Palygorskite-indigo and sepiolite-indigo adducts (2 wt.% indigo) were prepared by crushing the two compounds together in a mortar and heating the resulting mixtures at 150 and 120°C, respectively, for 20 h. The samples were tested chemically to ensure that they displayed the characteristic properties of Maya Blue. Textural analysis revealed that no apparent changes in microporosity occurred in sepiolite or palygorskite after thermal treatment at 120°C (sepiolite) and 150°C (palygorskite) for 20 h. Micropore measurements showed a loss of microporosity in both sepiolite and palygorskite after reaction with indigo. The TGA-DTG curves of the sepiolite-indigo and palygorskite-indigo adducts were similar to their pure clay mineral counterparts except for an additional weight loss at ∼360°C due to indigo.The 29Si CP/MAS-NMR spectrum of the heated sepiolite-indigo adduct is very reminiscent of the spectrum of dehydrated sepiolite. Crushing indigo and sepiolite together initiates a complexation, clearly seen in the 13C CP/MAS-NMR spectrum, which can be driven to completion by heat application. In contrast to the broad peaks of the pure indigo 13C CP/MAS-NMR spectrum, the sepiolite-indigo adduct spectrum consists of a well-defined series of six narrow peaks in the 120.0–125.0 ppm range. In addition, the sepiolite-indigo spectrum has two narrow, shifted peaks corresponding to the carbonyl group and the C-7 (C-16) of indigo. A model is proposed in which indigo molecules are rigidly fixed to the clay mineral surface through hydrogen bonds with edge silanol groups, and these molecules act to block the nano-tunnel entrances.

The host cavity of 1:1 host-guest compounds of p-tert-butylcalix [4]arene is well suited for the study of weak interactions in the solid state, as the motional freedom of the guests tests the weak intermolecular interactions in a very direct way. Benzene and pyridine are guests with a controlled number of similar (size, shape) as well contrasting (dipole moment, lone electron pair) properties that allow a meaningful comparative investigation of the structural and dynamic features. The 150 K single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies for the two host-guest compounds show that in both cases the guests occupy essentially the same orientation in the host cavity, with pyridine situated 0.11 Å deeper into the cavity than benzene. The complementarity of the diffraction and solid-state NMR techniques is illustrated, in particular, by incorporating the pyridine structural information obtained from 2 H NMR studies into the diffraction data, thus resolving the ambiguity of the nitrogen atom position. Despite similar structural environments, the guests exhibit quite different dynamic behavior. Variable temperature 2 H NMR spectra of the perdeuterated pyridine and benzene guests are interpreted in terms of specific motional models; benzene undergoes in-plane rotation followed by reorientation about the compound's 4-fold axis of symmetry. In contrast, pyridine reorients about the pyridine C 2 molecular symmetry axis (rather than in-plane rotation), followed by guest reorientation about the compound's C 4 axis of symmetry. A significant point is that the pyridine nitrogen has definite orientations in the cavity that cannot be explained by any specific directional electrostatic interactions between the host and guest. Both the dynamically averaged 15 N NMR chemical shift tensor components and the absence of short contacts rule out a C-H‚‚‚N hydrogen bonding interaction of the host to the guest. Despite the fact that the pyridine molecule is tightly docked in the host cavity, intermolecular interactions must be ascribed strictly to steric interactions acting in concert rather than specific directional interactions. Both guests are oriented in the host cavity such that the aromatic plane minimizes rather than maximizes contact with the host CH 3 groups. This result questions the ability to ascribe structural features in the solid state to isolated directional interactions, such as the importance and role of CH host ‚‚‚π guest interactions which have been suggested many times as having a stabilizing influence on this system.

The lead(II) complexes formed with the multidentate chelator L-cysteine (H2Cys) in alkaline aqueous solution were studied using 207Pb, 13C and 1H NMR, Pb LIII-edge X-ray absorption and UV-vis. spectroscopic techniques, complemented by electro-spray ion mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The H2Cys/Pb(II) mole ratios were varied from 2.1 to 10.0 for two sets of solutions with CPb(II) = 0.01 and 0.1 M, respectively, prepared at pH values (9.1 – 10.4) for which precipitates of Pb(II)-cysteine dissolved. At low H2Cys/Pb(II) mole ratios (2.1 – 3.0) a mixture of the dithiolate [Pb(S,N-Cys)2]2− and [Pb(S,N,O-Cys)(S-HCys)]− complexes with the average Pb-(N/O) and Pb-S distances 2.42 ± 0.04 Å and 2.64 ± 0.04 Å, respectively, was found to dominate. At high concentration of free cysteinate (> 0.7 M) a significant amount converts to the trithiolate [Pb(S,N-Cys)(S-HCys)2]2−, including a minor amount of a PbS3 coordinated [Pb(S-HCys)3]− complex. The coordination mode was evaluated by fitting linear combinations of EXAFS oscillations to the experimental spectra, and by the 207Pb NMR signals in the chemical shift range δPb = 2006 – 2507 ppm, which became increasingly deshielded with increasing free cysteinate concentration. One-pulse magic angle spinning (MAS) 207Pb NMR spectra of crystalline Pb(aet)2 (Haet = 2-aminoethanethiol or cysteamine) with PbS2N2 coordination were measured for comparison (δiso = 2105 ppm). The UV-vis. spectra displayed absorption maxima at 298 – 300 nm (S− → PbII charge transfer) for the dithiolate PbS2N(N/O) species; with increasing ligand excess a shoulder appeared at ∼ 330 nm for the trithiolate PbS3N and PbS3 (minor) complexes. The results provide spectroscopic fingerprints for structural models for Pb(II) coordination modes to proteins and enzymes.

The process of incorporation of pyridine in the nanostructured tunnels of sepiolite was studied in detail, using various complementary characterization techniques, microporosimetry, thermal gravimetric analysis, FTIR, and multinuclear solid-state NMR. It is demonstrated that a remarkable nanohybrid material, SEP-PYR, is formed through the direct coordination of pyridine to the edge Mg(II) sites of the tunnels. This material is formed at temperatures above 140 °C when the sepiolite tunnels are dehydrated and the pyridine molecules are trapped in the tunnels. In a first step toward the formation of SEP-PYR, the pyridine molecules were incorporated at room temperature in the tunnels, by exposing sepiolite to pyridine vapors. The incorporated pyridine molecules are H-bound to the structural water molecules coordinated to the edge Mg(II) cations. In a second step, upon heating to 140 °C, approximately 50% of the pyridine is lost, together with most of the structural water coordinated to Mg(II). This event is accompanied by direct coordination of the remaining pyridine molecules in the tunnels to the edge Mg(II) ions of the octahedral sheets, resulting in a material with a structure similar to the parent sepiolite, but with pyridine molecules coordinated to the Mg(II) edge cations. This material is stable up to 450 °C. At this temperature, the coordinated pyridine molecules escape from the tunnels, resulting in a collapsed sepiolite structure.