A method to calculate the one‐electron reduction potentials for nitroaromatic compounds based on gas‐phase quantum mechanics

Nitroaromatic compounds (NACs) are widespread environmental contaminants, and the one‐electron reduction potential (E) is an important parameter used in modeling their environmental fate. We have identified a method that is both accurate and efficient to predict E values for NACs, using gas‐phase quantum mechanics (QM) calculations combined with empirical correlations. First, the adiabatic electron affinity (EA) at 0 K is calculated using the B98/MG3S method, and the predictions are scaled by a factor of 0.802 to account for systematic errors in the density functional calculations. Second, the E values are predicted from a linear correlation between E and EA. Using this method, E values were predicted with a mean absolute deviation from measured values of 0.021 V for the 14 NACs used to obtain the correlation and 0.029 V for six additional NACs. This represents a substantial improvement in accuracy over predictions by other QM methods, which are affected by large errors in solvation or aqueous‐phase calculations for some compounds. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010.     

The effect of water content on the ultimate properties of rubbery nanocomposite gels

An investigation was conducted into the effects of water content (R) on the ultimate tensile properties of nanocomposite hydrogels (NC gels) based on poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide)/clay networks. Rubbery NC gels with low clay contents (<NC10) exhibited unique changes in their stress–strain curves, depending on the R. At high R, where PNIPA chains are fully hydrated, NC gels retained their rubbery tensile properties, whereas they changed to exhibit plastic‐like deformations with decreasing R. Consequently, for a series of NC gels with different R, a failure envelope was obtained by connecting the rupture points in the stress–strain curves. Here, the counterclockwise movement was observed as either the R decreased or the strain rate increased. This seemed to be analogous to that of a conventional elastomer (e.g., SBR), although the mechanisms are different in the two cases. From the R and C_clay dependences of the ultimate properties, three critical values of R were defined, where R showed a maximum strain at break, a steep increase in initial modulus, and onset of brittle fracture. Compared with NC gels, OR gels (chemically crosslinked hydrogels) showed similar but very small changes in their stress–strain curves on altering R, whereas LR (viscous PNIPA solution) showed a monotonic decrease (increase) in ε_b (E_i) with decreasing R. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 2328–2340, 2009     

Ab initio investigation on the ion‐associated species and process in Mg(NO3)2 solution

In the present article, two focal subjects, i.e., hydration of the NO and associated ion species in the Mg(NO₃)₂ solution are researched by using the ab initio method. Nitrate ions with the hydration number of 1–6 are optimized at the HF/6‐31+G* level. Their relative energies, binding energies, and v₁‐NO frequencies are also presented. The investigation of the binding energies shows the hydration number is 3–6 in the solvent abundant environment. The associated species, including ion pairings, triple‐ and multiple‐ion clusters, are also optimized at the same level and their v₁‐NO frequencies are calculated for comparing with the results in experiments. From the comparison, the new associated process via aqueous free ions → solvent‐shared ion pairings → solvent‐shared triple and multiple ion clusters → contact multiple ion clusters → amorphous crystal is proposed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 2010     

Synthesis and Characterization of a Family of POCOP Pincer Complexes with Nickel: Reactivity Towards CO2 and Phenylacetylene

A cyclohexyl‐based POCOP pincer ligand (POCOP=cis‐1,3‐bis(di‐tert‐butylphosphinito)cyclohexyl) cyclometalates with nickel to generate a series of new POCOP‐supported Ni^II complexes, including the halide, hydride, methyl, and phenyl species. trans‐[NiCl{cis‐1,3‐bis(di‐tert‐butylphosphinito)cyclohexane}], [(POCOP)NiCl] ( 1 a ) and the analogous bromide complex ( 1 b ) were synthesized and fully characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X‐ray crystallography. Cyclic voltammetry measurements of 1 a and 1 b alongside their bis(phosphine) analogues [(PCP)NiCl] ( 2 a ) and [(PCP)NiCl] ( 2 a ) (PCP=cis‐1,3‐bis(di‐tert‐butylphosphino)cyclohexyl) indicate a reduced electron density at the metal center upon introducing electron‐withdrawing oxygen atoms in the pincer arms. The methyl [(POCOP)NiMe] ( 3 ) and phenyl [(POCOP)NiPh] ( 4 ) complexes were formed from 1 a by reaction with the corresponding organolithium reagents. 1 a also reacts with LiAlH₄ to give the hydride complex [(POCOP)NiH] ( 5 ). The methyl complex 3 reacts with phenyl acetylene to give the acetylide complex [(POCOP)NiCCPh] ( 6 ). The reactivity of compounds 3 – 5 towards CO₂ was studied. The hydride complex 5 and the methyl complex 3 both underwent CO₂ insertion to form the formate species [(POCOP)NiOCOH] ( 7 ) and acetate species [(POCOP)NiOCOCH₃] ( 8 ), respectively, although with a higher barrier of insertion in the latter case. Compound 4 was unreactive towards CO₂ even at elevated temperatures. Complexes 3 – 8 were all characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X‐ray crystallography.     

Metal‐Porphyrin Orbital Interactions in Paramagnetic Iron Complexes Having Planar and Deformed Porphyrin Ring

¹H and ¹³C NMR chemical shifts of iron porphyrin complexes are determined mainly by the spin densities at the peripheral carbon and nitrogen atoms caused by the interaction between paramagnetic iron 3d and porphyrin molecular orbitals. This review describes how the half‐occupied iron 3d orbitals such as d_π(d_xz, d_yz), d_xy, d, and d‐ interact with a specific porphyrin molecular orbital and affect the ¹H and ¹³C NMR chemical shifts in planar, ruffled, saddled, and domed complexes. Revealing the relationship between the orbital interactions and NMR chemical shifts is quite important to determine the fine electronic structures of synthetic iron porphyrin complexes as well as naturally occurring heme proteins.     

Peculiar kinetics of the complex formation in the iron(III)–sulfate system

The results of comprehensive equilibrium and kinetic studies of the iron(III)–sulfate system in aqueous solutions at I = 1.0 M (NaClO₄), in the concentration ranges of T = 0.15–0.3 mM, and at pH 0.7–2.5 are presented. The iron(III)–containing species detected are FeOH²⁺ (=FeH_?1), (FeOH) (=Fe₂H_?2), FeSO, and Fe(SO₄) with formation constants of log β = ?2.84, log β = ?2.88, log β = 2.32, and log β = 3.83. The formation rate constants of the stepwise formation of the sulfate complexes are k_1a = 4.4 × 10³ M^?1 s^?1 for the ${\rm Fe}^{3+} + {\rm SO}_4^{2-}\,\stackrel{k_{1a}}{\rightleftharpoons}\, {\rm FeSO}_4^+The results of comprehensive equilibrium and kinetic studies of the iron(III)–sulfate system in aqueous solutions at I = 1.0 M (NaClO₄), in the concentration ranges of T = 0.15–0.3 mM, and at pH 0.7–2.5 are presented. The iron(III)–containing species detected are FeOH²⁺ (=FeH_?1), (FeOH) (=Fe₂H_?2), FeSO, and Fe(SO₄) with formation constants of log β = ?2.84, log β = ?2.88, log β = 2.32, and log β = 3.83. The formation rate constants of the stepwise formation of the sulfate complexes are k_1a = 4.4 × 10³ M^?1 s^?1 for the ${\rm Fe}^{3+} + {\rm SO}_4^{2-}\,\stackrel{k_{1a}}{\rightleftharpoons}\, {\rm FeSO}_4^+$ step and k₂ = 1.1 × 10³ M^?1 s^?1 for the ${\rm FeSO}_4^+ + {\rm SO}_4^{2-} \stackrel{k_2}{\rightleftharpoons}\, {\rm Fe}({\rm SO}_4)_2^-$ step. The mono‐sulfate complex is also formed in the ${\rm Fe}({\rm OH})^{2+} + {\rm SO}_4^{2-} \stackrel{k_{1b}}{\longrightarrow} {\rm FeSO}_4^+$ reaction with the k_1b = 2.7 × 10⁵ M^?1 s^?1 rate constant. The most surprising result is, however, that the 2 FeSO? Fe³⁺ + Fe(SO₄) equilibrium is established well before the system as a whole reaches its equilibrium state, and the main path of the formation of Fe(SO₄) is the above fast (on the stopped flow scale) equilibrium process. The use and advantages of our recently elaborated programs for the evaluation of equilibrium and kinetic experiments are briefly outlined. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 40: 114–124, 2008     

Molecular mechanics studies of ketene derivatives and related structures

The MM2 and MM3 force fields have now been parameterized for ketene and its various derivatives. With the addition of the C_sp ? O bond stretching and C?C_sp?O bond bending parameters, calculations were performed on ketene and six substituted ketene compounds. The MM2 results are quite good with only minimal errors in the calculation of C? H bond lengths and H-C-H bond angles. Additionally, C? F bond parameters in MM2 have been re-adjusted to give better results in monofluorinated species, but, unfortunately, resulting in greater error in the polyfluorinated compounds. The results of geometry calculations by MM3 are similar to those obtained by MM2 with the exception of a significant improvement in the geometry of dimethylketene. The MM3 vibrational frequencies calculated in this study are also in good agreement with available experimental and ab initio results with the exception of a few low frequency in-and out-of-plane bending modes. © 1992 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Theoretical investigation of an energetic fullerene derivative

A self‐consistent estimation method for the thermochemical properties of N‐methyl‐3‐(2′,4′,6′‐trinitrobenzene)‐fulleropyrrolidine (MTNBFP) is presented. This method is based on enthalpy of formation (Δ_fH) and enthalpy of combustion obtained from BLYP/DNP calculations of the total energies and frequencies for MTNBFP. The enthalpy of formation was calculated by an optimized set of isodesmic reactions given the available experimental Δ_fH of relative compounds. MTNBFP has a high enthalpy of formation, 2782.2 kJ/mol. Detonation velocity and detonation pressure were also presented in terms of Kamlet and Jacobs equations. Drop hammer impact sensitivity tests and blasting point per 5 s tests indicate MTNBFP may be a potential candidate primary explosive. To understand the test results well, we proposed a series of chemical reaction mechanisms and interpreted the relationship between impact sensitivity and electronic structures from the viewpoint of nitro group charge, electrostatic potential, and vibrational modes. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010     

Small Molecule Activation by POCOP‐Nickel Complexes

This contribution describes the reactivities of CO₂, CO, O₂, and ArNC with the pincer‐type complexes [(κ^P,κ^C,κ^P′‐POCOP)NiX] (POCOP=(R₂POCH₂)₂CH; R=iPr; X=OSiMe₃, NArH; Ar=2,6‐iPr₂C₆H₃). Reaction of the amido derivative with CO₂ and CO leads to a simple insertion into the Ni?N bond to give stable carbamate and carbamoyl derivatives, respectively, the pincer ligand backbone remaining intact in both cases. In contrast, the analogous reactions with the siloxide derivative produced kinetically labile insertion products that either revert to the starting material (in the case of CO₂) or react further to give the mixed‐valent, dinickel species [(POCOP)Ni^II{μ,κ^O,κ^P,κ^P′‐OCOCH(CH₂CH₂OPR₂)₂}Ni⁰(CO)₂]. The zero‐valent center in the latter compound is ligated by a new ligand arising from transformation of the POCOP ligand backbone. The carbonylation and carboxylation of the siloxido derivative also produced minor quantities of a side‐product identified as the trinickel species, [{(η³‐allyl)Ni(μ^O,κ^P‐R₂PO)₂}₂Ni], arising from total dismantling of the POCOP ligand. Similar reactivities were observed with isonitrile, ArNC: reaction with the siloxido derivative resulted in a complex sequence of steps involving initial insertion, a 1,3‐hydrogen shift, and an Arbuzov rearrangement to give [Ni(CNAr)₄] and a methacrylamide based on fragments of the POCOP ligand. Oxygenation of the amido and siloxido derivatives led to the phosphinate derivative, [(POCOP)Ni(OP(O)R₂)], arising from oxidative transformation of the original ligand frame; the reaction with the Ni‐NHAr derivative also gave ArHNP(O)R₂ through a complex N?P bond‐forming reaction.     

Aryl‐Copper(III)‐Acetylides as Key Intermediates in CCsp Model Couplings under Mild Conditions

The mechanism of copper‐mediated Sonogashira couplings (so‐called Stephens–Castro and Miura couplings) is not well understood and lacks clear comprehension. In this work, the reactivity of a well‐defined aryl‐Cu^III species ( 1 ) with p‐R‐phenylacetylenes (R=NO₂, CF₃, H) is reported and it is found that facile reductive elimination from a putative aryl‐Cu^III‐acetylide species occurs at room temperature to afford the C_aryl?C_sp coupling species ( I_R ), which in turn undergo an intramolecular reorganisation to afford final heterocyclic products containing 2H‐isoindole ( P , P , P_Ha ) or 1,2‐dihydroisoquinoline ( P_Hb ) substructures. Density Functional Theory (DFT) studies support the postulated reductive elimination pathway that leads to the formation of C?C_sp bonds and provide the clue to understand the divergent intramolecular reorganisation when p‐H‐phenylacetylene is used. Mechanistic insights and the very mild experimental conditions to effect C_aryl?C_sp coupling in these model systems provide important insights for developing milder copper‐catalysed C_aryl?C_sp coupling reactions with standard substrates in the future.     

Transition‐Metal‐Catalyzed CH Bond Functionalizations: Feasible Access to a Diversity‐Oriented β‐Carboline Library

Diversification of the β‐carboline skeleton has been demonstrated to assemble a β‐carboline library starting from the tetrahydro‐β‐carboline framework. This strategy affords feasible access to heteroaryl‐, aryl‐, alkenyl‐, or alkynyl‐substituted β‐carbolines at the C1, C3, or C8 position through three categorically different types of transition‐metal‐catalyzed C?C bond‐forming reactions, in the presence of multiple potentially reactive positions. These site‐selective functionalizations include; 1) the Cu‐catalyzed C1/C3‐selective decarboxylative C?C and C?C_sp coupling of hexahydro‐β‐carboline‐3‐carboxylic acid with a C?H bond of a heteroarene or terminal alkyne; 2) the chelation‐assisted Pd‐catalyzed C1/C8‐selective C?H arylation of hexahydro‐β‐carboline with aryl boron reagents; and 3) the chelation‐assisted Pd‐catalyzed C1/C3‐selective oxidative C?H/C?H cross‐coupling of β‐carboline‐N‐oxide with arenes, heteroarenes, or alkenes. The saturated structural feature of the hexahydro‐β‐carboline framework can increase reactivity and control site selectivity. The robustness of these approaches has been demonstrated through the synthesis of hyrtioerectine analogues and perlolyrine. We believe that these strategies could provide inspiration for late‐stage diversifications of bioactive core scaffolds.     

Ab initio characterization of size dependence of electronic spectra for linear anionic carbon clusters C(n) (-) (n = 4-17)

In this article, we determine the ground‐state equilibrium geometries of the linear anionic carbon clusters C (n = 4–17) by means of the density functional theory B3LYP, CAM‐B3LYP, and coupled cluster CCSD(T) calculations, as well as their electronic spectra obtained by the multireference second‐order perturbation theory CASPT2 method. These studies indicate that these linear anions possess doublet ²∏_g or ²∏_u ground state, and the even‐numbered clusters are generally acetylenic, whereas the odd‐numbered ones are essentially cumulenic. The energy differences, electron affinities, and incremental binding energies of C chains all exhibit a notable tread of parity alternation, with n‐even chains being more stable than n‐odd ones. In addition, the predicted vertical excitation energies from the ground state to four low‐lying excited states are in reasonably good agreement with the available experimental observations, and the calculations for the higher excited electronic transitions can provide accurate information for the experimentalists and spectroscopists. Interestingly, the absorption wavelengths of the 1²∏_u/g ← X²∏_g/u transitions of the n‐even clusters show a nonlinear trend of exponential growth, whereas those of the n‐odd counterparts are found to obey a linear relationship as a function of the chain size, as shown experimentally. Moreover, the absorption wavelengths of the transitions to the higher excited states of C series have the similar linear size dependence as well. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2011     

Nanometer‐scale surface modification by polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene on polymer substrates in supercritical fluoroform

Surface penetrated polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) was carried out on a polycarbonate (PC) plate in supercritical fluoroform (scCHF₃). Since the high diffusiveness is one of peculiar features of supercritical fluids, TFE monomers and initiators (perfluorinated benzoyl peroxide) could penetrate into the surface of polymer substrates and be photo‐polymerized. After washing physisorbed homopolymers on the surface, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) was found to penetrate into 50–800 nm depth from the surface and covered the PC surface in the proportion of 85%. The surface coverage density and the penetration depth could be controlled by adjusting of the pressure of scCHF₃. The TFE‐penetrated polymerization could be applied for various polymer plates such as polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene, poly(ethylene terephthalate), and polyimide. In addition to polymer plates, this technique could be applied to a cellulose paper, a nylon textile, and a porous PC membrane. The PTFE‐penetrated nylon textile showed a high resistance for washing test with detergents, compared with the commercial fluoropolymer‐sprayed nylon textile. The PTFE‐penetrated porous PC membrane showed high oxygen permeability (P/P = 5.2), compared with that of the untreated PC membrane (P/P = 3.5) in gas permeation experiments of O₂ and N₂. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 1577–1585, 2008     

The First Lutetacyclopentadienes: Synthesis,Structure, and Diversified Insertion/CH Activation Reactivity

The first well‐defined lutetacyclopentadienes are synthesised from pentamethylcyclopentadienyl lithium (Cp*Li), 1,4‐dilithio‐1,3‐butadienes, and LuCl₃. The lutetacyclopentadiene shows excellent reactivity towards some small molecules, such as pivalaldehyde, Se, carbon dioxide, and isonitrile to efficiently construct 3‐, 5‐, 7‐, 8‐, and 9‐membered rare‐earth metallacycles. Both monoinsertion and double‐insertion of two Lu?C bonds are observed. Specially, the reaction between lutetacyclopentadiene and isonitrile afforded [3,5,5]‐fused metallacycles. The distinguished reactivity can be attributed to the highly ionic character and the cooperative reactivity of two Lu?C bonds.     

Extended basis CNDO calculations of linear and nonlinear electric susceptibilities of some molecular dianions and carbonions using coupled Hartree–Fock perturbation theory

The results of calculating the average polarizabilities, first and second hyperpolarizabilities and molar Kerr constants of C₅H, C₆H, 2-C₁₀H, 2-C₁₄H, C₈H and C₈H are reported. The main elements of our computational scheme are McWeeny's coupled Hartree–Fock perturbation theory and an extended basis CNDO wave function. It is shown that the studied anions have nonlinearities within the same order of magnitude as their respective uncharged parent molecules. The Kerr constants of these anions are analyzed and the contribution of the various terms is appraised.     

Computational study of basis set and electron correlation effects on anapole magnetizabilities of chiral molecules

In the presence of a static, nonhomogeneous magnetic field, represented by the axial vector at the origin of the coordinate system and by the polar vector , assumed to be spatially uniform, the chiral molecules investigated in this paper carry an orbital electronic anapole, described by the polar vector . The electronic interaction energy of these molecules in nonordered media is a cross term, coupling and via , one third of the trace of the anapole magnetizability a_αβ tensor, that is, . Both and W^BC have opposite sign in the two enantiomeric forms, a fact quite remarkable from the conceptual point of view. The magnitude of predicted in the present computational investigation for five chiral molecules is very small and significantly biased by electron correlation contributions, estimated at the density functional level via three different functionals. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

CO2‐promoted Water‐medium Ullmann Reaction over a Pd/Phenyl‐SBA‐15 Mesoporous Catalyst

Water‐medium Ullmann reaction was carried out in CO₂ atmosphere over the mesoporous Pd/Ph‐SBA‐15 catalyst exhibiting high activity and selectivity owing to the uniform dispersion of Pd particles and hydrophobilic mesoporous channels which facilitate the diffusion and adsorption of organic molecules, especially in an aqueous medium. The CO₂ also shows promoting effect on activity and selectivity, which could be understood by considering the role of H⁺ in the mechanism of Ullmann reaction. The optimum Ph‐Ph yield (84.0%) was obtained at p=0.8 MPa and V=6.0 mL and could remain almost unchanged even after the catalyst has been used repetitively for 5 times.     

Low‐energy structures of benzene clusters with a novel accurate potential surface

The benzene‐benzene (Bz‐Bz) interaction is present in several chemical systems and it is known to be crucial in understanding the specificity of important biological phenomena. In this work, we propose a novel Bz‐Bz analytical potential energy surface which is fine‐tuned on accurate ab initio calculations in order to improve its reliability. Once the Bz‐Bz interaction is modeled, an analytical function for the energy of the clusters may be obtained by summing up over all pair potentials. We apply an evolutionary algorithm (EA) to discover the lowest‐energy structures of clusters (for ), and the results are compared with previous global optimization studies where different potential functions were employed. Besides the global minimum, the EA also gives the structures of other low‐lying isomers ranked by the corresponding energy. Additional ab initio calculations are carried out for the low‐lying isomers of and clusters, and the global minimum is confirmed as the most stable structure for both sizes. Finally, a detailed analysis of the low‐energy isomers of the n = 13 and 19 magic‐number clusters is performed. The two lowest‐energy isomers show S₆ and C₃ symmetry, respectively, which is compatible with the experimental results available in the literature. The structures reported here are all non‐symmetric, showing two central Bz molecules surrounded by 12 nearest‐neighbor monomers in the case of the five lowest‐energy structures. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Hartree Fock instabilities of sulfur-nitrogen ring systems: S2N2

The Hartree-Fock instablities of S₂N₂ are reported and compared with those of S₃N and S₄N. These unsaturated sulfur nitrogen planar rings are π electron rich and although the symmetry adapted HF solutions are singlet stable at the experimental bond lengths they become unstable with only a very modest increase in bond length. The broken symmetry solutions for S₂N₃, S₃N, and S₄N are of planar C_2v type with one of the nitrogens stripped of its π electrons, producing a π hole.