Templating effect of carbon nanoforms on highly cross‐linked imidazolium network: Catalytic activity of the resulting hybrids with Pd nanoparticles

Two different carbon nanoforms (CNFs), namely multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and carbon nanohorns (CNHs), have been chosen as support for the direct polymerization of a bis‐vinylimidazolium salt. Transmission electron microscopy analyses revealed a templating effect of the CNFs on the growth of the polymeric network, which perfectly covers their whole surfaces creating a cylindrical or spherical coating for MWCNTs and CNHs, respectively. Subsequently, the CNFs‐polyimidazolium have been used as stabilizers for Pd nanoparticles (Pd NPs), and the obtained materials have been characterized by means of analytical and spectroscopic techniques and then employed as easily recoverable and recyclable catalysts for Suzuki and Heck reactions. Quantitative conversions have been obtained in almost all the explored reactions, even employing low loading of catalyst (down to 0.007 mol%). Suzuki reactions were carried out in pure water under aerobic conditions. Both materials showed excellent activity and recyclability for the investigated C‐C coupling reactions, with the CNHs‐based material resulting slightly more active than the MWCNTs‐based one due to a higher superficial exposure of Pd NPs.     

Study of the formamide–methanol dimer with ab initio and density functional theory methods

For the first time, the structures and energies for the hydrogen bonding of a 1:1 complex formed between formamide and methanol molecules have been computed with various pure and hybrid density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio methods at varied basis set levels from 6‐31g to 6‐31+g(d,p). Five reasonable geometries on the potential energy surface of methanol and formamide system are considered and their relative stability is discussed. The infrared (IR) spectrum frequencies, IR intensities, and vibrational frequency shifts are reported. From the systematic studies, it is found that all the DFT methods selected here correctly compute the dimerization energies and geometries, with the B3P86 method predicting the hydrogen bond lengths relatively shorter and BPW91 yielding the interaction energies relatively lower. Finally, the solvent effects on the geometries of the formamide–methanol complexes have also been investigated using self‐consistent reaction field (SCRF) calculations with five different DFT methods at the 6‐31+g(d,p) basis set level. The results indicate that the polarity of the solvent has played an important role on the structures and relative stabilities of different isomers. Moreover, the basis set superposition error correction is critical to the interaction energies in the polar solvents. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2004     

Individualized p‐Doped Carbon Nanohorns

A facile approach to individualize spherically aggregated pristine carbon nanohorns (pr‐CNHs) was established. Specifically, we found that treatment of pr‐CNHs with chlorosulfonic acid generates positively charged polarized species, which disintegrate toward individualized carbon nanohorns (in‐CNHs). Interestingly, the isolated in‐CNHs were revealed to be p‐doped owing to the adsorption of chlorosulfonate units. The findings were confirmed by data derived from high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging, Raman and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy, and additionally supported by theoretical calculations and thermogravimetry.     

Investigate oxoazolidine-2,4-dione based eutectic mixture via DFT calculations and SAR

In this work, DFT calculations for the designed eutectic mixtures (EMs) using oxoazolidine 2,4-dione (OZD) and zinc chloride (ZnCl2) are done. The interaction between the hydrogen bond donor and hydrogen bond acceptor at atomic level to get EMs are studied using DFT calculations. At room temperature, the stability of these various systems have been investigated using thermodynamic values or parameters such as enthalpy, free energy and others. DFT calculations is used to investigate the possibility of forming the systems (EMs). Further, the impact of varying the temperature on each system was also investigated (323K, 348K). Various other thermodynamic parameters are studied like dipole moment, hardness, chemical potential of the systems (individual molecules and EMs) at different temperatures. The results of the calculations showed that O1Z4 and O4Z1 have maximum dipole moment having values 8.1291, 9.8801 respectively, indicating maximum polarizability. Change in free energy for O1Z4 is least and was found to be ?37.2496 kcal/ mol. Further on changing the temperature, the parameters do not show much variation. Additionally, we have analyzed structure activity relationship (SAR) method to understand the physico-chemical properties of designed EMs and predict their regression and correlation to optimized energy. From the calculated values of pOE model, the value of r² is 0.9995 confirms the validity of the equation obtained. The results of this study suggest a link between the structures that have been utilized to describe the intermolecular interaction between the hydrogen bond donor and acceptor, as well as the stability of the EMs.     

Carbonate adsorption on goethite in competition with phosphate

Competitive interaction of carbonate and phosphate on goethite has been studied quantitatively. Both anions are omnipresent in soils, sediments, and other natural systems. The PO4-CO3 interaction has been studied in binary goethite systems containing 0-0.5 M (bi)carbonate, showing the change in the phosphate concentration as a function of pH, goethite concentration, and carbonate loading. In addition, single ion systems have been used to study carbonate adsorption as a function of pH and initial (H)CO3 concentration. The experimental data have been described with the charge distribution (CD) model. The charge distributions of the inner-sphere surface complexes of phosphate and carbonate have been calculated separately using the equilibrium geometries of the surface complexes, which have been optimized with molecular orbital calculations applying density functional theory (MO/DFT). In the CD modeling, we rely for phosphate on recent parameters from the literature. For carbonate, the surface speciation and affinity constants have been found by modeling the competitive effect of CO3 on the phosphate concentration in CO3-PO4 systems. The CO3 constants obtained can also predict the carbonate adsorption in the absence of phosphate very well. A combination of inner- and outer-sphere CO3 complexation is found. The carbonate adsorption is dominated by a bidentate inner-sphere complex, (FeO)2CO. This binuclear bidentate complex can be present in two different geometries that may have a different IR behavior. At a high PO(4) and CO3 loading and a high Na+ concentration, the inner-sphere carbonate complex interacts with a Na+ ion, probably in an outer-sphere fashion. The Na+ binding constant obtained is representative of Na-carbonate complexation in solution. Outer-sphere complex formation is found to be unimportant. The binding constant is comparable with the outer-sphere complexation constants of, e.g., SO(2-)4 and SeO(2-)4.     

HOCl…HCOCl复合物的结构和电子性质

在DFT-B3LYP/6-311++G**水平上求得HOCl+HCOCl复合物势能面上的四种稳定构型(S1,S2,S3和S4).其中,在复合物S1和S3中,HOCl单体的5H原子作为质子供体,与HCOCl单体中作为质子受体的10原子相互作用,形成红移氢键复合物;在复合物S4中,HOCl单体的7Cl原子作为质子供体,与HCOCl单体中作为质子受体的IO原子相互作用,形成红移卤键复合物;而在复合物S2中,同时存在2C-3H…6O蓝移氢键和4Cl…5O相互作用.在MP2/6-311++G**水平上计算的单体间的相互作用能考虑了基组重叠误差(BSSE)和零点振动能(ZPVE)校正,其值在-5.05与-14.76 kJ·mol-1之间.采用自然键轨道理论(NBO)对两种单体间相互作用的本质进行了考查,并通过分子中原子理论(AIM)分析了复合物中氢键和卤键键鞍点处的电子密度拓扑性质.     

Geometries,vibrational frequencies,and excitation energies of a series of fluorine‐substituted carbenes,FCX (X = H,F, Cl,Br, and I): A high‐level multireference configuration interaction study

High‐level calculations using internally contracted multireference configuration interaction including Davidson correction (icMRCI+Q) method have been carried out for the ground singlet states, the first excited states, and the lowest triplet states of a series of fluorine‐substituted carbenes FCX (X = H, F, Cl, Br, and I). Equilibrium geometries and vibrational frequencies of the three electronic states, adiabatic transition energy of the first excited singlet state, as well as the ground singlet—lowest triplet energy gap (S‐T gap) of each of FCX carbenes have been obtained. Effects of the basis set of icMRCI+Q calculation on the geometries and energies have been investigated. In addition, various corrections, including the scalar relativistic effect, spin‐orbit coupling, and core‐valence correlation, have been studied in calculating the transition energies and the S‐T gaps, especially for heavy‐atom carbenes. This results have been compared with previous calculations using a variety of methods. Our icMRCI+Q results are in very good agreement with the high‐resolution laser‐based spectroscopic results where available. Some structure and spectroscopic constants of the fluorine‐substituted carbenes which are void in the literature have been provided with consistent high‐level calculations. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Interpolating DFT Data for 15D Modeling of Methane Dissociation on an fcc Metal

Detailed simulation of reactions occurring on and with the surfaces of crystalline materials usually require a continuous representation of the potential energy surface that describes the adsorbate–surface interaction. Only a few techniques are available to describe interactions with polyatomic adsorbates that respect all of the symmetries of the interactions. The modified Shepard interpolation has recently been reformulated to ensure symmetries are rigorously imposed. In this work, the modified Shepard interpolation is used to construct a 15D potential energy surface for the reaction of methane with the {100} surface of a face‐centered cubic metal, in the Born‐‐Oppenheimer static surface (BOSS) approximation. The energy of the system is calculated using density functional theory (DFT), and the geometries around which the potential is expanded are selected by quasi‐classical trajectory calculations. The energy of the resulting continuous potential energy surface exactly matched the DFT energy at these points; there is no fitting error. It is demonstrated that the classical reaction probability converges with a reasonable number of interpolation points for this 15D system.     

Molecular design of corrole‐based D‐π‐A sensitizers for dye‐sensitized solar cell applications

First principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) have been performed to design a new set of donor‐corrole‐bridge‐acceptor type systems based on the gallium corroles for dye‐sensitized solar cell applications. The design strategy for these systems is based on the benchmark studies done on the experimentally tested aluminum, gallium, and tin metallocorroles. Unfortunately, corrole analogues display poor light to current conversion efficiencies in spite of their desirable photophysical properties. Thus, improving the efficiency of corrole analogues has become a major challenge and ways to identify solutions to this is of outstanding fundamental importance. This study shows the lack of charge directionality toward anchoring group as plausible reason for the poor efficiencies of reported corrole systems, which enabled us to fine‐tune the electronic and optical properties of new D‐π‐A type systems, COR1‐COR4. The molecular geometries, electronic structure, and binding orientation of these systems on TiO₂ surface were investigated using DFT, TD‐DFT, and PBC methods. When compared with the reported corroles, COR1‐COR4 have a smaller band gaps, red‐shifted absorption spectra with higher extinction coefficients (10⁵ M^?1 cm^?1) and improved nonlinear optical properties. Importantly, results revealed that these dyes bind with two‐arm mode to TiO₂ surface and the density of states of the dye@TiO₂ elucidate strong coupling between the dyes and TiO₂ surface. We anticipate that the unique photophysical properties of these sensitizers will trigger the experimental efforts to yield a new generation of sensitizers based on corrole macrocyle. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Structures and Electronic Properties of HOCl···HCOCl Complexes

B3LYP/6-311++G** and MP2/6-311++G** calculations were used to analyze the interaction between hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and formyl chloride (HCOCl). The results showed that there were four equilibrium geometries (S1, S2, S3, and S4) optimized at B3LYP/6-311++G** level, and all the equilibrium geometries were confirmed to be in stable states by analytical frequency calculations. Complexes S1 and S3 use the 5H atom of HOCl as proton donor and the terminal 1O atom of HCOCl as acceptor to form red shift hydrogen bond systems. However, the blue-shifted hydrogen bond (2C-3H···6O) coexists with 4Cl···5O interaction in structures S2. As for S4, it uses the 7Cl atom of HOCl as proton donor and the terminal 1O atom of HCOCl as acceptor to form red shift halogen bond system. Interaction energies between monomers in the four complexes corrected with basis set superposition error (BSSE) and zero-point vibrational energy (ZPVE) lie in the range from −5.05 to −14.76 kJ·mol⁻¹ at MP2/6-311++G** level. The natural bond orbital (NBO) and atoms in molecules (AIM) theories have also been applied to explain the structures and the properties of the complexes.     

Exploring the (Very Flat) Potential Energy Landscape of R−Br⋅⋅⋅π Interactions with Accurate CCSD(T) and SAPT Techniques

Halogen bonds involving an aromatic moiety as an acceptor, otherwise known as R?X???π interactions, have increasingly been recognized as being important in materials and in protein–ligand complexes. These types of interactions have been the subject of many recent investigations, but little is known about the ways in which the strengths of R?X???π interactions vary as a function of the relative geometries of the interacting pairs. Here we use the accurate CCSD(T) and SAPT2+3δMP2 methods to investigate the potential energy landscapes for systems of HBr, HCCBr, and NCBr complexed with benzene. It is found that only the separation between the complexed molecules have a strong effect on interaction strength while other geometric parameters, such as tilting and shifting R?Br???π donor relative to the benzene plane, affect these interactions only mildly. Importantly, it is found that the C_6v (T‐shaped) configuration is not the global minimum for any of the dimers investigated.     

Density Functional Theory Study on Hydrogen Bonding Interaction of Catechin-(H2O)n

Density functional theory B3LYP method with 6‐31G* basis set has been used to optimize the geometries of the catechin, water and catechin‐(H₂O)_n complexes. The vibrational frequencies have been studied at the same level to analyze these complexes. Six and eleven stable structures for the catechin‐H₂O and catechin‐(H₂O)₂ have been found, respectively. Theories of atoms in molecules (AIM) and natural bond orbital (NBO) have been utilized to investigate the hydrogen bonds involved in all the systems. The interaction energies of all the complexes corrected by basis set superposition error, are from ?13.27 to ?83.56 kJ/mol. All calculations also indicate that there are strong hydrogen‐bonding interactions in catechin‐water complexes. The strong hydrogen‐bonding contributes to the interaction energies dominantly. The O–H stretching motions in all the complexes are red‐shifted relative to that of the monomer.     

The interaction between atoms of Au and Cu with clean Si(1 1 1) surface: A study combining synchrotron radiation grazing incidence X-ray fluorescence analysis and theoretical calculations

In order to evaluate the interactions between Au/Cu atoms and clean Si(1 1 1) surface, we used synchrotron radiation grazing incidence X-ray fluorescence analysis and theoretical calculations. Optimized geometries and energies on different adsorption sites indicate that the binding energies at different adsorption sites are high, suggesting a strong interaction between metal atom and silicon surface. The Au atom showed higher interaction than Cu atom. The theoretical and experimental data showed good agreement.     

Density functional theory studies on the structure,spectra (FT-IR,FT-Raman,and UV) and first order molecular hyperpolarizability of 2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-N-(2-chloro-benzyl)-benzaldehyde-imine: Comparison to experimental data

The infrared and Raman spectra of 2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-N-(2-chloro-benzyl)-benzaldehyde-imine (HMCBI) have been recorded and analyzed. Density functional calculations at B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level were carried out to study the equilibrium geometries and vibrational spectra of HMCBI. The calculations revealed that the optimized geometry closely resembled the experimental XRD data. The calculated vibrational spectra were analyzed on the basis of the potential energy distribution (PED) of each vibrational mode, which allowed us to obtain a quantitative as well as qualitative interpretation of IR and Raman spectra. The ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shifts of the molecule in the ground state were calculated by Gauge independent atomic orbital (GIAO) method. Information about size, shape, charge density distribution and site of chemical reactivity of the molecules has been obtained by mapping electron density isosurface with electrostatic potential surface. Based on optimized ground state geometries, the NBO analysis has been done to study donor–acceptor (bond–antibond) interactions. The TD-DFT method has been used to calculate energies, oscillator strengths of electronic singlet–singlet transitions and the absorption wavelengths. Solvent effects were considered using the polarizable continuum model (PCM). Good consistency is found between the calculated results and experimental data for the electronic absorption. The calculated first hyperpolarizability may be attractive for further studies on non-linear optical properties of materials.     

Theoretical modeling of the heme group with a hybrid QM/MM method

The quality of the results obtained in calculations with the hybrid QM/MM method IMOMM on systems where the heme group is partitioned in QM and MM regions is evaluated through the performance of calculations on the 4‐coordinate [Fe(P)] (P = porphyrin), the 5‐coordinate [Fe(P)(1−(Me)Im)] (Im = imidazole) and the 6‐coordinate [Fe(P)(1−(Me)Im)(O₂)] systems. The results are compared with those obtained from much more expensive pure quantum mechanics calculations on model systems. Three different properties are analyzed—namely, the optimized geometries, the binding energies of the axial ligands to the heme group, and the energy cost of the biochemically relevant out‐of‐plane displacement of the iron atom. Agreement is especially good in the case of optimized geometries and energy cost of out‐of‐plane displacements, with larger discrepancies in the case of binding energies. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 21: 282–294, 2000     

Effect of the π Bridge and Acceptor on Intramolecular Charge Transfer in Push–Pull Cationic Chromophores: An Ultrafast Spectroscopic and TD‐DFT Computational Study

Three (donor–π–acceptor)⁺ systems with a methyl pyridinium or quinolinium as the electron‐deficient group, a dimethyl amino as the electron‐donor group, and an ethylene or butadiene group as the spacer have been investigated in a joint spectroscopic and TD‐DFT computational study. A negative solvatochromism has been revealed in the absorption spectra, which implies a solution color change, and interpreted by considering the variation in the permanent dipole moment modulus and orientation upon photoexcitation. The fluorescence efficiency decreases upon increasing solvent polarity, in agreement with the excited‐state optimized geometries (planar in low‐polarity media and twisted in high‐polarity media). Femtosecond transient absorption has revealed the occurrence of a fast photoinduced intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) and the molecular factors that determine an efficient ICT. Considering the crucial role of the ICT in tuning the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties, these compounds can be considered promising NLO materials.     

乙烯、乙炔和苯与氨基锂间的π型锂键相互作用

分别在DFT-B3LYP和MP2/6-311++G**水平上求得乙烯、乙炔和苯与氨基锂锂键复合物势能面上的3个几何构型. 频率分析表明,3个构型均为稳定构型. 计算结果表明,形成锂键复合物后,质子供体N(2)- Li(4)的键长明显增大,且其伸缩振动的频率发生了不同程度的红移. 分别在乙烯…氨基锂、乙炔…氨基锂和苯…氨基锂三种复合物中,经MP2/6-311++G**水平计算的同时含基组重叠误差(BSSE)和零点振动能校正的单体间锂键相互作用能分别为-26.04、-24.86 和 -30.02 kJ·mol-1. 自然键轨道理论（NBO）分析表明单体间的弱相互作用属于π-s型锂键.     

Basis sets for the evaluation of van der Waals complex interaction energies: Ne–N2 intermolecular potential and microwave spectrum

In order to obtain efficient basis sets for the evaluation of van der Waals complex intermolecular potentials, we carry out systematic basis set studies. For this, interaction energies at representative geometries on the potential energy surfaces are evaluated using the CCSD(T) correlation method and large polarized LPol‐n and augmented polarization‐consistent aug‐pc‐2 basis sets extended with different sets of midbond functions. On the basis of the root mean square errors calculated with respect to the values for the most accurate potentials available, basis sets are selected for fitting the corresponding interaction energies and getting analytical potentials. In this work, we study the Ne–N₂ van der Waals complex and after the above procedure, the aug‐pc‐2–3321 and the LPol‐ds‐33221 basis set results are fitted. The obtained potentials are characterized by T‐shaped global minima at distances between the Ne atom and the N₂ center of mass of 3.39 Å, with interaction energies of ?49.36 cm^?1 for the aug‐pc‐2–3321 surface and ?50.28 cm^?1 for the LPol‐ds‐33221 surface. Both sets of results are in excellent agreement with the reference surface. To check the potentials further microwave transition frequencies are calculated that agree well with the experimental and the aV5Z‐33221 values. The success of this study suggests that it is feasible to carry out similar accurate calculations of interaction energies and ro‐vibrational spectra at reduced cost for larger complexes than has been possible hitherto. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.