Correlation between 19F environment and isotropic chemical shift in barium and calcium fluoroaluminates

High-speed MAS (19)F NMR spectra are recorded and reconstructed for 10 compounds from BaF(2)-AlF(3) and CaF(2)-AlF(3) binary systems which leads to the determination of 77 isotropic (19)F chemical shifts in various environments. A first attribution of NMR lines is performed for 8 compounds using a superposition model as initially proposed by B. Bureau et al. The phenomenological parameters of this model are then refined to improve the NMR line assignment. A satisfactory reliability is reached with a root-mean-square (RMS) deviation between calculated and measured values equal to 6 ppm. The refined parameters are then successfully tested on alpha-BaCaAlF(7) whose structure was recently determined. Finally, the isotropic chemical shift ranges are defined for shared, unshared, and "free" fluorine atoms encountered in the investigated binary systems. So, the fluorine surroundings can be deduced from the NMR line positions in compounds whose structure is unknown. Such an approach can also be applied to fluoride glasses.     

An approximate ab initio SCFMO method

An approximate SCFMO method of calculation is presented which includes several features which are new to this type of approach. A minimal basis set of Slater type orbitals is used, and all integrals are included, but are evaluated approximately, using a series of analytical formulae which have been chosen to reproduce the rigorous values of the integrals. Results are given for the ground states of the H₂O, CH₄, BH₃, NH₃ and BeH₂ molecules, and are compared with previously calculated results.

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Zusammenfassung Eine Näherungs-SCF-MO-Rechnung mit einigen neuen Abänderungen wird vorgeschlagen. Eine minimale Basis von Slater-Orbitalen wird benutzt; es werden alle Integrale berücksichtigt, jedoch nur näherungsweise berechnet, wobei eine Reihe von analytischen Formeln benutzt wird, welche die exakten Werte der Integrale möglichst reproduzieren sollen. Ergebnisse für den Grundzustand von H₂O, CH₄, BH₃, NH₃ und BeH₂ werden mit früher berechneten Ergebnissen verglichen.

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Résumé Présentation d'une méthode SCF MO approchée comportant certaines caractéristiques nouvelles pour une telle méthode. On emploie une base minimale d'orbitales de Slater en ne négligeant aucune intégrale, mais en évaluant chaque intégrale d'une manière approchée au moyen d'une série de formules analytiques calibrées de manière à reproduire les valeurs exactes des intégrales. Les résultats obtenus pour les états fondamentaux de H₂O, CH₄, BH₃, NH₃ et BeH₂ sont comparés à ceux obtenus auparavant.

     

Electrochemical and photochemical approaches for the synthesis of the C28–C38 fragment of okadaic acid

Okadaic acid, a potent and selective inhibitor of Protein Phosphatases 1 and 2A (PP1 and PP2A), is widely used as a probe for various biochemical processes. We describe herein two innovative methods for the synthesis of the terminal C28–C38 fragment of the natural polyether. Suárez photochemical oxidative cyclization and electrochemical oxidation of malonates to their ketals equivalents have been successfully applied for the assembly of the key spiroketal core.     

19F high magnetic field NMR study of beta-ZrF4 and CeF4: from spectra reconstruction to correlation between fluorine sites and 19F isotropic chemical shifts

High magnetic field and high spinning frequency one- and two-dimensional one-pulse MAS 19F NMR spectra of beta-ZrF4 and CeF4 were recorded and reconstructed allowing the accurate determination of the 19F chemical shift tensor parameters for the seven different crystallographic fluorine sites of each compound. The attributions of the NMR resonances are performed using the superposition model for 19F isotropic chemical shift calculation initially proposed by Bureau et al. (Bureau, B.; Silly, G.; Emery, J.; Buzaré, J.-Y. Chem. Phys. 1999, 249, 85-104). A satisfactory reliability is reached with a root-mean-square (rms) deviation between calculated and measured isotropic chemical shift values equal to 1.5 and 3.5 ppm for beta-ZrF4 and CeF4, respectively.     

Ca(2+)/vacancies and O2-/F- ordering in new oxyfluoride pyrochlores Li(2x)Ca1.5-x square 0.5-xM2O6F (M = Nb,Ta) for 0 < or = x < or = 0.5

New oxyfluorides Li(2x)Ca(1.5-x) square (0.5-x)M2O6F (M = Nb, Ta), belonging to the cubic pyrochlore structural type (Z = 8, a approximately 10.5 angstroms), were synthesized by solid state reaction for 0 < or = x < or = 0.5. XRD data allowed us to determine their structures from single crystals for the two alpha and beta-Ca(1.5) square (0.5)Nb2O6F forms and from powder samples for the others. This characterisation was completed by TEM and solid state 19F NMR experiments. For the Ca(1.5) square (0.5)M2O6F (x = 0) pyrochlore phases, the presence of a double ordering phenomenon is demonstrated, involving on one hand the Ca(2+) ions and the vacancies and on the other hand the oxide and the fluoride anions which are strictly located in the 8b sites of the Fd3m aristotype space group. The Ca(2+) ions/vacancies ordering leads to a reversible phase transition, a (P4(3)32) <--> beta (Fd3m). The 19F NMR study strongly suggests that, in the beta-phases, the fluoride ions are only on average at the centre of the Ca3 square tetrahedron. It shows that slightly different Ca-F distances occuring in alpha-Ca(1.5) square (0.5)Nb2O6F may be related to a more difficult thermal ionic and vacancies diffusion process than in the tantalate compound. This may explain the hysteresis phenomenon presented by the phase transition. A solid solution Li(2x)Ca(1.5-x) square (0.5-x) Ta2O6F (0 < or = x < or = 0.5) was prepared and the order-disorder phase transition observed for Ca(1.5) square (0.5)M2MO6F compounds disappears for all the other compositions where less or no more vacancies exist in the 16d sites. In the LiCaM2O6F compounds, the 19F NMR study allows us to determine the Ca(2+) and Li+ ions distributions around the fluoride ions and shows that the [FLi2Ca2] environment is clearly favoured.     

Cluster models and ab initio calculations of (19)F NMR isotropic chemical shifts for inorganic fluorides

(19)F NMR isotropic chemical shift (delta(iso)) calculations are performed in crystallized compounds using the GIAO method with the B3LYP hybrid functional at DFT level. Clusters centered on the studied fluorine atoms mimic the crystalline structures. The 6-311+G(d) basis set is chosen for the central fluorine atom, and the LanL2DZ basis set for the others. The metal atoms are described by the 3-21G(2d) basis set or, when not available, by the CRENBL basis set with the corresponding ECP, and augmented with 2d polarization functions when existing. First, for high-symmetry systems (MF, MF(2), and MF(3) compounds), a systematization of the cluster building up from coordination spheres is proposed, generalized to fluoroperovskites and fluoroaluminates KAlF(4) and RbAlF(4). When applied to rather low symmetry systems such as barium fluorometalates BaMgF(4), BaZnF(4), and Ba(2)ZnF(6), the definition of the coordination spheres is far from easy. Then, for structures built up from a MF(6) octahedron network, we may define different "starting clusters": [FM(2)F(8)] for the shared fluorine atoms, [FMF(4)] for the unshared ones, and [FBa(4)](7+) for the "free" ones. Analogous "starting clusters" are then tested on compounds from the NaF-AlF(3), BaF(2)-AlF(3), and CaF(2)-AlF(3) binary systems and for alpha-BaCaAlF(7) that are also built up from a MF(6) octahedron network. For each of these corresponding fluorine sites, delta(iso) values are calculated with the "starting clusters" and several larger clusters and compared to the experimental delta(iso) values. For the barium-containing clusters, the RMS deviation is equal to 51 ppm. It is suggested that this result may be related to the poor quality of the barium basis sets for which no polarization functions are available for the moment. In total, chemical shifts were calculated for 122 fluorine sites, in a various range of compounds. For the clusters without barium, the ab initio method leads to a RMS equal to 22 ppm, which is a quite nice result keeping in mind that the (19)F chemical shift range is larger than 200 ppm.