Hydrogen bond strength modulates the mechanical strength of ferric-thiolate bonds in rubredoxin

It has long been recognized that hydrogen bonds formed by protein backbone amides with cysteinyl S(γ) atoms play important roles in modulating the functional and structural properties of the iron-sulfur centers in proteins. Here we use single molecule atomic force microscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and protein engineering techniques to investigate directly how the strength of N-H···S(γ) hydrogen bonds in the secondary coordination sphere affects the mechanical stability of Fe(III)-thiolate bonds of rubredoxin. Our results show that the mechanical stability of Fe(III)-thiolate bonds in rubredoxin correlates with the strength of N-H···S(γ) hydrogen bonds as reflected by the midpoint reduction potential, providing direct evidence that N-H···S(γ) hydrogen bonds play important roles in modulating the mechanical and kinetic properties of the Fe(III)-thiolate bonds of iron-sulfur proteins and corroborating the important roles of the protein environment in tuning the properties of metal-thiolate bonds.     

单笼形水分子簇中心水分子对类型关系

随机产生单笼形水分子簇(H2O)n(n=8~36),经分类统计后发现,在笼形水分子簇中,其1221,1212,2121和2112四类氢键的个数与水分子和氢键总数之间有定量关系,且1212类氢键的个数与2121类的氢键始终相等.如果笼形水分子簇中某一类氢键数已知,则它的其余三类氢键的个数也随即确定.     

Dynamics of halide ion-water hydrogen bonds in aqueous solutions: dependence on ion size and temperature

We have carried out a series of molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the dynamics of X(-)-water (X = F, Cl, Br, and I) and water-water hydrogen bonds in aqueous alkali halide solutions at room temperature and also of Cl(-)-water and water-water hydrogen bonds at seven different temperatures ranging from 238 to 318 K. The hydrogen bonds are defined by using a set of configurational criteria with respect to the anion(oxygen)-oxygen and anion(oxygen)-hydrogen distances and the anion(oxygen)-oxygen-hydrogen angle for an anion(water)-water pair. The results of the hydrogen bond dynamics are obtained for two different cutoff values for the angular criterion. In both cases, similar dynamical behavior of the hydrogen bonds is found with respect to their dependence on ion size and temperature. The fluoride ion-water hydrogen bonds are found to break at a much slower rate than water-water hydrogen bonds, while the lifetimes of chloride and bromide ion-water hydrogen bonds are found to be shorter than those of fluoride ion-water ones but still longer than water-water hydrogen bonds. The short-time dynamics of iodide ion-water hydrogen bonds is found to be slightly faster, while its long-time dynamics is found to be slightly slower than the corresponding water-water hydrogen bond dynamics. Correlations of the observed dynamics of anion(water)-water hydrogen bonds with those of rotational and translational diffusion and residence times of water molecules in ion(water) hydration shells are also discussed. With variation of temperature, the lifetimes of both Cl(-)-water and water-water hydrogen bonds are found to show Arrhenius behavior with a slightly higher activation energy for the Cl(-)-water hydrogen bonds.     

Selenium containing macrocycles:transformation between Se-N/Se-S/Se-Se bonds

Macrocycles possess potential applications in supramolecular chemistry and biosystems.Thus development of new kinds of macrocycles is of significance.Herein,novel macrocycles containing Se-Se/Se-S bonds were synthesized via transformation between selenium related dynamic covalent bonds.A monomer containing two ebselen moieties was synthesized(M1).The Se-N bonds in M1 were reduced by dithiothreitol,forming Se-S linked dimer(D1).To realize the transformation from Se-S bonds to Se-Se bonds,guest molecules were added as template,triggering the formation of Se-Se linked dimer(D2).The formation of these two new kinds of macrocycles was determined by ~1H NMR and ~(77)Se NMR,and the necessity of guest molecules was also confirmed.The introduction of ebselen moieties and Se-S bonds or Se-Se bonds into macrocycles may endow it with new responsiveness and bioactivities,as well as new types of host-guest chemistry.     

Pd-catalyzed selective addition of heteroaromatic C-H bonds to C-C triple bonds under mild conditions

Simple heteroarenes such as pyrroles and indoles undergo addition reactions to C-C triple bonds in the presence of a catalytic amount of Pd(OAc)(2) under very mild conditions, affording cis-heteroarylalkenes in most cases. The cleavage of aromatic C-H bonds is the possible rate-determining step in CH(2)Cl(2), and the addition of heteroaromatic C-H bonds to C-C triple bonds is in a trans-fashion.     

Intramolecular halogen bonds in 1,2-aryldiyne molecules: a theoretical study

Intramolecular halogen bonds have been the subject of several current experimental and theoretical studies. In this work, intramolecular halogen bonds in a series of 1,2-aryldiyne molecules were investigated using density functional theory calculations at the M06-2x level of theory. For comparison, some dimeric complexes between halogenated aryldiynes and quinolinyl compounds were also considered. The calculated interatomic distances and interaction angles of intramolecular halogen bonds compare fairly well with those determined experimentally, and the triangle motifs retain almost perfectly planar in all the studied molecules. Many of the well-known properties of conventional halogen bonds are reproduced in intramolecular halogen bonds: the interaction strength tends to increase with the enlargement of the atomic radius of halogens (I > Br > Cl); the attachment of electron-withdrawing moieties to halogens leads to much stronger intramolecular halogen bonds; the X···N (quinolinyl) interactions are stronger than the X···O (carbonyl) halogen bonds. On the basis of the shorter interatomic distances and the larger values of electron densities at the bond critical points, intramolecular halogen bonds become stronger in strength than corresponding intermolecular halogen bonds. However, these interactions have similar structural, energetic, atoms in molecules (AIM), and noncovalent interaction index (NCI) characteristics to traditional halogen bonds. Therefore, these interactions can be recognized as halogen bonds that are primarily electrostatic in nature. Particularly, the formation of intramolecular halogen bonds gives rise to the essential coplanarity of the molecules, whereas the two subunits in the dimeric complexes deviate from planarity to a large degree. In addition, a small number of crystal structures containing intramolecular halogen bonds were retrieved from the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD), to provide more insights into these interactions in crystals. This work not only will extend the knowledge of noncovalent interactions involving halogens as electrophilic centers but also could be very useful in molecular design and synthetic chemistry.     

Rational Modification of the Hierarchy of Intermolecular Interactions in Molecular Crystal Structures by Using Tunable Halogen Bonds

A family of 16 isomolecular salts (3‐XpyH)₂[MX′₄] (3‐XpyH=3‐halopyridinium; M=Co, Zn; X=(F), Cl, Br, (I); X′=Cl, Br, I) each containing rigid organic cations and tetrahedral halometallate anions has been prepared and characterized by X‐ray single crystal and/or powder diffraction. Their crystal structures reflect the competition and cooperation between non‐covalent interactions: N? H???X′? M hydrogen bonds, C? X???X′? M halogen bonds and π–π stacking. The latter are essentially unchanged in strength across the series, but both halogen bonds and hydrogen bonds are modified in strength upon changing the halogens involved. Changing the organic halogen (X) from F to I strengthens the C? X???X′? M halogen bonds, whereas an analogous change of the inorganic halogen (X′) weakens both halogen bonds and N? H???X′? M hydrogen bonds. By so tuning the strength of the putative halogen bonds from repulsive to weak to moderately strong attractive interactions, the hierarchy of the interactions has been modified rationally leading to systematic changes in crystal packing. Three classes of crystal structure are obtained. In type A (C? F???X′? M) halogen bonds are absent. The structure is directed by N? H???X′? M hydrogen bonds and π‐stacking interactions. In type B structures, involving small organic halogens (X) and large inorganic halogens (X′), long (weak) C? X???X′? M interactions are observed with type I halogen–halogen interaction geometries (C? X???X′ ≈ X???X′? M ≈155°), but hydrogen bonds still dominate. Thus, minor but quite significant perturbations from the type A structure arise. In type C, involving larger organic halogens (X) and smaller inorganic halogens (X′), stronger halogen bonds are formed with a type II halogen–halogen interaction geometry (C? X???X′ ≈180°; X???X′? M ≈110°) that is electrostatically attractive. The halogen bonds play a major role alongside hydrogen bonds in directing the type C structures, which as a result are quite different from type A and B.     

Hydrogen bond and residence dynamics of ion-water and water-water pairs in supercritical aqueous ionic solutions: dependence on ion size and density

We have carried out a series of molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the hydrogen bond and residence dynamics of X(-)-water (X=F, Cl, and I) and pairs in aqueous solutions at a temperature of 673 K. The calculations are done at six different water densities ranging from 1.0 to 0.15 g cm(-3). The hydrogen bonds are defined by using a set of configurational criteria with respect to the anion(oxygen)-oxygen and anion(oxygen)-hydrogen distances and the anion(oxygen)-oxygen-hydrogen angle for an anion(water)-water pair. The F(-)-water hydrogen bonds are found to have a longer lifetime than all other hydrogen bonds considered in the present study. The lifetime of Cl(-)-water hydrogen bonds is shorter than that of F(-)-water hydrogen bonds but longer than the lifetime of water-water hydrogen bonds. The lifetimes of I(-)-water and water-water hydrogen bonds are found to be very similar. Generally, the lifetimes of both anion-water and water-water hydrogen bonds are found to be significantly shorter than those found under ambient conditions. In addition to hydrogen bond lifetimes, we have also calculated the residence times and the orientational relaxation times of water molecules in ion(water) hydration shells and have discussed the correlations of these dynamical quantities with the observed dynamics of anion(water)-water hydrogen bonds as functions of the ion size and density of the supercritical solutions.     

H2XP…SHY复合物中磷键与硫键的理论研究

用从头算量子化学方法MP2 与CCSD(T)研究了H₂XP和SHY (X, Y=H, F, Cl, Br)分子的P与S之间形成的磷键X―P…S与硫键Y―S…P的本质与规律以及取代基X与Y对成键的影响. 计算结果表明, 硫键比磷键强, 连接在Lewis 酸上的取代基的电负性增大导致形成的磷键或硫键增强, 键能增大, 对单体的结构和性质的影响也增大; 而连接在Lewis 碱上的取代基效应则相反. 硫键键能为8.37-23.45 kJ·mol^-1, 最强的硫键结构是Y 电负性最大而X 电负性最小的HFS…PH₃, CCSD(T)计算的键能是16.04 kJ·mol^-1; 磷键键能为7.54-14.65 kJ·mol^-1, 最强的磷键结构是X 电负性最大而Y 电负性最小的H₂FP…SH₂, CCSD(T)计算的键能是12.52 kJ·mol^-1. 对磷键与硫键能量贡献较大的是交换与静电作用. 分子间超共轭lp(S)-σ^*(PX)与lp(P)-σ^*(SY)对磷键与硫键的形成起着重要作用, 它导致单体的极化, 其中硫键的极化效应较大, 从而有一定的共价特征.     

The mutual influence of ligands in transition metal bis-chelates

Electronic structure quantum chemical calculations of the Fe(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) bis-chelate series are reported. The nature of the ligand mutual influence effect on these compounds is elucidated. This effect manifests itself in polarization of metal—ligand bonds. The ligands which have highly covalent bonds with the metal form bonds of even greater covalent character in mixed complexes, whereas bonds for the other ligands become more ionic.     

Different mutual positions of double bonds in open carbon chains and corresponding information from magnetically induced current densities

Magnetically induced current densities have been extensively utilized to investigate aromaticity. However, an applied external magnetic field induces a current in all chemical bonds. The present work investigates the values and patterns of magnetically induced current densities in open hydrocarbon chains containing two or more CC double bonds, considering the three possibilities for the mutual positions of the double bonds (conjugated, isolated, and consecutive) and comparing the corresponding current patterns. The patterns for chains containing three conjugated double bonds are also compared with the patterns in the aromatic benzene ring. The study highlights different current patterns for the three categories of double-bonds arrangements. The differences can be interpreted in terms of presence or absence of electron delocalization (present only in the case of conjugated double bonds) and, for consecutive double bonds, also in terms of the mutual perpendicularity of the π orbitals of adjacent double bonds.     

The behavior of transition metal nitrido bonds towards protonation rationalized by means of localized bonding schemes and their weights

A new computational scheme is applied to rationalize the different protonation behaviors of the nitrido complexes [L'Mn(V)(N)(acac)](+), [LCr(V)(N)(acac)](+), and [LV(V)(N)(acac)](+). L and L' represent the macrocycles 1,4,7-triazacyclononane and its N-methylated derivative, respectively, and acac is the bidentate monoanion pentane-2,4-dionate. The bonds of the complexes are partitioned into bonds to be investigated and bonds of lesser interest. The investigated bonds are the transition metal nitrido bonds M(V)[triple chemical bond]N| (M = Mn, Cr, and V) and the bonds of lesser interest are located in the ligands. The ligand bonds are described by means of the strongly occupied natural bond orbitals. The electrons in the M(V)[triple chemical bond]N| nitrido bonds, however, are treated more accurately. A full configuration interaction procedure is applied in the space spanned by the strongly occupied natural bond orbitals and their corresponding antibonding orbitals. Localized bonding schemes and their weights are obtained for the d(pi)-p(pi) bonds of interest. This is achieved by representing the two-center natural bond orbitals for a d(pi)-p(pi) bond by the one-center natural hybrid orbitals localized at the bond atoms. The obtained bonding schemes are close to orthogonal valence bond structures. Their weights indicate that the nitrido nitrogen in [LV(V)(N)(acac)](+) is more easily protonated than the nitrido nitrogens in [L'Mn(V)(N)(acac)](+) and [LCr(V)(N)(acac)](+). This result is in good accord with experiment.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of the hydration of poly(vinyl methyl ether):Hydrogen bonds and quasi-hydrogen bonds

Atomistic detailed hydration structures of poly(vinyl methyl ether)(PVME) have been investigated by molecular dynamics simulations under 300 K at various concentrations. Both radial distribution functions and the distance distributions between donors and acceptors in hydrogen bonds show that the hydrogen bonds between the polymer and water are shorter by 0.005 nm than those between water molecules. The Quasi-hydrogen bonds take only 7.2% of the van der Waals interaction pairs. It was found the hydrogen bonds are not evenly distributed along the polymer chain,and there still exists a significant amount(10%) of ether oxygen atoms that are not hydrogen bonded to water at a concentration as low as 3.3%. This shows that in polymer solutions close contacts occur not only between polymer chains but also between chain segments within the polymer,which leads to inefficient contacts between ether oxygen atoms and water molecules. Variation of the quasi-hydrogen bonds with the concentration is similar to that of hydrogen bonds,but the ratio of the repeat units forming quasi-hydrogen bonds to those forming hydrogen bonds approaches 0.2. A transition was found in the demixing enthalpy at around 30% measured by dynamic testing differential scanning calorimetry(DTDSC) for aqueous solutions of a mono-dispersed low molecular weight PVME,which can be related to the transition of the fractions of hydrogen bonds and quasi-hydrogen bonds at ～27%. The transition of the fractions of hydrogen bonds and quasi-hydrogen bonds at ～27% can be used to explain the demixing enthalpy transition at 30% at a molecular scale. In addition,at the concentration of 86%,each ether oxygen atom bonded with water is assigned 1.56 water molecules on average,and 'free' water molecules emerge at the concentration of around 54%.     

由分子间氢键导致的丝素构象转变的FT-IR研究

用FT－IR研究发现，在丙烯腈与丙烯酸甲酯的共聚物（PANMA）与聚L-丙氨酸（PLAL）的共混体系中，丝素（SF）与PANMA的共混体系及SF与聚丙烯酸钠（NA）的共混体系中，含有羰基或其它极性基团的高分子与SF形成强弱不等的氢键．由于氢键的形成,使SF分子不得不调整自身的构象，从而引起其构象转变．讨论了可能的分子间氢键的结构．     

Force Constants and Bond Orders of Nitrogen Bonds

The force constants and the corresponding bond orders of nitrogen bonds have been calculated from the vibrational spectra (infrared and Raman spectra) of a great number of nitrogen compounds. Plotting the maximum bond order of stable nitrogen bonds against the sum of Pauling's electronegativities of the bonding partners (Σx) leads to one continuous curve for the N? X bonds where X represents elements of the first and the second short period of the periodic table. Furthermore, when the bonds formed between these elements are arranged in a coordinate system in such a way that the position of each bond is determined by the difference between the electronegativities of the bonding partners (Δx along the ordinate) and the sum of the electronegativities of the bonding partners (Σx along the abscissa), the bonding partners capable of forming multiple bonds all lie within a closed domain, where their position can be correlated with their polymerizability and other reactivities of the multiple bonds. Also discussed are the orders of bonds between nitrogen and some transition elements. In an appendix, the present methods used to calculate force constants and bond orders are surveyed.     

Models for incomplete nucleophilic attack on a protonated carbonyl group and electron-deficient alkenes: salts and zwitterions from 1-dimethylamino-naphthalene-8-carbaldehyde

The X-ray crystal structures of salts and zwitterionic Knoevenagel products from 1-dimethylamino-naphthalene-8-carbaldehyde show long N-C bonds between peri-groups which provide models for incomplete nucleophilic attack on a protonated carbonyl group and electron-deficient alkenes respectively. For the salts the N-C bonds lie in the range 1.625-1.638 ? with C-OH bonds intermediate in length between single and double bonds, while for the zwitterions the N-C bonds lie in the range 1.612-1.660 ?. The structural assignment of the former is supported by solid state (13)C and (15)N NMR studies on doubly isotopically-labelled material. Several zwitterions were converted to naphtha[1,8-bc]azepines by a mechanism involving the tertiary amino effect.     

A molecular simulation study of an organosilane self-assembled monolayer/SiO2 substrate interface

The bonding network of an alkylsilane self-assembled monolayer (SAM)SiO(2) substrate interface is investigated by means of canonical Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. SAMSiO(2) systems with different interfacial bonding topologies are sampled by the Metropolis MC method, and the AMBER potential with a newly developed organosilicon parameters are used to obtain an optimized structure with a given bonding topology. The underlying substrates are modeled as hydroxy-terminated (100) or (111) cristobalites. The SAMSiO(2) interface is characterized by a polysiloxane bonding network which comprises anchoring bonds and cross-linking bonds, namely, molecule-substrate and molecule-molecule Si-O-Si bonds, respectively. We show that at thermal equilibrium, the ratio of the number of anchoring bonds to cross-linking bonds decreases as a total Si-O-Si bond density increases, and that nevertheless, number of anchoring bonds always dominate over that of cross-linking bonds. Moreover we show that the total Si-O-Si bond density strongly affects the lateral ordering of the alkylsilane molecules, and that increase in the Si-O-Si bond density disorders the molecular packing. Our results imply that a lab-to-lab variation in the experimentally prepared SAMs can be attributed to different Si-O-Si bond densities at the SAMSiO(2) interface.     

Nature of Alkali- and Coinage-Metal Bonds versus Hydrogen Bonds

We have quantum chemically studied the structure and nature of alkali- and coinage-metal bonds (M-bonds) versus that of hydrogen bonds between A−M and B⁻ in archetypal [A−M⋅⋅⋅B]⁻ model systems (A, B=F, Cl and M=H, Li, Na, Cu, Ag, Au), using relativistic density functional theory at ZORA-BP86-D3/TZ2P. We find that coinage-metal bonds are stronger than alkali-metal bonds which are stronger than the corresponding hydrogen bonds. Our main purpose is to understand how and why the structure, stability and nature of such bonds are affected if the monovalent central atom H of hydrogen bonds is replaced by an isoelectronic alkali- or coinage-metal atom. To this end, we have analyzed the bonds between A−M and B⁻ using the activation strain model, quantitative Kohn-Sham molecular orbital (MO) theory, energy decomposition analysis (EDA), and Voronoi deformation density (VDD) analysis of the charge distribution.     

Recent progress in bio-based elastomers with intrinsic self-healing mechanisms - part I: Natural rubber modifications

This review is focused on recent achievements in bio-based self-healable elastomeric materials with special regard to elastomers made of natural rubber (NR) and its modified forms, including epoxidized natural rubber (ENR), oxidized natural rubber (oNR) or carbonated natural rubber (CNR). Besides natural rubber, also Eucommia ulmoides gum (EUG), which is an isomer of cis-1,4-polyisoprene, is a material of great interest to obtain bio-based self-healable elastomers. The paper attempts to describe the main classification of the most important intrinsic self-repairing mechanisms, including different types of reversible non-covalent interactions (such as hydrogen bonding, ionic interactions, metal–ligand coordination, shape-memory ability), dynamic covalent bonds (for instance Diels-Alder reversible bonds, dynamic sulfur-sulfur bonds, dynamic ester bonds, boronic-ester exchangeable bonds, dynamic imine bonds, silyl ether exchangeable bonds) and their combinations, which are found in self-healing elastomers. Furthermore, examples of NR-based elastomeric materials are provided and the potential applications proposed by researchers are also presented.     

Dynamic Diselenide Bonds: Exchange Reaction Induced by Visible Light without Catalysis

Dynamic covalent bonds are extensively employed in dynamic combinatorial chemistry. The metathesis reaction of disulfide bonds is widely used, but requires catalysis or irradiation with ultraviolet (UV) light. It was found that diselenide bonds are dynamic covalent bonds and undergo dynamic exchange reactions under mild conditions for diselenide metathesis. This reaction is induced by irradiation with visible light and stops in the dark. The exchange is assumed to proceed through a radical mechanism, and experiments with 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidin‐1‐yloxyl (TEMPO) support this assumption. Furthermore, the reaction can be conducted in different solvents, including protic solvents. Diselenide metathesis can also be used to synthesize diselenide‐containing asymmetric block copolymers. This work thus entails the use of diselenide bonds as dynamic covalent bonds, the development of a dynamic exchange reaction under mild conditions, and an extension of selenium‐related dynamic chemistry.