Understanding the stability, electronic and molecular structure of some copper(III) complexes containing alkyl and non alkyl ligands: Insights from DFT calculations

DFT calculations have been performed for some Cu(III)-alkyl complexes. Complexes 1-19 were optimized to the square planar (sq) geometry and observed no imaginary frequencies. Although formally copper adopts d⁸ configuration (Cu(III)) in all the complexes, the Natural Population Analysis (NPA) revealed that the copper actually in d¹⁰ (Cu(I)) configuration, Bond order calculation suggested that the Cu(III)-Et_trans bond gets more bond order in the presence of poor π-acidic co-ligand (probe ligand). Relatively smaller bond order was calculated for Cu(III)-Me_cis bond than Cu(III)-Et_trans bond and therefore Cu(III)-Et_trans bond is the strongest bond in all the complexes. Calculated less Chemical hardness (η) of complexes 1-19 suggested that all these complexes are less stable in nature. Energy Decomposition Analysis (EDA) revealed that the Cu(III)-Et_trans bond is relatively more stable than the Cu(III)-Me_cis and Cu(III)-L (L = co-ligand/probe ligand) bonds. And also the Cu(III)-alkyl (Cu(III)-Me_cis and Cu(III)-Et_trans) bond in complexes 1-17 is more of ionic in nature. However, Cu(III)-Et_trans bond is relatively more ionic than Cu(III)-Me_cis bond.     

Mechanism(s) of thermal decomposition of N-Nitrosoamides: A density functional theory study

The thermal decomposition of N-nitrosoamides has experimentally been demonstrated to depend on several factors, such as temperature, solvent and the substituents on the substrate. Consequently, a number of reaction mechanisms have been proposed for this process in the literature. In this work, we present a comprehensive computational investigation in which we examine the detailed reaction mechanisms for two N-nitrosoamides (with aliphatic and aromatic substituents) in two different solvents (mesitylene and methanol). It is shown that the reaction mechanism can change dramatically with the nature of the substrate and the choice of solvent. Importantly, it is found that the polar solvent stabilizes ion-pairs that are unstable in the non-polar solvent, which can play a key role in the mechanism.     

Catalytic hydrogenolysis of alkyl halides by sulfido-bridged molybdenum clusters: A density functional study

Density functional theory has been used to explore the mechanism of cleavage of H₂ at a sulfido-bridged molybdenum cluster, CpMo(μ-SH)(μ-S)(μ-S₂CH₂)MoCp. The addition occurs across a single Mo-S bond, and the disruption of the strong Mo-S π bonding in the ground state leads to a very high-lying transition state (+43 kcal mol⁻¹). Once formed, the adsorbed hydrogen migrates over the cluster via a series of hops from metal to sulphur, formally corresponding to a switch from hydridic to protic character. The low barrier (+15 kcal mol⁻¹) for migration leads to facile hydrogenolysis of coordinated substrates.     

A theoretical study on the cyclopropane adsorption onto the copper surfaces by density functional theory and quantum chemical molecular dynamics methods

We report a theoretical study on the cyclopropane adsorption onto Cu(1 1 1) surfaces by density functional theory (DFT) and quantum chemical molecular dynamics methods. The equilibrium geometry of the physisorbed species was obtained using both periodic and cluster models by DFT methods that employ Cambridge serial total energy package (CASTEP), DMol ab initio quantum chemistry software of Accelrys’ materials studio (DMol), and Amsterdam density functional (ADF) program. It was found that the adsorbate molecule was tilted towards the metal surface with one C---C bond (upwards) parallel to the surface and that the physisorption occurred via a third carbon atom pointing (downwards) towards the surface. The electronic distribution and geometrical structure of physisorbed cyclopropane were slightly deviated from its gas phase molecule. The calculated vibrational frequencies and adsorption energies are close to experimental data, confirming the reliability of our DFT results. The adsorption process was simulated using our novel tight-binding quantum chemical molecular dynamics program, ‘Colors’. The calculation results indicated that both the adsorption and desorption processes of cyclopropane took place molecularly. The electron transfer and structural properties of equilibrium position obtained by ‘Colors’ are consistent with those by the first principles DFT methods.     

Photoluminescence studies of iodobis-(tricyclohexylphosphine)copper(I) and iodobis-(tricyclohexylphosphine)copper(I) benzene solvate

Two newly prepared complexes were found to exhibit strong solid state emission behavior. The complexes are iodobis-(tricyclohexylphosphine)copper(I) and iodobis-(tricyclohexylphosphine)copper(I) benzene solvate. To understand the emission behavior of these complexes, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were employed. These calculations allowed the identification of major atomic contributions to HOMO, LUMO and LUMO+n orbitals. The excitation mechanism was found to be a combination of ligand to metal charge transfer (LMCT) and metal to ligand charge transfer (MLCT), with the dominance of the former. The emission lifetimes were also investigated and the decays of the complexes were found to be a bi-exponential in both methanol and cyclohexane.     

Stereochemical preference of nucleophillic cleavage in methyl erythrofuranosides explained by density functional theory computations

The nucleophillic substitution is a common method for preparation of saccharide derivatives. For biologically active compounds, it is desirable that the stereochemistry is under control and the amount of byproducts is limited. Therefore, we studied the S_N2 nucleophillic attacks of the azide anion on methyl 2,3-anhydro-α- and -β-l-erythrofuranoside, as well as on their epithio and epimino analogues, which are used as common intermediates in sugar chemistry. Geometry and energetics of the reactions were investigated in the gas phase and in two different solvents using the density functional theory methods. Equilibrium structures of the reactants, reaction-complexes, transition states and products were localized on the computed potential energy surfaces. According to the theory the methoxy group may suppress the substitutions at the 2-position, but detailed reaction rate is influenced by nature of the furanosides and the presence of solvent. Predicted substitution selectivity in the position 2 or 3 of the furanose sugars is in agreement with experimental data.     

Computational study of glycine–(water)3 complex by density functional method

Glycine–(water)₃ complexes have been studied by means of B3LYP density functional method using 6-311++G* basis set. In the complex considered here, the three water molecule are either attached to the carboxylic group or bridge between the amino group and carboxylic group of glycine. Four such complexes are studied. Relaxation energies, two-, three- and four-body interaction energies are obtained by applying many-body analysis to know their role in binding energy of the complex. The results are compared with recent work on glycine–(water)₃ complex with group as proton donor [A. Chaudhari, P.K. Sahu, S.L. Lee, J. Chem. Phys. 120 (2004) 170]. In the most stable structure of glycine–(water)₃ complex, the three water molecules are attached to the carboxylic group of glycine and it is 5.3 kcal/mol lower in energy than that of the most stable structure reported earlier. The three-body term from water–water–water interaction in the most stable in this work and that reported earlier is unique since the distances between the water molecules are almost same. The two-body term from water–water interaction has significant contribution to the total two-body term when the distance between water molecules is less than 3 Å.     

Alkyl group dependence of C-Si reductive eliminations from alkyl(silyl) Pt(II) complexes: a density functional study

C-Si reductive elimination from Pt(R)(SiPh₃)(PMe₃)₂ (R=Me, Pr) was theoretically studied with the density functional theory. For comparisons with the experiment, substitution of PMe₃ with diphenylacetylene was taken into account. The calculated activation barriers in the C-Si elimination step after the ligand exchange were 22.0 and 28.9 kcal mol⁻¹ for R=Me and Pr, respectively, which explains the reactivity difference reported experimentally. In order to analyze the energy difference, we optimized transition states of several model complexes, and examined the influence of the steric repulsion between R and the other ligands. Comparisons of the geometries and the barrier heights reveal that the steric repulsion and the Si-alkyl bond energy are important factors controlling the reaction rate.     

A theoretical investigation of the photo-induced intramolecular charge transfer excitation of cuprous (I) bis-phenanthroline by density functional theory

This work reported an investigation on the excited state and electronic transfer excitation of cuprous (I) bis-phenanthrouline complex by density functional theory. The intramolecular charge transfer from central metal to ligand (MLCT) during the excitation was observed. The transfer direction and degree were discussed on the basis of analyzing the Mulliken charge. The structural distortion caused by the charge transfer in the excited state was confirmed. The excited state was found having the characters similar with Cu(II) complex both in electronic and geometrical properties. The large structural distortion found between ground state and excited state could lead to a decrease in the lifetime of excited state as well as a non-radiative decay. The excitation energies and oscillator strengths of cuprous (I) bis-phenanthrouline were derived using time-dependent density functional method. The values of excitation energies are good agreement with the results of the experimental measuring.     

Mechanism of methylacetylene bisselenation catalyzed by palladium complex from density functional study

The reaction mechanism of Pd(0)-catalyzed methylacetylene bisselenation reaction is investigated by using the density functional method. The overall reaction mechanism involves the oxidative addition, insertion, and reductive elimination steps. The regioselectivity has been investigated for the methylacetylene insertion into Pd-Se bond of both cis and trans palladium complexes. It is found that the methylacetylene insertion into Pd-Se bond of the trans palladium complex using the substituted carbon atom attached to selenyl group is preferred among the four pathways of methylacetylene insertion processes. The electronic mechanisms on the methylacetylene insertion into Pd-Se bond are discussed in terms of the Frontier molecular orbital interactions. In addition, the influence of carbon monoxide on methylacetylene bisselenation was studied and found that the methylacetylene coordination and insertion into Pd-Se bond take place first generating the Pd-C bond, followed by CO insertion into the Pd-C bond.     

DFT法研究HCOOH在Pd/WC(0001)上的分解机理（英文）

作为便携式电子设备的动力源,直接甲酸燃料电池(DFAFC)具有燃料跨界范围小、电动势大、甲酸无毒、低温下功率密度大等优点,因而引起了人们的极大兴趣.DFAFC商业化的主要挑战之一是阳极电催化剂材料的高成本和低CO耐受性.阳极通常需要高负载的贵金属电催化剂(Pt或Pd)氧化甲酸(HCOOH)以获得所需的电能.完全电氧化甲酸在Pt和Pd表面上会产生强吸附的CO,从而降低了Pt或Pd催化剂的活性.Pt和Pd储量少且价格昂贵,减少Pt和Pd含量且保持催化性能的燃料电池催化剂一直是研究者的奋斗目标.本文用周期性密度泛函理论(DFT)系统地研究了WC负载的单分子层Pd(Pd/WC(0001))催化剂对甲酸的分解机理,这可为所需的反应路径设计、筛选催化剂提供指导.Trans-HCOOH通过C–H, O–H, C–O键的活化发生分解.关于吸附,确定了可能反应中间体的最稳定吸附构型.trans-HCOOH, HCOO, mHCOO, cis-COOH, trans-COOH, CO, H₂O, OH和H的吸附过程是化学吸附,而cis-HCOOH和CO₂与Pd/...     

HZSM-5催化甲苯和甲醇烷基化反应机理的密度泛函理论研究

对二甲苯(PX)是重要的有机化工原料,主要用于生产对苯二甲酸(PTA)和对苯二甲酸二甲酯(DMT), PTA和 DMT可经缩聚生产化纤、合成树脂和塑料等聚酯产品. PX主要通过甲苯歧化、二甲苯异构化或甲苯与 C9芳烃烷基转移等方式生产.由于三种二甲苯和乙苯的沸点接近,需要经过吸附分离或深冷分离才能得到高纯度的 PX,传统工艺物料循环量大,设备庞大,操作费用高.而通过甲苯和甲醇烷基化反应直接高选择性生成 PX,可大大降低成本,具有非常高的经济效益和研究价值.自1970年代以来,国内外众多科研院所对甲苯和甲醇烷基化催化剂进行了广泛研究,但催化剂选择性和稳定性仍需进一步提高.为了加深对甲苯和甲醇烷基化反应的认识,指导催化剂开发,有必要对甲苯和甲醇烷基化生成二甲苯的反应机理进行深入研究.当前甲苯和甲醇烷基化机理研究主要存在以下问题：(1)计算得到的能量多为电子能,而非自由能;(2)所采用的模型多为团簇模型,使用 ONIOM方法,对长程作用力描述不充分;(3)认为甲苯只有一种吸附状态;(4)没有考虑偕烷基化反应.本文采用周期性模型,通过密度泛函理论研究了 HZSM-5分子筛上甲苯和甲醇烷基化反应机理,通过计算熵得到了反应自由能,并考虑了偕烷基化反应.由于甲基的存在,在甲苯的吸附态中,甲基会伸向孔道的不同方向,因此我们认为甲苯有多种吸附态,而不同的吸附态会生成不同的二甲苯.结果表明,甲苯可以在对位、间位、邻位和偕位上通过协同机理或分步机理发生烷基化反应.在协同机理中,甲苯在对位、间位、邻位和偕位发生烷基化反应的自由能垒分别为167,138,139和183 kJ/mol.在分步机理中,甲醇脱水生成甲氧基的自由能垒为145 kJ/mol,是决速步骤;而甲苯和甲氧基对位、间位、邻位和偕位烷基化的自由能垒分别为127,105,106和114 kJ/mol.两种机理中 PX的生成能垒均比 MX和 OX高,与文献报道的结果不同.文献均认为, PX的生成能垒最低.一方面这可能是由于所采用模型的不同,本文采用周期性模型,能更充分考虑长程作用力的影响;另一方面可能是由于对甲苯吸附态的不同处理,我们认为甲苯有多种吸附态,不同的吸附态会生成不同的二甲苯,而文献均只考虑了一种甲苯吸附态.但是,在实验中, PX选择性最高.这可能是由于：(1) PX在 HZSM-5孔道的扩散速率比 MX和 OX高2–3个数量级;(2)甲苯和甲醇烷基化生成的 MX和OX迅速发生异构化反应生成 PX,异构化反应速率高于甲苯烷基化速率.两种机理中, C8H11+都是重要的中间物种,它可以反馈一个质子给分子筛骨架,生成二甲苯;也可以脱烷基生成甲烷和乙烯等气相产物.研究发现,甲烷的生成是由于 C8H11+物种中的一个 H质子从苯环上的碳原子转移到甲基上的碳原子造成的,计算得到的对位、间位和邻位 C8H11+生成甲烷的能垒分别为136,132和134 kJ/mol.由于十元环孔道的限制, HZSM-5孔道中很难通过甲苯歧化反应生成苯;偕烷基化生成的碳正离子有可能脱烷基生成乙烯和乙烷等产物,进而生成苯.碳正离子脱烷基反应生成了大量气相产物,造成反应液收降低.碳正离子脱烷基反应与甲醇制烯烃过程的烃池机理相一致,因此甲苯和甲醇烷基化反应也遵循烃池机理.     

Vinylidene carbonylation at a manganese-iron complex: A density functional study of mechanism

Treating the phenylvinyldene manganese complex Cp(CO)₂MnC¹C²HPh, 1, with [Fe(CO)₄] yields the binuclear μ-vinylidene complex Cp(CO)₂MnFe(μ-C¹C²HPh)(CO)₄, 2, that further isomerizes to the carbonylated product η⁴-[Cp(CO)₂MnC¹(CO)C²HPh]Fe(CO)₃, 3. In a computational study of the mechanism using a hybrid density functional method, we considered two stereoisomers for species 2 and 3 where the phenyl group at center C² is oriented in cis (E form) or trans (Z form) fashion to the Cp(CO)₂Mn unit. Isomers 2E and 2Z were calculated to be degenerate whereas the experimentally detected species 3E is 8 kcal/mol more stable than its isomer 3Z. The two-step pathway 1 → 2Z → 3E was calculated to be the lowest-energy route with the highest activation barrier at 12 kcal/mol. The activation energy of the alternative single-step pathway 1 → 3E is 19 kcal/mol. We rationalized the stabilization of the ground state of 3E and the transition states leading to or starting from isomer 2Z as conjugation effect between the Mn-CC metallaallene fragment and the co-planar phenyl ring.     

Electronic structures of 4d transition metal monoxides by density functional theory

Bond distances, dissociation energies, ionization potentials and electron affinities of 4d transition metal monoxides from YO to CdO and their positive and negative ions were studied by use of density functional methods B3LYP, BLYP, B3PW91, BPW91, B3P86, BP86, SVWN, MPW1PW91 and PBE1PBE. It was found that calculated properties are highly dependent on the functionals employed, especially for dissociation energy. For most neutral species, pure density functionals BLYP, BPW91 and BP86 have good performance in predicting dissociation energy than hybrid density functionals B3LYP, B3PW91 and B3P86. In addition, BLYP gives the largest bond distance compared with other density functional methods, while SVWN gives shortest bond distance, largest dissociation energy and electron affinity. For the ground state, the spin multiplicity of the charged species can be obtained by ± 1 of their corresponding neutral species.     

A possibility of functionalizing the dinitrogen in a Chatt complex by H2: Density functional studies

DFT calculations have been performed to explore the possibility of functionalizing the coordinated N₂ in a Chatt type complex by H₂, using some suitable organic co-catalysts in a homogeneous fashion. The calculated thermodynamic barriers further revealed that there is the possibility to produce ammonia by the reaction of a Chatt type complex with H₂ in different organic solvents. The electronic features of the various intermediates have also been analyzed.     

A density functional theory study of alkyl group migration in RMn(CO)5 complexes

The kinetics of alkyl group migration in RMn(CO)₅ complexes ( R=CH₃, C₂H₅ and C₃H₇) were studied. Isomers of CH₃Mn(CO)₅ with an agostic structure, an η¹ structure, and an η² structure were found to be local minima on the system's potential energy surface. Transition states for the inter-conversion of these species were also located. The activation free energy for this migration reaction was compared with experimental data and provides insights into the important steps in the overall reaction mechanism.     

Stable isomers for trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) pentahydrates obtained from density functional calculations

Stable isomers of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) pentahydrate clusters, TFA-(H₂O)₅, have been explored by using density functional theory calculations. As done for TFA-(H₂O)₄ (Ito, 2013), structure optimization and vibrational calculations were performed for 70 isomeric structures (68 for neutral and 2 for ion-pair species, respectively) at the B971/6–311++G(3df,3pd) level. We found that the edge-sharing bicyclic isomer is at the global minimum and that three other isomers lie energetically within 100 cm⁻¹. Two types of ion-pair species were found to be unstable by 1100 cm⁻¹ in comparison with the global minimum. The results were compared with infrared spectra observed in nitrogen matrix.     

Four-coordinate N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) copper(I) complexes with brightly luminescence properties

Three four-coordinate N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) copper(I) complexes, [Cu(Py-Im)(POP)](PF₆) (P1), [Cu(Py-BenIm)(POP)](PF₆) (P2), and [Cu(Py-c-BenIm)(POP)](PF₆) (P3) (Py-Im = 3-methyl-1-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-imidazolylidene, Py-BenIm = 3-methyl-1-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazolylidene, Py-c-BenIm = 3-methyl-1-(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazolylidene, POP = bis([2-diphenylphosphino]-phenyl)ether), have been synthesized without transmetalation of the NHC–Ag(I) complex for the first time. The photophysical properties of the resultant NHC–Cu(I) complexes have been systematically investigated via spectroscopic methods. All complexes exhibit good photoluminescence properties with long excited-state lifetimes and moderate quantum yields. Density functional theory and time dependent density functional theory calculations were employed to rationalize the photophysical properties of the NHC–Cu(I) complexes.     

金(I)配合物催化乙烯加氢的反应机理

采用密度泛函理论B3LYP方法, 对两类金(I)配合物AuX (X=F, Cl, Br, I)和AuPR₃⁺(R=F, Cl, Br, I, H, Me,Ph)催化C₂H₄加氢反应的机理进行了理论研究. 计算显示Au(I)配合物对C₂H₄氢化具有较好的催化效果, 其作用下的加氢反应存在“活化H―H键后再与C₂H₄反应”和“活化C＝C键后再与H₂反应”两种途径, 前者的活化能较后者低90-120 kJ·mol^-1, 因而具有明显的能量优势. 研究表明AuPR₃⁺ 的催化能力明显强于AuX. 此外, X/PR3基团供、吸电子能力的变化对配合物的催化能力也具有较为显著的影响. 电子结构分析显示Au(I)配合物在C₂H₄ 加氢反应中不仅能够削弱H―H、C＝C 键的强度, 还使H₂ σ_H―H^*、C₂H₄ π_C＝C^* 轨道能级下降, 从而缩小了π_C＝C-σ_H―H^*或σ_H―H-π_C＝C^*轨道间的能级差, 促进了C₂H₄-H₂反应中的电子离域, 从而降低禁阻反应发生的难度.σ_H―H^*、π_C＝C^*轨道能级改变量与加氢反应活化能E_a的降低值之间存在较好的一致性关系, 因此使上述轨道能级下降幅度越大的Au(I)配合物可以获得较好的催化效果.