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A Thematic Issue in Honor of Prof. Dr. Alan H. Cowley

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Inorganic Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 October 2021) | Viewed by 14520

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Dr. Charles L. B. Macdonald

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Faculty of Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
Interests: main group synthetic chemistry; inorganic chemistry; organometallic chemistry; crystallography; computational/theoretical chemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Professor Alan H. Cowley, F.R.S. (1934–2020) was one of the most influential pioneers of the “renaissance” of the field of main group chemistry. He was the author of more than 500 publications and was one of the most highly cited researchers in chemistry for many years. He earned numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Royal Society of Chemistry Award for Main Group Chemistry, the American Chemical Society’s Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry, and he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, amongst many others. He was an excellent mentor and had over 100 students, postdoctoral fellows, and co-workers—many of whom have become notable researchers.

This Special Issue of Molecules in Alan’s memory is intended to provide those who worked with him, collaborated with him, or were influenced by him a place to publish an article in his memory. In addition to new original work, authors are invited to submit reviews or perspective articles that highlight the influence Alan H. Cowley had on their areas of expertise.

Dr. Charles L. B. Macdonald
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Main group chemistry
Inorganic chemistry
Materials chemistry
Structure and bonding
Group 15 chemistry
P-block chemistry
Low-coordinate compounds
Heavy element multiple-bonding

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1157 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Simple Ion–Gas Mixtures as a Source of Key Molecules Relevant to Prebiotic Chemistry

by Samuel Paula, Liam S. Goulding, Katherine N. Robertson and Jason A. C. Clyburne

Molecules 2021, 26(23), 7394; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26237394 - 06 Dec 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1636

Abstract

Very simple chemistry can result in the rapid and high-yield production of key prebiotic inorganic molecules. The two reactions investigated here involve such simple systems, (a) carbon disulfide (CS₂) and acetate (CH₃COO¯) and (b) sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and formate (HCOO¯). They have been carried out under non-aqueous conditions, either in an organic solvent or with a powdered salt exposed to the requisite gas. Under such dry conditions the first reaction generated the thioacetate anion [CH₃COS]¯ while the second produced the radical [SO₂^·]¯anion. Anhydrous conditions are not rare and may have arisen on the early earth at sites where an interface between different phases (liquid/gas or solid/gas) could be generated. This is one way to rationalize the formation of molecules and ions (such as we have produced) necessary in the prebiotic world. Interpretation of our results provides insight into scenarios consistent with the more prominent theories of abiogenesis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Thematic Issue in Honor of Prof. Dr. Alan H. Cowley)

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10 pages, 1210 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Imine Reduction with Me₂S-BH₃

by Mohammad M. Kamal, Zhizhou Liu, Siyuan Zhai and Dragoslav Vidović

Molecules 2021, 26(18), 5443; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26185443 - 07 Sep 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3269

Abstract

Although there exists a variety of different catalysts for hydroboration of organic substrates such as aldehydes, ketones, imines, nitriles etc., recent evidence suggests that tetra-coordinate borohydride species, formed by activation, redistribution, or decomposition of boron reagents, are the true hydride donors. We then proposed that Me₂S-BH₃ could also act as a hydride donor for the reduction of various imines, as similar compounds have been observed to reduce carbonyl substrates. This boron reagent was shown to be an effective and chemoselective hydroboration reagent for a wide variety of imines. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Thematic Issue in Honor of Prof. Dr. Alan H. Cowley)

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12 pages, 4445 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Self-Assembly of 1D Double-Chain and 3D Diamondoid Networks of Lanthanide Coordination Polymers through In Situ-Generated Ligands: High-Pressure CO₂ Adsorption and Photoluminescence Properties

by Chatphorn Theppitak, Suwadee Jiajaroen, Nucharee Chongboriboon, Songwuit Chanthee, Filip Kielar, Winya Dungkaew, Mongkol Sukwattanasinitt and Kittipong Chainok

Molecules 2021, 26(15), 4428; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26154428 - 22 Jul 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2216

Abstract

Two new lanthanide-based coordination polymers, [Sm₂(bzz)(ben)₆(H₂O)₃]·0.5H₂O (1) and [Eu(bbz)(ben)₃] (2), were synthesized and characterized. The described products were formed from in situ-generated benzoate (ben) and N’-benzoylbenzohydrazide (bbz) ligands, which were the products of transformation of originally added benzhydrazide (bzz) under hydrothermal conditions. Compound 1 exhibits a one-dimensional (1D) double-chain structure built up from the connection of the central Sm³⁺ ions with a mixture of bzz and ben ligands. On the other hand, 2 features a 3D network with a 4-connected (6⁶) dia topology constructed from dinuclear [Eu₂(ben)₆] secondary building units and bbz linkers. High-pressure CO₂ sorption studies of activated 1 show that maximum uptake increases to exceptionally high values of 376.7 cm³ g⁻¹ (42.5 wt%) under a pressure of 50 bar at 298 K with good recyclability. Meanwhile, 2 shows a typical red emission in the solid state at room temperature with the decay lifetime of 1.2 ms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Thematic Issue in Honor of Prof. Dr. Alan H. Cowley)

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12 pages, 2680 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Magnetism and Luminescence of a MOF with Linear Mn₃ Nodes Derived from an Emissive Terthiophene-Based Imidazole Linker

by Weiran Wang, Junpeng He, Hongyu Guo, Samuel G. Dunning, Simon M. Humphrey and Richard A. Jones

Molecules 2021, 26(14), 4286; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26144286 - 15 Jul 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2236

Abstract

A new terthiophene-based imidazole luminophore 5,5’-(1H-thieno[3,4-d]imidazole-4,6-diyl)bis(thiophene-2-carboxylic acid) (TIBTCH₂, 5) was synthesized in one step from previously reported 4,6-di(thiophen-2-yl)-1H-thieno[3,4-d]imidazole (DTTI, 4), and their photophysical properties were studied and compared accordingly. Under solvothermal conditions, reacting 5 with Mn(OAc)₂ yielded a new three-dimensional metal-organic framework (MOF, 6) which was structurally defined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In 6, all Mn(II) ions octahedrally bind to carboxylate-O atoms to form a linear Mn₃ secondary building unit (SBU) that contains three distinct coordination modes. Importantly, 6 exhibits dual functional properties of ligand-based emission and metal-based magnetic behaviors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Thematic Issue in Honor of Prof. Dr. Alan H. Cowley)

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10 pages, 2116 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthetic and Structural Studies of Ethyl Zinc β-Amidoenoates and β-Ketoiminates

by Malavika A. Bhide, Joe A. Manzi, Caroline E. Knapp and Claire J. Carmalt

Molecules 2021, 26(11), 3165; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26113165 - 25 May 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1736

Abstract

A set of heteroleptic ethyl zinc

β

-amidoenoates (1, 2) and

β

-ketoiminates (3) of the form [LZnEt]₂ with varying steric bulk have been synthesised via the reaction of diethylzinc with

β

-aminoenoate ligands HL¹ and [...] Read more.

A set of heteroleptic ethyl zinc

β

-amidoenoates (1, 2) and

β

-ketoiminates (3) of the form [LZnEt]₂ with varying steric bulk have been synthesised via the reaction of diethylzinc with

β

-aminoenoate ligands HL¹ and HL² and

β

-ketoimine HL³. These complexes have been characterised via ¹H and ¹³C NMR, mass spectrometry and single-crystal X-ray diffraction, which unambiguously determined all three structures as dimeric species in the solid state. We observe the unusual dimerisation of 1 and 2 through coordination of the central zinc atom to the methine carbon of the second monomer, which gives these complexes high reactivity. The thermal properties of complex 3 are explored via thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), to investigate their potential as single-source precursors to zinc oxide, which shows that 3 has a significantly lower decomposition temperature as compared to its bis-ligated counterpart [Zn(L³)₂], which gives 3 promise as a single-source precursor to zinc oxide. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Thematic Issue in Honor of Prof. Dr. Alan H. Cowley)

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11 pages, 1626 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Structural Evidence for Pnictogen-Centered Lewis Acidity in Cationic Platinum-Stibine Complexes Featuring Pendent Amino or Ammonium Groups

by Roberta R. Rodrigues and François P. Gabbaï

Molecules 2021, 26(7), 1985; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26071985 - 01 Apr 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2265

Abstract

As part of our continuing interest in the chemistry of cationic antimony Lewis acids as ligands for late transition metals, we have now investigated the synthesis of platinum complexes featuring a triarylstibine ligand substituted by an o-[(dimethylamino)methyl]phenyl group referred to as Ar^N. More specifically, we describe the synthesis of the amino stibine ligand Ph₂SbAr^N (L) and its platinum dichloride complex [LPtCl]Cl which exists as a chloride salt and which shows weak coordination of the amino group to the antimony center. We also report the conversion of [LPtCl]Cl into a tricationic complex [LHPt(SMe₂)]³⁺ which has been isolated as a tris-triflate salt after reaction of [LPtCl]Cl with SMe₂, HOTf and AgOTf. Finally, we show that [LHPt(SMe₂)][OTf]₃ acts as a catalyst for the cyclization of 2-allyl-2-(2-propynyl)malonate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Thematic Issue in Honor of Prof. Dr. Alan H. Cowley)

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A Thematic Issue in Honor of Prof. Dr. Alan H. Cowley

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