Cation-Induced Dimerization of Crown-Substituted Gallium Phthalocyanine by Complexing with Alkali Metals: The Crucial Role of a Central Metal

The single-crystal X-ray diffraction characterization of cation-induced supramolecular assembly of the gallium(III) tetra(15-crown-5)phthalocyaninate [(HO)Ga(15C5)4Pc] (1Ga) is reported. The structures of two crystalline dimers, {[(1Ga)2Rb4]4+(iNic-)4}·10CDCl3 and {[(2Ga)2Rb4]4+(OH-)2(Piv-)2}·16CDCl3 (2Ga-[(Piv)Ga(15C5)4Pc]), as well as UV-vis and NMR studies of the soluble supramolecular dimers formed by 1Ga and K+, Rb+, and Cs+ salts are provided. In contrast to the previously reported aluminum complex where the Al-O-Al bond was formed, no μ-oxo bridge was observed between the gallium atoms in the supramolecular dimers under similar conditions, despite the fact that aluminum and gallium belong to the same group of the periodic table. The detailed investigation of the cation-induced dimers of 1Ga confirms the uniformity of their structure for all large alkali cations, where two molecules of crown-substituted gallium phthalocyaninate are 4-fold bound by K+, Rb+, or Cs+. The gallium(III) coordination sphere is labile, and the nature of the solvent during supramolecular dimerization has an effect on the axial ligand exchange: Piv- in nonpolar CHCl3 replaces the initial OH- in 1Ga, while such a process is not observed in CHCl3/CH3OH media.