High Pressure Studies on 16.2smx
Work carried out by Dave Allan (Edinburgh and DLS) and Sandy Blake (Nottingham) with Tim Prior (DL) et al. has been featured on the front cover of the Royal Society of Chemistry's flagship journal Chemical Communications. This work, performed on station 16.2SMX at Daresbury, is a novel investigation of the effects of pressure on a metal co-ordination compound.
The ambient pressure structure of the compound studied contains square planar Pd(II) bound by two chloride ions and a cyclic thioether which is shaped like a three-pronged claw with the metal held by two prongs. As the pressure increases, there is an abrupt change in structure at 44kbar: each metal becomes six co-ordinate and each thioether now binds through all three prongs. This is accompanied by a change from isolated units to a one dimensional chain polymer.
Previous high pressure structural studies have focussed predominantly on mineral samples, elements, and simple organic molecules. Very few metal co-ordination examples are known. The study by Allan et al., opens up a fascinating avenue of research probing the competition between pressure and the electronic factors that determine the structure under normal conditions. Further studies of this type should lead to a better understanding of the factors which influence the geometries of metal co-ordination compounds.
…more information » www.rsc.org/publishing/journals/CC/article.asp?Journal=CC3
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