectivities of the crowned spirobenzopyrans can be switched photochemically,taking advantage of the difference between the spiropyran and merocyanine isomers