Oxidative Addition of Dihydrogen to Divanadium in Solid Ne: Multiple‐Bonded Triplet HVVH and Singlet V2(μ‐H)2

Dinuclear compounds of early transition metals with a high metal–metal bond order are of fundamental interest due to their intriguing bonding situation and of practical interest because of their potential involvement in catalytic processes. In this work, two isomers of V₂H₂ have been generated in solid Ne by the reaction between V₂ and H₂ and detected by infrared spectroscopy: the linear HVVH molecule (³Σ_g^? ground state), which is the product of the spin‐allowed reaction between V₂ (³Σ_g^? ground state) and H₂, and a lower‐energy, folded V₂(μ‐H)₂ isomer (¹A₁ ground state) with two bridging hydrogen atoms. Both isomers are characterized by metal–metal bonding with a high bond order; the orbital occupations point to quadruple bonding. Irradiation with ultraviolet light induces the transformation of linear HVVH to folded V₂(μ‐H)₂, whereas irradiation with visible light initiates the reverse reaction.     

1,2,4,5-Tetrakis(tetramethylguanidino)-3,6-diethynyl-benzenes: Fluorescent Probes,Redox-Active Ligands and Strong Organic Electron Donors

In this work, the change of reactivity induced by the introduction of two para-ethynyl substituents (CCSi(iPr)₃ or CCH) to the organic electron-donor 1,2,4,5-tetrakis(tetramethylguanidino)-benzene is evaluated. The redox-properties and redox-state dependent fluorescence are evaluated, and dinuclear Cu^I and Cu^II complexes synthesized. The Lewis-acidic B(C₆F₅)₃ substitutes the proton of the ethynyl −CCH groups to give new anionic −CCB(C₆F₅)₃⁻ substituents, leading eventually to a novel dianionic strong electron donor in its diprotonated form. Its two-electron oxidation with dioxygen in the presence of a copper catalyst yields the first redox-active guanidine that is neutral (instead of cationic) in its oxidized form.     

Electrochemistry and Spin-Crossover Behavior of Fluorinated Terpyridine-Based Co(II) and Fe(II) Complexes

Due to their ability to form stable molecular complexes that have tailor-made properties, terpyridine ligands are of great interest in chemistry and material science. In this regard, we prepared two terpyridine ligands with two different fluorinated phenyl rings on the backbone. The corresponding Co^II and Fe^II complexes were synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray structural analysis, electrochemistry and temperature-dependent SQUID magnetometry. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses at 100 K of these complexes revealed Co−N and Fe−N bond lengths that are typical of low spin Co^II and Fe^II centers. The metal centers are coordinated in an octahedral fashion and the fluorinated phenyl rings on the backbone are twisted out of the plane of the terpyridine unit. The complexes were investigated with cyclic voltammetry and UV/Vis-NIR spectroelectrochemistry. All complexes show a reversible oxidation and several reduction processes. Temperature dependent SQUID magnetometry revealed a gradual thermal SCO behavior in two of the complexes, while EPR spectroscopy provided further insights on the electronic structure of the metal complexes, as well as site of reduction.     

On the DFT Ground State of Crystalline Bromine and Iodine

We report on an erroneous ground state within common density functional theory (DFT) methods for the solid elements bromine and iodine. Phonon computations at the GGA level for both molecular crystals yield imaginary vibrational modes, erroneously indicating dynamic instability—that fact alone could easily pass as a computational artefact, but these imaginary modes lead to energetically more favorable and dynamically stable structures, made up of infinite monoatomic chains. In contrast, meta‐GGA and hybrid functionals yield the correct energetic order for bromine, while for iodine, most global hybrids do not improve the GGA result significantly. The qualitatively correct answer, in both cases, is given by the long‐range corrected hybrid LC‐ωPBE, the Minnesota functionals M06L and M06, and by periodic Hartree–Fock and MP2 theory. This poor performance of economic DFT functionals should be kept in mind, for example, during global structure optimizations of systems with significant contributions from halogen bonds.     

Analysis of a new drug of abuse: Cathinone derivative 1‐(3,4‐dimethoxyphenyl)‐2‐(ethylamino)pentan‐1‐one

Recently, novel psychoactive drugs for human abuse such as amphetamines, phenethylamines, benzofuries, and tryptamines, cathinones have gained high popularity. These designer drugs are mainly sold via online stores as “bath salts” and are labeled “not for human consumption.” Due to the novelty of the compounds, only a little information about pharmacology, toxicology, and the long‐term damage they may cause is available. Moreover, there are only few analytical methods for their identification and analysis. Among new cathinone derivatives, 1‐(3,4‐dimethoxyphenyl)‐2‐(ethylamino)pentan‐1‐one (DL‐4662), became available via an internet shop. A sample of this compound was purchased and investigated. The first aim of our study was an identity check by NMR spectroscopy and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. As many of the recreational drugs are chiral and are mainly sold as racemates, a further goal of our research was enantioseparation by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry and high‐performance liquid chromatography with UV detection, to prove whether DL‐4662 was traded enantiomerically pure or as racemic mixture. Both chiral separation methods showed the presence of a racemate.     

Photochemical Hydrogen Storage with Hexaazatrinaphthylene

When irradiated with violet light, hexaazatrinaphthylene (HATN) extracts a hydrogen atom from an alcohol forming a long-living hydrogenated species. The apparent kinetic isotope effect for fluorescence decay time in deuterated methanol (1.56) indicates that the lowest singlet excited state of the molecule is a precursor for intermolecular hydrogen transfer. The photochemical hydrogenation occurs in several alcohols (methanol, ethanol, isopropanol) but not in water. Hydrogenated HATN can be detected optically by an absorption band at 1.78 eV as well as with EPR (electron paramagnetic resonance) and NMR techniques. Mass spectrometry of photoproducts reveal di-hydrogenated HATN structures along with methoxylated and methylated HATN molecules which are generated through the reaction with methoxy radicals (remnants from alcohol splitting). Experimental findings are consistent with the theoretical results which predicted that for the excited state of the HATN-solvent molecular complex, there exists a barrierless hydrogen transfer from methanol but a small barrier for the similar oxidation of water.     

A spectral method for nonlinear elliptic equations

Let Ω be an open, simply connected, and bounded region in \(\mathbb {R}^{d}\), d ≥ 2, and assume its boundary ?Ω is smooth and homeomorphic to \(\mathbb {S}^{d-1}\). Consider solving an elliptic partial differential equation L u = f(?, u) over Ω with zero Dirichlet boundary value. The function f is a nonlinear function of the solution u. The problem is converted to an equivalent elliptic problem over the open unit ball \(\mathbb {B}^{d}\) in \(\mathbb {R}^{d}\), say \(\widetilde {L}\widetilde {u} =\widetilde {f}(\cdot ,\widetilde {u})\). Then a spectral Galerkin method is used to create a convergent sequence of multivariate polynomials \(\widetilde {u} _{n}\) of degree ≤ n that is convergent to \(\widetilde {u}\). The transformation from Ω to \(\mathbb {B}^{d}\) requires a special analytical calculation for its implementation. With sufficiently smooth problem parameters, the method is shown to be rapidly convergent. For \(u\in C^{\infty } \left (\overline {\Omega }\right ) \) and assuming ?Ω is a C ^∞ boundary, the convergence of \(\left \Vert \widetilde {u} -\widetilde {u}_{n}\right \Vert _{H^{1}}\) to zero is faster than any power of 1/n. The error analysis uses a reformulation of the boundary value problem as an integral equation, and then it uses tools from nonlinear integral equations to analyze the numerical method. Numerical examples illustrate experimentally an exponential rate of convergence. A generalization to ?Δu + γ u = f(u) with a zero Neumann boundary condition is also presented.     

Early/Late Heteronuclear Complexes Bridged by Bifunctional Phosphorus-Based Ligands

Substituted bifunctional phosphorus-based ligands HX(CRR') n PR"H (or -PR" 2 ) [where X = O, S, NR', (substituted) cyclopentadienyl; n = 1, 2, 3; R, R', R" = alkyl, aryl, H] were employed as bridging ligands in the synthesis of early/late bridged transition metal complexes. Synthetic routes to the bifunctional ligands were also developed. First, mononuclear complexes, such as [TpZr(OCH 2 PPh 2 ) 3 ] (Tp = trispyrazolylborato), [Cp 2 Zr(1-O-2-PHR-C 6 H 10 )(Me)] (R = 2,4,6-Pr i 3 C 6 H 2 (Tipp)), [Cp 2 Zr(SCH 2 CH 2 PHR) 2 ] (R = Ph, Mes, Tipp), and phosphinoferrocene derivatives, were prepared. These complexes are suitable precursors for the introduction of a second metal (as in, for example, [TpZr( w -OCH 2 PPh 2 ) 3 Mo(CO) 3 ]).