Category: Polyoxometalate Chemistry Highlights

Paper on Polyoxovanadate Configomers accepted in Angewandte Chemie

A new manuscript dealing with the configurational isomerism problem in polyoxovanadates (POVs) has been accepted for publication in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Under very innovative synthetic conditions, Prof. Wolfgang Bensch and his PhD student Ms. Lisa Mahnke (CAU Kiel) have discovered a new extraordinary POV isomer with formula [V14Sb8O42]4-. Compared to the studied isomers in our previous work, this unusual POV exhibits one vanadyl moiety pointing towards the interior of the cluster.

It was soon afterward that was realized that this is not a new single POV structure, but a blueprint of a complex configurational isomerism in POV chemistry. Insights into the relative stability of the possible forming species and comparison of fragment transfer between the reactant molecules and the product have rationalized why this particular isomer forms and what other isomers are most likely to be isolated in near future.

The overall study has been further complemented by magnetochemical experiments (Prof. Paul  Kögerler, RWTH Aachen) and ESI-MS studies (Prof. Schalley, FU Berlin).

 

RWTH Start-up Grant for the Development of All-inorganic Nanomolecular Switches

RWTH Aachen has recently informed that will award a Start-up fund of ca. 18 000 € to Dr. Stuckart and myself. The RWTH Start-up funds are awarded to postdoctoral research fellows in all disciplines aiming at independent academic careers. Our proposal, supported by Prof. Dr. Paul Kögerler, has ranked among the 15 most innovative and promising postdoctoral Start-up applications at RWTH Aachen University.

The joint proposal addresses development of a new kind of nanomolecular switches based on polyoxometalates. Dr. Stuckart and myself are looking forward to our first joint publication and to many other exciting project results afterwards.

POM Highlights: New Lindqivst-type polyoxocuprates

Abstract ImageAs we have indicated, polyoxocuprates are en emerging class of POM-materials that will have impact on material sciences, especially on the design of novel metal organic frameworks.

Recenty Li, Zheng and coworkers have reported on a new Lindqvist-type polyoxocuprate (Inorg. Chem., 2017, 56 (8), pp 4635–4642). These polyoxocuprates are stabilized by cadmium(II) or manganese(II) cations and templated using tris-type ligands. The Mn(II) containing derivatives assemble into extended framework materials.