Valence tautomerism and recyclisation of type B mesoionic tetrazoles: a computational study

The energy profiles for ring opening of representative type B mesoionic 2,3-diphenyl-1,2,3,4-tetrazolium-5-olates, -thiolates, -aminides and –methylides and for alternative recyclisation pathways are investigated using ab initio MP2 calculations. The energetics of initial ring opening are found to be comparable for all systems, but the tetrazolium-5-olates are anomalous in that no alternative reaction pathway is accessible. The influence of solvent is explored using the polarised continuum model (PCM) method to simulate aqueous solvation. The only significant solvent effect is found to be solvation of the mesoionic precursors. This solvent effect correlates with dipole moment and disfavours initial valence tautomerism both kinetically and thermodynamically.

Manipulating electron redistribution to achieve electronic pyroelectricity in molecular [FeCo] crystals

Pyroelectricity plays a crucial role in modern sensors and energy conversion devices. However, obtaining materials with large and nearly constant pyroelectric coefficients over a wide temperature range for practical uses remains a formidable challenge. Attempting to discover a solution to this obstacle, we combined molecular design of labile electronic structure with the crystal engineering of the molecular orientation in lattice. This combination results in electronic pyroelectricity of purely molecular origin. Here, we report a polar crystal of an [FeCo] dinuclear complex exhibiting a peculiar pyroelectric behavior (a substantial sharp pyroelectric current peak and an unusual continuous pyroelectric current at higher temperatures) which is caused by a combination of Fe spin crossover (SCO) and electron transfer between the high-spin Fe ion and redox-active ligand, namely valence tautomerism (VT). As a result, temperature dependence of the pyroelectric behavior reported here is opposite from conventional ferroelectrics and originates from a transition between three distinct electronic structures. The obtained pyroelectric coefficient is comparable to that of polyvinylidene difluoride at room temperature.