3-Hydroxy-2-Nitrobenzoic Acid as a MALDI Matrix for In-Source Decay and Evaluation of the Isomers

In in-source decay (ISD) in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-mass spectrometry (MS), 1,5-diaminonaphthalene (1,5-DAN) is a most frequently used matrix probably due to the highly sensitive detection of fragment ions. 1,5-DAN is a reducing matrix generating c- and z-series ions by N–Cα bond cleavage. However, it is difficult for reducing matrices to distinguish leucine and isoleucine, and generate c_(n-1)-series ions owing to proline (Pro) at residues n. Oxidizing matrices providing a- and x-series ions accompanied by d-series ions by Cα–C bond cleavage solve the problem, but their sensitivity of the ISD fragment ions has been lower than reducing matrices such as 1,5-DAN. Recently, 3-hydroxy-4-nitrobenzoic acid (3H4NBA) had been reported as an oxidizing matrix generating a-series ions with higher intensity compared with conventional oxidizing matrices such as 5-nitrosalicylic acid, but a little lower intensity compared with 1,5-DAN (Anal Chem 88, 8058–8063, 2016). In this study, 3H4NBA isomers (2H3NBA, 2H4NBA, 2H5NBA, 2H6NBA, 3H2NBA, 3H5NBA, 4H2NBA, 4H3NBA, 5H2NBA, and 3H4NBA) were evaluated. All the isomers generated a-series ions accompanied by d-series ions, wherein 3H2NBA, 3H5NBA, 4H2NBA, 4H3NBA, and 5H2NBA were first confirmed as oxidizing matrices for ISD. Among the isomers, 3H2NBA and 4H3NBA generated a-series ions with higher peak intensity compared with 3H4NBA for several peptides. Especially, 3H2NBA generated a-series ions with almost the same or higher intensity, and clearly higher peak resolution compared with c-series ions using 1,5-DAN in several cases. 3H2NBA was expected to contribute to ISD analyses in MALDI-MS as one of the most effective oxidizing matrices.

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DFT Studies on Detonation Properties,Pyrolysis Mechanism,and Stability of the Nitro and Hydroxyl Derivatives of Benzene

Ninety‐one nitro and hydroxyl derivatives of benzene were studied at the B3LYP/6‐31G?? level of density functional theory. Detonation properties were calculated using the Kamlet‐Jacobs equation. Three candidates (pentanitrophenol, pentanitrobenzene, and hexanitrobenzene) were recommended as potential high energy density compounds for their perfect detonation performances and reasonable stability. The pyrolysis mechanism was studied by analyzing the bond dissociation energy (BDE) and the activation energy (E_a) of hydrogen transfer (H–T) reaction for those with adjacent nitro and hydroxyl groups. The results show that E_a is much lower than BDEs of all bonds, so when there are adjacent nitro and hydroxyl groups in a molecule, the stability of the compound will decrease and the pyrolysis will be initiated by the H–T process. Otherwise, the pyrolysis will start from the breaking of the weakest C–NO₂ bond, and only under such condition, the Mulliken population or BDE of the C–NO₂ bond can be used to assess the relative stability of the compound.     

Effect of double bond on the surface properties of aqueous solutions of eicosapolyenoic acids

Surface tensions of aqueous solution of eicosapolyenoic acids (EA) with 25 double bonds were measured by use of a Du Nöuy tensiometer at pH 7.80 and 25°C, and the effects of double bond on the surface properties of EA were investigated. The value of critical micelle concentration of EA increased twofold with increasing number of double bonds. The free energy for the adsorption per double bond at the air-water interface was estimated as 2.47 kJ (double bond)^–1, and the negative value of free energy for the adsorption of EA molecule decreased with increasing number of double bonds.     

Theoretical calculation of nitro-1-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)-1H-azoles energetic compounds

In order to study the properties of new energetic compounds formed by introducing nitroazoles into 2,4,6-trinitrobezene, the density, heat of formation and detonation properties of 36 nitro-1-(2,4,6-trinitrobenzene)-1H-azoles energetic compounds are studied by density functional theory, and their stability and melting point are predicted. The results show that most of target compounds have good detonation properties and stability. And it is found that nitro-1-(2,4,6-Trinitrophenyl)-1H-pyrrole compounds and nitro-1-(2,4,6-trinitrop-enyl)-1H-Imidazole compounds have good thermal stability, and their weakest bond is C NO₂ bond, the bond dissociation energy of the weakest bond is 222–238 kJ mol⁻¹ and close to 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (235 kJ mol⁻¹). The weakest bond of the other compounds may be the C NO₂ bond or the N N bond, and the strength of the N N bond is related to the nitro group on azole ring.     

A DFT Study on the Mechanism of Rh2II,II‐Catalyzed Intramolecular Amidation of Carbamates

The potential‐energy surfaces of the reactions of dirhodium tetracarboxylate (Rh₂^II,II) catalyzed nitrene (NR) insertion into C H bonds were examined by a DFT computational study. A pure Becke exchange functional (B88) rather than a hybrid exchange functional (B3, BHandH) was found to be appropriate for the calculation of the energy difference between the singlet and triplet Rh₂^II,II–NH nitrene species. Rh₂^II,II–NR¹ (R¹=(S)‐2‐methyl‐1‐butylformyl) is thermodynamically more favorable with a free energy lower than that of Rh₂^II,II–N(PhI)R¹. The singlet and triplet states of Rh₂^II,II–NR¹ have similar stability. Singlet Rh₂^II,II–NR¹ undergoes a concerted NR insertion into the C H bond with simultaneous formation of the N H and N C bonds during C H bond cleavage; triplet Rh₂^II,II–NR¹ undergoes H atom abstraction to produce a diradical, followed by subsequent bond formation by diradical recombination. The singlet pathway is favored over the triplet in the context of the free energy of activation and leads to the retention of the chirality of the C atom in the NR insertion product. The reactivities of the C H bonds toward the nitrene‐insertion reaction follow the order tertiary>secondary>primary. Relative reaction rates were calculated for the six reaction pathways examined in this work.     

A theoretical investigation on the structures,densities, detonation properties,and pyrolysis mechanism of the nitro derivatives of phenols

The nitro derivatives of phenols are optimized to obtain their molecular geometries and electronic structures at the DFT‐B3LYP/6‐31G* level. Detonation properties are evaluated using the modified Kamlet–Jacobs equations based on the calculated densities and heats of formation. It is found that there are good linear relationships between density, detonation velocity, detonation pressure, and the number of nitro and hydroxy groups. Thermal stability and pyrolysis mechanism of the title compounds are investigated by calculating the bond dissociation energies (BDEs) at the unrestricted B3LYP/6‐31G* level. The activation energies of H‐transfer reaction is smaller than the BDEs of all bonds and this illustrates that the pyrolysis of the title compounds may be started from breaking O? H bond followed by the isomerization reaction of H transfer. Moreover, the C? NO₂ bond with the smaller bond overlap population and the smaller BDE will also overlap may be before homolysis. According to the quantitative standard of energetics and stability as a high‐energy density compound, pentanitrophenol essentially satisfies this requirement. In addition, we have discussed the effect of the nitro and hydroxy groups on the static electronic structural parameters and the kinetic parameter. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2010     

Biphenyl: A stress tensor and vector‐based perspective explored within the quantum theory of atoms in molecules

We use quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) and the stress tensor topological approaches to explain the effects of the torsion φ of the C‐C bond linking the two phenyl rings of the biphenyl molecule on a bond‐by‐bond basis using both a scalar and vector‐based analysis. Using the total local energy density H( r _b), we show the favorable conditions for the formation of the controversial H–H bonding interactions for a planar biphenyl geometry. This bond‐by‐bond QTAIM analysis is found to be agreement with an earlier alternative QTAIM atom‐by‐atom approach that indicated that the H–H bonding interaction provided a locally stabilizing effect that is overwhelmed by the destabilizing role of the C‐C bond. This leads to a global destabilization of the planar biphenyl conformation compared with the twisted global minimum. In addition, the H( r _b) analysis showed that only the central torsional C‐C bond indicated a minimum for a torsion φ value coinciding with that of the conventional global energy minimum. The H–H bonding interactions are found to be topologically unstable for any torsion of the central C‐C bond away from the planar biphenyl geometry. Conversely, we demonstrate that for 0.0° < φ < 39.95° there is a resultant increase in the topological stability of the C nuclei comprising the central torsional C‐C bond. Evidence is found of the effect of the H–H bonding interactions on the torsion φ of the central C‐C bond of the biphenyl molecule in the form of the QTAIM response β of the total electronic charge density ρ( r _b). Using a vector‐based treatment of QTAIM we confirm the presence of the sharing of chemical character between adjacent bonds. In addition, we present a QTAIM interpretation of hyperconjugation and conjugation effects, the former was quantified as larger in agreement with molecular orbital (MO) theory. The stress tensor and the QTAIM H atomic basin path set areas are independently found to be new tools relevant for the incommensurate gas to solid phase transition occurring in biphenyl for a value of the torsion reaction coordinate φ ≈ 5°. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A new anion receptor utilising aromatic and aliphatic C…H hydrogen bonds

We have synthesised 2, which bound weakly basic halide ions only with C–H…anion hydrogen bonds. Compound 2 utilised one aromatic C–H hydrogen bond and one benzylic C–H hydrogen bond to bind weakly halide ions such as chloride, bromide and iodide in solution. Ab initio calculations of binding energy values for these anions are in good agreement with experimental data. Although the binding affinities of 2 for these anions were low, 2 could be a unique example of host, which utilised only C–H hydrogen bonds to bind anion.     

The effect of nitro groups on the structures and energetic properties of the derivatives composed of TATB and cubane

Based on the successful experience of synthesis of the TATB (1, 3, 5-triamino-2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzene) and cubane, we propose to consider their nitro derivatives combined by C–N bond as a series of high energy density compounds. First principles molecular orbital calculations have been used to investigate the structural and energetic properties, including the heat of formation, density, detonation performance, and impact sensitivity. Natural bond orbital analysis was carried out to investigate the influence of substituents on the electron delocalization. The results implied that the inclusion of nitro group will decrease the stability of cage skeleton and weaken the C–NO₂ bond. The calculated heats of formation, density, detonation velocity, and detonation pressure are positive and large. The results revealed that two of five derivatives have the close performance and sensitivity to those of CL-20, indicating that they may be explored as new potential high energy materials. Leave them with the notable value to dig out.     

Cooperativity in a cycloalkane-1,2/1,3-polyol corona: Topological hydrogen bonding in 1,2-diol motifs

A corona, consisting of 18 carbon atoms bearing 12 hydroxy groups in a continuous hydrogen-bonded chain, is built up by alternating degenerate conformations of alternating alkane-1,2-diol and 1,3-diol motifs. Geometries, proton nuclear magnetic resonance shifts and interaction energies for the dodecahydroxycyclo-octadecane and selected fragments are determined by density functional calculations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level. Cooperative effects of O–H⋯O–H bonding are evident from the simple juxtaposition of these two motifs with a common OH group in butane-1,2,4-triol conformers. Bracketing a 1,2-diol motif with two 1,3-diol motifs in hexane-1,3,4,6-tetrol leads to a structure in which the 1,2-diol motif displays a bond critical point for hydrogen bonding. This is associated with enhancement of the shift of the hydrogen-bonded OH proton and of the corresponding H⋯O interaction energy. The full corona has a complete outer ring of O–H⋯O–H bond paths, and an inner ring of bond paths, due to C–H⋯H–C hydrogen–hydrogen bonding, which result in a central ring critical point. The topological O–H⋯O–H hydrogen bond, never seen in simple alkane-1,2-diols, is associated with cooperative enhancement of the H⋯O interaction energy, but this is not a necessary condition for a bond path: values for topological C–H⋯H–C hydrogen–hydrogen bonds can be as low as −0.4 kcal mol⁻¹.     

Automated Reaction Mechanism Generation Including Nitrogen as a Heteroatom

The open source rate‐based Reaction Mechanism Generator (RMG) software and its thermochemical and kinetics databases were extended to include nitrogen as a heteroatom. Specific changes to RMG and the mining of thermochemistry and reaction kinetics data are discussed. This new version of RMG has been tested by generating a detailed pyrolysis and oxidation model for ethylamine (EA, CH₃CH₂NH₂) at ∼1400 K and ∼2 bar, and comparing it to recent shock tube studies. Validation of the reaction network with recent experimental data showed that the generated model successfully reproduced the observed species as well as ignition delay measurements. During pyrolysis, EA initially decomposes via a C C bond scission, and the CH₂NH₂ product subsequently produces the first H radicals in this system via β‐scission. As the concentration of H increases, the major EA consuming reaction becomes H abstraction at the α‐site by H radicals, leading to a chain reaction since its product generates more H radicals. During oxidation, the dominant N₂‐producing route is mediated by NO and N₂O. The observables were found to be relatively sensitive to the C C and C N EA bond scission reactions as well as to the thermodynamic values of EA; thermodynamic data for EA were computed at the CBS‐QB3 level and reported herein. This work demonstrates the ability of RMG to construct adequate kinetic models for nitrogenous species and discusses the pyrolysis and oxidation mechanisms of EA.     

Quantum chemical calculations of geometries and gas‐phase deprotonation energies of linear polyyne chains

The molecular geometries of polyyne chains H(CC)_nH with their deprotonated forms (anions) have been optimized using ab initio LCAO‐SCF molecular orbital (MO) method and density functional theory at different basis set levels. The polyynes possess a series of alternating single and triple bonds. On the theoretical side the persistence of bond alternation and the effect of chain lengthening on the individual bond length in linear conjugated polyyne chains has been investigated. The common conclusion has been drawn that the bond alternation will persist and that bond length variation will be small. The triple bond length increases progressively toward the asymptotic limits as the value of n increases progressively. If the split‐valence basis set was employed, the total charges obtained using the Mulliken population analysis yielded unrealistic values. Using natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis or Bader's analysis, the net charges of the individual atoms converge very rapidly to their asymptotic limits, and the central atoms have almost zero charges in contrast to the Mulliken population analysis results. The reliability of deprotonation energies of neutral polyynes and their monoanionic derivatives calculated from the differences in molecular energy of the parent chains and the corresponding anions E(H(CC)_n⁻)–E(H(CC)_nH) and E(⁻(CC)_n⁻)–E(H(CC)_n⁻) was tested for different basis sets. The increase of the number of CC bonds in the chain decreases these differences asymptotically. The studied compounds are the best available building blocks in bimetallic compounds with useful properties in molecular electronics and nonlinear optics. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 82: 73–85, 2001     

High‐Energy Rechargeable Metallic Lithium Battery at −70 °C Enabled by a Cosolvent Electrolyte

Lithium metal is an ideal anode for high‐energy rechargeable batteries at low temperature, yet hindered by the electrochemical instability with the electrolyte. Concentrated electrolytes can improve the oxidative/reductive stability, but encounter high viscosity. Herein, a co‐solvent formulation was designed to resolve the dilemma. By adding electrochemically “inert” dichloromethane (DCM) as a diluent in concentrated ethyl acetate (EA)‐based electrolyte, the co‐solvent electrolyte demonstrated a high ionic conductivity (0.6 mS cm^?1), low viscosity (0.35 Pa s), and wide range of potential window (0–4.85 V) at ?70 °C. Spectral characterizations and simulations show these unique properties are associated with the co‐solvation structure, in which high‐concentration clusters of salt in the EA solvent were surrounded by mobile DCM diluent. Overall, this novel electrolyte enabled rechargeable metallic Li battery with high energy (178 Wh kg^?1) and power (2877 W kg^?1) at ?70 °C.     

Theoretical study of the gas-phase ethane C–H and C–C bonds activation by bare niobium cation

The potential energy surfaces for the reaction of bare niobium cation with ethane, as a prototype of the C–H and C–C bonds activation in alkanes by transition metal cations, have been investigated employing the Density Functional Theory in its B3LYP formulation. All the minima and key transition states have been examined along both high- and low-spin surfaces. For both the C–H and C–C activation pathways the rate determining step is that corresponding to the insertion of the Nb cation into C–H and C–C bond, respectively. However, along the C–H activation reaction coordinate the barrier that is necessary to overcome is 0.13 eV below the energy of the ground state reactants asymptote, while in the C–C activation branch the corresponding barrier is about 0.58 eV above the energy of reactants in their ground state. The overall calculated reaction exothermicities are comparable. Since the spin of the ground state reactants is different from that of both H–Nb⁺–C₂H₅ and CH₃–Nb⁺–CH₃ insertion intermediates and products, spin multiplicity has to change along the reaction paths. All the obtained results, including Nb⁺–R binding energies for R fragments relevant to the examined PESs, have been compared with existing experimental and theoretical data.     

IR study of ion-molecular interactions in the system methanesulfonic acid-ethyl acetate

The complex formation in the methanesulfonic acid (MSA)—ethyl acetate (EA) system was studied by Multiple Attenuated Total Reflection (MATR) IR spectroscopy at 30°C. In solutions with excess EA, neither protonation of a base nor formation of complexes with a strong symmetrical H bond was observed. Molecular complexes EA·MSA are found in these solutions. Complexes formed by the strong symmetric H bond are observed in the system when the MSA content exceeds 50 mol.% Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2. pp. 292–294, February, 2000.     

V/P复合氧化物上C-H键活化的密度泛函研究

选择氧化催化剂通常为多组分复合氧化物.一般认为,高价过渡金属的端末双键氧(M=O)是烷烃活化的中心,而非金属端氧(NM=O)与烷烃活化无关.但近期的理论研究发现,复合氧化物中非金属端氧也可能参与烷烃活化.本文采用密度泛函方法(B3LYP)对比V=O和P=O的脱氢活性,并深入揭示二者的差异. H脱除反应可以视为是质子偶联电子传递的过程.对于V/P复合氧化物, V5+充当电子的受体,而V=O和P=O均可接受质子.由于P=O具有更强的质子化能力,导致PO–H键能比VO–H有利6–10 kcal/mol.对于烷烃活化, V=O和P=O脱氢的能垒均可与反应焓变很好地关联,但二者线性回归的截距相差6.2 kcal/mol,说明在相同的焓驱动下, P=O脱氢需要克服更高的能垒.根据Marcus模型,反应的能垒不仅取决去反应焓变,还与内部重组能有关.计算表明,在脱氢过程中, P=O需克服的重组能为128–140 kcal/mol,比V=O过程高出21–23 kcal/mol.这很好地解释了前面的计算结果.应该指出的是,除了反应热力学驱动和重组能外,在势能曲线相交处的电子耦合作用(?HAB?)亦对能量有一定的影响.丁烷选择氧化制顺酐可能经过2-丁烯,丁二烯,2,5-二氢呋喃和丁烯酸内酯等一系列中间体,共有8个H原子在反应过程中需要脱除.对于丁烷的脱氢, P=O的能垒仅比V=O低1.3 kcal/mol,说明初始反应时二者是竞争的.但对于2-丁烯和2,5-二氢呋喃,二者活化能的差距增加为6–7 kcal/mol,说明这时P=O脱氢将占主导.而对丁烯酸内酯活化,二者活化能的差异又缩小到2.5 kcal/mol,表明V=O又具有一定的竞争力.事实上,这种能垒的差异与端氧的亲核性密切相关.P=O更具亲核性,因此有利于被更具酸性的C–H键进攻.根据Evens的估计,烷烃C–H键的pKa为50左右,而烯丙基性C–H为43.这就很好地解释了为什么2-丁烯和2,5-二氢呋喃更容易和P=O发生反应,而丁烷脱氢二者差异不大的原因.这些理论研究可以加深我们对复合氧化物催化剂上活性位点的认识,并为催化剂的理性设计提供理论支撑.     

Phenol O–H bond dissociation energy in water clusters

We are reporting ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) calculations for the phenol O–H bond dissociation energy in the gas phase and in phenol–water clusters. We have tested a series of recently proposed functionals and verified that DFT systematically underestimates the O–H bond dissociation energy of phenol. However, O–H bond dissociation energies in water clusters are in reasonable agreement with experimental data for phenol in solution. We have evaluated electronic difference densities in phenol–water, phenoxy–water, and water, and we are suggesting that the representation of this quantity gives an interesting picture of the electronic density rearrangement induced by hydrogen bond interactions in phenol–water clusters. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2001     

Slater-like model for carbon 1s core ionization energies of halomethanes.

Based on the atomic electron affinity EA, the average energy of the valence-shell electrons EI and the polarizability alpha, the charge effect and the relaxation effect were evaluated for the carbon 1s core ionization energies of halomethanes CHnY4-n-mZm (Y, Z=F, Cl, Br, I). The charge effect was scaled by the electronegativity discrepancy (the discrepancy of EA and the discrepancy of EI between the C and H or halogen atom in the C-H or C-halogen chemical bond). The relaxation effect (induced dipole) was scaled by the charge on the carbon atom together with the polarizability of the H and halogen atoms. Further, the electrostatic relaxation shielding DeltaSi of the carbon 1s electron in the halomethane was expressed by the charge effect together with the relaxation effect. By introducing DeltaSi into the Slater model, a Slater-like model was obtained for calculating the carbon 1s core ionization energy E1,C of halomethane, whose correlation coefficient r is 0.99985 and the average absolute error is only 0.041 eV between the calculated and the experimental carbon 1s core ionization energies for 27 halomethanes. Also the cross-correlation was tested by the leave-one-out (LOO) cross-validation method, and the obtained model has good predictive ability and stability (the correlation coefficient rcv is 0.99976, the average absolute error between the predicted and the experimental values is only 0.052 eV). The proposed model perhaps lays a good foundation for computing the core ionization energies of various atoms in more complex molecules.     

Intermolecular interactions in uracil–nitrous acid complexes: structures,binding energy,topological properties,and nuclear magnetic resonance study

Molecular interactions between uracil and nitrous acid (U–NA) [C₄N₂O₂H₄? NO₂H] have been studied using B3LYP, B3PW91, and MP2 methods with different basis sets. The optimized geometries, harmonic vibrational frequencies, charge transfer, topological properties of electron density, nucleus‐independent chemical shift (NICS), and nuclear magnetic resonance one‐ and two‐bonds spin–spin coupling constants were calculated for U–NA complexes. In interaction between U and NA, eight cyclic complexes were obtained with two intermolecular hydrogen bonds N(C)HU…N(O) and OH_NA…O_U. In these complexes, uracil (U) simultaneously acts as proton acceptor and proton donor. The most stable complexes labeled, UNA1 and UNA2, are formed via NH bond of U with highest acidity and CO group of U with lowest proton affinity. There is a relationship between hydrogen bond distances and the corresponding frequency shifts. The solvent effect on complexes stability was examined using B3LYP method with the aug‐cc‐pVDZ basis set by applying the polarizable continuum model (PCM). The binding energies in the gas phase have also been compared with solvation energies computed using the PCM. Natural bond orbital analysis shows that in all complexes, the charge transfer takes place from U to NA. The results predict that the Lone Pair (LP)(O)_U → σ*(O? H) and LP(N(O)_NA → σ*(N(C)? H)_U donor–acceptor interactions are most important interactions in these complexes. Atom in molecule analysis confirms that hydrogen bond contacts are electrostatic in nature and covalent nature of proton donor groups decreases upon complexation. The relationship between spin–spin coupling constant (^1hJ_H…_Y and ^2hJ_H…_Y) with interaction energy and electronic density at corresponding hydrogen bond critical points and H‐bonds distances are investigated. NICS used for indicating of aromaticity of U ring upon complexation. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.