13C NMR of a single molecule magnet: analysis of pseudocontact shifts and residual dipolar couplings

Paramagnetic triple decker complexes of lanthanides are promising Single Molecule Magnets (SMMs), with many potential uses. Some of them show preferable relaxation behavior, which enables the recording of well resolved NMR spectra. These axially symmetric complexes are also strongly magnetically anisotropic, and this property can be described with the axial component of the magnetic susceptibility tensor, χa. For triple decker complexes with phthalocyanine based ligands, the Fermi˗contact contribution is small. Hence, together with the axial symmetry, the experimental chemical shifts in 1H and 13C NMR spectra can be modeled easily by considering pseudocontact and orbital shifts alone. This results in the determination of the χa value, which is also responsible for molecular alignment and consequently for the observation of residual dipolar couplings (RDCs). A detailed analysis of the experimental 1H-13C and 1H-1H couplings revealed that contributions from RDCs (positive and negative) and from dynamic frequency shifts (negative for all observed couplings) have to be considered. Whilst the pseudocontact shifts depend on the average positions of 1H and 13C nuclei relative to the lanthanide ions, the RDCs are related to the mobility of nuclei they correspond to. This phenomenon allows for the measurement of the internal mobility of the various groups in the SMMs.

Aspetti meccanicistici della coordinazione di [(PPh3)3Ru(CO)(H2)] com Timina Acido Acetico

Ruthenium complexes have proved to exhibit antineoplastic activity related to the interaction of metal ion with DNA nucleobases. It is indeed of great interest to provide new insights on theses cutting-edge studies, such as the identification of distinct coordinative modes of DNA binding sites. During the investigation on the reaction between [(PPh3)3Ru(CO)(H)2], 1, and the Thymine Acetic Acid (THA) as model for nucleobases, we identified an unstable monohapto hydride acetate complex 2, which rapidly evolves into elusive intermediates whose nature was evidenced by NMR spectra and DFT calculations. We obtained crystals of [(PPh3)2Ru(CO)(k1-THA)(k2-THA)] 17, and [Ru(CO)(PPh3)2(k2-N,O)-[THA(A)];(k1-O)[THA(B)]2 18, phosphine ligands assuming cis conformation. The thesis deals on the analogue reactions of 1 with acetic acid by varying different parameters and operating conditions. The reaction yields to the hydride dihapto-acetate [(PPh3)2RuH(CO)(k2-Ac)] 8 through the related meridian monohapto, by releasing of phosphine ligand. However, the reaction yields a mixture of compounds, in which the dihapto hydride complex 8 is prevailing in any cases and does not provide any disclosure for the proposed mechanistic aspects. The reaction with two equivalents of acetic acid, affords the complex [(PPh3)2Ru(CO)(k1-Ac)(k2-Ac)] 11, exhibiting mutual trans:cis locations in 2:1 ratio for the phosphine. Such evidence agrees with the results obtained DFT calculations in vacuo, whereas it is in contrast with those obtained with the THA. Therefore we can inferred that the products obtained from the latter reaction is intermolecularly ruled by the hydrogen binding interactions between the functions [-NH•••(O)C-] in the two coordinated thymine ligands.