An Ab Initio Study of C2H2.H2, C2H2.N2, and C2H2.Ar Complexes

Ab initio calculations at the post Hartree–Fock level were performed on complexes of acetylene with hydrogen, nitrogen, and argon. Total energies, optimum geometries, and binding energies were calculated, using the 6-311G** and the 6-31+G(2df,2pd) basis sets. Calculations showed the complexes to be more stable than the separate entities, with the exception of the acetylene–hydrogen complex.     

A shock-tube study of the kinetics of reaction of hydroxyl radicals with H2, CO,CH4, CF3H,C2H4, and C2H6

Concentration-time profiles have been measured for hydroxyl radicals generated by the shock-tube decomposition of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a variety of additives. At temperatures close to 1300°K the rate constants for the reaction are found to be in the ratio 0.18:0.19:0.59:1.00:2.33:2.88 for the additives CO:CF₃H:H₂:CH₄:C₂H₄:C₂H₆, respectively.     

Proton n.m.r. spin-tickling studies of 13C-labeled compounds. The correlation of J(C,H) and J(H,H)

A tabulation has been compiled for twenty ¹³C? H coupling constants of various carboxylic acids and includes ²J(C,H), ³J(C,H) and ⁴J(C,H) values of olefins (both cis and trans); ³J(C,H), ⁴J(C,H) and ⁵J(C,H) values of aromatics; ³J(C,H) and ⁴J(C,H) values of acetylenes; and ²J(C,H) and ³J(C,H) values of rigid aliphatics. This tabulation has been completed in the present study by the spin-tickling proton n.m.r. study of ¹³C-carboxyl-endo-1,2,3,4,7,7-hexachloronorbornene-5-carboxylic acid, which has established that the ²J(C,H) value is negative and the ³J(C,H) values (both cis and trans) are positive in this system. A plot of these twenty J(C,H) values vs the corresponding J(H,H) values of geometrically equivalent model systems (where there is a proton in place of a carboxyl group) gives a correlation coefficient of 0·975 (with a slope of 0·62), indicating that carbon–proton and proton–proton couplings operate by similar mechanisms throughout this broad series of structural types.     

Biferrocenium tetrabromoferrate, [(C5H5)Fe(C5H4)- (C5H4)Fe(C5H5)]FeBr4. The X-ray structural characterization of a mixed-valence compound

Biferrocenium tetrabromoferrate, [(C₅H₅)Fe(C₅H₄)-(C₅H₄)Fe(C₅H₅)]FeBr₄ (1) obtained as a by-product in the synthesis of biferrocenium trihalide salts, crystallizes in the noncentrosymmetric orthorhombic space group, P2₁2₁2₁: (at 296 K) a 7.492(2), b 9.903 (2), c 31.604(9) Å, V 2345(1) ų, and Z = 4. The cation, similar to other structurally characterized biferrocenium salts, adopts a trans-configuration, but, in contrast, possesses no crystallographically imposed symmetry relating the two ferrocenyl environments. Different average Fe-ring distances at the two environments: Fe(1), 2.02(2) and Fe(2), 2.08(2) Å are typical of iron(II) and iron(III) states, respectively, indicating the presence of trapped oxidation states. Interionic contacts are both shorter and more numerous for the iron(III) ferrocenyl fragment than for the iron(II) fragment. Both ferrocenyl units have non-eclipsed ring configurations, with a staggering angle of 6.5(3)° at Fe(1) and 23.5(3)° at Fe(2). The FeBr₄⁻ counterion is tetrahedral and ordered.     

Quantum-chemical study of silacyclohexanes C5H10SiHCN, C5H10SiH(t-Bu), C5H10Si(t-Bu)CN, and C5H10SiHF

By quantum-chemical calculations at the M06-2X/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory geometrical parameters, dipole moments, polarizabilities, first hyperpolarizabilities and relative energies of the axial and equatorial conformers in gaseous phase were determined for 1-cyano-1-silacyclohexane, 1-tert-butyl-1-silacyclohexane, 1-tert-butyl-1-cyano-1-silacyclohexane, and 1-fluoro-1-silacyclohexane. For the cyano group and fluorine atom the axial position is more preferable whereas for tert-butyl group, equatorial one. Polarizabilities of conformers are similar but optical anisotropy of equatorial conformers of C₅H₁₀SiHCN and C₅H₁₀SiH(t-Bu) molecules is much larger than that of axial conformers. Upon substitution in nitriles of C¹ atom by Si atom the hyperpolarizability is many times increased.     

Ionization efficiencies of C3H6, C4H8, C6H12, C2H6O,and C3H8O isomers

Ionization efficiencies of 14 organic compounds have been measured in the wavelength region from 105 to 134nm using an ionization chamber. The compounds examined are cyclopropane, propylene, l-butene, isobutene, cis-and trans-2-butenes, cyclohexane, 1-hexane, tetramethylethylene, ethyl alcohol, dimethyl ether, n-, and iso-propyl alcohol, and ethyl methyl ether. The ionization efficiencies of cyclopropane and cyclohexane monotonically increase with increasing photon energy, but those for the others show a peak or a shoulder in the wavelength region of the present work.     

H. C. Brown

“As mentioned below, I had rough times and frustating moments during my first year at Purdue. However, nothing has been more frustating than the fact that the Nobel Committee has kept mistreating H. C. Brown. While there can be chemists who are worthy of all prizes except Nobel Prize, H. C. Brown is definitely not one of them.”     

Rotational spectrum and carbon-13 hyperfine structure of the C3H, C5H, C6H, and C7H radicals

By means of Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy of a supersonic molecular beam, we have detected the singly substituted carbon-13 isotopic species of C(5)H, C(6)H, and C(7)H. Hyperfine structure in the rotational transitions of the lowest-energy fine structure component ((2)Pi(12) for C(5)H and C(7)H, and (2)Pi(32) for C(6)H) of each species was measured between 6 and 22 GHz, and precise rotational, centrifugal distortion, Lambda-doubling, and (13)C hyperfine coupling constants were determined. In addition, resolved hyperfine structure in the lowest rotational transition (J = 32-->12) of the three (13)C isotopic species of C(3)H was measured by the same technique. By combining the centimeter-wave measurements here with previous millimeter-wave data, a complete set of (13)C hyperfine coupling constants were derived to high precision for each isotopic species. Experimental structures (r(0)) have been determined for C(5)H and the two longer carbon-chain radicals, and these are found to be in good agreement with the predictions of high-level coupled-cluster calculations. C(3)H, C(5)H, and C(7)H exhibit a clear alternation in the magnitude and sign of the (13)C hyperfine coupling constants along the carbon-chain backbone. Because the electron spin density is nominally zero at the central carbon atom of C(3)H, C(5)H, and C(7)H, and at alternating sets of carbon atoms of C(5)H and C(7)H, owing to spin polarization, almost all of the (13)C coupling constants at these atoms are small in magnitude and negative in sign. Spin-polarization effects are known to be important for the Fermi-contact (b(F)) term, but prior to the work here they have generally been neglected for the hyperfine terms a, c, and d.     

Electrosynthesis of Rh2(dpf)4(R) where dpf = N,N'-diphenylformamidinate anion and R = CH3, C2H5, C3H7, C4H9 or C5H11

The electrosynthesis of Rh(2)(dpf)(4)(R) where dpf is the N,N'-diphenylformamidinate anion and R = CH(3), C(2)H(5), C(3)H(7), C(4)H(9) or C(5)H(11) was carried out in THF containing 0.2 M tetra-n-butylammonium perchlorate (TBAP) and one of several alkyl iodides represented as RI. The initial step in the reaction involved a one-electron reduction of the Rh(2)(4+) unit in Rh(2)(dpf)(4) to its Rh(2)(3+) form followed by a homogeneous reaction involving electrogenerated [Rh(2)(dpf)(4)](-) and the alkyl iodide in solution to give Rh(2)(dpf)(4)(R). The homogeneously generated Rh(2)(5+) product was then immediately reduced by a second electron at the potential where [Rh(2)(dpf)(4)(R)](-) is generated, giving [Rh(2)(dpf)(4)(R)](-) which contains a Rh(2)(4+) center as a final product of an electrochemical ECE mechanism. The electrosynthesized [Rh(2)(dpf)(4)(CH(3))](-) derivative could be reoxidized to Rh(2)(dpf)(4)(CH(3)) on the reverse potential sweep and both forms of the CH(3) bonded derivative were in situ characterized by cyclic voltammetry combined with UV-visible and/or ESR spectroscopy. The reversible Rh(2)(4+/3+) process of Rh(2)(dpf)(4) is located at E(1/2) = -1.11 V in THF, 0.2 M TBAP while the electrogenerated Rh(2)(dpf)(4)(R) products are substantially easier to reduce, with E(p) values for the Rh(2)(5+/4+) couples ranging from -0.50 to -0.54 V vs. SCE depending upon the specific R group.     

Ab initio kinetics for the unimolecular reaction C6H5OH --> CO + C5H6

The unimolecular decomposition of C(6)H(5)OH on its singlet-state potential energy surface has been studied at the G2M//B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level of theory. The result shows that the most favorable reaction channel involves the isomerization and decomposition of phenol via 2,4-cyclohexadienone and other low-lying isomers prior to the fragmentation process, producing cyclo-C(5)H(6) + CO as major products, supporting the earlier assumption of the important role of the 2,4-cyclohexadienone intermediate. The rate constant predicted by the microcanonical RRKM theory in the temperature range 800-2000 K at 1 Torr--100 atm of Ar pressure for CO production agrees very well with available experimental data in the temperature range studied. The rate constants for the production of CO and the H atom by O-H dissociation at atmospheric Ar pressure can be represented by k(CO) = 8.62 x 10(15) T(-0.61) exp(-37,300/T) s(-1) and k(H) = 1.01 x 10(71) T(-15.92) exp(-62,800/T) s(-1). The latter process is strongly P-dependent above 1000 K; its high- and low-pressure limits are given.     

Stabilization Studies on Divalent Five‐Membered Rings C4H4C,C4H4Si,C4H4Ge,C4H4Sn,and C4H4Pb

Energy differences, ΔX_S‐t (X = E, H and G) (ΔX_S‐t = X_(singlet)‐X_(triplet)) between singlet (s) and triplet (t) states are calculated at B3LYP/6‐311++G (3df,2p). The DFT calculations show that the triplet state of C₄H₄C is a ground state with planar conformer respect to its corresponding nonplanar singlet state. Both singlet and triplet states of C₄H₄M (M = Si, Ge, Sn and Pb) have a planar conformer with the singlet ground state. Four isodesmic reactions are presented for determining the stability energies, SE. NICS calculations are carried out for C₄H₄M to determine the aromatic character.     

Accurate ab initio predictions of ionization energies of hydrocarbon radicals: CH2, CH3, C2H, C2H3, C2H5, C3H3, and C3H5

The ionization energies for methylene (CH2), methyl (CH3), ethynyl (C2H), vinyl (C2H3), ethyl (C2H5), propargyl (C3H3), and allyl (C3H5) radicals have been calculated by the wave-function-based ab initio CCSD(T)/CBS approach, which involves the approximation to the complete basis set (CBS) limit at the coupled-cluster level with single and double excitations plus a quasiperturbative triple excitation [CCSD(T)]. When it is appropriate, the zero-point vibrational energy correction, the core-valence electronic correction, the scalar relativistic effect correction, the diagonal Born-Oppenheimer correction, and the high-order correlation correction have also been made in these calculations. The comparison between the computed ionization energy (IE) values and the highly precise experimental IE values determined in previous pulsed field ionization-photoelectron (PFI-PE) studies indicates that the CCSD(T)/CBS method is capable of providing accurate IE predictions for these hydrocarbon radicals achieving error limits well within +/-10 meV. The benchmarking of the CCSD(T)/CBS IE predictions by the PFI-PE experimental results also lends strong support for the conclusion that the CCSD(T)/CBS approach with high-level energy corrections can serve as a valuable alternative for reliable IE determination of radicals, particularly for those radicals with very unfavorable Franck-Condon factors for photoionization transitions near their ionization thresholds.     

GF Calculations for some tricyclic molecules: C3H6, C3H4, C2H4NH,C2H4O and C2H4S

We have functions expressed as antisymmetrized products of strongly orthogonal geminals have been evaluated for some three membered ring molecules. GF results are compared with previously computed SCF-MO results, obtained employing the same atomic basis. Transferability features of bonds and inner shells are shown.