Quasi-relativistic study of electronic structure of uranium tetrafluoride

Conclusions A comparison of the results obtained in a calculation of the electronic structure of UF₄, performed in the NR and QR approximations of the X-SW method, leads to a number of conclusions as to the role of relativistic effects in the electronic structure of molecules. a) An accounting for relativistic effects leads to changes in the spatial distribution of charge in the molecules and to a consequent change in the interpretation of the bond in terms of the ratio of ionic and covalent components. b) Relativistic compression of the wave functions of the s and p electrons (primary relativistic effects) and delocalization of the d and f functions (secondary relativistic effects) lead to substantial changes in the orbital energies and the corresponding ionization potentials in heavy molecules. c) Primary and secondary relativistic effects are responsible for considerable changes in the electronic excitation energies and the EA, changes that may account to as much as 200%. d) An accounting for spin-orbit interaction effects is extremely important in interpreting photoelectron and optical spectra. In the example of UF₄, it has been shown that NR wave functions are inadequate for use in calculating spin—orbit splittings in heavy molecules. Just as inadequate may be an accounting for spin—orbit interaction in first-order perturbation theory for systems of closelying MOs, the charge density of which is determined to a considerable degree by AOs of a single type (for example, 5f AOs of uranium in UF₄).Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Éksperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 406–415, July–August, 1984.The authors wish to express their appreciation to M. I. Timokhin for assistance in performing the calculations.     

Intermetallic compounds of the heaviest elements and their homologs: the electronic structure and bonding of MM', where M=Ge, Sn, Pb, and element 114, and M'=Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, Au, Sn, Pb, and element 114

Fully relativistic (four-component) density-functional theory calculations were performed for intermetallic dimers MM', where M=Ge, Sn, Pb, and element 114, and MM'=group 10 elements (Ni, Pd, and Pt) and group 11 elements (Cu, Ag, and Au). PbM and 114M, where M are group 14 elements, were also considered. The results have shown that trends in spectroscopic properties-atomization energies D(e), vibrational frequencies omega(e), and bond lengths R(e), as a function of MM', are similar for compounds of Ge, Sn, Pb, and element 114, except for D(e) of PbNi and 114Ni. They were shown to be determined by trends in the energies and space distribution of the valence ns(MM')atomic orbitals (AOs). According to the results, element 114 should form the weakest bonding with Ni and Ag, while the strongest with Pt due to the largest involvement of the 5d(Pt) AOs. In turn, trends in the spectroscopic properties of MM' as a function of M were shown to be determined by the behavior of the np(1/2)(M) AOs. Overall, D(e) of the element 114 dimers are about 1 eV smaller and R(e) are about 0.2 a.u. larger than those of the corresponding Pb compounds. Such a decrease in bonding of the element 114 dimers is caused by the large SO splitting of the 7p orbitals and a decreasing contribution of the relativistically stabilized 7p(1/2)(114) AO. On the basis of the calculated D(e) for the dimers, adsorption enthalpies of element 114 on the corresponding metal surfaces were estimated: They were shown to be about 100-150 kJ/mol smaller than those of Pb.     

Importance of backdonation in [M-(CO)]p+ complexes isoelectronic to [Au-(CO)]+

In this contribution, we study several monocarbonyl-metal complexes in order to unravel the contribution of relativistic effects to the metal-ligand bond length and complexation energy. Using scalar density functional theory (DFT) constrained space orbital variation (CSOV) energy decomposition analysis supplemented by all-electron four-component DFT computations, we describe the dependency of relativistic effects on the orbitals involved in the complexation for the Au(+) isoelectronic series, namely, the fully occupied 5d orbitals and the empty 6s orbitals. We retrieve the well-known sensitivity of gold toward relativity. For platinum and gold, the four-component results illustrate the simultaneous relativistic expansion of the 5d orbitals and the contraction of the 6s orbitals. The consequences of such modifications are evidenced by CSOV computations, which show the importance of both donation and backdonation within such complexes. This peculiar synergy fades away with mercury and thallium for which coordination becomes driven by the accepting 6s orbitals only, which makes the corresponding complexes less sensitive toward the relativistic effects.     

An improved set of mndo parameters for sulfur

The MNDO parameters for sulfur have been reoptimized. Calculations for a number of sulfur compounds indicate a very significant improvement. Inclusion of d AOs failed to correct the errors for compounds of sulfur in its higher valence states. Since d AOs are not included, the calculations are still confined to compounds of divalent sulfur.     

Ionic bonding of lanthanides,as influenced by d‐ and f‐atomic orbitals,by core–shells and by relativity

Lanthanide trihalide molecules LnX₃ (X = F, Cl, Br, I) were quantum chemically investigated, in particular detail for Ln = Lu (lutetium). We applied density functional theory (DFT) at the nonrelativistic and scalar and SO‐coupled relativistic levels, and also the ab initio coupled cluster approach. The chemically active electron shells of the lanthanide atoms comprise the 5d and 6s (and 6p) valence atomic orbitals (AO) and also the filled inner 4f semivalence and outer 5p semicore shells. Four different frozen‐core approximations for Lu were compared: the (1s²–4d¹⁰) [Pd] medium core, the [Pd+5s²5p⁶ = Xe] and [Pd+4f¹⁴] large cores, and the [Pd+4f¹⁴+5s²5p⁶] very large core. The errors of Lu? X bonding are more serious on freezing the 5p⁶ shell than the 4f¹⁴ shell, more serious upon core‐freezing than on the effective‐core‐potential approximation. The Ln? X distances correlate linearly with the AO radii of the ionic outer shells, Ln³⁺‐5p⁶ and X^?‐np⁶, characteristic for dominantly ionic Ln³⁺‐X^? binding. The heavier halogen atoms also bind covalently with the Ln‐5d shell. Scalar relativistic effects contract and destabilize the Lu? X bonds, spin orbit coupling hardly affects the geometries but the bond energies, owing to SO effects in the free atoms. The relativistic changes of bond energy BE, bond length R_e, bond force k, and bond stretching frequency v_s do not follow the simple rules of Badger and Gordy (R_e～BE～k～v_s). The so‐called degeneracy‐driven covalence, meaning strong mixing of accidentally near‐degenerate, nearly nonoverlapping AOs without BE contribution is critically discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The use of comet assay data with a simple reaction mechanism to evaluate the relative effectiveness of free radical scavenging by quercetin, epigallocatechin gallate and N-acetylcysteine in UV-irradiated MRC5 lung fibroblasts

Comet assay data (tail DNA %) have been gathered for the concentration dependent role of three antioxidants (AOs); quercetin (Q), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in reducing UV-induced damage to DNA in normal fetal lung fibroblasts (MRC5). All three compounds demonstrate a concentration dependent reduction maximum with a pro-oxidant effect at higher (though not cytotoxic) concentrations. Manipulation of a simple 4-step reaction mechanism for free radical (FR) scavenging by AOs produced rate constant ratios which allowed the relative effectiveness (Q > EGCG > NAC) of the AOs to be evaluated.     

Relativistically parameterized extended hückel calculations. IX. An iterative version with applications to some xenon,thorium and uranium compounds

A charge-consistent version of the relativistic extended Hückel method REX is presented. The diagonal matrix elements are corrected for occupations of individual orbitals on the same atom using derivatives from atomic Dirac-Slater calculations and for external charges. The method is applied to systems containing the heavy atoms Xe, Th and U. For the XeF_n series (n = 2, 4, 6) the charge distributions improved compared to the non-iterative version of REX and the new results are close to non-relativistic ab initio SCF results. Bonding in the uranyl ion is discussed. The EHT-level explanations for the linear geometry by Tatsumi and Hoffmann nd by Pyykkö and Lohr are shown to be identical. The effect of secondary ligands is discussed. The role of the 6p AOs in actinoid nuclear quadrupole coupling in the actinyls is pointed out. The XPS of UF₆ is explained by different amounts of 5f character in the split components of the t_1u HOMO.     

Electrochemical antioxidant detection technique based on guanine-bonded graphene and magnetic nanoparticles composite materials

An antioxidant (AO) amperometric technique based on guanine attached to graphene and Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles (NPs) magnetic materials was developed. Guanine molecules acted as an antioxidant competitor were bonded with graphene nanosheets, onto which magnetic Fe(3)O(4) NPs were attached and the as-prepared magnetic composite can be attracted to the electrode surface by an external magnetic field. When applied with negative potentials, the dissolved oxygen was reduced to H(2)O(2) at the electrode surface, and then reacted with the EDTA-Fe(ii) complex via a Fenton-like reaction to produce OH radicals. After oxidation damage by OH radicals, the electrochemical oxidation of guanine gave a decreased current. In the presence of AOs, the reactive oxygen species (ROS, e.g. OH radicals and H(2)O(2)) were scavenged by AOs and fewer guanine probe molecules were oxidized, thus inducing a higher electrochemical oxidation current of guanine. So AOs competed with the guanine probe molecules toward oxidation by ROS. The current signals of the guanine probe molecules were proportional to the concentrations of AOs. A kinetic model was proposed to quantify the ROS scavenging capacities of the AOs. Using guanine as an oxidizable probe and OH radicals and H(2)O(2) as endogenous ROS, this kind of AO detection technique mimicks the antioxidant protection mechanism by small AO molecules in the human body.     

On formation of polyatomic mercury cations

This paper analyzes the effect of the increased number of electrons lying on the 6s orbitals of Hg ions on the formation of polyatomic Hg_n cations, their structure, and Hg-Hg distances. The critical role in the formation and structural characterstics of Hg_n cations is played by the degree of expansion of the Hg5d atomic orbitals; when 6s electrons increase in number, this expansion is enhanced by relativistic effects. Formation of Hg_n cations and the observed tendencies are explained in terms of the virial theorem. Translated fromZhurnal Struktumoi Khimii, Vol.40, No. 2, pp. 314–323, March–April, 1999     

镱硫属化合物的密度泛函理论研究

用密度泛函理论(DFT)研究镱硫属化合物的电子结构和性质,通过与实验比较考察了现有的几种近似密度泛函公式对镧系元素化合物的适用程度和相对论效应的影响.结果表明,用DFT计算的YbO键长对实验值的偏差约为0.002nm;但得到的键能即使在考虑梯度校正和相对论效应之后,仍比实验值高,在定域密度近似基础上引入交换梯度校正使键能计算值减小,其中PW86x使键能计算值减小稍多些,结果更接近实验值;相关梯度校正使键能计算值升高.相对论效应使键长缩短0.004～0.006nm,键能减小约0.5eV.计算结果的分析表明,Yb的5d轨道和配体的np轨道间形成σ键和π键.在所研究的分子体系中,配体原子从O到Te、Yb原子的5d轨道布后数依次减少,同键能减弱的顺序一致.相对论效应使键能减小的主要原因是在成键过程中发生了Yb的6s电子向5d轨道的转移,而相对论效应使该过程能量增加.偶极矩和电荷分布的计算表明,Yb-L键以共价性为主,相对论效应使共价性成份增加.     

Mulliken集居数的基本关系

Mulliken的集居数分析就是将MO的正交归一化关系向AO、AO重迭区或原子进行分解。本文即基于这一认识,对它作了统一详细的讨论,并以甲烷为例,对EHMO程序,FORTICON的主要输出结果给予了计算说明。     

In vitro antioxidative activities of three marine oligosaccharides

The antioxidant activities of three marine oligosaccharides, alginate oligosaccharides (AOs), chitosan oligosaccharides (COs), and fucoidan oligosaccharides (FOs), were investigated in vitro by several antioxidant assays, including hydroxyl radical scavenging, superoxide radical scavenging, erythrocyte hemolysis inhibiting, metal chelating activities, and anti-lipid peroxidation. The results show that these oligosaccharides exhibited different activities in various assays. AOs had the highest scavenging hydroxyl radical activity than FOs and COs at all the tested amounts. COs had the highest scavenging superoxide radical and inhibiting erythrocyte hemolysis activity than AOs and FOs at all the tested amounts. In the assay of chelating Fe2+, COs and FOs indicated good chelation while AOs hardly had any activity. In the assay of anti-lipid peroxidation, only COs had significantly high antioxidant activity.     

Interrelation of the chemical structure and inhibiting activity of sterically hindered phenols in methyl oleate oxidation in homogeneous and microheterogeneous systems

Specific features of the inhibiting activity of sterically hindered phenolic antioxidants (AOs) 3, 5-Bu^t ₂-4-OHC₆H₂(CH₂)₂C(O)O(CH₂)₂N⁺Me₂R·X⁻ (R = H, Me, C₈H₁₇, C₁₀H₂₁, C₁₂H₂₅, C₁₆H₃₃; X = Br, I), being phenosan derivatives containing the ethanolamine residue substituted at the N atom by an alkyl substituent, were studied. The action of these AOs was studied in the initiated oxidation of homogeneous solutions of methyl oleate in chlorobenzene and an aqueous emulsion medium in the presence of the surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate. Phenolic AOs act in two directions: they react with peroxy radicals with a rate constant of 0. 98·10⁴ L mol⁻¹ s⁻¹ and decompose hydroperoxides to form molecular products. The effect of hindered phenols as AOs depends substantially on their chemical structure and oxidation conditions. In lipid solutions, they efficiently hinder the oxidation of methyl oleate, outperforming the action of α-tocopherol, dibunol, phenosan K, and its methyl ester taken in comparative concentrations. The inhibiting activity of the AOs decreases substantially with the chain elongation of the R substituent. For oxidation in an aqueous emulsion medium, the inhibition effect of the AOs under study weakens compared to oxidation in a homogeneous solution, which is accompanied by the disappearance of differences in efficiency of different AOs.__________Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 323–328, February, 2005.     

Development of Novel Indole-Based Bifunctional Aldose Reductase Inhibitors/Antioxidants as Promising Drugs for the Treatment of Diabetic Complications

Aldose reductase (AR, ALR2), the first enzyme of the polyol pathway, is implicated in the pathophysiology of diabetic complications. Aldose reductase inhibitors (ARIs) thus present a promising therapeutic approach to treat a wide array of diabetic complications. Moreover, a therapeutic potential of ARIs in the treatment of chronic inflammation-related pathologies and several genetic metabolic disorders has been recently indicated. Substituted indoles are an interesting group of compounds with a plethora of biological activities. This article reviews a series of indole-based bifunctional aldose reductase inhibitors/antioxidants (ARIs/AOs) developed during recent years. Experimental results obtained in in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models of diabetic complications are presented. Structure–activity relationships with respect to carboxymethyl pharmacophore regioisomerization and core scaffold modification are discussed along with the criteria of ‘drug-likeness”. Novel promising structures of putative multifunctional ARIs/AOs are designed.     

Theoretical study of the nuclear spin-molecular rotation coupling for relativistic electrons and non-relativistic nuclei

A theoretical study of the relation between the relativistic formulation of the nuclear magnetic shielding and spin-rotation tensors is presented. To this end a theoretical expression of the relativistic spin-rotation tensor is formulated, considering a molecular Hamiltonian of relativistic electrons and non-relativistic nuclei. Molecular rotation effects are introduced considering the terms of the Born-Oppenheimer decomposition, which couple the electrons and nuclei dynamics. The loss of the simple relation linking both spectral parameters in the non-relativistic formulation is further analyzed carrying out a perturbative expansion of relativistic effects by means of the linear response within the elimination of the small component approach. It is concluded that relativistic effects on the spin-rotation tensor are less important than those of the nuclear magnetic shielding tensor.     

Relativistic all-electron configuration interaction calculations on the gold atom

We present the results of relativistic and non-relativistic self-consistent field and configuration interaction calculations for the gold atom, using the spin-free no-pair Hamiltonian in a basis set expansion. A new basis set for the gold atom is discussed and its results in relativistic and non-relativistic self-consistent field calculations are compared to those of numerical Dirac-Hartree-Focic and Hartree-Fock calculations, respectively. Excitation energies, electron affinities and ionization potentials were calculated using a multi-reference configuration interaction technique and are in reasonable agreement with experiment in the relativistic case.     

AB initio study of the regular polyhedral molecules N4, P4, As4, N8, P8 and As8

Ab initio pseudopotential SCF calculations were performed on tetrahedral X₄ molecules using double-zeta basis sets with and without d functions. The inclusion of d orbitals shortens the bond lengths, stabilizes the X₄ structures and intensifies the electron density inside the tetrahedron. The cubic X₈ molecules, calculated without d AOs, are not predicted to be more stable than 2X₄. Repulsions between parallel bonds in X₈ may compensate the lack of ring strain.     

MPI/OpenMP hybrid parallel algorithm for resolution of identity second‐order Møller–Plesset perturbation calculation of analytical energy gradient for massively parallel multicore supercomputers

A massively parallel algorithm of the analytical energy gradient calculations based the resolution of identity Møller–Plesset perturbation (RI‐MP2) method from the restricted Hartree–Fock reference is presented for geometry optimization calculations and one‐electron property calculations of large molecules. This algorithm is designed for massively parallel computation on multicore supercomputers applying the Message Passing Interface (MPI) and Open Multi‐Processing (OpenMP) hybrid parallel programming model. In this algorithm, the two‐dimensional hierarchical MP2 parallelization scheme is applied using a huge number of MPI processes (more than 1000 MPI processes) for acceleration of the computationally demanding O (N ⁵) step such as calculations of occupied–occupied and virtual–virtual blocks of MP2 one‐particle density matrix and MP2 two‐particle density matrices. The new parallel algorithm performance is assessed using test calculations of several large molecules such as buckycatcher C₆₀@C₆₀H₂₈ (144 atoms, 1820 atomic orbitals (AOs) for def2‐SVP basis set, and 3888 AOs for def2‐TZVP), nanographene dimer (C₉₆H₂₄)₂ (240 atoms, 2928 AOs for def2‐SVP, and 6432 AOs for cc‐pVTZ), and trp‐cage protein 1L2Y (304 atoms and 2906 AOs for def2‐SVP) using up to 32,768 nodes and 262,144 central processing unit (CPU) cores of the K computer. The results of geometry optimization calculations of trp‐cage protein 1L2Y at the RI‐MP2/def2‐SVP level using the 3072 nodes and 24,576 cores of the K computer are presented and discussed to assess the efficiency of the proposed algorithm. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Relativistic effects in chemistry

Relativistic effects become apparent when the velocity of the electron is arbitrarily close to the speed of light (137 au) without actually attaining it (in heavy atoms of elements at the end of Mendeleev's Periodic Table). At the orbital level, the relativistic effect is apparent in the radial contraction of penetrating s and p shells, expansion of nonpenetrating d and f shells, and the spin-orbit splitting of p-, d-, and f-shells. The appearance of a relativistic effect is indicated in the variation in the electronic configurations of the atoms in the Periodic Table, the appearance of new types of closed electron shells (6s_1/2 ², 6p_1/2 ², 7s_1/2 ², 5d_3/2 ⁴), the stabilization of unstable oxidation states of heavy elements, the characteristic variation in the ionization enthalpies of heavy atoms, their electron affinity, hydration energies, redox potentials, and optical electronegativities. In the spectra of coordination compounds, a relativistic effect is observed when comparing the position of the charge transfer bands in analogous compounds, the parameters characterizing the ligand field strength (10Dq), the interatomic distances and angles in compounds of heavy elements. A relativistic effect is also apparent in the ability of heavy metals to form clusters and superclusters. Relativistic corrections also affect other properties of heavy metal compounds (force constants, dipole moments, biological activity, etc.).Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Éksperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 181–199, May–June, 1995.