The ins and outs of spin: Using the microporous coordination polymer {Fe(pz)[Pt(CN)(4)]} (1, pz=pyrazine), incorporating spin-crossover subunits, two-directional magnetic chemo-switching is achieved at room temperature. In situ magnetic measurements following guest vapor injection show that most guest molecules transform 1 from the low-spin (LS) state to the high-spin (HS) state, whereas CS(2) uniquely causes the reverse HS-to-LS transition.

Carbon monoxide (CO) produced in many large-scale industrial oxidation processes is difficult to separate from nitrogen (N2), and afterward, CO is further oxidized to carbon dioxide. Here, we report a soft nanoporous crystalline material that selectively adsorbs CO with adaptable pores, and we present crystallographic evidence that CO molecules can coordinate with copper(II) ions. The unprecedented high selectivity was achieved by the synergetic effect of the local interaction between CO and accessible metal sites and a global transformation of the framework. This transformable crystalline material realized the separation of CO from mixtures with N2, a gas that is the most competitive to CO. The dynamic and efficient molecular trapping and releasing system is reminiscent of sophisticated biological systems such as heme proteins.

Iridium-catalyzed borylation of benzene with diboron was theoretically investigated with the DFT method, where an iridium(I) boryl complex, Ir(Beg)(NN) 1, and an iridium(III) tris(boryl) complex, Ir(Beg)(3)(NN) 14, (eg (ethyleneglycolato) = -OCH(2)CH(2)O-, NN = HN=CHCH=NH (diim) or 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy)) were adopted as models of active species and B(2)(eg)(2) was adopted as a model of bis(pinacolato)diboron (pinacolato = -OCMe(2)CMe(2)O-). Oxidative addition of a benzene C-H sigma-bond to 1 takes place with an activation barrier (E(a)) of 11.2 kcal/mol, followed by reductive elimination of phenylborane, Ph-Beg, from Ir(Beg)(H)(Ph)(diim) with an activation barrier of 15.6 kcal/mol. Though the oxidative addition and the reductive elimination occur with moderate activation barriers, B(2)(eg)(2) much more easily reacts with 1 to afford 14 than does benzene, of which the activation barrier is very small (2.9 kcal/mol). Oxidative addition of the benzene C-H sigma-bond to 14 occurs with a moderate activation barrier of 24.2 kcal/mol to afford an unusual seven-coordinate iridium(V) complex, Ir(H)(Ph)(Beg)(3)(bpy) 16. From this complex, phenylborane Ph-Beg is produced through the reductive elimination with concomitant formation of IrH(Beg)(2)(bpy) 17, where the activation barrier is 4.9 kcal/mol. Complex 17 further reacts with diboron to form Ir(H)(Beg)(4)(bpy) (E(a) = 8.0 kcal/mol), followed by the reductive elimination of borane H-Beg (E(a) = 2.6 kcal/mol) to regenerate Ir(Beg)(3)(bpy), when diboron exists in excess in the reaction solution. After consumption of diboron, IrH(Beg)(2)(bpy) reacts with borane, H-Beg, to form Ir(H)(2)(Beg)(3) (E(a) = 21.3 kcal/mol) followed by the reductive elimination of H(2), to regenerate Ir(Beg)(3)(bpy) with concomitant formation of H(2). Formation of the iridium(III) tris(boryl) complex 14 from IrCl(diim) and diboron was also theoretically investigated; IrCl(diim) undergoes two steps of oxidative addition of diboron to afford a seven-coordinate iridium(V) complex, IrCl(Beg)(4)(NN), from which the reductive elimination of Cl-Beg takes place easily to afford 14. From these results, it should be clearly concluded that the iridium(III) tris(boryl) complex is an active species and an unusual iridium(V) species is involved as a key intermediate in the reaction. Detailed discussion is presented on the full catalytic cycle and the importance of a seven-coordinate iridium(V) intermediate.

Design of the gas-diffusion process in a porous material is challenging because a contracted pore aperture is a prerequisite, whereas the channel traffic of guest molecules is regulated by the flexible and dynamic motions of nanochannels. Here, we present the rational design of a diffusion-regulatory system in a porous coordination polymer (PCP) in which flip-flop molecular motions within the framework structure provide kinetic gate functions that enable efficient gas separation and storage. The PCP shows substantial temperature-responsive adsorption in which the adsorbate molecules are differentiated by each gate-admission temperature, facilitating kinetics-based gas separations of oxygen/argon and ethylene/ethane with high selectivities of ~350 and ~75, respectively. Additionally, we demonstrate the long-lasting physical encapsulation of ethylene at ambient conditions, owing to strongly impeded diffusion in distinctive nanochannels.