Organotelluroxane molecular clusters assembled via Te⋯X- (X = Cl-, Br-) chalcogen bonding anion template interactions

Chem Commun (Camb). 2022 Mar 8;58(20):3318-3321. doi: 10.1039/d2cc00320a.

Abstract

The synthesis and characterisation of two novel molecular organotelluroxane clusters, comprising of an inorganic Te8O6X4 (X = Cl, Br) core structure are described. The integration of highly electron withdrawing 3,5-bis-trifluoromethylphenyl groups to the constituent Te(IV) centres is determined to be crucial in the chalcogen bonding (ChB) halide template directed assembly. Characterised by multi-nuclear 1H, 125Te, 19F NMR, UV-Vis, IR spectroscopies and X-ray crystal structure analysis, the discrete molecular clusters exhibit excellent organic solvent solubility and remarkable chemical stability. Furthermore, preliminary fluorescence investigations reveal the telluroxanes exhibit aggregation induced emission (AIE) behaviour in organic aqueous solvent mixtures.