Theoretical analysis of peroxynitrous acid: characterization of its elusive biradicaloid (HO...ONO) singlet states

Various high levels of theory (DFT, QCISD, BD(TQ), and CASSCF) have been applied to the characterization of two higher-lying biradicaloid singlet states of peroxynitrous acid. A singlet minimum (cis-2) was located that had an elongated O-O distance of 2.17 A and was only 14.4 kcal/mol [UB3LYP/6-311+G(3df,2p)] higher in energy than its cis-peroxynitrous acid ground-state precursor. A trans metastable higher-lying singlet (trans-2) was 12.8 kcal/mol higher in energy than ground-state HO-ONO. Complete active space calculations [CAS(12,10)/6-311+G(d,p)] predicted the optimized geometries of these cis and trans metastable singlets to be quite close to those obtained with the DFT method. Geometry optimization of both cis- and trans-2 within the COSMO solvent model suggest that both exist as energy minima in polar media with elongated O-O distances of 2.14 and 2.09 A. Both cis- and trans-2 exist as hydrogen-bonded complexes with several water molecules. These collective data suggest that solvated forms of cis-2.3H2O and trans-2.3H2O represent the elusive higher-lying biradicaloid minima that have been previously advocated (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 3125) as the metastable forms of peroxynitrous acid (HOONO*).     

The use of aminoiminomethanesulfinic acid (thiourea dioxide) under phase transfer conditions for generating organochalcogenate anions. Synthesis of sulfides,selenides and tellurides

A procedure is described which allows for the in situ synthesis of arylalkyl, diaryl and dialkylchalcogenides under phase transfer conditions starting from the corresponding diorganodichalcognides. The dichalcogenides are reduced by aminoiminomethanesulfinic acid (thiourea dioxide) in alkaline medium and catalyzed by a quaternary ammonium salt. The reduction proceeds easily for diaryl disulfides and diaryl diselenides at a sodium hydroxide concentration of 13%; diaryl ditellurides require a 50% sodium hydroxide solution to give the aryl tellurolate anion. The dialkyl diselenides and dialkyl ditellurides are more difficult to reduce. The intermediate arylthiolates and arylselenolates are quenched by alkyl and activated aryl halides to give the corresponding sulfides and selenides in high yield (77–97%). The aryltellurolates react with alkyl halides giving the aryl alkyl tellurides in 81–96% yield. The procedure could not be successfully used for the synthesis of dialkylselenides and dialkyl tellurides; low yields and mixture of products were formed.     

Chromium(VI) oxide catalyzed oxidation of sulfides to sulfones with periodic acid

A highly efficient and selective oxidation of sulfides to sulfones with periodic acid catalyzed by CrO(3) is described. A variety of electron-rich and electron-deficient sulfides were oxidized to sulfones with 2 mol % CrO(3) in acetonitrile at room temperature in excellent yields. Sulfides with other readily oxidized functional groups were selectively oxidized to sulfones in high yields with 10 mol % CrO(3) in ethyl acetate/acetonitrile at -35 degrees C.     

Picosecond study of electronically excited singlet states of nucliec acid components,Chem. Phys. Letters 83(1981)276.

Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy in the nanosecond and picosecond regimes is used to investigate the dynamics of excimer formation in α-perylene crystals Relaxation into the totally relaxed excimer state occurs by thermal activation of the partially relaxed excimer state. The potential barrier height is 310 ± 30 cm^?1.     

Correlation of the molecular orbitals of organic sulfides (selenides) and five-membered heterocyclic compounds by photoelectron spectroscopy

The structure and the correlation of the molecular orbitals were studied for divinyl chalcogenides and the isoelectronic five-membered heterocyclic compounds by photoelectron spectroscopy (PES). It was shown that the two frontier orbitals are inverted in the transition from divinyl sulfide to thiophene, while the heterocyclization of divinyl selenide is accompanied by quasidegeneration. According to PES, the orbital structure of the alkyl vinyl chalcogenides does not depend on the nature of the heteroatom (S, Se) or on the structure of the alkyl radical: ₂ < ₁ < ₂ < ₂. Linear correlations were obtained between the energies of the ₁ and ₂ MOs of the investigated groups of compounds, i.e., one for the vinyl Sulfides (selenides) and thiophenes (selenophenes) and another for the saturated derivatives of sulfur and selenium. The correlations in the compounds of the various chalcogens do not coincide, although they are similar.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 2317–2324, October, 1991.     

The formal combination of three singlet biradicaloid entities to a singlet hexaradicaloid metalloid Ge14[Si(SiMe3)3]5[Li(THF)2]3 cluster

The reaction of GeBr with LiSi(SiMe(3))(3) leads to the metalloid cluster compound [(THF)(2)Li](3)Ge(14)[Si(SiMe(3))(3)](5) (1). After the introduction of a first cluster of this type, in which 14 germanium atoms form an empty polyhedron, [(THF)(2)Li](3)Ge(14)[Ge(SiMe(3))(3)](5) (2), we present here further investigations on 1 to obtain preliminary insight into its chemical and bonding properties. The molecular structure of 1 is determined via X-ray crystal structure solution using synchrotron radiation. The electronic structure of the Ge(14) polyhedron is further examined by quantum chemical calculations, which indicate that three singlet biradicaloid entities formally combine to yield the singlet hexaradicaloid character of 1. Moreover, the initial reactions of 1 after elimination of the [Li(THF)(2)](+) groups by chelating ligands (e.g., TMEDA or 12-crown-4) are presented. Collision induced dissociation experiments in the gas phase, employing FT-ICR mass spectrometry, lead to the elimination of the singlet biradicaloid Ge(5)H(2)[Si(SiMe(3))(3)](2) cluster. The unique multiradicaloid bonding character of the metalloid cluster 1 might be used as a model for reactions and properties in the field of surface science and nanotechnology.     

The ground and two lowest-lying singlet excited electronic states of copper hydroxide (CuOH)

Various ab initio methods, including self-consistent field (SCF), configuration interaction, coupled cluster (CC), and complete-active-space SCF (CASSCF), have been employed to study the electronic structure of copper hydroxide (CuOH). Geometries, total energies, dipole moments, harmonic vibrational frequencies, and zero-point vibrational energies are reported for the linear 1Sigma+ and 1Pi stationary points, and for the bent ground-state X 1A', and excited-states 2 1A' and 1 1A". Six different basis sets have been used in the study, Wachters/DZP being the smallest and QZVPP being the largest. The ground- and excited-state bending modes present imaginary frequencies for the linear stationary points, indicating that bent structures are more favorable. The effects of relativity for CuOH are important and have been considered using the Douglas-Kroll approach with cc-pVTZ/cc-pVTZ_DK and cc-pVQZ/cc-pVQZ_DK basis sets. The bent ground and two lowest-lying singlet excited states of the CuOH molecule are indeed energetically more stable than the corresponding linear structures. The optimized geometrical parameters for the X 1A' and 1 1A" states agree fairly well with available experimental values. However, the 2 1A' structure and rotational constants are in poor agreement with experiment, and we suggest that the latter are in error. The predicted adiabatic excitation energies are also inconsistent with the experimental values of 45.5 kcal mol(-1) for the 2 1A' state and 52.6 kcal mol(-1) for the 1 1A" state. The theoretical CC and CASSCF methods show lower adiabatic excitation energies for the 1 1A" state (53.1 kcal mol(-1)) than those for the corresponding 2 1A' state (57.6 kcal mol(-1)), suggesting that the 1 1A" state might be the first singlet excited state while the 2 1A' state might be the second singlet excited state.     

Infrared spectra of negative ions with a strong,symmetric hydrogen bond (HO...H...OH)− and (H3CO...H...OCH3)−

From the multiple attenuated total internal reflection (MATIR) infrared spectrum of an aqueous KOH solution, the spectrum of the (HO)₂H^– ion, formed by a strong, symmetric H-bond, has been segregated. The spectrum of the analogous ion (CH₃O)₂H^– has been segregated from the MATIR infrared spectrum of a solution of KOCH₃ in methanol. The segregated spectra contain large numbers of individual bands that are not present in the spectra of the original components of the solution. This may be a consequence of strong interaction of vibrations of the proton in the central strong, symmetric hydrogen bond with vibrations of other groups in the ion.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1363–1366, June, 1991.     

Computational techniques applied to the study of the oxidation kinetics of iron and molybdenum cyanocomplexes by peroxynitrous acid

The oxidation kinetics of iron and molybdenum cyanocomplexes by peroxynitrous acid were studied by computational techniques. The rate constants of ONOOH decomposition and substrate oxidation were calculated by fitting the experimental data to the solution of the ordinary differential equations mechanism. There is a linear relationship between the rate constants which is solved by varying the initial concentration of one of the reactive species. The rate constants of the steps involved in ONOOH decomposition were also determined following the same procedure and considering a linear relationship between the rate constants. The results are consistent with the values previously found using the conventional method of integration, and they validate the prior steady state assumption. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The double Renner effect in the X(2)A" and A(2)A' electronic states of HO(2)

A theoretical investigation of the X(2)A" and A(2)A' electronic states of the HO(2) radical is reported. Both electronic states have nonlinear equilibrium geometries and they correlate with a (2)Pi state at linear geometries so that they exhibit the Renner effect. In highly excited bending states, there is tunneling between two equivalent minima (with geometries where the H nucleus is bound to one, or the other, of the two O nuclei), and the two linear geometries H-O-O and O-O-H become accessible to the molecule. Thus, HO(2) affords an example of the so-called double Renner effect. Three-dimensional potential energy surfaces for the X(2)A" and A(2)A' electronic states of HO(2) have been calculated ab initio and the global potential energy surfaces for the states have been constructed. These surfaces have been used, in conjunction with the computer program DR [Odaka et al., J. Mol. Structure 795, 14 (2006); Odaka et al., J. Chem. Phys. 126, 094301 (2007)], for calculating HO(2) rovibronic energies in the "double-Renner"-degenerate electronic states X(2)A" and A(2)A'. The results of the ab initio calculations, the rovibronic energies obtained, and analyses of the wavefunctions for selected states are presented.     

On the nature of the low-lying singlet states of 4-(Dimethyl-amino)benzonitrile

4-(N,N-Dimethyl-amino)benzonitrile (DMABN) is a prototype molecule for dual fluorescence. The anomalous emission has been attributed to an intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) state, and the structure of the latter is still subject to some controversy. We applied a recently developed analytical gradient code for the approximate coupled-cluster singles-and-doubles method CC2 in combination with accurate basis sets to address this problem. Fully optimized excited state structures are presented for the ICT state and the so-called locally excited state, and recent transient IR and Raman measurements on the excited states are interpreted by means of calculated harmonic frequencies. Strong evidence is found for an electronic decoupling of the phenyl and the dimethyl-amino moiety, resulting in a minimum structure for the ICT state with a twisted geometry. In contrast to previous findings, the structure of this state is, at least in the gas phase, not C(2v) symmetric but distorted towards C(s) symmetry. The distortion coordinate is a pyramidalization of the phenyl carbon atom carrying the dimethyl-amino group. The results from the CC2 model are supported by single-point calculations using more elaborate coupled-cluster models (CCSD, CCSDR(3)) and by CASSCF calculations.     

Electronic structures of the ground state and excited singlet states of nucleic acid bases

The self-consistent field (SCF) method is used in the semiempirical approximation (SA) with allowance for singly excited configurations to derive the ground state and singlet excited states for five nucleic acid bases (NAB). Empirical values are used for the nondiagonal elements of the matrix for the two-electron Coulomb integrals. The methyl group in thymine is allowed for via an induction model. Theoretical values are given for the energies of the first four electronic transitions for each base. The locations of these agree well with spectroscopic data. The energies of the first two transitions in adenine are found to be very similar when allowance is made for configuration interaction, so the first absorption band of adenine arises from overlap of two transitions.     

Hydrogen peroxide oxidation of mustard-model sulfides catalyzed by iron and manganese tetraarylporphyrines. Oxygen transfer to sulfides versus H(2)O(2) dismutation and catalyst breakdown.

Fe(III)- and Mn(III)-meso-tetraarylporphyrin catalysis of H(2)O(2) oxidation of dibenzyl and phenyl-2-chloroethyl sulfides, 1, is investigated in ethanol with the aim of designing catalytic systems for mustard decontamination. The sulfide conversion, the sulfoxide and sulfone yields, the oxygen transfer from H(2)O(2) to the sulfide, and the catalyst stability depend markedly on the metal, on the substituents of its ligand, and on the presence or the absence of a cocatalyst, imidazole or ammonium acetate. With Fe, sulfones, the only oxidation products, are readily obtained whatever the ligand (TPP, F(20)TPP, or TDCPP) and the cocatalyst; the oxygen transfer is fairly good, up to 95% when the catalyst concentration is small ([1]/[Cat] = 420); the catalyst breakdown is insignificant only in the absence of any cocatalyst. With Mn, the sulfide conversion is achieved completely when the ligand is TDCPP or TSO(3)PP, but not F(20)TPP or TPP; a mixture of sulfoxide, 2, and sulfone, 3, is always obtained with [2]/[3] = 3.5-0.85 depending on the ligand and the cocatalyst (electron withdrawing substituents favor 3 and NH(4)OAc, 2). The catalyst stability is very good, but the oxygen transfer is poor whatever the ligand and the cocatalyst. These results are discussed in terms of a scheme in which sulfide oxygenation, H(2)O(2) dismutation, and oxidative ligand breaking compete. It is shown that the efficiency of the oxygen transfer is related not only to the rate constant of the dismutation route but also to the concentration of the active metal-oxo intermediate, most likely a perferryl or permanganyl species, i.e., to the rate of its formation.     

The chromic acid oxidation of oxalic acid : Evidence of chromium(IV) oxidation

In the chromic acid oxidation of oxalic acid in the range where the reaction is first order in the substrate, oxalic acid is very reactive toward chromium(IV) and rather unreactive toward chromium(V). A mechanism analogous to that of the chromic acid oxidation of alcohols and aldehydes is proposed for the first order kinetic term.