Binary systems of C60 with positional isomers 1,2- and 1,3-C6H4Br2

Thermodynamic properties of binary systems of C₆₀ with 1,2- and 1,3-dibromobenzenes have been studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Solid solvates with the compositions C₆₀3(1,2-C₆H₄Br₂); C₆₀2(1,3-C₆H₄Br₂) and C₆₀0.6(1,3-C₆H₄Br₂) have been found. The solvates have been characterised by their enthalpies and temperatures of incongruent melting transition and in part by X-ray powder data. It has been shown that positional isomers 1,2- and 1,3- of the substituted benzenes formed two series of “typical” phase diagrams. Solubility behaviour of C₆₀ in positional isomers has been discussed.     

Semiempirical molecular dynamics studies of C60/C70 fullerene oxides: C60O, C60O2 and C70O

The spectral analysis indicates that all isomers of C₆₀O, C₇₀O and C₆₀O₂ have an epoxide-like structure (an oxygen atom bridging across a C–C bond). According to the geometrical structure analysis, there are two isomers of fullerene monoxide C₆₀O (the 5,6 bond and the 6,6 bond), eight isomers of fullerene monoxide C₇₀O and eight isomers of fullerene dioxide C₆₀O₂. In order to simulate the real reaction conditions at 300 K, the calculation of the different isomers of C₆₀O, C₆₀O₂ and C₇₀O fullerene oxides was carried out using the semiempirical molecular dynamics method with two different approaches: (a) consideration of the geometries and thermodynamic stabilities, and (b) consideration of the ozonolysis mechanism. According to the semiempirical molecular dynamic calculation analysis, the probable product of this ozonolysis reaction is C₆₀O with oxygen bridging over the 6–6 bond (C_2v). The most probable product in this reaction contains oxygen bridging across in the upper part of C₇₀ (6–6 bond in C₇₀O-2 or C₇₀O-4) an epoxide-like structure. C₆₀O₂-1, C₆₀O₂-3 and C₆₀O₂-5 are the most probable products for the fullerene dioxides. All of these reaction products are consistent with the experimental results. It is confirmed that the calculation results with the semiempirical molecular dynamics method are close to the experimental work. The semiempirical molecular dynamics method can offer both the reaction temperature effect by molecular dynamics and electronic structure, dipole moment by quantum chemistry calculation.     

Comparison studies of fullerenes C72, C74, C76 and C78 by tight-binding Monte Carlo and quantum chemical methods

From C₇₂ to C₇₈, the top 20 low-energy isomers screened out from all isomers of each fullerene are optimized and computed by tight-binding Monte Carlo (TBMC), semi-empirical PM3, and ab initio B3LYP/6-31G*//HF/3-21G methods. The comparison results show that the TBMC method can efficiently optimize the structures and correctly predicate the low energy isomers. The relative energies computed by TBMC are in good agreement with the high-lever B3LYP calculation results. Our TBMC and B3LYP results show that the most energetically favorable structure of C₇₂ is not an isomer satisfying the isolated pentagon rule (IPR), which is different with the result by PM3. The symmetry of the most stable IPR isomer tends to low as the fullerene becomes large and several non-isolated-pentagon structures are found to have low symmetries and low energies close to the most stable isomer.     

Global minima of (C60)nCa, (C60)nF and (C60)nI clusters

Likely candidates for the lowest potential energy minima of (C₆₀)_nCa²⁺, (C₆₀)_nF⁻ and (C₆₀)_nI⁻ clusters are located using basin-hopping global optimisation. In each case, the potential energy surface is constructed using the Girifalco form for the C₆₀ intermolecular interaction, an averaged Lennard–Jones C₆₀–ion interaction, and a polarisation potential, which depends on the first few non-vanishing C₆₀ multipole polarisabilities. We find that the ions generally occupy the interstitial sites of a (C₆₀)_n cluster, the coordination shell being tetrahedral for Ca²⁺ and F⁻. The I⁻ ion has an octahedral coordination shell in the global minimum for (C₆₀)₆I⁻, however for 12  n  8 the preferred coordination geometry is trigonal prismatic.     

Relative energies of isomers of C36F2

The symmetry unrestricted C₃₆F₂ isomers formed from fullerene C₃₆, the initial symmetry of which is C_6v, C_6h, or D_2d, have been extensively studied with semi-empirical (AM1 and PM3) calculations. Based on the relationship between the isomer's stability and the adding positions, three patterns of the adding sites of F₂ moiety in the additive reactions have been deducted. The results of the π-orbital axis vector (POAV) analysis indicate that the chemical reactivity of C₃₆ is the result of the high strain in the C₃₆ cage. But, in order to form stable compounds, the effects, which guide the F₂ moiety to select carbon atoms in the C₃₆ cage, are dominated by the conjugate effect in C₃₆F₂ system rather than the strain release in the C₃₆ cage.     

Synthesis and molecular structure of the all-trans- and the trans–cis-[UO2Br2(OAsPh3)2] isomers

The all-trans and the trans–cis isomers of [UO₂Br₂(OAsPh₃)₂] have been prepared by reacting UO₂Br₂·xH₂O with OAsPh₃. The molecular structures for both isomers have been established by X-ray diffraction analysis. The all-trans isomer is singular as the two U---OAsPh₃ bonds are very different.     

Theoretical studies on the BN substituted fullerenes C70−2x(BN)x (x=1–3)—isoelectronic equivalents of C70

The equilibrium structures and relative stabilities of BN-doped fullerenes C_70−2x(BN)_x (x=1–3) have been studied at the AM1 and MNDO level. The most stable isomers of C_70−2x(BN)_x have been found out and their electronic properties have been predicted. The calculation results show that the BN substituted fullerenes C_70−2x(BN)_x have considerable stabilities, though they are less stable than their all carbon analog. For C₆₈BN, the isomers whose BN is located in the most chemically active bonds of C₇₀ (namely B and A) are among the most stable species, of which B is predicted to be the ground state. The stabilities of C₆₈BN decrease and the dipole moments increase with increasing the distance between the heteroatoms. For C₆₆(BN)₂, the lowest energy species is the isomer in which the B–N–B–N bond is formed; For C₆₄(BN)₃, the most stable species should have three BN units located in the same hexagon to form B–N–B–N–B–N ring. The ionization potentials and the affinity energies of the most stable species of BN-doped C₇₀ are almost the same as those of C₇₀ because of the isoelectronic relationship. The ionization potentials and affinity energies depend on the relative position of the heteroatoms in C₆₈BN, the chemical reactivities of the isomers whose heteroatoms are well separated should differ significantly from their all carbon analog.     

Super-valence phenomenon of carbon atoms in C20 molecule

Fourteen structures of C₂₀ are studied at DFT/B3LYP/6-31G* theoretical level. Except ring, bowl, cage and isomer 1 which have been studied before, other isomers have not been reported so far. Calculated results show that the ring has the lowest energy at this level and isomers 1, 2, 3 and 4 have lower energies than that of cage. Analyses of optimized bond lengths, electronic structure indicate that some carbon atoms express super-valence property. In addition, NICS value is consistent with molecular orbital character in denoting aromaticity of C₂₀ molecule. Delocalization character averts influence of curvature strain, which can well explain the stability of the cage.     

Complexes of a bio-molecule and a C60 cage

C₆₀ is the most important fullerene cage and glycine is the simplest representative of a backbone unit of a protein. In this paper, the structures and the energies of glycine–C₆₀ complexes were calculated at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level DFT. It was found that the binding of glycine to C₆₀ generated a slightly unstable complex via its amino nitrogen, a moderately unstable complex via its hydroxyl oxygen, and a very unstable complex via its carbonyl oxygen. This indicates that fullerene cages might be unable to form stable bindings to proteins via their amino nitrogen, hydroxyl oxygen and carbonyl oxygen active sites.     

Formation of [C60C5H5] adduct cations and theoretical study of the isomers

We study here the reactions between C₆₀ and planar C₅H₅⁺ cations that lead to the formation of [C₆₀C₅H₅]⁺ adduct cations in the chemical ionization source of the mass spectrometer. The structures, stabilities and charge locations of some possible isomers of [C₆₀C₅H₅]⁺: σ-adduct, π-complex, [1,4]- and [l,2]-addition cations, are studied by AM1 semiempirical molecular orbital calculations. We find that the most stable is the σ-addition cation. Another interesting and stable structure is the π-complex cation which is bonded by the electrostatic interaction at the inter-ring distance of 1.589 Å with the C_5v symmetry. The C₅H₅⁺ cyclopentadienium cation seems to be an “inverted umbrella” sitting on a five-membered ring of the C₆₀ cage.     

Theoretical study of C24N4 molecule

Both ab initio 6-31G, 3-21G and STO-3G basis sets and semiempirical PM3 and AM1 molecular orbital calculations are carried out on the C₂₄N₄ molecule of the T_d symmetry group. Results on the fully optimized structure which constrained T_d symmetry, molecular orbitals and vibrational frequency were obtained by both ab initio and semiempirical methods. The binding energy and various thermodynamic properties were also calculated via the PM3 and AM1 semiempirical methods. All the evidence of this work proves that the C₂₄N₄ molecule is stable and that its four six-membered rings with a remarkable delocalized C…C bond are similar to the related rings in the C₆₀ buckminsterfullerene structure.     

Effect of solvent polarity on the aggregation of fullerenes: a comparison between C60 and C70

Effect of solvent polarity on the aggregation behaviour of C₇₀ has been investigated in several mixed solvents using optical absorption, fluorescence, dynamic light scattering and scanning electron microscopic measurements and compared with those observed for the other fullerene analogue, C₆₀. It is seen that similar to C₆₀, aggregation of C₇₀ also requires the solvent polarity to exceed some critical value. In terms of solvent dielectric constant the critical solvent polarity, required for C₇₀ aggregation is found to be in the range of 27–31, which is much higher than that required for C₆₀ aggregation (12–14). The large difference in the critical solvent polarity required for C₆₀ and C₇₀ aggregation has been rationalized on the basis of the molecular shapes and the polarizabilities of two fullerene molecules.     

C60O3的结构和电子光谱的理论研究

用INDO系列方法对C₆₀O₃的可能构型进行研究,结果表明:环氧结构邻近的6-6键易发生进一步的加成反应.其中3个氧原子加在同一个六元环的6-6边上,形成环氧结构最稳定的C₃v构型,第3个氧原子加在2个环氧结构相邻的六元环的6-6边上的C₂、C_s构型也相当稳定,C₂、C_s构型的部分¹³C NMR谱与实验吻合.C₆₀O₃可能有较好的反应活性,其电子光谱属于理论预测.     

富含光诱导氧空位Bi12O17Br2的制备及其高效光催化固氮性能

采用一步水热法制备了Bi₁₂O₁₇Br₂光催化剂,其平均微片尺寸为1.2μm,比表面积约为29 m²·g^-1。Bi₁₂O₁₇Br₂的禁带宽度为2.42 eV,能够响应可见光。值得注意的是,在光照条件下Bi₁₂O₁₇Br₂表面能够产生氧空位;光诱导氧空位不仅能促进氮气在催化剂表面的吸附,而且对吸附的氮气分子的活化起到至关重要的作用。实验结果表明在可见光照射下,Bi₁₂O₁₇Br₂光催化剂上的氨生成速率为337.6μmol·g^-1·h^-1。在可见光的驱动下,Bi₁₂O₁₇Br₂光催化剂能够实现氮气与水反应生成氨的过程。     

Isomers of C24. Density functional studies including gradient corrections

Density functional techniques are used to investigate the relative energies of seven different structural isomers of C₂₄. The traditional local density approximation yields the fullerene-like isomer to be the most stable. As in the case of C₂₀, the inclusion of gradient corrections has a dramatic effect on the relative energies. The gradient-corrected B-LYP method yields the monocyclic ring and graphite-like isomers to be almost isoenergetic (and most stable) while the bicyclic ring, fullerene-like, and bowl-like isomers are progressively higher in energy. The Hartree—Fock results are quite similar to the B-LYP results. Implications to fullerene growth mechanisms are pointed out.     

Donor–acceptor interaction of fullerene C60 with triptycene in molecular complex TPC·C60

A molecular complex of fullerene C₆₀ with triptycene, TPC·C₆₀ is obtained. The complex has a three-dimensional packing of C₆₀ molecules. According to the IR spectra, the freezing of free rotation of C₆₀ molecules in the complex is maintained up to 360 K. The XP-spectra of TPC·C₆₀ show the suppression of π–π^* transitions of TPC phenylene rings. The separation of C₆₀ molecules by TPC ones in TPC·C₆₀ results in low intensity of the C₆₀ transitions in the 420–500 nm range in an optical spectrum. This absorption is assumed as that attributed to intermolecular transitions between adjacent C₆₀ molecules.     

Normal co-ordinate analyses and structural considerations of TeCl4, TeBr4 and TeCl2Br2

The molecular structure of TeCl₂Br₂ in the vapour phase is reconsidered in the light of the recently published X-ray crystal structure for TeCl₄. Normal coordinate calculations are performed on molecular TeCl₂Br₂ in its three possible symmetries using force fields derived from the parent molecules TeCl₄ and TeBr₄. The calculations indicate that the data for molecular TeCl₂Br₂ can best be interpreted as arising from a mixture of at least the two high symmetry conformers rather than just the low symmetry C₁ molecule as previously reported.     

Pathways for the thermally induced dehydrogenation of C60H2

The thermolysis of C₆₀H₂ to yield C₆₀ and H₂ was studied by hybrid density functional theory (B3LYP/6-311G**//B3LYP/3-21G). The concerted loss of dihydrogen requires an activation energy of 92 kcalmol⁻¹ atT=452 K. An alternative radical mechanism, which is first order in the C₆₀H₂ concentration, has an activation energy at 452 K of only 61 kcalmol⁻¹. Monitoring of the C₆₀H₂ decomposition in 1,2-dichloro-[D₄]-benzene solution by NMR spectroscopy indicates a pseudo first-order reaction with an activation energy of 61.38±2.35 kcalmol⁻¹.     

Gas-phase synthesis and the structural and electronic properties of C60S studied by mass spectrometry and molecular orbital calculation

C₆₀S⁺ was synthesized through the gas-phase ion-molecule reaction of C₆₀ with the plasmas of carbon disulfide under self-chemical-ionization (self-CI) conditions in the ion source of a mass spectrometer. Semi-empirical PM3-UHF and density functional B3LYP levels of theory with 6-31G(d) basis set calculations were performed on all the possible structures and electronic properties of the product. The results showed that the most stable structure among the possible isomers was the 6/6 closed derivative. The reaction energies of C₆₀+S⁺→C₆₀S⁺ and C₆₀+S→C₆₀S were also calculated to suggest the possibility of C₆₀S synthesis in condensed phase.     

Singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces of C3H2

The detailed singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces of C₃H₂ involving nine isomers and 13 transition structures are studied at the G3 level of theory. The rearrangement mechanisms and the electronic properties of various isomers in a broad energy range have been studied in both singlet and triplet states. Cyclopropenylidene and propargylene are found to be the most stable isomers in the singlet and triplet states, respectively. The singlet isomers are found to be more kinetically stable species as a result of high conversion barriers through which they pass. The calculations indicate that cyclopropyne in its triplet state is the least kinetically stable isomer. It is realized that the G3 method comprises both computational cost and accuracy and thus can be applied to investigation of potential energy surface of small molecules.