Quantum mechanical studies of the protonation and NBr bond dissociation of the biologically important N-bromosuccinimide

N-Bromosuccinimide (NBS) is a brominating and oxidizing agent that is used as a source of bromine. The proton affinities, the tautomeric forms and NBr bond dissociation of NBS have been computed using the B3LYP functional as implemented in the density functional approach. The electronic structures of all possible tautomeric forms of NBS have been thoroughly investigated. The keto form of NBS has been shown to be more stable than any other tautomeric forms. The geometries and relative energies for various stationary structures were determined. The results indicate clearly that O-site protonation is strongly favored over N-site protonation for the studied compound in case of mono- and di-protonation. The bond dissociation energies (BDEs), involving the formation of the bromine radical, cation, and anion, of the NBr bond have been investigated. The NBr BDE of the Br radical formation is lower than that of the Br anion or cation. These conclusions are in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Thermochemical studies of substituted phenylnitrenes: Enthalpies of formation of chlorophenylnitrenes

The gas-phase acidities of chloroanilino-radicals have been measured, and have been combined with the electron affinities of chlorophenylnitrenes to determine the N–H bond dissociation energy of chloroanilino-radicals and the enthalpies of formation for the triplet, singlet, and radical anion states of the isomeric nitrenes. There is little difference found between the bond dissociation energies in the radicals and those in the corresponding anilines, indicating little interaction between the unpaired electrons in the chlorophenylnitrene, as expected. The values obtained are in good agreement with the values obtained from the theoretical calculations.

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Steric effects on alkyl cation affinities of maingroup-element hydrides

We have carried out an extensive exploration of gas‐phase alkyl cation affinities (ACA) of archetypal anionic and neutral bases across the periodic system using zeroth order regular approximation‐relativistic density functional theory at BP86/QZ4P//BP86/TZ2P. ACA values were computed for the methyl, ethyl, i‐propyl and t‐butyl cations and compared with the corresponding proton affinities (PA). One purpose of this work is to provide an intrinsically consistent set of values of the 298 K ACA of all anionic (XH) and neutral bases (XH_n) constituted by maingroup‐element hydrides of groups 14–17 and the noble gases (group 18) along the periods 1–6. Another purpose is to determine and rationalize the trend in affinity for a cation as the latter varies from proton to t‐butyl cation. This undertaking is supported by quantitative bond energy decomposition analyses. Correlations are established between PA and ACA values. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2011     

Quantum chemical investigation on the influence of amino substitution on proton affinity of oxazolidin-2-one

The scenarios of preferred protonation sites and the absolute gas-phase proton affinities of C5- and N4-amino derivatives of oxazolidinone (OXA) molecules possessing two oxygen and two nitrogen atoms, are studied to investigate the effect of substitution of amino group on geometry, electronic structure, and proton affinities of these molecules. The natural bond orbital analysis is invoked to obtain the second-order delocalization energies, occupations of lone pairs, charge distribution, and bond orders to rationalize the obtained results. Our findings reveal a strong nucleophilicity of O1 site in C5-amino and N4-amino-substituted OXA isomers just as in un-substituted OXA. The substituent nitrogen in N4-amino-substituted OXA has comparable electrophilicity to O1 site while lesser than acyl oxygen and higher than nitrogen of OXA ring in C5-amino-substituted OXA. The PA values of C5- and N4-amino-substituted OXA isomers span in the range 172.06–205.77 kcal mol^?1 (at CBS-Q). The PA values for the potential sites increase in the range 1.96–27.08 kcal mol^?1 as a result of the amino substitution at C5 and N4 in orientation (b) while exceptionally they decrease by 0.57–2.95 kcal mol^?1 as a result of the amino substitution at N4 in orientation (a). The results for the order of PA values of potential sites have been supported by molecular electrostatic potential maps. Our findings indicate that the factors such as geometrical rearrangements, variations in atomic charge densities and electron delocalization, effect of substituent, intramolecular hydrogen bonding, and electronic changes direct the relative stabilities and proton affinities of N, C5-substituted amino OXA isomers.     

Theoretical study on sulfonated and phosphonated poly[(aryloxy)phosphazenes] as proton-conducting membranes for fuel cell applications

Polyphosphazenes are considered to be more useful as proton-conducting membranes than Nafion due to their low methanol permeability, low water swelling ratios, satisfactory mechanical properties, and conductivities comparable to those of Nafion. In this work, compounds 1-6, six polyphosphazenes with different side groups, were designed and calculated. Structural parameters, proton affinities and water adsorptions were obtained on the basis of the optimized geometrical structures. Our calculations were in agreement with experimental results. It was found that the proton conductivities of the sulfonated poly[(aryloxy)phosphazenes] (R¹SO₃H) are higher than those of the phosphonated ones (R¹PO₃H₂), while the phosphonated poly[(aryloxy)phosphazenes] will retain water better at higher temperature than the sulfonated ones. The electron-withdrawing substituent of R² is beneficial to proton conductivities and water adsorptions of both sulfonated and phosphonated poly[(aryloxy)phosphazenes].     

The proton affinities of styrene,trsns-β-methylstyrene,and indene

We report experimental and theoretical AM1 proton affinities of styrene,-methylstyrenes, and indene. The computed AM1 proton affinities for the species of interest were in good agreement with the experimental values.trans--Methylstyrene was found to have a proton affinity slightly lower than that of styrene. This is an unusual result since methyl substitution in most classes of compounds increases the proton affinity by 2–4 kcal mol^–1. The lower basicity oftrans--methylstyrene compared to styrene is due to the greater stabilizing effect of the methyl group in the neutral species compared to the cation.     

Spectroscopic studies of the 1:1 adduct of N-methylmorpholinium-acetate with hydrobromic acid in the crystalline and gaseous state

The 1:1 complex of N-methylmorpholinium-acetate, MMB, with hydrobromic acid (1) has been investigated by single-crystal X-ray analysis, infrared spectroscopy and theoretical calculations. The proton-transfer complex has been observed in the crystalline state, with the COOH⋯Br hydrogen bond with the O⋯Br distance of 3.107(2) Å. In the structure optimized at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) levels of theory the proton is closer to the bromide anion, with the BrH⋯OOC distance of 3.069 Å. The potential energy distributions (PED) have been used for the assignments of IR bands. The experimental and theoretical infrared spectra have been discussed.     

Non-empirical SCF MO studies on the protonation of biopolymer constituents

Side-chain proton affinities for a series of peptide-forming amino acids have been calculated using ab initio Hartree-Fock-Roothaan SCF method; the order of proton affinities is Arg > His > Ser Tyr Lys. Protonation of some side-chains in a protein may introduce new energy levels in the band gaps thus fundamentally altering the conduction properties of the proteins.This paper is dedicated to Professor H. Hartmann for his 65th birthday.Guest at the Laboratory of the National Foundation for Cancer Research at the Chair of Theoretical Chemistry, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg.     

Structural properties and potential reactivity of substituted 3- aroyldithiocarbazates

A series of substituted 3-aroyldithiocarbazates has been synthesized and studied. The corresponding acid dissociation constants have been determined potentiometrically. Semiempirical PM3 molecular orbital calculations suggest the existence of several tautomeric forms of the compounds. Geometrical parameters, proton affinities, and static reactivity indices have been examined. Structural properties and protonation sites are well described by calculations. The strong correlations between the pK _a values and the Hammett constants as well as the N(3) calculated proton affinities indicate that the N(3) atom is the most probable protonation site. The thermodynamics of the protonation process are mainly controlled by HOMO-LUMO rather than electrostatic interactions. According to PM3 results, 3-aroyldithiocarbazic acid should be quite stable in the gas phase, while a mechanism for its decomposition in solution is proposed.     

A phosphoryl to spiro-bicyclophosphorane transformation via β-amidic proton elimination in phosphorylated hydrazides

The reaction between phosphoryl-containing reagents and hydrazides has been studied. The tetrahedral phosphoryl structure is transformed into a spiro-bicyclophosphorane system with trigonal bipyramidal geometry by the elimination of a β-amidic proton in the reaction between a hydrazide and phosphoryl reagents with at least two leaving groups (Cl) bound to the phosphorus atom, such as POCl₃ or PhPOCl₂. In the spiro-bicyclophosphorane structure, the CN imine bond is formed upon β-amidic proton elimination, leading to the conversion of the CO into a C-O bond and the formation of a P-O bond. All of these structural rearrangements are supported by X-ray crystallography data, and NMR and IR experiments.     

Theoretical study of the interaction of a proton with the O, F and Cl atoms of enflurane (CHFCl–CF2–O–CHF2)

Ab initio MP2 and density functional B3LYP calculations were performed to investigate the interaction of a proton with the O, F and Cl atoms of enflurane (CHFCl–CF₂–O–CHF₂) in the gas phase. The study included the optimized structures, proton affinities, interactions energies and thermodynamic properties of protonated enflurane. The proton affinities (PAs) of the O and Cl atoms are 154.5 and 139.8 kcal mol⁻¹, respectively, whereas PAs of five of the fluorine atoms are between 143.6 and 165.5 kcal mol⁻¹ (MP2 results). In contrast to protonation at the O and Cl atoms, protonation at each of the F atoms of enflurane reveals a striking result, it leads to a cleavage of the C–F bond and formation of an ion–dipole complex between the enfluranyl cation and neutral hydrogen fluoride. The [(enfluranyl)⁺FH] complexes are weakly bound, the SAPT-calculated interaction energy varies between −12.5 and −11.7 kcal mol⁻¹. The long range attraction in these complexes is dominated by the electrostatic term (70%), whereas the induction and dispersion components contribute by about 15% each. Protonation at the chlorine atom of enflurane does not lead to a cleavage of the C–Cl bond. For the O-protonated enflurane the results from the natural bond orbital analysis (NBO) are discussed in details.     

Structural role of hydrogen bond networks in amino acid–acid systems. (I) The network with highly polarizable OHO hydrogen bonds in sarcosine–methanesulfonic acid (2:1) crystal

The sarcosine–methanesulfonic acid (2:1) crystal was selected for examination of two problems: relations between different components of the amino acid–acid hydrogen bond network and a role of very strong and highly polarizable OHO hydrogen bond in the main structural units of the crystal: sarcosinium–sarcosine dimers (complexes). Our observations are based on phase transitions of the crystal monitored by DSC, X-ray diffraction and temperature evolutions of selected bands of IR spectra. Our experimental and DFT results provide information on the potential energy profile of the OHO proton and its evolution with temperature. The OO distance of the primary hydrogen bond remains almost unchanged and its proton is strongly delocalized and sensitive on neighbour NHO hydrogen bond. We propose a possible mechanism of the phase transitions and coupling between νCO vibrations of the carboxyl group and moving of the proton in neighbour OHO hydrogen bridge.     

The correlation of proton affinities with atomic charges and electronegativities for the group 14 to 17 hydrides

Proton affinities for hydrides of formula $\mathrm{AH}^{-}_{n-1}$ containing the elements A from the second to the fifth period of the periodic table and groups 14 to 17 are predicted at the Hartree–Fock, MP2 and B3LYP levels of theory employing both core potential basis sets and the 3‐21G basis set. The core potential methods perform well when compared with all electron calculations using the 3‐21++G** basis set. The proton affinities of the hydrides containing elements from groups 15 and 16 of the periodic table are more accurate than those with elements from groups 14 and 17. A cancellation of errors appears to occur more completely if the protonated and nonprotonated molecules contain both bond and lone pairs before and after the protonation reaction. Proton affinities correlate nearly linearly with the atomic charges on the hydrogen atoms when these charges are determined by the generalized atomic polar tensor (GAPT) method. This tendency can be associated, in principle, with the group electronegativities as introduced by Iczkowski and Margrave. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 21: 1119–1131, 2000     

An Empirical Proton NMR Shielding Equation for Alkenes Based on Ab Initio Calculations

Nuclei of hydrogen atoms located over a carbon-carbon double bond in the presence of a strong magnetic field experience a perturbed magnetic field caused primarily by the magnetic anisotropy of the bond. However, the commonly used theoretical model for predicting the shielding effect of an alkene double bond on hydrogen nuclei is sometimes inconsistent with the observed proton NMR chemical shifts in structures that have covalently bonded hydrogens located over a carbon-carbon double bond. We have used the ab initio gauge including atomic orbital (GIAO) method to calculate isotropic shielding values and to determine the proton NMR shielding increments for a simple model system: methane held at various positions over ethene. These shielding increments calculated for one proton of methane have been mapped as a function of their position in Cartesian coordinates relative to the center of ethene. A mathematical function has been fit to this three-dimensional shielding increment surface at each of four distances from the face of the ethene molecule. Additionally, a single mathematical equation has been developed for predicting the shielding caused by the carbon-carbon double bond in ethene. In contrast to the traditionally employed shielding model, our results predict deshielding for protons within 3 Å above the center of a carbon-carbon double bond, consistent with experimental observations in several molecular systems. The NMR shielding increments predicted by this equation are compared to observed shielding increments in some test alkenes.     

A Theoretical Investigation on Intramolecular Hydrogen Bond: The ESIPT Mechanism of dmahf Sensor

The properties of intramolecular hydrogen bond of a new photochemical sensor 4′-N,N-dimethylamino-3-hydroxyflavone (dmahf) has been investigated in detail. Using Atoms-In-Molecule method, we have demonstrated that the intramolecular hydrogen bond was formed in the ground state (S₀ state). The calculated dominating bond lengths and angles involved in hydrogen bond demonstrates that the intramolecular hydrogen bond can be strengthened in the first excited state (S₁ state). In addition, the variation of hydrogen bond of dmahf has been also testified based on infrared vibrational spectra. Further, hydrogen bonding strengthening manifests the tendency of excited state intramolecular proton transfer process. According to the calculated results of potential energy curves along O–H coordinate, the potential energy barrier of about 7.49 kcal/mol is discovered in the S₀ state. However, a lower potential energy barrier of 1.61 kcal/mol has been found in the S₁ state, which demonstrates that the proton transfer process is more likely to happen in the S₁ state than the S₀ state. In other words, the proton transfer reaction can be facilitated based on the photoexcitation effectively. In turn, through the process of radiative transition, the proton-transfer form dmahf-keto regresses to the ground state with the fluorescence of 578 nm.     

The role of isomerism and medium effects on stability of anions of formo- and thioformohydroxamic acid

The anionic forms of formo- and thioformohydroxamic acids have been analyzed for their relative stabilities and barriers for interconversion between the tautomeric forms employing ab initio and DFT methods. The deprotonation affinities and pK_a values are evaluated to differentiate the various deprotonation processes. The effect of medium on deprotonation behavior is analysed using Tomasi’s PCM model and examining free energy changes of deprotonation from isolated molecules, molecule–water aggregates and subsequently from anion–water aggregates in the gas phase and aqueous phase respectively. Variation of geometrical parameters, charges, electron delocalizations, intramolecular H-bonding and relative stabilities upon water aggregation of the anions all point towards NH deprotonation as the most favored process.     

Theoretical investigation of the structures and properties of fluoromethyl peroxyl radicals

The equilibrium geometries, harmonic vibrational frequencies, charge distributions, spin density distributions, dipole moments, electron affinities (EAs), and C? O bond dissociation energies (BDEs) of HO, CH₃O, CH₂FO, CHF₂O, and CF₃O peroxyl radicals have been calculated using ab initio molecular orbital theory and density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP level. The C? H bond dissociation energies of the parent fluoromethanes have been calculated using the same levels of theory. Both the MP2(full) and B3LYP methods, using the 6‐31G(d,p) basis set, are found to be capable of accurately predicting the geometries of peroxyl radicals. Electron correlation accounts for ～25% of the C? H BDE of fluoromethanes and for ～50% of the C? O BDE of the corresponding peroxyl radicals. The B3LYP/6‐31G(d,p) method is found to be comparable to high ab initio levels in predicting C? O BDEs of studied peroxyl radicals and C? H BDEs of the parent alkanes. The progressive fluorine substitution of hydrogen atoms in methyl peroxyl radicals results in shortening of the C? O bond, lengthening of the O? O bond, an increase (decrease) of the spin density on the terminal (inner) oxygen, a decrease in the dipole moments, and an increase in electron affinities. Both C? O BDEs and EAs of peroxyl radicals (RO) correlate well with Taft σ* substituent constants for the R group in peroxyl radicals. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2004     

Unimolecular chemistry of metastable dimethyl isophthalate radical cations

The MS/MS spectrum of the metastable molecular ions of dimethyl isophthalate 1 differs from that of the isomeric dimethyl terephthalate 2 by the observation of, inter alia, a quite intense loss of C,H₂,O ascribed to formaldehyde. Results obtained using a combination of mass spectrometry techniques suggest that this process could consist of an isomerization reaction of the molecular ion into an ion–neutral complex (INC) linking a benzoyl radical and neutral formaldehyde to a proton [ArCOHOCH₂]⁺. Within the complex, a proton transfer catalyzed by formaldehyde occurs resulting in the production of an ionized cyclohexadienylidene methanone (ketene) structure.     

Dimethoxymethane (DMM) electrooxidation on carbon-supported Pt-based nanosized catalysts for PEMFC

Previous studies on dimethoxymethane (DMM: CH₃OCH₂OCH₃) on platinum poly- and single crystals allowed us to propose a general mechanism of DMM electrooxidation. At the time, making electrodes for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) with nanoparticles (based on Pt) was encouraged. It is well known that the improvement of Pt activity for electrocatalysis is possible by modifying platinum with other metals able to increase the kinetics of specific steps of the reaction (activation of water for example). Nanosized PtM/C electrocatalysts have been synthesized by the Bönneman method and characterized for DMM electrooxidation. Voltammetry, in situ IRTF spectroscopy and fuel cell tests were carried out to better understand DMM oxidation reaction. Voltammetry and fuel cell tests showed that PtRuMo and PtRu are the most active catalysts at high potential, whereas PtSn and PtMo have a best activity at low potentials. In situ IR experiments allowed the observation of CO_ads and CO₂ bands.     

Raman bandshape analysis and DFT study of CO and CH stretching modes of NN-Dibutyl formamide in DMSO solvent`

The study reports the inter-molecular interactions and dynamics of CO and CH stretching modes of NN- Dibutyl Formamide (DBF) in DMSO solvent using Raman spectroscopic technique. The Raman band of CO and CH stretching modes have been deconvoluted into two distinct bands for neat as well as in DMSO solvent. Peak wavenumbers of CO stretching modes show red shift while CH stretching modes shows blue shift with the increase in solvent concentrations. The optimized geometric parameters, vibrational wavenumbers, Mulliken atomic charges and natural bond orbitals of the molecule has been computed using Density Functional Theory (DFT) method with basis set 6-31 +G (d, p). In addition, the same basis set has been carried out with counterpoise keyword accounting BSSE calculation on monomer and dimer states with DMSO solvent to present an appropriate interacting environment. IEF-PCM solvation model has also been computed using the same basis set and compares the geometrical parameters and vibrational wavenumbers of the molecules and in their complexes. In order to get a complete study of the DBF + DMSO complexes, explicit solvation model has also been calculated for Monomer DBF in two solvent molecules. Theoretical calculations of frequencies have been compared with the experimental findings and the results are found in good agreement.