Mechanism of rhodium(Ⅲ)-catalyzed formal C(sp~3)-H activation/spiroannulation of a-arylidene pyrazolones with alkynes:A computational study

The rhodium-catalyzed formal C(sp~3)-H activation/spiroannulation of a-arylidene pyrazolones with alkynes was investigated by means of density functional theory calculations. The calculations indicate that the spiroannulation through the proposed C—C reductive elimination is kinetically unfeasible.Instead, the C—C coupling from the eight-membered rhodacycle was proposed to account for the experimental results. The overall catalytic cycle consists of six steps:(1) the keto-enol isomerization;(2)the O—H deprotonation,(3) the C(sp~2)—H bond cleavage;(4) the migratory insertion of alkyne into the Rh—C bond;(5) the C—C coupling and(6) the regeneration of the active catalyst.     

A new theory for symmetry orbital and tensor (Ⅱ)——Symmetric reduction of molecular integrals and self-consistent field calculations

The symmetry orbital-symmetry orbital tensor method is applied to the evaluation of molecular integrals (one-electron and two-electron integrals) and the symmetry-orbital-tensor and self-consistent-field (SOT-SCF) calculations. A calculation scheme is proposed to simplify the evaluation of integrals and a key equation is derived to reduce the computation efforts in SCF iterations. According to the key equation, compared with the traditional SCF method, the computation efficiencies including CPU timing and external disk (or internal memory) requirement increase in the magnitude of the square of the order of a point group. The new SOT method is expected to be useful in the theoretical calculations of large molecular systems of high point group symmetries.     

Infrared Spectra and Pyrolysis of Selected Molecular Models of Coal: Insight from Density Functional Calculations

Equilibrium structures and infrared spectra of four typical molecular models of coal have been studied by density functional calculations. Combining theoretical calculations on the coal models with experimental FT-IR spectra of selected low rank perhydrous coals, a plausible molecular representation for this kind of coals was proposed, and its predicted IR spectra reasonably match the experimental observation. Calculations indicate that the cleavage of the C-C bridge bond for the coal structures considered here occurs at about 540 ℃ and the C-O ether bridge bond may break under temperature ranging from 500 to 600 ℃ for the aryl-CH2-O-CH2-aryl ether bond or from 200 to 300 ℃ for the aryl-CH2-O-aryl ether bond, showing remarkable effect of the local structural environment. The coal model containing the carboxyl group may release CO2 at about 300 ℃ through the decarboxylation with a barrier of 69 kcal/mol.     

Comparison study of several numerical integration schemes used in calculations of density functional theory

Several numerical integration schemes for the evaluation of matrix elements in density functional theory calculations have been studied and compared by computational practice. The best scheme was found to be the combination of the atomic partition function proposed by Becke with the scaled generalized Gauss-Laguerre quadrature formula for radial integration suggested by Yang, which achieve the highest convergence rate to the numerical integration. With the same number of integration points, the accuracy of the calculated results by this scheme is higher by 1 to 2 orders of magnitudes than that by other schemes. The reason for achieving higher accuracy by this scheme has been proposed preliminarily.     

COMPLEX DIAGONAL SHIFT FORMULA (CDSF) IN SCF ITERATIVE PROCESS

In this paper, we extend the diagonal shift formula (DSF) to complex diagonal shiftformula (CDSF) in a complex field, and give the theoretical proof of convergence.Meanwhile, when the variable degenerates from complex to real, the CDSF will becomeDSF, which indicates that the former is indeed the extension of the latter. The CDSF has already been applied to MNDO/GIAO and INDO/GIAO calculations ofNMR shielding constants which involve calculations of the complex Fock matrix. Overallconvergence of iterative process manifests that the CDSF is an effective method ofcomplex matrix iterations.     

Diels-Alder addition of some 6-and 5-member ring aromatic compounds on the Si(001)-2×1 surface: dependence of the binding energy on the resonance energy of the aromatic compounds

An energy decomposition scheme is proposed for understanding of the relative low binding energy of the [4+2] cycloaddition of benzene on the Si(001)-2×1 surface. By means of density functional cluster model calculations, this scheme is demonstrated to be applicable to some other 6- and 5-member ring aromatic compounds, giving a trend that the binding energy of the [4+2] cycloaddition products of those aromatic compounds on the Si(001) surface depends strongly on their resonance energy.     

Theoretical Analysis of the Mechanism of Cationic Pd(Ⅱ)-catalyzed Fujiwara-Moritani Reaction

A systematic theoretical investigation has been studied on Fujiwara-Moritani reaction between 3-methoxyacetanilide with n-butyl acrylate by means of density functional theory(DFT) calculations when two types of Pd(Ⅱ) catalysts are employed. In [Pd(MeCN)_4](BF_4)_2 catalytic cycle, a 1,4-benzoquinone(BQ)-induced C-H activation of trans-(MeCN)_2Pd(BQ)~(2+) with 3-methoxyacetanilide occurs as the first step to give DC-4_(MeCN), facilitating the insertion of n-butyl acrylate and β-hydride elimination, followed by recycling of catalyst through hydrogen abstraction of monocationic BQ fragment. In Pd(OAc)_2 catalytic cycle, it is proposed that the most favored reaction pathway should proceed in dicationic mechanism involving a BQ-assisted hydrogen transfer for C-H activation by Pd active catalyst(HOAc)_2Pd(BQ)~(2+) to generate DC-4_(HOAc), promoting acrylate insertion and β-hydride elimination, followed by the regeneration of catalyst to give the final product. The calculations indicate that the rate-determining step in [Pd(MeCN)_4](BF_4)_2 catalytic system is the acrylate insertion, while it is the regeneration of catalyst in the Pd(OAc)_2 catalytic system. In particular, the roles of BQ and ligand effects have also been investigated.     

Insight into the CO2 photoreduction mechanism over 9-hydroxyphenal-1-one(HPHN) carbon quantum dots

Converting CO2 to carbon-containing fuels is an effective approach to relieving energy shortages.Carbon quantum dots(CQDs) have shown distinct properties and attracted tremendous interest in CO2 reduction.Herein,we report a joint experimental-computational mechanistic study of photoreduction CO2 to CO on the model catalyst 9-hydroxyphenal-1-one(HPHN) CQDs with known structure.Our theoretical calculations reveal that the rate-determining step is COOH·formation,which is closely related to the proton and electron transfer induced by hydrogen bonding in the excited state.According to the calculated volcano plot,the solution we proposed is addition Zn²⁺ ions.The active center changed from the hydroxyl oxygen atom to the Zn atom and the barrier of the COOH·formation step is noticeably decreased when Zn²⁺ ions are added.It is further confirmed by the experimental data that the activity of CO2 reduction increases 2.9 times when Zn²⁺ ions are added.     

Phase Selectively Soluble Dendritic Derivative of 4-(Dimethylamino)- pyridine: An Easily Recyclable Catalyst for Baylis-Hillman Reactions

Among the reactions in which C-C bonds are formed, the Baylis-Hillman coupling of aldehydes with α, β-unsaturated carbonylic compounds is currently attracting much interest due to the atom economy, the mild conditions and the generation of functional groups1,2. Furthermore, compared to the Heck, Suzuki and other palladium catalyzed C-C bond forming reaction3, the Baylis-Hillman reaction can be promoted by using organic bases in the complete absence of any metal4. However, almost all the …     

Density Functional Study on the Reaction Mechanism for the Reaction of Ni^＋ with Ethane

The mechanism of the reaction of Ni^ (^2D) with ethane in the gas-phase was studied by using density functional theory.Both the B3LYP and BLYP functionals with standard all-electron basis sets are used to give the detailed information of the potential energy surface (PES) of [Ni,C2,H6]^ . The mechanisms forming the products CH4 and H2 in the reaction of Ni^ with ethane are proposed.The reductive eliminations of CH4 and H2 are typical addition-elimination reactions.Each of the two reactions consists of two elementary steps:C-C or C-H bond activations to form inserted species followed by isomerizations to from product-like intermediate.The rate determining steps for the elimination reactions of forming CH4 and H2 are the isomerization of the inserted species rather than C-C or C-H bond activations .The elimination reaction of forming H2 was found to be thermodynamically favored compared to that of CH4.     

Energy-transfer Process Accelerated by the Formation of Electrostatically Stabilized Aggregate (ESAg)

We have proposed that oppositely-charged long-chain molecules with roughly eight to sixteen carbons might form electrostatically stabilized aggregates (ESAgs) by both the hydrophobic-lipophilic interaction (HLI) and the electrostatically attractive force in the concentration range of 10-7 mol/L to 10-5 mol/L1,2. Thus ESAg is yet another structural niche for molecular assemblages in-between the simple aggregate and the micelles. That ESAg species existing at concentrations much lower tha…     

Reaction mechanism of aqueous-phase conversion of γ-valerolactone(GVL) over a Ru/C catalyst

The present work explores the reaction pathways of γ-valerolactone(GVL) over a supported ruthenium catalyst. The conversion of GVL in aqueous phase over a 5% Ru/C catalyst was investigated in a batch reactor operating at 463 K under 500–1000 psi of H_2. The main reaction products obtained under these conditions were 2-butanol(2-BuOH), 1,4-pentanediol(1,4-PDO), 2-methyltetrahydrofuran(2-MTHF) and 2-pentanol(2-PeOH). A complete reaction network was developed, identifying the primary and/or secondary products. In this reaction network, production of 2-BuOH via decarbonylation of a ring-opened surface intermediate CH_3CH(O*)–(CH_2)_2–CO*is clearly the dominant pathway. From the evolution of products as a function of reaction time and theoretical(DFT) calculations, a mechanism for the formation of intermediates and products is proposed. The high sensitivity of 2-BuOH production to the presence of CO, compared to a much lower effect on the production of the other products indicates that the sites responsible for decarbonylation are particularly prone to CO adsorption and poisoning. Also, since the decarbonylation rate is not affected by the H2 pressure it is concluded that the direct decarbonylation path of the CH_3CH(O*)–(CH_2)_2–CO*intermediate does not required a previous dehydrogenation step, as is the case in decarbonylation of short alcohols.     

碱液中L-抗坏血酸盐离子电氧化过程中Ag电催化剂的多硫化物中毒(英文)

L-Ascorbate anion electro-oxidation on a silver electrode in hydroxide solution in the absence and presence of sodium polysulfide of concentrations from 1 × 10-5 to 4.5 × 10-4 mol/L was studied using cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.Both hydroxide and polysulfide ions inhibited L-ascorbate ion oxidation,with the poisoning effect of polysulfide ion being more pronounced in the potential range of-0.3 to-0.2 V/SCE.The time constants for L-ascorbate ion oxidation in the absence and presence of polysulfide were,10-3 to 1 × 10-2 s and 1 × 10-4 to 1 × 10-2 s,respectively depending on the potential used for the impedance analysis.Based on the cyclic voltammetry findings,a mechanism for L-ascorbate oxidation in the presence of polysulfide ions was proposed.Impedance calculations based on the kinetic analysis can account for the occurrence of a negative impedance in a potential region around-0.2 V/SCE in the Nyquist polts.     

Synthesis of carborane-fused cyclobutenes and cyclobutanes

Transmetalation of carborane-fused zirconacycles to Cu(Ⅱ) induces the C-C coupling reaction to form four-membered rings. This serves as a new efficient and general methodology for the generation of a series of carborane-fused cyclobutenes and cyclobutanes. A reaction mechanism involving transmetalation to Cu(Ⅱ) and reductive elimination is proposed.     

Reaction mechanism and chemoselectivity of gold(Ⅰ)-catalyzed cycloaddition of 1-(1-alkynyl) cyclopropyl ketones with nucleophiles to yield substituted furans

The mechanisms of gold(Ⅰ)-catalyzed cycloaddition of 1-(1-alkynyl) cyclopropyl ketones with nucleophiles have been investigated using density functional theory calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level of theory.A polarizable continuum model(PCM) has been established in order to evaluate the effects of solvents on the reactions.The results of the calculations indicate that the first step of the catalytic cycle is the cyclization of the carbonyl oxygen onto the triple bond which forms a new and stable resonance structure of an oxonium ion and a carbocation intermediate.The subsequent ring expansion step results in the formation of the final product and regeneration of the catalyst.Furthermore,the regioselectivity and effect of substituents has been discussed,including an analysis of energy,bond length,and natural bond orbital(NBO) charge distributions in the rate-determining step.Our computational results are consistent with earlier experimental observations.     

Competition between C-C and C-H Activation in Reactions of Neutral Nickel Atom with Cycloalkanes （n = 3-7）

A theoretical investigation of the reaction mechanisms for C-H and C-C bond activation processes in the reaction of Ni with cycloalkanes C,,H2. （n = 3-7） is carried out. For the Ni ＋ CnH2, （n = 3, 4） reactions, the major and minor reaction channels involve C-C and C-H bond activations, respectively, whereas Ni atom prefers the attacking of C-H bond over the C-C bond in CnH2n （n = 5=7）. The results are in good agreement with the experimental study. In all cases, intermediates and transition states along the reaction paths of interest are characterized, It is found that both the C-H and C-C bond activation processes are proposed to proceed in a one-step manner via one transition state. The overall C-H and C-C bond activation processes are exothermic and involve low energy barriers, thus transition metal atom Ni is a good mediator for the activity of cycloalkanes CnH2n （n = 3 -7）.     

Theoretical investigation of the decomposition of monofluoromethanol

Ab initio calculations have been used to study the decomposition pathways of monofluo-roinethanol. Equilibrium geometries and transition state structures were optimized at the HF/6-31G(d) and MP2/6-31G(d) levels. Single point energies were obtained at different levels of theory. The most favorable reaction to dissociation is the 1,2-HF elimination which is consistent with the experimental results.     

Rh(Ⅱ)-catalyzed intermolecular carboamination of pyridines via double Csp2–H bond activations

We disclose the development of the Rh-catalyzed amine-directed remote 5,6-carboamination protocol of pyridines via dual Csp²–H functionalizations. A variety of readily available 2-aminopyridines and 1,2,3-triazoles are allowed for coupling cyclization to access polyfunctionalized azaindoles. Mechanistic studies including DFT calculations unveil that relay carbenoidelectrophilic addition to pyridines and the sequential pyridyl Csp²–H amination are involved in this transforma...     

Quantum dynamics of dissociative adsorption of H_2 on Ni(100) using the dynamical Lie algebraic method

A dynamical Lie algebraic method has been applied to treating the quantum dynamics of dissociative adsorption of H_2 on a static flat metal surface. An LEPS potential energy surface has been used to describe the interaction of H_2 with Ni(100) surface. The dependence of the initial state-selected dissociation probability was obtained analytically on the initial kinetic energy and time. A comparison with other theoretical calculations and experiments is made. The results show that the method can be effectively used to describe the dynamics of reactive gas-surface scattering.     

Incorporation of layered tin(Ⅳ) phosphate in graphene framework for high performance lithium-sulfur batteries

To anchor the polysulfide and enhance the conversion kinetics of polysulfide to disulfide/sulfide is critical for improving the performance of lithium-sulfur battery.For this purpose,the graphene-supported tin(Ⅳ) phosphate(Sn(HPO_4)_2·H_2 O,SnP) composites(SnP-G) are employed as the novel sulfur hosts in this work.When compared to the graphene-sulfur and carbon-sulfur composites,the SnP-G-sulfur composites exhibit much better cycling performance at 1.0 C over 800 cycles.Meanwhile,the pouch cell fabricated with the SnP-G-sulfur cathodes also exhibits excellent performance with an initial capacity of1266.6 mAh g^-1(S) and capacity retention of 76.9% after 100 cycles at 0.1 C.The adsorption tests,density functional theory(DFT) calculations in combination with physical cha racterizations and electrochemical measurements provide insights into the mechanism of capture-accelerated conversion mechanism of polysulfide at the surface of SnP.DFT calculations indicate that the Li-O bond formed between Li atom(from Li_2 S_n,n=1,2,4,6,8) and O atom(from PO_3-OH in SnP) is the main reason for the strong interactions between Li_2 S_n and SnP.As a result,SnP can effectively restrain the shuttle effect and improving the cycling performance of Li-S cell.In addition,by employing the climbing-image nudged elastic band(ciNEB) methods,the energy barrier for lithium sulfide decomposition(charging reaction) on SnP is proved to decrease significantly compared to that on graphene.It can be concluded that SnP is an effective sulfur hosts acting as dual-functional accelerators for the conversion reactions of polysulfude to sulfide(discharging reaction) as well as polysulfide to sulfur(charging reaction).