Stereoelectronic effects in Menshutkin‐type SN2 reactions: theoretical study based on through‐space/bond orbital interaction analysis

Through‐space/bond orbital interaction analysis has been applied to investigate the stereoelectronic effects on stabilizing the transition state of Menshutkin‐type S_N2 reactions. The mechanism of how the substituent effects work on accelerating the reactions has been demonstrated from orbital interaction perspective. The geometrical structures and Mulliken charge distributions have been compared to elucidate the substituent effects for the S_N2 reaction center. It is found that the substituents lower the activation energies by strengthening the orbital interactions in the S_N2 reaction process. When electron‐donating and electron‐accepting substituents (–C₆H₅ and –CHO) are introduced to the same central carbon at the reaction center, the symmetry allows the π–π* interactions among the donor and acceptor in the transition state. It stabilizes the transition state much more than the reactant complex. And the π–π* interactions are estimated to decrease about 2.28 kcal/mol of the energy for transition state. The σ‐like orbitals of the partial bond around the central carbon are reactive, and the σ–π* orbital interactions stabilize the reactant complex much more than the π–σ* interaction. When the σ–π* and π–σ* interactions are deleted from the system, the activation energy increases and turns close to the values of the systems which are without such substituents. It can be concluded that the π–π*, σ–π*, and π–σ* interactions cooperatively accelerates the S_N2 reaction by stabilizing its transition state. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reaction mechanism and rate constants of the CH+CH4 reaction: a theoretical study

Ab initio and density functional calculations have been performed to elucidate the mechanism of CH radical insertion into methane. The results show that the reaction can be viewed to occur via two stages. On the first stage, the CH radical approaches methane without large structural changes to acquire proper positioning for the subsequent stage, where H-migration occurs from CH₄ to CH, along with a C–C bond formation. Where the first stage ends and the second begins, a tight transition state was located using the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) and MP4(SDQ)/6-311++G(d,p) methods. Using a rigid rotor – harmonic oscillator approach within transition state theory, we show that at the MP5/6-311++G(d,p)//MP4(SDQ)/6-311++G(d,p) level the calculated rate constants are in a reasonably good agreement with experiment in a broad temperature range of 145–581 K. Even at low temperatures, the insertion reaction bottleneck is found about the location of the tight transition state, rather than at long separations between the CH and CH₄ reactants. In addition, high level CCSD(T)-F12/CBS calculations of the remainder of the C₂H₅ potential energy surface predict the CH+CH₄ reaction to proceed via the initial insertion step to the ethyl radical which then can emit a hydrogen atom to form highly exothermic C₂H₄+H products.     

1H NMR study of molecular dynamics and phase transition in (NH4)2ZnBr4

The proton second moment (M ₂) and spin-lattice relaxation time (T ₁) have been measured in (NH₄)₂ZnBr₄ in the range 77–300 K. The room-temperature spectrum shows a structure which disappears around 243 K. The signal is strong and narrow even at 77 K. Proton T ₁ shows a maximum at 263 K, caused by spin rotation interaction and decreases with decreasing temperature till 235 K, where it shows a sudden increase. Below 235 K, again it decreases and shows a slope change around 216.5 K (reported T_c ). From 216.5 K, T ₁ decreases continuously without exhibiting any minimum down to 77 K. The narrow line at 77 K, and absence of a T ₁ minimum down to 77 K indicate the possibility of quantum mechanical tunnelling in this system. Motional parameters such as activation energy and pre-exponential factor have been evaluated for the reorientational motion of the NH⁺ ₄ ion.     

Dimethyl sulfoxide/deep eutectic solvents mixtures as media in the reaction of 1‐fluoro‐2,4‐dinitrobenzene with piperidine: A solvent effect study

Aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction of 1‐fluoro‐2,4‐dinitrobenzene with piperidine was kinetically investigated in ethylene glycol‐choline chloride and glycerol‐choline chloride as 2 deep eutectic solvents (DESs) mixed with dimethyl sulfoxide, in whole mole fractions, at room temperature. The investigation of the reaction in different concentrations of the piperidine shows that the reaction follows the base‐catalyzed mechanism. The measured rate coefficients of the reaction demonstrated a sharp decreasing in all mixtures with the increasing mole fraction of DESs. Linear free energy relationship investigations confirm that hydrogen bond donor ability in addition to polarity‐polarizability of the media has a major effect on the reaction rate. The decrease in the rate coefficient is attributed to not only hydrogen‐bonding donor interactions of the media with piperidine as both reactant and catalyst but also the preferential solvation of reactants by DES compared with the intermediate of the reaction.     

Zero-point energy,tunnelling, and vibrational adiabaticity in the Mu + H2 reaction

Isotopic substitution of muonium for hydrogen provides an unparalleled opportunity to deepen our understanding of quantum mass effects on chemical reactions. A recent topical review in this journal of the thermal and vibrationally state-selected reaction of Mu with H₂ raises a number of issues that are addressed here. We show that some earlier quantum mechanical calculations of the Mu + H₂ reaction, which are highlighted in this review, and which have been used to benchmark approximate methods, are in error by as much as 19% in the low-temperature limit. We demonstrate that an approximate treatment of the Born–Oppenheimer diagonal correction that was used in some recent studies is not valid for treating the vibrationally state-selected reaction. We also discuss why vibrationally adiabatic potentials that neglect bend zero-point energy are not a useful analytical tool for understanding reaction rates, and why vibrationally non-adiabatic transitions cannot be understood by considering tunnelling through vibrationally adiabatic potentials. Finally, we present calculations on a hierarchical family of potential energy surfaces to assess the sensitivity of rate constants to the quality of the potential surface.     

Rotational barrier and thermodynamical parameters of furfural,thiofurfural, and selenofurfural in the gas and solution phases: theoretical study based on density functional theory method

This work aims to study the trans and cis conformers of furfural, thiofurfural and selenofurfural in the gas and solution phases. Assuming that there is equilibrium between these conformers, the transition state has also been investigated. All computations have been done using density functional theory method with B3LYP as the functional and 6-311++G(d,p) as the basis sets. The optimized molecular structures and related parameters of these conformers are reported. The infrared wavenumbers and Raman activities of these conformers are also reported with appropriate assignments. The energy differences between the trans and cis conformers, associated barriers and thermodynamical parameters have been derived from the computations. It is found that the structural parameters are not much different in the gas and solution phases. However, in the gas phase, the trans conformer is always more stable, but increasing the polarity of the solvent leads to the cis conformer becoming more stable. The rotational barrier is always larger than the energy difference and both of them increase when the solvent becomes more polar. Some of the results for furfural compare satisfactorily with literature and therefore the data from this work will be useful for thiofurfuraldehyde and selenofurfuraldehyde, as their literature is limited.     

碰撞反应Ca+C2H5Br和Ca+nC3H7Br产物CaBr的内能态分布

采用准经典轨线方法研究了碰撞反应Ca+C2H5Br和Ca+nC3H7Br产物CaBr的内能态分布,计算了产物分子CaBr的平均振动、转动和平动能量以及总可资用能量.结果表明,当碰撞能为7.54kJ/mol时,产物的能量主要为振动能量;随着碰撞能增加,产物的平动能和转动能增加,而振动能略微减小,最可几振动态向较低振动能级移动;反应物分子内能态分布对产物分子的内能态分布影响很小;反应基团越大,产物的振动能占总可资用能量的比例就越高.碰撞反应Ca+C2H5Br和Ca+nC3H7Br均存在两条竞争的反应路径迁移相碰和直接反应路径.前者产生高振动激发态产物CaBr,后者引起C-Br键断裂.当碰撞能增加时,两种反应均倾向于后者.     

Mechanism of nucleophilic substitutions at phenacyl bromides with pyridines. A computational study of intermediate and transition state

DFT computations have been performed on nucleophilic substitutions of phenacyl bromides with pyridines to investigate the mechanism of the reaction. In contrast with earlier suppositions, tetrahedral intermediate is not formed by the addition of pyridine on the C?O group of phenacyl bromide, because the total energy of the reacting species increases continuously, when the distance between the N and C(?O) atoms of reactants is shorter than 2.7 Å. At a greater distance, however, a bridged complex of the reactants is observed, in which the N atom of pyridine is slightly closer to the C atom of the C?O, than to the C atom of the CH₂Br group of phenacyl bromide, the distances are 2.87 and 3.05 Å, respectively. The attractive forces between the oppositely polarized N and C(?O) atoms in the complex decrease the free energy of activation of the S_N2 attack of pyridine at the CH₂Br group. The calculated structural parameters of the S_N2 transition states (TS) indicate, that earlier TSs are formed when the pyridine nucleophile bears electron‐donating (e‐d) groups, while electron‐withdrawing (e‐w) groups on phenacyl bromide substrate increase the tightness of the TS. Free energies of activation computed for the S_N2 substitution agree well with the data calculated from the results of kinetic experiments and correlate with the σ_Py substituent constants, derived for pyridines, and with the Hammett σ constants, when the substituents (4‐MeO‐4‐NO₂) are varied on the pyridine or on the phenacyl bromide reactants. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Molecular dynamics study of linear and comb-like polyelectrolytes in aqueous solution: effect of Ca2+ ions

All-atom molecular dynamics simulations were employed to provide microscopic mechanism for the salt tolerance of polyelectrolytes dispersants. The conformational variation of polyelectrolytes and interactions between COO^? groups and counterions/water molecules were also studied via radius of gyration and pair correlations functions. Sodium polyacrylate (NaPA) and sodium salts of poly(acrylic acid)–poly(ethylene oxide) (NaPA–PEO) were selected as the representative linear and comb-like polyelectrolyte, respectively. The results show that Ca²⁺ ions interact with COO^? groups much stronger than Na⁺ ions and can bring ion-bridging interaction between intermolecular COO^? groups in the NaPA systems. While in the NaPA–PEO systems, the introduced PEO side chains can prevent backbone chains from ion-bridging interactions and weaken the conformational changes. The present results can help in selecting and designing new-type efficient polyelectrolyte dispersants with good salt tolerance.     

Excited‐state hydrogen bonding dynamics of pyruvic acid and geminal‐diol, 2,2‐dihydroxypropanoic acid in aqueous solution: a DFT/TDDFT study

In this work, we present the optimized ground state geometrical structures, electronic excitation energies and corresponding oscillation strengths of the low‐lying electronically excited states for the isolated Tce‐CH3COCOOH and Tce‐CH3C(OH)2COOH as well as their corresponding hydrogen‐bonded dimers Tce‐CH3COCOOH‐H2O and Tce‐CH3C(OH)2COOH‐H2O through time‐dependent density functional theory method. It is found that the intermolecular hydrogen bonds C=O···H‐O are strengthened in the electronically excited states of the hydrogen‐bonded dimers Tce‐CH3COCOOH‐H2O and Tce‐CH3C(OH)2COOH‐H2O, in that the excitation energies of the related excited states for the hydrogen‐bonded dimers are decreased compared with those of the corresponding monomers. The calculated results are consistent with the rules that are first demonstrated by Zhao on the excited‐state hydrogen bonding dynamics. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Variational transition state theory with multidimensional tunnelling and kinetic isotope effects in the reactions of C2H6, C2H5D and C2D6 with .CCl3 to produce CHCl3 and CDCl3

ABSTRACT

Rate constants for the reactions of C₂H₆, C₂H₅D and C₂D₆ with .CCl₃. for the production of CHCl₃ and CDCl₃ (k₁, k₂, k₃ and k₄) were computed using variational transition state theory coupled with hybrid-meta density functional theory (MPWB1K) over the temperature range of 200–2900 K. The ground-state vibrational adiabatic potential was plotted for all channels. Small- and large-curvature tunnelling were determined to include quantum effects in the calculation of rate constants. Harmonic vibrational frequencies along the reaction path were calculated in curvilinear coordinates with scaled frequencies. Anharmonicity was included in the lowest-frequency torsion. The position of formation and dissociation of bonds was specified using the variation in harmonic vibrational frequencies along the reaction path. Representative tunnelling energy and the thermally averaged transmission probability at 298 K (P(E)exp?( ? ΔE/RT)) were determined for the reactions in which tunnelling is important. The kinetic isotope effect was used to calculate the considerable contributions of tunnelling and vibration. The expressions for rate constants were determined using nonlinear least-square fitting over the temperature range of 200–2900 K.     

Kinetics and mechanism of electron transfer reaction of single and double chain surfactant cobalt(III) complex by Fe2+ ions in liposome (dipalmitoylphosphotidylcholine) vesicles: effects of phase transition

In this study, we report the kinetics of reduction reactions of single and double chain surfactant cobalt(III) complexes of octahedral geometry, cis-[Co(en)₂(4AMP)(DA)](ClO₄)₃ and cis-[Co(dmp)₂(C₁₂H₂₅NH₂)₂](ClO₄)₃ (en = ethylenediamine, dmp = 1,3-diaminopropane, 4AMP = 4-aminopropane, C₁₂H₂₅NH₂ = dodecylamine) by Fe²⁺ ion in dipalmitoylphosphotidylcholine (DPPC) vesicles at different temperatures under pseudo first-order conditions. The kinetics of these reactions is followed by spectrophotometry method. The reactions are found to be second order and the electron transfer is postulated as outer sphere. The remarkable findings in the present investigation are that, below the phase transition temperature of DPPC, the rate decreases with an increase in the concentration of DPPC, while above the phase transition temperature the rate increases with an increase in the concentration of DPPC. The main driving force for this phenomenon is considered to be the intervesicular hydrophobic interaction between vesicles surface and hydrophobic part of the surfactant complexes. Besides, comparing the values of rate constants of these outer-sphere electron transfer reactions in the absence and in the presence of DPPC, the rate constant values in the presence of DPPC are always found to be greater than in the absence of DPPC. This is ascribed to the double hydrophobic fatty acid chain in the DPPC that gives the molecule an overall tubular shape due to the intervesicular hydrophobic interaction between vesicles surface and hydrophobic part of the surfactant complexes more suitable for vesicle aggregation which facilitates lower activation energy, and consequently higher rate is observed in the presence of DPPC. The activation parameters (ΔS^# and ΔH^#) of the reactions at different temperatures have been calculated which corroborate the kinetics of the reaction.     

Kinetic energy and charge state effects in the X-ray emission of Mo surface induced by Xe q + ( q = 25, 29) ions

L-shell X-ray spectra of Mo surface induced by Xe²⁵⁺ and Xe²⁹⁺ were measured. The X-ray intensity was obtained in the kinetic energy range of the incident ions from 350 to 600 keV. The relationship of X-ray intensity with kinetic energy of the projectile and its charge state were studied, and the simple explanation was given. Supported by the Science and Technology Ministry Foundation of China (Grant No. 2002CCA00900) and the Foundation of National Key Laboratory of Vacuum & Cryogenics Technology and Physics     

TDDFT study on the excited‐state hydrogen bonding of N‐(2‐hydroxyethyl)‐1,8‐naphthalimide and N‐(3‐hydroxyethyl)‐1,8‐naphthalimide in methanol solution

The time‐dependent density functional theory method was performed to investigate the excited‐state hydrogen‐bonding dynamics of N‐(2‐hydroxyethyl)‐1,8‐naphthalimide (2a) and N‐(3‐hydroxyethyl)‐1,8‐naphthalimide (3a) in methanol (meoh) solution. The ground and excited‐state geometry optimizations, electronic excitation energies, and corresponding oscillation strengths of the low‐lying electronically excited states for the complexes 2a + 2meoh and 3a + 2meoh as well as their monomers 2a and 3a were calculated by density functional theory and time‐dependent density functional theory methods, respectively. We demonstrated that the three intermolecular hydrogen bonds of 2a + 2meoh and 3a + 2meoh are strengthened after excitation to the S₁ state, and thus induce electronic spectral redshift. Moreover, the electronic excitation energies of the hydrogen‐bonded complexes in S₁ state are correspondingly decreased compared with those of their corresponding monomer 2a and 3a. In addition, the intramolecular charge transfer of the S₁ state for complexes 2a + 2meoh and 3a + 2meoh were theoretically investigated by analysis of molecular orbital. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.