Reducing the computational cost of NMR crystallography of organic powders at natural isotopic abundance with the help of 13C-13C dipolar couplings

Structure determination of functional organic compounds remains a formidable challenge when the sample exists as a powder. Nuclear magnetic resonance crystallography approaches based on the comparison of experimental and Density Functional Theory (DFT)-computed ¹H chemical shifts have already demonstrated great potential for structure determination of organic powders, but limitations still persist. In this study, we discuss the possibility of using ¹³C-¹³C dipolar couplings quantified on powdered theophylline at natural isotopic abundance with the help of dynamic nuclear polarization, to realize a DFT-free, rapid screening of a pool of structures predicted by ab initio random structure search. We show that although ¹³C-¹³C dipolar couplings can identify structures possessing long range structural motifs and unit cell parameters close to those of the true structure, it must be complemented with other data to recover information about the presence and the chemical nature of the supramolecular interactions.     

High-Throughput Synthesis and Characterization of Aryl Silicones by Using the Piers–Rubinsztajn Reaction

Arylsilicones are widely exploited for their thermal and optical properties. The creation of phenylsilicone elastomers with specific physical properties is typically done by a “one-off” formulation and test process. Herein, it is demonstrated that high-throughput synthesis methods can be used to rapidly prepare a series of arylsilicone elastomers and then the relative impact of different aryl groups on their physical properties is assessed. Aromatic groups were incorporated into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomers by exploiting the relative reactivity of different functional groups in the Piers–Rubinsztajn reaction. To analyze trends in the silicone mechanical properties as a function of increasing aryl concentration—structure/property relationships—libraries of elastomers were both quickly synthesized and characterized by using high-throughput suites starting from low viscosity silicone oils/monomers in 96-well plates. Liquid handling parameters were optimized to effectively work with the silicones. Incorporating aryl instead of alkyl crosslinkers into the PDMS backbone increased the silicone elastomer modulus by approximately 50 % (at a crosslink density of 6 %); elastomers prepared with an aromatic crosslinker with three contact points led to much higher moduli compared with those with one contact point at the same crosslink density. When located at precise rather than random points on the silicone chains, diphenylsilicones had lower moduli than analogous monophenylsilicones.     

Sweet like chocolate

A new crystalline form of αβ‐d ‐lactose prepared by oven drying a concentrated aqueous solution of d ‐lactose is a lesson in the power of observation and the rigorous analysis of powder samples.     

Ab initio structure and vibration-rotation dynamics of germylene,GeH2

Accurate structure and potential energy surface of germylene, GeH₂, in its ground electronic state ¹A₁ were determined from ab initio calculations using the coupled-cluster approach in conjunction with the correlation-consistent basis sets up to sextuple-zeta quality. The Born-Oppenheimer equilibrium structural parameters for the ¹A₁ state are estimated to be r_e(GeH) = 1.5793 Å and ∠_e(HGeH) = 91.19^∘. The term value T_e for the lowest excited electronic state ã³B₁ of GeH₂ is predicted to be 9140 cm^–1. The vibration-rotation energy levels for the ¹A₁ state of the ⁷⁴GeH₂, ⁷⁴GeD₂, ⁷²GeH₂, and ⁷⁰GeH₂ isotopologues were determined using a variational approach and compared with the experimental data. The role of the core-electron correlation, higher-order valence-electron correlation, scalar relativistic, spin-orbit, and adiabatic effects for prediction of the structure and vibration-rotation dynamics of the GeH₂ molecule is discussed. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Origin of the Photoinduced Geometrical Change of Copper(I) Complexes from the Quantum Chemical Topology View

Copper(I) complexes (CICs) are of great interest due to their applications as redox mediators and molecular switches. CICs present drastic geometrical change in their excited states, which interferes with their luminescence properties. The photophysical process has been extensively studied by several time-resolved methods to gain an understanding of the dynamics and mechanism of the torsion, which has been explained in terms of a Jahn–Teller effect. Here, we propose an alternative explanation for the photoinduced structural change of CICs, based on electron density redistribution. After photoexcitation of a CIC (S₀→S₁), a metal-to-ligand charge transfer stabilizes the ligand and destabilizes the metal. A subsequent electron transfer, through an intersystem crossing process, followed by an internal conversion (S₁→T₂→T₁), intensifies the energetic differences between the metal and ligand within the complex. The energy profile of each state is the result of the balance between metal and ligand energy changes. The loss of electrons originates an increase in the attractive potential energy within the copper basin, which is not compensated by the associated reduction of the repulsive atomic potential. To counterbalance the atomic destabilization, the valence shell of the copper center is polarized (defined by ∇²ρ(r) and ∇²V_ne(r)) during the deactivation path. This polarization increases the magnitude of the intra-atomic nuclear–electron interactions within the copper atom and provokes the flattening of the structure to obtain the geometry with the maximum interaction between the charge depletions of the metal and the charge concentrations of the ligand.     

Synthesis,crystal structure and magnetic properties of a new tri‐nuclear iron (II,III) complex,a precursor for the preparation of superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles applicable in the removal of Cd2+

This study reports the structural and spectroscopic characterization of a novel metal organic compound formulated as [Fe (bpy)₃] [Fe (dipic)₂]₂.7H₂O ( 1 ) (dipic = pyridine‐2,6‐dicarboxylate and bpy = 2,2^′‐bipyridine). 1 was investigated by elemental analysis, FT‐IR spectroscopy, powder X‐ray diffraction and single crystal X‐ray diffraction (SC‐XRD), which revealed a triclinic structure of expected composition. Thermal degradation of 1 was also investigated. Complex 1 was used as a precursor to prepare superparamagnetic nanoparticles of Fe₃O₄ by thermal analysis. The obtained Fe₃O₄ was characterized by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were used as a nano‐adsorbent to remove Cd²⁺ from water at room temperature. The results showed that this nano‐adsorbent is effective in removing Cd²⁺ from contaminated water sources, and that the maximal effectivity of adsorption occurs at pH = 6. Magnetic measurements of complex 1 and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles at room temperature revealed paramagnetic and superparamagnetic behavior, respectively.     

Automated chemical resonance generation and structure filtration for kinetic modeling

This work discusses efficient and automated methods for constructing a set of representative resonance structures for arbitrary chemical species, including radicals and biradicals, consisting of the elements H, C, O, N, and S. Determining the representative reactive structures of chemical species is crucial for identification of reactive sites and consequently applying the correct reaction templates to generate the set of important reactions during automated chemical kinetic model generation. We describe a fundamental set of resonance pathway types, accounting for simple resonating structures, as well as global approaches for polycyclic aromatic species. Automatically discovering potential localized structures along with filtration to identify the representative structures was shown to be robust and relatively fast. The algorithms discussed here were recently implemented in the Reaction Mechanism Generator (RMG) software. The final structures proposed by this method were found to be in reasonable agreement with quantum chemical computation results of localized structure contributions to the resonance hybrid.     

Investigation of mononuclear,dinuclear, and trinuclear transition metal (II) complexes derived from an asymmetric Salamo‐based ligand possessing three different coordination modes

A new asymmetric Salamo‐based ligand H₂L was synthesized using 3‐tert‐butyl‐salicylaldehyde and 6‐methoxy‐2‐[O‐(1‐ethyloxyamide)]‐oxime‐1‐phenol. By adjusting the ratio of the ligand H₂L and Cu (II), Co (II), and Ni (II) ions, mononuclear, dinuclear, and trinuclear transition metal (II) complexes, [Cu(L)], [{Co(L)}₂], and [{Ni(L)(CH₃COO)(CH₃CH₂OH)}₂Ni] with the ligand H₂L possessing completely different coordination modes were obtained, respectively. The optical spectra of ligand H₂L and its Cu (II), Co (II) and Ni (II) complexes were investigated. The Cu (II) complex is a mononuclear structure, and the Cu (II) atom is tetracoordinated to form a planar quadrilateral structure. The Co (II) complex is dinuclear, and the two Co (II) atoms are pentacoordinated and have coordination geometries of distorted triangular bipyramid. The Ni (II) complex is a trinuclear structure, and the terminal and central Ni (II) atoms are all hexacoordinated, forming distorted octahedral geometries. Furthermore, optical properties including UV–Vis, IR, and fluorescence of the Cu (II), Co (II), and Ni (II) complexes were investigated. Finally, the antibacterial activities of the Cu (II), Co (II), and Ni (II) complexes were explored. According to the experimental results, the inhibitory effect was found to be enhanced with increasing concentrations of the Cu (II), Co (II), and Ni (II) complexes.