In polymetallic complexes, two or more metal atoms combine with organic molecules into larger, complicated molecular structures. Such complexes are used in the development of e.g. new catalysts, molecular magnets and sensors. In the past, polymetallic complexes were often synthesized by the trial-and-error method of mixing metal ions with organic ligands, resulting in unpredictable compounds. The modern approach involves macrocycles: organic molecules having a ring-structure. The inside space of macrocyclic molecules can be used to anchor a polymetallic complex during its formation, a ‘trick’ that enables the reproducible synthesis of predictable end products. Shigehisa Akine from Kanazawa University, Mark MacLachlan from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and NanoLSI (Kanazawa University), and UBC Ph.D. student Mohammad Chaudhry have now published a comprehensive overview of the synthesis of polymetallic complexes via the macrocycle route, which also discusses how certain properties of a complex can be tuned by changing the composition of the macrocycle used.
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Source: Phys.org