Hermann Jahn and Rudolf Renner of the Jahn–Teller and Renner–Teller effects

Vibronic interactions have received increasing attention in modern structural chemistry. Edward Teller played a pioneering role in understanding and describing them during the “molecular physics” period of his scientific career. Very little is known about the two scientists who contributed significantly to our knowledge about these effects and whose names have become associated with Teller’s. This Editorial is devoted to Hermann Jahn and Rudolf Renner and attempts to lift them out of oblivion by paying them tribute for their contributions.

Collision energy effect on the H′ + BrH (ν = 0, j = 0) → H′Br + H reaction: A quasi-classical trajectory study

Theoretical studies on the dynamics of the exchange reaction H′ + BrH (ν = 0, j = 0) → H′Br + H are performed on potential energy surface (PES) (Kurosaki et al., private communication) for the ground state using the quasi-classical trajectory method. The cross sections, computed at the collision energies (E_c) of 0.5-2.0 eV, are in good agreement with the earlier quantum wave packet results. The rotational, vibrational, and translational fractions in the total energy and the vibrational distribution for the product molecule are calculated at the same collision-energy range. The results support the repulsive character of the PES. In the considered E_c range, it has little chance to occur in an indirect reaction. The alignment and orientation of the product H′Br are investigated in detail with stereodynamics. The results show that E_c can effect on both the alignment and the orientation of product.     

Vapor–liquid equilibrium for the binary systems tetrahydrothiophene + toluene and tetrahydrothiophene + o-xylene at 368.15 K and 383.15 K

Isothermal vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) for tetrahydrothiophene + toluene and tetrahydrothiophene + o-xylene at 368.15 K and 383.15 K was measured with a recirculation still. Liquid- and vapor-phase compositions were determined with gas chromatography. All systems exhibit a small positive deviation from Raoult's law and show nearly ideal behavior. All VLE measurements passed the point test used. The experimental results were correlated with the Wilson model and compared with COSMO-SAC predictive models. COSMO-SAC predictions show a slight negative deviation from Raoult's law for all systems measured. Raoult's law can be used to describe all systems studied. The activity coefficients at infinite dilution are presented.     

Solid–liquid metastable equilibria in the quaternary system Li2SO4 + MgSO4 + Na2SO4 + H2O at T = 263.15 K

Solubility in the liquid–solid metastable system Li₂SO₄ + MgSO₄ + Na₂SO₄ + H₂O at T = 263.15 K was studied using the isothermal evaporation method. Based on experimental data, dry-salt phase and water-phase diagrams of the system were plotted. The dry-salt phase diagram of the system includes one three-salt co-saturation point, three metastable solubility isotherm curves, and three crystallization regions corresponding to lithium sulphate monohydrate (Li₂SO₄·H₂O), epsomite (MgSO₄·7H₂O), and mirabilite (Na₂SO₄·10H₂O). Neither a solid solution nor double salts were found. Based on the extended Harvie–Weare (HW) model and its temperature-dependent equation, the values of the Pitzer parameters β⁽⁰⁾, β⁽¹⁾, β⁽²⁾, and C^Φ for Li₂SO₄, MgSO₄, and Na₂SO₄, the mixed ion-interaction parameters θ_Li,Na, θ_Li,Mg, θ_Na,Mg, ΨLi,Na,SO₄${\Psi }_{\text{Li,Na,S}{\text{O}}_4}$, ΨLi,Mg,SO₄${\Psi }_{\text{Li,Mg,S}{\text{O}}_4}$, and ΨNa,Mg,SO₄${\Psi }_{\text{Na,Mg,S}{\text{O}}_4}$, and the Debye–Hückel parameter A^Φ in the quaternary system at 263.15 K were obtained. The solubility of the quaternary system Li₂SO₄ + MgSO₄ + Na₂SO₄ + H₂O at T = 263.15 K was also calculated. A comparison between the calculated and experimental results shows that the predicted solubility agrees well with experimental data.     

Are closed clusters expected from the (n + 1) skeletal electron pairs rule in alanes and gallanes? A DFT structural study of AnHn + 2 (A = Al, Ga, and n = 4-6)

It has been suggested recently that the alanes Al_nH_n + 2 can be treated by the polyhedral skeletal electron pair theory (PSEPT) of Wade and Mingos (W-M) as it was successful for their borane congeners such as B_nH_n + 2, well known as the deprotonated B_nH_n²⁻. To do so, the neutral Al_nH_n + 2 have been considered as Al_nH_n²⁻ + 2H⁺. The additional hydrogens donate their electrons to the Al_nH_n polyhedral framework and according to the n + 1 electron pairs rule; these clusters should have closo-polyhedral structures. In this work the homologous gallanes, the structures and stabilities of Ga_nH_n + 2 are studied at high levels of calculational theory and we investigated the applicability of the W-M rule to the alanes and gallanes A_nH_n + 2 (n = 4-6; A = Al, Ga). It will be shown that the presence of bridging hydrogen atoms reduces the compactness of the corresponding polyhedron and so these species do not have the closed structures. The computations were performed at B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p), BPW91/6-311G(d,p) and B3LYP/6-311+G(3df,2p) levels of theory. Our interest in these compounds includes their potential use as hydrogen storage species and future clean sources of energy.     

Liquid–liquid equilibrium of (water + 1-propanol + 1-pentanol) system at 298.15 and 323.15 K

Liquid–liquid equilibrium data for the ternary system water + 1-propanol + 1-pentanol have been determined experimentally at 298.15 and 323.15 K using “static–analytic” apparatus involving ROLSI™ samplers. The experimental data are correlated considering both NRTL and UNIQUAC activity coefficient models. The results obtained show the ability of both models for the determination of liquid–liquid equilibrium data of the studied system. The reliability of the experimental tie-line data is determined through the Othmer–Tobias and Bachman equations.     

Vapor–liquid equilibrium measurement and modeling for the difluoromethane + pentafluoroethane + propane ternary mixture

Vapor–liquid equilibrium data for the difluoromethane (R32) + pentafluoroethane (R125) + propane (R290) ternary mixture were measured at 5 isotherms between 263.15 K and 323.15 K. The measurement was carried out using a circulation-type apparatus recently developed, which was validated with binary mixtures. With binary interaction parameters obtained for the three corresponding binary mixtures, VLE modeling and prediction were performed for the ternary mixture using the Peng–Robinson equation of state with the classical mixing rules and MHV1 mixing rules. Hou's group contribution model for VLE of new refrigerant mixtures was further tested with the experimental data for the ternary system. The predicted pressure and vapor phase composition were compared with experimental ones.     

Vapor–liquid equilibria for water + acetic acid + (N,N-dimethylformamide or dimethyl sulfoxide) at 13.33 kPa

Isobaric vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data of the systems acetic acid + N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), acetic acid + dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), DMSO + water, water + acetic acid + DMF, and water + acetic acid + DMSO have been measured at 13.33 kPa by using an improved Rose equilibrium still. The association of acetic acid in vapor phase has been considered, and the nonideality of vapor phase was accounted for using the Hayden–O’Connell (HOC) method. The experimental binary data have been correlated by the NRTL, Wilson and van Laar models. The NRTL model parameters obtained from the binary data have been used to predict the ternary VLE data. The ternary predicted values obtained in this way agree well with the experimental values.     

Vapor–liquid equilibria and density measurement for binary mixtures of o-xylene + NMF, m-xylene + NMF and p-xylene + NMF at 333.15 K, 343.15 K and 353.15 K from 0 kPa to 101.3 kPa

Isothermal vapor–liquid equilibria at 333.15 K, 343.15 K and 353.15 K for three binary mixtures of o-xylene, m-xylene and p-xylene individually mixed with N-methylformamide (NMF), have been obtained at pressures ranged from 0 kPa to 101.3 kPa over the whole composition range. The Wilson, NRTL and UNIQUAC activity coefficient models have been employed to correlate experimental pressures and liquid mole fractions. The non-ideal behavior of the vapor phase has been considered by using the Peng–Robinson equation of state in calculating the vapor mole fraction. Liquid and vapor densities were measured by using two vibrating tube densitometers. The excess molar volumes of the liquid phase were also determined. Three systems of o-xylene + NMF, m-xylene + NMF and p-xylene + NMF mixtures present large positive deviations from the ideal solution and belong to endothermic mixings because their excess Gibbs energies are positive. Temperature dependent intermolecular parameters in the NRTL model correlation were finally obtained in this study.     

Isobaric vapor–liquid equilibria for the n-hexane + 2-isopropoxyethanol and n-heptane + 2-isopropoxyethanol systems

Vapor–liquid equilibria (VLE) for the n-hexane + 2-isopropoxyethanol and n-heptane + 2-isopropoxyethanol (at 60, 80, and 100 kPa) systems were measured. Two systems present positive deviations from ideal behavior. And the system n-heptane + 2-isopropoxyethanol shows a minimum boiling azeotrope at all pressures. Experimented data have been correlated with the two term virial equation for vapor-phase fugacity coefficients and the three suffix Margules equation, Wilson, NRTL, and UNIQUAC equations for liquid-phase activity coefficients. Experimental VLE data show excellent agreements with models.     

Liquid–liquid equilibria for water + 1-propanol/2-propanol + potassium chloride + cesium chloride quaternary systems at 298.1 ± 0.1 K

In this paper, we present the results of our study of the phase equilibria for two quaternary systems: water + 1-propanol/2-propanol + potassium chloride (KCl) + cesium chloride (CsCl) at 298.1 ± 0.1 K. We also produced the binodal curves and tie-lines at different KCl/CsCl mass-fraction ratios, and produced integrated phase diagrams for the quaternary systems. We also discuss the solvation abilities of KCl and CsCl, and the effect of the polarity of the organic solvent on the liquid–liquid equilibrium. We compared the experimental tie-lines derived for the quaternary systems with values predicated by modifying the Eisen–Joffe equation. The model produced satisfactory results.     

Measurement and correlation of liquid–liquid equilibria for ternary systems {cyclooctane + aromatic hydrocarbon + 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium ethylsulfate} at T = 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure

This work reports liquid–liquid equilibrium (LLE) results for the ternary systems {cyclooctane + benzene + 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium ethylsulfate}, {cyclooctane + toluene + 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium ethylsulfate}, and {cyclooctane + ethylbenzene + 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium ethylsulfate} at T = 298.15 K and under atmospheric pressure. The selectivity, percent removal of aromatic, and distribution coefficient ratio, derived from the tie-line data, were calculated to determine if this ionic liquid is a good solvent for the extraction of aromatics from cyclooctane. The phase diagrams for the ternary systems are shown, and the tie-lines correlated with the NRTL model have been compared with the experimental data. The consistency of the experimental LLE data was ascertained using the Othmer–Tobias and Hand equations. No data for mixtures presented here have been found in the literature.     

Solid–liquid equilibria of the ternary system m-nitrobenzoic acid + p-nitrobenzoic acid + acetone

Solubility data and the density of equilibrium liquid phase for the ternary system m-nitrobenzoic acid + p-nitrobenzoic acid + acetone were determined at 283.1 K and 313.1 K, and the phase diagrams of the system were constructed. Two solid phases, pure solid m-nitrobenzoic acid and p-nitrobenzoic acid are confirmed by the Schreinemaker's wet residue method. The crystallization regions of m-nitrobenzoic acid and p-nitrobenzoic acid increase as the temperature decreases. At the same temperature, the crystallization region of p-nitrobenzoic acid is larger than that of m-nitrobenzoic acid.     

Measurement and calculation of vapor–liquid equilibria for methanol + glycerol and ethanol + glycerol systems at 493–573 K

The vapor–liquid equilibria for methanol + glycerol and ethanol + glycerol systems were measured by a flow method at 493–573 K. The pressure conditions focused in this work were 3.03–11.02 MPa for methanol + glycerol system and 2.27–8.78 MPa for ethanol + glycerol system. The mole fractions of alcohol in vapor phase are close to unity at the pressures below 7.0 MPa for both systems. The pressures of liquid saturated lines of the liquid phase for methanol + glycerol and ethanol + glycerol systems are higher than that for the mixtures containing alcohol and biodiesel compound, methyl laurate or ethyl laurate.     

Ternary liquid–liquid equilibria for (water + terpene + 1-propanol or 1-butanol) systems at the temperature 298.15 K

Liquid–liquid equilibria and tie-lines for the ternary (water + 1-propanol + α-pinene, β-pinene or limonene) and (water + 1-butanol + α-pinene, β-pinene or limonene) mixtures have been measured at T = 298.15 K. The experimental ternary liquid–liquid equilibrium data have been successfully represented using the additional ternary parameters as well as the binary parameters in terms of the extended and modified UNIQUAC models.     

Liquid–liquid equilibrium and interfacial tension of the ternary system heptane + thiophene + 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide

The liquid–liquid equilibrium (LLE) of the ternary system comprising heptane, thiophene and the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ([C₂mim][NTf₂]) was determined at 25 °C and atmospheric pressure, for preliminary evaluation of the potential of this ionic liquid as solvent for the desulfurisation of transportation fuels. Classical parameters such as solute distribution ratio and selectivity were calculated from the LLE data and subsequently analysed. The LLE data were also correlated by means of the ‘Non-Random Two-Liquid’ (NRTL) equation. Besides the LLE, another critical property for the design of extraction processes, namely the interfacial tension, was determined in parallel, throughout the immiscibility domain of the ternary system. For the first time, the LLE and the interfacial tension of a ternary system involving an ionic liquid are jointly reported.     

Theoretical insight into stereodynamics of the O(D) + H2 (v = 0–3, j = 0) → OH + H reaction: A quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) study

In this work, the reaction O(¹D) + H₂ → OH + H has been theoretically studied using the quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) method developed by Han and co-workers. All the quasiclassical trajectory calculations are performed on the DK (Dobbyn and Knowles) potential energy surface (PES). The vector correlation information on the reaction O(¹D) + H₂ → OH + H has been obtained. It has been demonstrated that the product alignment is sensitive to the reactant vibrational quantum number (v) at collision energy of 19 kcal/mol. Moreover, with increasing the value of v, backward scattering becomes weaker and forward scattering becomes stronger.     

Liquid–liquid equilibria for {hexane + benzene + 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfate} at (298.2, 313.2 and 328.2) K

Liquid–liquid equilibria (LLE) for the ternary system {hexane + benzene + 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfate ([emim]C₂H₅SO₄)} have been measured at the temperatures (298.2, 313.2 and 328.2) K and atmospheric pressure. The reliability of the experimental data was tested using the Othmer–Tobias correlation. For the extractive effectiveness of the solvent, the distribution ratio and separation factor curves were plotted and compared with those of sulfolane. In addition, the LLE data were also correlated with UNIQUAC and NRTL models in a satisfactory manner.     

Vapor–liquid equilibrium in the n-butane + methanol system,measurement and modeling from 323.2 to 443.2 K

New experimental vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data for the n-butane + methanol binary system are reported over a wide temperature range from 323.2 to 443.2 K and pressures up to 5.4 MPa. A static–analytic apparatus, taking advantage of two pneumatic capillary samplers, was used. The phase equilibrium data generated in this work are in relatively good agreement with previous data reported in the literature. Three different thermodynamic models have been used to represent the new experimental data. The first model is the cubic-based Peng–Robinson equation of state (EoS) combined with the Wong–Sandler mixing rules. The two other models are the non-cubic SAFT-VR and PC-SAFT equations of state. Temperature-dependent binary interaction parameters have been adjusted to the new data. The three models accurately represent the new experimental data, but deviations are seen to increase at low temperature. A similar evolution of the binary parameters with respect to temperature is observed for the three models. In particular a discontinuity is observed for the k_ij values at temperatures close to the critical point of butane, indicating the effects of fluctuations on the phase equilibria close to critical points.