Volume 134, Issue 5 e202111764
Forschungsartikel

Bimetallic Copper/Ruthenium/Osmium Complexes: Observation of Conformational Differences Between the Solution Phase and Solid State by Atomic Pair Distribution Function Analysis

Dr. Zhu-Lin Xie

Dr. Zhu-Lin Xie

Division of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Ave, Lemont, IL, 60439 USA

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Xiaolin Liu

Xiaolin Liu

Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, 109 Bagley Hall, Seattle, WA, 98195-1700 USA

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Dr. Andrew J. S. Valentine

Dr. Andrew J. S. Valentine

Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, 109 Bagley Hall, Seattle, WA, 98195-1700 USA

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Dr. Vincent M. Lynch

Dr. Vincent M. Lynch

Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, 105 E 24TH ST., Austin, TX, 78712-1224 USA

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Dr. David M. Tiede

Dr. David M. Tiede

Division of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Ave, Lemont, IL, 60439 USA

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Prof. Dr. Xiaosong Li

Corresponding Author

Prof. Dr. Xiaosong Li

Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, 109 Bagley Hall, Seattle, WA, 98195-1700 USA

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Dr. Karen L. Mulfort

Corresponding Author

Dr. Karen L. Mulfort

Division of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S Cass Ave, Lemont, IL, 60439 USA

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First published: 17 November 2021

Abstract

High-energy X-ray scattering and pair distribution function analysis (HEXS/PDF) is a powerful method to reveal the structure of materials lacking long-range order, but is underutilized for molecular complexes in solution. We demonstrate the application of HEXS/PDF with 0.26 Å resolution to uncover the solution structure of five bimetallic CuI/RuII/OsII complexes. HEXS/PDF of each complex in acetonitrile solution confirms the pairwise distances in the local coordination sphere of each metal center as well as the metal⋅⋅⋅metal distances separated by over 12 Å. The metal⋅⋅⋅metal distance detected in solution is compared with that from the crystal structure and molecular models to confirm that distortions to the metal bridging ligand are unique to the solid state. This work presents the first example of observing sub-Ångström conformational differences by direct comparison of solution phase and solid-state structures and shows the potential for HEXS/PDF in the determination of solution structure of single molecules.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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