Hydrothermal synthesis, structures and visible light harvest of three titanium complexes

Abstract Hydrothermal syntheses have been extensively used in the area of polyoxometalates and metal organic frameworks. However, the hydrothermal synthesis of crystalline titanium(IV) complexes is a daunting challenge. The reason is that the high reactivity and spontaneous hydrolysis of titanium(IV) ions always leading to fast precipitation of corresponding oxide rather crystalline compounds. Herein, we reported an effective way towards crystalline titanium(IV) complexes. In the presence of organic amines, we successfully isolated three titanium(IV) compounds. It is worth noting that organic amines play a vital role in the synthesis process, while the introduction of chromophores largely enhanced the visible light harvest.