Spin surface crossing in chromium-mediated olefin epoxidation with O(2)

[CpCr(mu-Cl)Cl](2) reacted with dioxygen (O(2)) to produce CpCr(O)Cl(2) (1), which has been structurally characterized. Although 1 oxidized PPh(3) and 1,4-cyclohexadiene catalytically, it did not epoxidize olefins. DFT calculations have been performed on the system to characterize the potential energy surface for the epoxidation of ethylene and, in particular, the consequences of the crossing from the doublet surface of the starting materials to the quartet surface of the product (i.e. a chromium(III) epoxide adduct). These calculations suggested that "spin-blocking" was not a significant problem and that the reaction of CpCr(O)Cl(2) (3) with ethylene should have a lower activation barrier. On the basis of this computational prediction, 3 was prepared; it was found to epoxidize olefins stoichiometrically.     

Three new dinuclear bis-μ-azido-bridged Cu(II) compounds with di-2-pyridylamine as a ligand: Syntheses,X-ray structure and magnetic measurements

Three new dinuclear copper(II) compounds: [Cu₂(dpyam)₂(μ_1,1-N₃)₂(O₂CH)₂] (1), [Cu₂(dpyam)₂(μ_1,1-N₃)₂(O₂CCH₃)₂] (2) and [Cu₂(dpyam)₂(μ_1,1-N₃)₂(O₂CCH₂CH₃)₂] (3) have been synthesized and characterized crystallographically and spectroscopically. Compounds 1, 2 and 3 consist of a dinuclear unit in which both Cu(II) ions are connected through two end-on azido bridges providing a distorted square pyramidal geometry with a CuN₄O chromophore. The Cu?Cu separations are 3.195, 3.200 and 3.247 Å for compounds 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The magnetic properties have been measured in the range from 5 to 300 K and correlated with the molecular structures. All three compounds show a medium to weak ferromagnetic exchange interactions between the Cu(II) ions dominated by the bridging azido ligands, with a singlet-triplet splitting (J) of 63.3, 63.8 and 5.1 cm⁻¹, for compounds 1, 2 and 3, respectively. A large zero-field splitting of about 0.4 cm⁻¹ is observed in the EPR for compounds 1 and 2.