Theoretical investigation of isotopic scrambling mechanisms in 2-chloroethyl methyl sulfide

Ab initio and semiempirical molecular orbital calculations have been applied to study the concerted and stepwise isotopic scrambling mechanisms of 2-chloroethyl methyl sulfide in the gas phase and in aqueous solution. The calculations reveal the structural details of the reactants, transition structures, and intermediates involved in this reaction and provide relative energy estimates. The concerted mechanism is found to be competitive with the stepwise mechanism in the gas phase, but the stepwise mechanism is favored in aqueous solution as no true transition structure for the concerted mechanism could be found using the solvation models. A combined approach of evaluating solvation energies with the generalized-Bom-plus-surface-tensions SM _x solvation models of Cramer and Truhlar at ab initio optimized geometries is found to deliver the best agreement with experimentally determined reaction barriers. Together with the recent experimental results of McManus and co-workers, the present study provides insights into the controlling factors involved in the elementary reaction steps of sulfur mustards and a solid foundation for investigations into more complex reactions of related compounds.     

Thermodynamics of natural selection

It is shown that biological-natural-selection-like behavior can occur, as a general type of time evolution, in a statistical system where detailed balance is violated owing to the presence of metastable energy states. A model of a non-equilibrium phase transition corresponding to the spontaneous origin of self-reproduction in the system is suggested. After a phase transition, the system passes from one quasistationary distribution of self-reproducing subsystems to another, with an increase in the total organization, as long as the growth of the energy flow through the system or a reduction of energy dissipation in the system is possible. The entropy production is calculated for this process in terms of selective values of Eigen's theory for self-organization in autocatalytic systems. Correspondence of the extremal principle of Eigen's theory with the criterion of evolution in Prigogine's thermodynamics is established.     

Solvent release upon ion association from entropy data

The translational entropy loss on the association of two ions to form an ion pair or 11 complex is overcompensated by a rotational entropy gain, an electrostatic entropy gain, and an entropy gain due to solvent release from translational immobilization. The first three effects can be calculated, leaving the fourth as a difference from the experimental entropy change on association. The ratio of the solvent release entropy gain to the entropy change on melting of the solvent indicates the number of solvent molecules released on the association. A similar value is obtained from data for the volume change on association.Presented as a poster at the 10th International Conference on Non-Aqueous Solvents (ICNAS) at Leuven, Belgium, August 1986, and at the 24th International Congress on Coordination Chemistry (ICCC) at Athens, Greece, August 1986.     

Partial Molar Volumes and Partial Molar Adiabatic Compressibilities of Fe(III) Tetrafluoroborate Complexes with DMSO, Pyridine, and Pyridine Derivatives

The apparent and limiting apparent molar volumes of dilute aqueous solutions of KBF₄, and the complexes [Fe(DMSO)₆](BF₄)₃, [Fe(Py)₄(H₂O)₂](BF₄)₃, [Fe(4-Mepy)₂(H₂O)₂](BF₄)₃, and [Fe(4-Etpy)₂(H₂O)₂](BF₄)₃ were determined from density data measured at 5, 15, and 25°C. The apparent and limiting apparent molar adiabatic compressibilities of these complexes were determined from ultrasonic sound velocities measured at the same temperatures in dilute aqueous solutions. The volume change associated with complex formation is discussed in terms of the nature of the coordinate bond and also the role of the central metal atom and ligands in the solvation behavior of these complexes.     

Magnetic field effects detected by exciplex fluorescence and preferential solvation in binary solvents. The effect of temperature

At 20–70 °C, the temperature has almost no effect on the semisaturation field,B _1/2, or on the magnetic effects detected by exciplex fluorescence (pyrene/N,N-dimethylaniline) in binary benzene-DMSO mixtures. In individual solvents (ethanol, methanol) heating leads to a noticeable increase in the magnetic effect, whileB _1/2 decreases. The results obtained corroborate a previously proposed hypothesis that polar microclusters are formed in binary solvents with components of different polarity. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 1821–1823, October, 1993.     

The MNDO-PM3 study of the mechanism of nucleophilic substitution of the phenoxide anion for the nitro group in 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene in the gas phase and in polar solvents

The semi-empirical quantum chemical MNDO-PM3 calculations of the enthalpies of formation of Meisenheimerortho- andipso--complexes of 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene (TNB) and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) with the phenoxide anion in the gas phase and in water are performed within the framework of the point dipole model. Based on the calculated heats and activation barriers to substitution of the nitro group by the phenoxyl group in TNB and TNT, the possibility of the reactions of TNB and TNT with the phenoxide anion in water is shown. These reactions in water occurvia the S_NAr mechanism involving the correspondingipso--complex as an intermediate. In the gas phase, the S_NAr mechanism is impossible, because the reaction is strongly endothermic. In the case of TNT, the exothermic reaction of elimination of a proton from the methyl group by the phenoxide anion competes with nucleophilic substitution in a polar solvent. The activation energy calculated for this exothermic reaction is 8 kcal mol^–1.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 624–628, April, 1995.     

Conformational Study of Naringenin in the Isolated and Solvated States by Semiempirical and Ab Initio Methods

Naringenin is a natural widespread flavanone occurring in different foodstuffs that presents several important biological activities. Although its properties are well documented, its mechanisms of action are still controversial. The present article reports a conformational analysis of naringenin, using the semiempirical AM1 and ab initio methods, at the Hartree–Fock level of theory. The 3-21G, 3-21G*, 6-31G, and 6-31G** basis sets were used. The electron correlation effects were included through the Møller–Plesset second-order perturbation theory. The solvation of naringenin has been investigated through the standard SCRF, the supermolecule (SM), and the combined SM/SCRF models. The results have shown that there are two degenerate forms of naringenin, differing mainly by the orientation of a hydroxyl group (C4—OH). The energy barrier for the interconversion between them is ca. 6 kcal.mol^–1, suggesting some conjugation between the -system of the aromatic B ring and the hydroxyl group (C4—OH).     

Effects of substituted ligands on the mobility of complexed anions

From conductance and viscosities measurements on Pr₄NCl, Et₄NBr, and AgNO₃ in acetonitrile and Et₃NBr in nitrobenzene, the Walden products of the anion at infinite dilution were determined in presence of various concentrations of substituted benzoic acids. From these data it was possible to compute the values of the Walden products of the once complexed anions and to estimate the order of magnitude of the Walden products of twice complexed anions. Stokes' law is not obeyed, and the Walden products are not proportional to the third root of the molar volume of the complexed ions, as a consequence of their lack of sphericity. The assumption that the drag force which acts on the ions is proportional to the volume of the substituents results in a linear expression between the reciprocals of the Walden products and the molar volume of the ligands. The experimental results fit this expression within the limits of the experimental errors, and the slopes of the lines are nearly the same for all the anions and for the two solvents studied here, namely, 2.5×10^–4 ohm-cm^–5 mole-cP^–1.     

Gibbs functions for transfer of divalent metal cations from water to water + methanol mixtures using potentiometry, polarography and solubility measurements

Gibbs functions for transfer from water to methanol and to a full range of water + methanol mixtures were obtained for Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, Hg²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Sr²⁺ and Ba²⁺ using potentiometric or polarographic measurements in these solvents. In addition, data were obtained from the solubility products of the alkaline-earth iodates. From values obtained by the different methods and literature data, a table of selected values is given.     

Amide interactions in chlorinated solvents

Enthalpies of solution and of transfer of amides for the solvents chloroform (CHCl₃), methylenechloride (CH₂Cl₂), carbontetrachloride (CCl₄), cyclohexane (C₆H₁₂), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA), and ethylacetate (EtOAc) have been used to isolate and quantify the solvation interactions of amides in chlorinated solvents. Specific interactions at the aminde carbonyl and N–H groups have been identified. An analysis of the transfer enthalpies of pyrrole and methylpyrrole from cyclohexane to the chlorinated solvents shows that specific interactions between the pyrroles and these solvents are similar in nature. A means of calculating differences in the transfers of different solutes between the same solvent pair is given.Work done at Lebanon Valley College.