Bonding in negative ions: the role of d orbitals in the heavy analogues of pyridine and furan radical anions

We have used a potential wall method to investigate the role of d orbitals in the a(2) singly-occupied molecular orbitals of (2)A(2) negative ion states of two molecular series: pyridine, phosphabenzene, arsabenzene, stibabenzene (C(5)H(5)X, X = {N, P, As, Sb}), and furan, thiophene, selenophene, tellurophene (C(4)H(4)X, X = {O, S, Se, Te}). Unlike for the lower lying doubly occupied orbitals, heteroatom d-carbon p in-phase (bonding) interactions in these a(2) orbitals are clearly identified and explain the 0.5 eV stabilization of the (2)A(2) radical anion state in those compounds where the heteroatoms have d orbitals in the valence shell, compared to compounds where d orbitals are missing in the valence shell of the heteroatoms. The performance of both the potential wall approach and the approximate expression of Tozer and De Proft for calculating negative electron affinities has been also investigated, through a comparison with results obtained using electron-transmission spectroscopy experiments.     

The detection of the 2π* orbital of CO and NO chemisorbed on Ni(111) by surface penning ionization electron spectroscopy

We use surface Penning ionization spectroscopy (SPIES) to study the electronic properties of CO and NO adsorbed on Ni(111). In this experiment an atomic beam containing ground-state and 2 ¹S He atoms collides with the adsorbate covered Ni(111) surface. This causes the transfer of ≈20.6 eV energy into the electronic degrees of freedom of the adsorbate molecules, forcing them to emit electrons. The SPIE spectrum is obtained by analysing the energy of these electrons. The high surface sensitivity of this method allows us to measure the binding energy of the partly filled 2π* orbitals of CO and NO.     

Multi-d Electron Synergy in LaNi1-xCoxRu Intermetallics Boosts Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Despite the fact that d-band center theory links the d electron structure of transition metals to their catalytic activity, it is yet unknown how the synergistic effect of multi-d electrons impacts catalytic performance. Herein, novel LaNi_1-xCo_xRu intermetallics containing 5d, 4d, and 3d electrons were prepared. In these compounds, the 5d orbital of La transfers electrons to the 4d orbital of Ru, which provides adsorption sites for H*. The 3d orbitals of Ni and Co interact with the 5d and 4d orbitals to generate an anisotropic electron distribution, which facilitates the adsorption and desorption of OH*. The synergistic effect of multi-d electrons ensures efficient catalytic activity. The optimized LaNi_0.5Co_0.5Ru has an overpotential of 43mV at 10 mA cm⁻² for alkaline electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction. Beyond offering a variety of new electrocatalysts, this work reveals the multi-d electron synergy in promoting catalytic reaction.     

FeTPP和CoTPP电化学氧化还原的量子化学研究

用限制性的CNDO/2方法研究了FeTPP和CoTPP不同还原阶段的电子结构,结果表明,在FeTPP还原反应中第一个还原电子和Fe的d轨道相作用,第二个还原电子与卟啉环的4个氮原子及同它相连的8个碳原子的p轨道相作用,而CoTPP的2个还原电子与Co的d轨道相互作用,这与紫外原位光谱的实验结果完全一致。     

Comparison between the electrocatalytic properties of different metal ion phthalocyanines and porphyrins towards the oxidation of hydroxide

This work reports on the electrocatalytic oxidation of hydroxide using different central metal ion phthalocyanines and porphyrins immobilized on gold electrodes. The apparent electrocatalytic activity of cobalt phthalocyanine or porphyrin modified electrodes was found to be the greatest among the present series of metal ion macrocycles investigated. Copper and unmetallated phthalocyanine or porphyrin modified electrodes show no electrocatalytic behaviour towards hydroxide, such as bare gold. A possible mechanism for the enhanced reactivity of cobalt ion macrocycles towards the oxygen evolution is given. It is also stated that the electrocatalytic activity towards an adsorbate involves several aspects, such as the coordination state of the central metal ion, the nature of the ligand, the stability of the complexes, the number of d electrons, the energy of orbitals and the strength of the bonding between the central metal ion and the axial ligand.     

Electrocatalytic oxidation of NADH on carbon black electrodes

Differential electrochemical mass spectroscopy (DEMS) was used to obtain information about the strongly adsorbed intermediate during methanol electrooxidation on platinum in sulfuric acid. It turned out that three electrons are released upon oxidation of one adsorbate molecule to CO₂. In the presence of oxygen, however, the number of electrons was determined to be between 2 and 2.5. Therefore CO can be excluded as the intermediate during methanol oxidation. COH seems to be the more likely adsorbate involved in the reaction pathway.     

N2分子在UO(100)表面的吸附与解离

运用密度泛函理论中广义梯度近似(GGA)的VWN-BP方法结合周期性平板模型, 研究N2在UO(100)表面的吸附. 研究表明, N2平行吸附在UO(100)表面穴位为最稳定吸附构型, 吸附能为79.0 kJ·mol-1. Mulliken布居分析显示, N2获得电子. 吸附后, N—N伸缩振动频率发生红移, 波数在1770-2143 cm-1之间. 态密度分析表明, U原子将d、f电子转移至N2的2π轨道. 计算所得解离反应的能垒为266.9 kJ·mol-1.     

苯在Rh(111)表面化学吸附的DV-Xα研究

The chemisorption of benzene on the Rh(111) surface is calculated using DVX_a method. The electronic structure, the ground states valence levels, Mulliken overlap populations, and the density of states (LDOS and TDOS) of the adsorption system C_6H_6/Rh_6(111) are obtained. The results of DV-X_a calculations indicate that the adsorbed benzene structure is unpertured from its stable gas-phase structure, is π-bonded to the Rh surface with ring plane parallel to the metal plane, and has a C_(3ν)(σ_d) bonding symmetry. We also discuss the charge transfer between adsorbate and substrate. The π electrons of benzene transfer to the empty d orbitals of Rh, so is resonance stability decreases and is easy to be hydrogenated. The results of TDOS are in agreement with UPS, supporting the LEED structural analysis. From figure 3, it can be found that the two peaks at 5—6 eV and 7—9 eV under Fermi level (E_F) move to left by about 0.5 eV in the process of adsorption, which are mainly contributed by the 2π and 1π orbiatls of benzene respectively and are widened, and the peaks at 2 eV and 4 eV over Fermi level also move to left, which are contributed by the empty d orbitals of Rh.     

巴豆醛在Au(111)面上的吸附及选择性加氢机理研究

采用密度泛函理论计算了巴豆醛4种构型的稳定性,并选取最优构型进一步研究了其Au(111)面上的吸附及选择性加氢机理.计算结果表明,具有E-(s)-trans构型的巴豆醛稳定性最高.当巴豆醛通过C O吸附于Au(111)面的顶位时,该构型吸附能最大,吸附模型最稳定;巴豆醛向Au(111)表面转移电子0.045e,且其p轨道与金属表面的d轨道发生较强相互作用,使得巴豆醛的键级减弱.此外,通过分析各基元反应的活化能、反应热以及构型变化可知,巴豆醛在Au(111)面上按照2,1-加成机理(部分加氢机理)生成巴豆醇的可能性最大,且降低温度有利于反应转化率的提高.     

Electronic structures of heme a of cytochrome c oxidase in the redox states—Charge density migration to the propionate groups of heme a

The electronic structures of heme a of cytochrome c oxidase in the redox states were studied, using hybrid density functional theory with a polarizable continuum model and a point charge model. We found that the most stable electronic configurations of the d electrons of the Fe ion are determined by the orbital interactions of the d orbitals of the Fe ion with the π orbitals of the porphyrin ring and the His residues. The redox reaction of the Fe ion influences the charge density on the formyl group through the π conjugation of the porphyrin ring. In addition, we found the charge transfer from the Fe ion to the propionate group of heme a in the redox change despite the lack of the π‐conjugation. We elucidated that the charge propagation originates from the heme a structure itself and that the origin of the charge delocalization to the heme propionate is the orbital interactions between the d orbital of the Fe ion and the p orbitals of the carboxylate part of the heme propionate via the π conjugation of the porphyrin ring and the σ* orbital of the C? C bond of the propionate group. The electrostatic effect by surrounding proteins enhances the charge transfer from the Fe ion to the propionate group. These results indicate that heme propionate groups serve electron mediators in electron transfer as well as electrostatic anchors, and that proteins surrounding the active site reinforce the congenital abilities of the cofactors. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 2010     

Chemical bonding, electron-phonon coupling, and structural transformations in high-pressure phases of Si

The nature of chemical bonding of the stable phases of Si at high pressure was analyzed. The effect of pressure is to promote sp electrons into the d orbitals, thus increasing the metallic character and reducing the dimensionality of covalent bonding. Localized covalent bonds, however, persist up to approximately 40 GPa (Si-VI, Cmca) and help to stabilize directional framework structures. At high pressures, Si becomes a metal, and the usual dense packed structures prevail. The existence of conducting and localized electrons gives rise to a combination of "steep and flat bands" near the Fermi level in Si-V. This peculiar electron topology in conjunction with low-frequency vibrations contributes to the relatively high superconducting temperature in Si-V and VI.     

Transition metal bonding functions and their application in adsorptions and catalytic reactions: Part I: Theoretical model

A new method has been proposed for rapidly and chemically-intuitively giving correct information on the relative abilities or relative data (binding energy, bond structure, bond strength, vibration frequencies of surface species, etc.) of chemisorptions, dissociation and reactions on various transition metals, and the effects caused by the Metal-Promoter (or -Support) Interactions. In order to achieve this purpose, the LCAO method is first used to derive the wave function of the mono-transition-metal atom, represented by the combination of molecular orbital (M.O.) bands, where each M.O. is described as the linear combination of s and d orbitals. Second, based on various electronic spectra before and after adsorption, we assume that the adsorption and reaction occur chiefly on the valence band around the Fermi level. The valence band consists of three M.O. Groups (MOGs): the vacant MOG at the bottom of the s band, the vacant or fractional half-occupied MOG of the d band and the occupied MOG at the top of the occupied d band near the Fermi level, denoted as Ψ(Mi, Vs), Ψ(Mi, Vd) and Ψ(Mi, d_occ), respectively. Assuming that the M.O.'s energy distribution is even, the concept of mean energy and mean chemisorption binding energy is employed, and the three MOGs can be simplified as three representative M.O.s. According to the principle of Bloch energy band formation, the concept of d-s band overlap and the probability theory, some simple formulas with the parameters of metal band structure such as the width of the d band, the atomic orbital effective exponents and the total electron number of the s and d orbitals have been derived to calculate coefficients of the s and d orbitals of the three representative M.O.s. The interaction between metal and adsorbate is characterized by bonding functions which depend on three factors: the overlap integral between the wave function of three representative M.O.s and the adsorbate, the thermodynamic potential and the ability of electron transfer. The bonding functions D, A, B and AB have been proposed to characterize the bonds involved in metal electron donation, metal electron acceptance, d electron back-donation and σ-π coordination, respectively. Our model involves intuitive chemical localized bonds and represents the delocalized effects of energy bands. Its advantages (relatively realistic, intuition, rapidity, convenience and practice) and drawbacks (the inability to obtain the absolute amounts of surface bond strength, electron charge distribution and detailed energy levels) were discussed in comparison with the EHMO, CNDO, X_α-SW, LDF, GVB and EMT methods.     

The Fock Matrix Analysis for Atomic Orbitals in Molecular Orbitals II. The Electronic Structure of N2 Molecules

Weinhold's natural hybrid orbitals can be chosen as the molecular adapted atomic orbitals to build the canonical molecular orbitals of N₂ molecules. The molecular Fock matrix expanded in the natural hybrid orbitals can reveal deeper insight of the electronic structure and reaction of the N₂ molecule. For example, the magnitude of F_ab can signify the bonding character of the paired electrons as well as the diradical character of the unpaired electrons for both σ‐ and π‐types. Discarding the concept of the overlap between non‐orthogonal atomic orbitals, the different orbitals for different spins in the unrestricted Hartree‐Fock wavefunction reveal that there are three pairs of opposite spin density flows between two atoms, which proceed until the bonding molecular orbitals form.     

糠醛在Pt(111)表面的吸附和脱碳反应

采用广义梯度近似的密度泛函理论并结合平板模型的方法, 优化了糠醛分子在Pt(111)面的吸附模型,并探究了糠醛脱碳反应形成呋喃的机理. 结果表明: 吸附后糠醛分子环上的C―H(O)键及支链―CHO相对于金属表面倾斜上翘, 分子平面被扭曲, 易于呋喃的形成; 同时, 糠醛分子向Pt表面转移电子0.765e, 环中的大π键与Pt(111)表面的d轨道发生较强的相互作用, 使得糠醛的芳香性被破坏, 环上的碳原子呈现准sp³杂化. 此外, 对糠醛脱碳反应中的各反应步骤进行过渡态搜索, 通过比较各步骤的活化能, 得出糠醛更易先失去支链上的H形成酰基中间体(C₄H₃O)CO, 中间体继续脱碳加氢形成产物呋喃. 该过程的控速步骤为(C₄H₃O)CO^*+^*→C₄H₃O^*+CO^* (^*为吸附位),活化能为127.65 kJ·mol^-1.     

Oblate deltahedra in dimetallaboranes: geometry and chemical bonding

A new series of nonspherical and very oblate deltahedra, conveniently called the oblatocloso deltahedra, is found in dimetallaboranes among which the dirhenaboranes Cp2Re2B(n-2)H(n-2) (8 相似文献   

The mechanism of photochemical 1,3-silyl migration of allylsilane

The photochemical reaction mechanisms of model compounds for 4-tert-butyl-1-(4-phenylphenyl)-1-(1,1-dimethylallyl)silacyclohexane are investigated using a complete active space comprised of six electrons in six orbitals with the standard 6-31G(d) basis set. It is concluded that the stereochemistry in the photochemical 1,3-silyl migrations of allylsilanes has a retention preference, in accord with the Woodward-Hoffmann rules. The calculated conical intersection (CI) structure suggests a dissociation path to radicals in addition to a 1,3-shift path. The bulkiness and rigidness of a silacyclohexane moiety does not affect the stereochemistry, but a slightly elongated Si-C bond length in the CI structure would promote the dissociation path.     

Structure and properties of non-classical polymers. IV. Magnetic properties of polymers with superexchange interaction

It is shown that, for a new class of polymers, ferromagnetic superexchange may arise. The model polymers of the new class have specific electronic structure. In addition to the delocalized system of coupled π electrons, these polymers have singly occupied molecular orbitals localized within each monomer unit. The localized electrons are indirectly exchange coupled, mediated via delocalized orbitals. The resultant exchange interaction is ferromagnetically signed. It depends strongly on the energy gap of the delocalized π-electron system. The suggested model is close to the superexchange of some rare earth magnetics where magnetic f electrons interact indirectly due to delocalized s electron system. The theory of Ruderman, Kittel, Kasuya and Yosida is used in the quantitative treatment of the exchange interaction.     

Fe2S2Cl4^2^-电子结构的从头计算

从头计算了FeS2Cl4二价负离子,证实了Fe3d为主的分子轨道不处于前沿地位,而是属于S和Cl孤对能级原子布居数表明铁原子是4s电子的强给予体,3d电子的弱接受体,但是硫和氯原子都是P电子接受体.     

Geometry of simple molecules: nonbonded interactions, not bonding orbitals, and primarily determine observed geometries.

The forces responsible for the observed geometries of the YX(3) (Y = N or P; X = H, F, or Cl) molecules were studied through ab initio computations at the HF-SCF/6-31G level. The calculated molecular orbitals were grouped as contributing primarily to (a) the covalent bonds, (b) the terminal atom nonbonding electrons (for X = F or Cl), and (c) the central atom nonbonding electrons. This grouping was accomplished through 3-D plotting and an atomic population analysis of the molecular orbitals. The molecules were then moved through a X-Y-X angular range from 90 degrees to 119 degrees, in four or five degree increments. Single-point calculations were done at each increment, so as to quantify the energy changes in the molecular orbital groups as a function of geometry. These calculations show that the nonbonding electrons are much more sensitive to geometry change than are the bonding orbitals, particularly in the trihalide compounds. The molecular orbitals representing the nonbonding electrons on the terminal atoms (both valence and core electrons) contribute to the spreading forces, as they favor a wider X-Y-X angle. The contracting forces, which favor a smaller X-Y-X angle, consist of the orbitals comprising the nonbonding electrons on the central atom (again, both valence and core electrons). The observed geometry is seen as the balance point between these two sets of forces. A simple interaction-distance model of spreading and contracting forces supports this hypothesis. Highly linear trends are obtained for both the nitrogen trihalides (R(2) = 0.981) and phosphorus trihalides (R(2) = 0.992) when the opposing forces are plotted against each other. These results suggest that a revision of the popular conceptual models (hybridization and VSEPR) of molecular geometry might be appropriate.     

过渡金属异核原子簇化学键研究 1: Ⅷ-Ⅷ, ⅥB-Ⅷ族双金属原子簇电子结构研究

本文对18个Ⅷ族双金属四面体簇和16个ⅥB-Ⅷ异金属四核簇进行了量子化学研究, 用DV-Xα方法讨论了它们的化学键、电荷转移、能级态密度。计算结果表明: Ⅷ族四面体簇需36个金属电子, 其中12个形成6个金属簇骼轨道, 24个与配体成键; ⅥB-Ⅷ异金属簇核中, 因两金属能带、电负性差异, ⅥB原子易向Ⅷ原子转移电荷, 环戊二烯基配体促进这一过程; 异金属簇能级总价带比单金属簇收缩, 而d能带比单金属簇展宽。