Concept
Coordination chemistry
Coordination chemistry is how metal ions bind ligands, and how that geometry controls spectroscopy, guest binding, catalysis or assembly of cages and frameworks.
Ligand field and hard/soft matching are first-year inorganic ideas that show up in real structures and catalysts.
Evidence
What the evidence shows
Drawn from 8 studies in this library. Each finding starts with a plain-language takeaway, then the denser detail. Supports means evidence for a finding; Challenges means evidence against a stated position; Qualifies marks scope with a short note on each study’s contribution. Challenged positions are labeled — they are not findings.
This library holds 8 empirical chemistry papers on coordination chemistry with isolated findings, rates or spectra rather than reviews.
- CH···anion bonds that template zinc molecular knots
- A zinc polymer that lights down for picric acid
- A MOF that releases CO with visible light
Study Role Design N Population Outcome CH···anion bonds that template zinc molecular knots Supports OtherZn(II)-templated DFP/DAB assemblies (catenane/knot/link) with aqueous anion-binding studies Supramolecular synthesis and binding — no sample N DFP–DAB–Zn(II) interlocked assemblies in MeOD/D2O CH···anion-mediated topology selection and aqueous anion binding A zinc polymer that lights down for picric acid Supports OtherZn(II) Tröger’s-base coordination polymer synthesis and aqueous nitroaromatic fluorescence sensing Materials sensing study — no sample N Aqueous TB-Zn-CP suspensions versus nitroaromatic analytes Selective fluorescence quenching of picric acid (LOD 26.3 ppb) A MOF that releases CO with visible light Supports Animal / in-vitroPhotoactive Mn carbonyls in UiO-67-type MOFs used as CO-releasing cell-culture platforms Materials plus cell-culture delivery assays — no subject N Cultured cells grown on MOF polymer films releasing CO under light Controllable phototriggered CO release and intracellular delivery Weak C–H···anion contacts in water/methanol steer a Zn(II) dynamic library toward a trefoil knot that binds two bromides in its cavity.
A fluorescent Zn(II)–Tröger’s-base coordination polymer senses phenolic nitroaromatics in water, detecting picric acid down to 26.3 ppb.
Post-synthetic Mn(CO)3 on a zirconium MOF (CORF-1) liberates carbon monoxide under low-intensity visible light, with crystal size from 260 nm to 1 mm setting the dose.
Self-assembled platinum–tetraphenylethene cages transfer energy to rhodamine B (up to 77% ΦET) and photocatalyze maleimide–aniline cyclization in water-rich solvent.
Open questions
Tensions and limits
Some items are genuine disagreements on the same question. Others mark different assays, populations, or outcomes — limits on how far one study travels — not a forced fight between papers.
A crystal structure is a snapshot; solution speciation and fluxional ligands can differ.
Study Role Design N Population Outcome CH···anion bonds that template zinc molecular knots Supports OtherZn(II)-templated DFP/DAB assemblies (catenane/knot/link) with aqueous anion-binding studies Supramolecular synthesis and binding — no sample N DFP–DAB–Zn(II) interlocked assemblies in MeOD/D2O CH···anion-mediated topology selection and aqueous anion binding A zinc polymer that lights down for picric acid Supports OtherZn(II) Tröger’s-base coordination polymer synthesis and aqueous nitroaromatic fluorescence sensing Materials sensing study — no sample N Aqueous TB-Zn-CP suspensions versus nitroaromatic analytes Selective fluorescence quenching of picric acid (LOD 26.3 ppb)
Common misconceptions
The metal oxidation state in a crystal is the catalytic oxidation state.
Catalysis often uses a minority species not seen in the resting-state structure.
Exam-style questions
Short-answer questions that ask you to explain or compare, not recall.
What does coordination chemistry mean in this chemistry library?
Coordination chemistry is how metal ions bind ligands, and how that geometry controls spectroscopy, guest binding, catalysis or assembly of cages and frameworks.
Name one empirical finding from the coordination chemistry papers.
Weak C–H···anion contacts in water/methanol steer a Zn(II) dynamic library toward a trefoil knot that binds two bromides in its cavity.
What is a limit of coordination chemistry evidence here?
A crystal structure is a snapshot; solution speciation and fluxional ligands can differ.
The studies
8 studies in this library bear on Coordination chemistry, ordered by citations.
- Unsymmetrical ligands still make one Pd2L4 cage isomer
Steric and geometric ligand design plus solvent polarity steer unsymmetrical dipyridyl ligands into a single cis or trans Pd2L4 cage rather than a statistical isomer mix.
- A zinc polymer that lights down for picric acid
A fluorescent Zn(II)–Tröger’s-base coordination polymer senses phenolic nitroaromatics in water, detecting picric acid down to 26.3 ppb.
- A MOF that releases CO with visible light
Post-synthetic Mn(CO)3 on a zirconium MOF (CORF-1) liberates carbon monoxide under low-intensity visible light, with crystal size from 260 nm to 1 mm setting the dose.
- Rotating pyrazine rings put a kink in Xe isotherms
SIFSIX-3-Fe takes up more Xe than Kr because its pores match Xe, while an inflection in SIFSIX-3-Ni’s Xe isotherm is attributed to pyrazine rings ordering from disordered to aligned rotations.
- Pt TPE cages harvest light for cyclization
Self-assembled platinum–tetraphenylethene cages transfer energy to rhodamine B (up to 77% ΦET) and photocatalyze maleimide–aniline cyclization in water-rich solvent.
- CH···anion bonds that template zinc molecular knots
Weak C–H···anion contacts in water/methanol steer a Zn(II) dynamic library toward a trefoil knot that binds two bromides in its cavity.
- Clicking Fe metallohelices tunes cancer-cell selectivity
Copper-click derivatisation of a stable Fe2L3 helix gives Δ-[Fe2L3a3]Cl4, which is more cancer-selective than the parent, hits cancer stem cells, and still has a fully characterised coordination core.
- A new Zn phenanthroline–maleate crystal
Slow evaporation yields [Zn(phen)(maleate)(H2O)]·H2O, a distorted square-pyramidal complex with a 3.45 eV DFT gap and H-bond-dominated packing.
Learn alongside
Change log
What changed
Dated edits to this page's evidence: studies added or removed from a claim, claims added or withdrawn, and new explanations tagged here. Rewordings are not listed.
- Concept page published