1,3-Imidazole-Based Mesoionic Carbenes and Anionic Dicarbenes: Pushing the Limit of Classical N-Heterocyclic Carbenes

Classical N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) featuring the carbene center at the C2-position of 1,3-imidazole framework (i.e. C2-carbenes) are well acknowledged as very versatile neutral ligands in molecular as well as in materials sciences. The efficiency and success of NHCs in diverse areas is essentially attributed to their persuasive stereoelectronics, in particular the potent σ-donor property. The NHCs with the carbene center at the unusual C4 (or C5) position, the so-called abnormal NHCs (aNHCs) or mesoionic carbenes (iMICs), are however superior σ-donors than C2-carbenes. Hence, iMICs have substantial potential in sustainable synthesis and catalysis. The main obstacle in this direction is rather demanding synthetic accessibility of iMICs. The aim of this review article is to highlight recent advances, particularly by the author's research group, in accessing stable iMICs, quantifying their properties, and exploring their applications in synthesis and catalysis. In addition, the synthetic viability and use of vicinal C4,C5-anionic dicarbenes (ADCs), also based on an 1,3-imidazole framework, are presented. As will be apparent on following pages, iMICs and ADCs hold potentials in pushing the limit of classical NHCs by enabling access to conceptually new main-group heterocycles, radicals, molecular catalysts, ligands sets, and more.     

Nucleophilic Activation of Sulfur Hexafluoride by N-Heterocyclic Carbenes and N-Heterocyclic Olefins: A Computational Study

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) is considered as a potent greenhouse gas, whose effective degradation is challenging. Here we report a computational study on the nucleophilic activation of sulfur hexafluoride by N-heterocyclic carbenes and N-heterocyclic olefins. The result shows that the activation of SF₆ is both thermodynamically and kinetically favorable at mild condition using NHOs with fluoro-substituted azolium and sulfur pentafluoride anion being formed. The Gibbs free energy barrier during the activation of SF₆ has a linear relationship with the energy of HOMO of substrates, which could be a guideline for applying those compounds that feature higher energy in HOMO to activate SF₆ in high efficiency.     

Studies on the Mechanism of Methyl Methacrylate Polymerization Initiated by Volatile and Nonvolatile Products of Methyl Methacrylate Plasma

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Theoretical study of the adsorption of isobutane over H-mordenite zeolite by ab initio and DFT methods

Values of relative interaction energy between an isobutane molecule and the surface of the H-mordenite zeolite were obtained. Sixteen tetrahedral sites were taken into account for the surface. Results showed that the adsorption energies were 4 and 8 kJ/mol, for ab initio restricted Hartree–Fock (RHF) method and density functional Becke–Lee–Yang Parr (B3-LYP) approaches, respectively, when C₂---H₂ bond is located in front of H⁺ atom of H-mordenite surface. The minimum value for the interaction in the adsorption was around 2.25 and 2.50 Å distance from the DFT and ab initio method, respectively. The interaction of isobutane by methyl groups side over the catalytic surface caused a repulsive interaction. Therefore, adsorption of isobutane is a selective process by the H₂ side of the molecule. Calculations were done by employing the 6-31G^** basis set.