Abstract:
Melamine and its condensation products, such as melam, melem, and melon,
have gained significant attention in recent decades due to their structural versatility
and potential applications as flame retardants and adhesives. This dissertation
explores the thermal behavior and reactivity of melamine in the presence of various
metal chlorides and a metal hydride at different temperatures. This research opens a
new door in the coordination chemistry between metals and melamine, melam, and
melem, introducing their potential applications as luminescent and sensor materials.
The first proposed method for synthesizing metal melaminates is a solid-state
reaction in which melamine reacts with metal chlorides such as CuCl, SbCl3, and InCl3
in a silica ampule under controlled conditions. This work introduces tricopper
melaminate (Cu3(C3N6H3)), which is the first study of three times deprotonated
melamine. This compound is forming channels along the c-axis and has Cu(I)-Cu(I)
bonding. Antimony melaminates were also obtained through a similar approach,
revealing the stepwise deprotonation of melamine at different temperatures, which
ultimately led to the formation of a layered structure of doubly deprotonated antimony
melaminate. Additionally, the indium-melaminate compound displayed a novel
supramolecular structure, which proves that melamine can be four times deprotonated
and shows a new coordination system.
The second synthesis route for melaminates involved reacting melamine with
metal hydrides. This approach was inspired by the alternative synthesis of Cu3(C3N6H3)
via the trimerization of hydrogen cyanamide. Specifically, Cu3(C3N6H3) was
successfully synthesized from NaHCN2 and CuCl via a trimerization mechanism. In this
process, NaHCN2 and KHCN2 are intermediates in the reaction between the respective
metal hydride and melamine. Consequently, the reaction of KH with melamine led to
the formation of two new intermediates of potassium melaminate compounds,
K(C3N6H5) and K2(C4N7H3).
Further studies on the reaction of melamine with transition metal chlorides
(MnCl2, FeCl2, CoCl2) at high temperatures than 350 ˚C led to the formation of Mn-,
Fe-, and Co-coordinated melem and melam compounds.
Finally, the synthesis of metal carbodiimides was investigated by decomposing
melaminates and metal cyanurates. This approach successfully produced indium
carbodiimide from indium melaminate and lanthanum carbodiimide from lanthanum
cyanurate. The reaction of cyanuric acid with metal chlorides and sodium hydroxide is
also introduced as an alternative solid-state synthesis method for metal carbodiimides,
leading to the discovery of La2(CN2)3, which has been a missing rare-earth
carbodiimide for two decades.