The nuclear-spin-rotation constants of HCY, HSiY, and SiY(2) (Y=F, Cl): an ab initio study

The nuclear-spin-rotation constants of fluoro- (HCF) and chloro- (HCCl) carbene, of the corresponding silylenes (HSiF and HSiCl), and of difluoro- and dichlorosilylene (SiF(2) and SiCl(2)) are quantum-chemically investigated employing the coupled-cluster singles and doubles model augmented by a perturbative treatment of triple excitations together with various sequences of correlation-consistent basis sets. Theoretical best estimates are obtained through consideration of corrections for core correlation and of zero-point vibrational contributions. In addition, nuclear quadrupole coupling constants for the chlorine containing species are determined. A thorough comparison with experiment is made.     

Stepwise retro 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition induced by electron. Impact on 3,5-diphenyl-1,2,4-oxadiazole

The retro 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition induced by electron impact on 3,5-diphenyl-1,2,4-oxadiazole is interpreted as a two-step process on the basis of the energetics and kinetics of the fragments [C₇H₅NO]⁺., [C₆H₅CN]⁺. and [C₆H₅CO]⁺.     

Five-to-six membered ring-rearrangements in the reaction of 5-perfluoroalkyl-1,2,4-oxadiazoles with hydrazine and methylhydrazine

The hydrazinolysis reaction of 5-perfluoroalkyl-1,2,4-oxadiazoles with hydrazine or methylhydrazine as bidentate nucleophiles has been investigated. The reaction occurred through the addition of the bidentate nucleophile to the C(5)-N(4) double bond of the 1,2,4-oxadiazole followed by ring-opening and ring-closure (ANRORC) involving the second nucleophilic site of the reagent. This ring-closure step could involve either the original C(3) of the 1,2,4-oxadiazole (giving a five-to-five membered ring rearrangement) or an additional electrophilic center linked to it (exploiting a five-to-six membered ring rearrangement). An alternative initial nucleophilic attack may involve the additional electrophilic center linked at C(3), that is the carbonyl group, leading to the formation of the hydrazones which undergo the Boulton-Katritzky rearrangement (BKR). The chosen reaction path is a function of the used nucleophile and of the nature of the substituent at C(3). At variance with previous hypotheses, when methylhydrazine was used, the observed regiochemistry always showed the preferred initial attack by the less hindered NH(2) end of the nucleophile on C(5). Moreover, new spectroscopic evidence allowed the assignment of correct structures to the products formed by reaction of 5-perfluoroalkyl-3-phenyl-1,2,4-oxadiazoles with methylhydrazine.     

Anion-pi interactions in cyanuric acids: a combined crystallographic and computational study

Several structures of pi complexes of isocyanuric acid and of several thio derivatives with anions have been computed by using high level ab initio calculations. The nature of the complexes has been studied by means of the method of molecular interaction potential with polarization (MIPp) and Bader's theory of atoms-in-molecules. These molecules form favorable complexes with anions and can be used as binding units for building receptors for the molecular recognition of anions. In several cases, the anion-pi interaction has been demonstrated experimentally by means of X-ray crystallography.     

Cyclopropanation with gold(I) carbenes by retro-Buchner reaction from cycloheptatrienes

Cationic gold(I) promotes the retro-Buchner reaction of 7-substituted 1,3,5-cycloheptatrienes, leading to gold(I) carbenes that cyclopropanate alkenes.     

Quantum chemical study of carbohydrate-phospholipid interactions

Carbohydrates on host membranes are fundamental to many important biological processes. Here, we seek a basic understanding of the nature of the interactions between carbohydrates and phospholipids to dissect their roles in molecular recognition. A hybrid quantum mechanics/quantum mechanics (QM/QM) scheme with two different levels of treatment was used to explore the conformations and energetics of carbohydrate-phospholipid complexes. We investigate the interactions of two phospholipids (POPC and DOPC) with mannose using density functional theory. Carbohydrate-phospholipid interactions are probed with respect to competing interactions with water. Our hybrid QM/QM approach demonstrates that mannose interactions with phospholipids can result in alterations in charge distributions and conformations of phospholipids. The results clearly reveal the interplay between conventional and nonconventional hydrogen bonding; moreover, nonpolar interactions are shown to be crucial in the recognition and further stabilization of carbohydrate-phospholipid complexes. The influence of the acyl chain on phospholipid headgroup orientation is clearly evident in our investigation. The significance of the conventional OH···O and nonconventional CH···O and CH···C interactions in the stabilization of the intermolecular complexes is deduced from the molecular electron density topology using Bader's atoms-in-molecules theory. Finally, we have compared the QM energies with molecular mechanics energies for the same interactions to aid in the refinement of the all-atom lipid-carbohydrate force fields.     

Wetting and electrical properties of the human hair surface: delipidation observed at the nanoscale

The electrostatic properties and the wetting behaviour of the human hair surface at the nanometric scale have been investigated by using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Surface potential imaging was used to determine the electrostatic properties while non-contact mode AFM was used to investigate the wetting properties of a test liquid, squalane. We have studied natural hair and hair in which different covalently (18-methyleicosanoic acid) and non-covalently bound fatty acids present at the cuticle surface were selectively extracted. This study shows how the removal of these acids causes various profound changes in hair wettability at the cuticle scale.     

New water soluble and luminescent platinum(II) compounds, vapochromic behavior of [K(H2O)][Pt(bzq)(CN)2], new examples of the influence of the counterion on the photophysical properties of d8 square-planar complexes

This work describes the synthesis of compounds [Pt(C=N)(NCMe) 2]ClO 4 (C=N = 7,8-benzoquinolinato (bzq), 2-phenylpyridinato (ppy)) and their use as precursors for the preparation of the cyanido complexes [Pt(C=N)(CN) 2] (-), which were isolated as the potassium, [K(H 2O)][Pt(C=N)(CN) 2] [C=N = bzq ( 3a), ppy ( 4a)], and the tetrabutylammonium, NBu 4[Pt(C=N)(CN) 2] [C=N = bzq ( 5), ppy ( 6)], salts. The difference in the cation has an influence on the solubility, color, and emission properties of these compounds. Compounds 5 and 6 are yellow and soluble in organic solvents, while the potassium salts are also soluble in water and exhibit two forms: the water-containing [K(H 2O)][Pt(C=N)(CN) 2] [C=N = bzq ( 3a), ppy ( 4a)] complexes and the anhydrous ones K[Pt(C=N)(CN) 2] [C=N = bzq ( 3b), ppy ( 4b)], the former being strongly colored [red ( 3a) or purple ( 4a)] and the latter being yellow. Compounds 3a and 4a transform reversibly into the yellow, 3b and 4b, compounds upon desorption/ reabsorption of water molecules from the environment. The red solid, 3a, also exhibits vapochromic behavior when it is exposed to volatile organic compounds, the shortest response times being those observed for methanol and ethanol. UV-vis and emission spectra of all compounds were recorded both in solution and in the solid state. In methanol solution, the difference in the cation causes no differences in the absorption nor in the emission spectra, which is as expected for the monomer species. However, in the solid state, the differences are notable. For both the red ( 3a) and purple ( 4a) compounds, a prominent absorption, which has maxima at about 550 nm and is responsible for their intense colors, as well as a structureless emission at lambda > 700 nm that suffers a significant red-shift upon cooling, are due to (1,3)MMLCT (= metal-metal-to-ligand charge transfer) [dsigma*(Pt) --> pi*(C=N)] transitions characteristic of linear-chain platinum complexes with short Pt...Pt contacts. Time-dependent density-functional theory calculations on complex 5 and the X-ray diffraction study on compound [K(OCMe 2) 2][Pt(ppy)(CN) 2] ( 4c) are also included.     

Convenient route to enantiopure fmoc-protected morpholine-3-carboxylic acid

Enantiopure Fmoc-protected morpholine-3-carboxylic acid was synthesized from dimethoxyacetaldehyde and serine methyl ester through a short and practical synthetic route. The preparation consisted of a five-step process based on reductive amination, intramolecular acetalization, and concomitant elimination of the anomeric methoxy substituent, followed by hydrogenation of the double bond and final acidic ester hydrolysis. The optical purity of both enantiomers of the title amino acid was demonstrated by HPLC analysis of the corresponding amide derivatives obtained from coupling with chiral (S)-(-)-1-phenylethylamine. Moreover, the synthesis of a model tripeptide showed full compatibility of the title Fmoc-amino acid with solid-phase peptide synthesis, thus allowing the application of Fmoc-morpholine-3-carboxylic acid in peptidomimetic chemistry on the solid phase.     

An alternative multipolar expansion for intermolecular potential functions

We have derived a new multipolar expansion for intermolecular potential-energy functions with applications in molecular physics, theoretical chemistry, and mathematical physics. The new formulation employs a separation of radial and angular terms with a simple index structure that leads to computational efficiency and ease of physical interpretation. For the case of the Coulomb interaction, we compare the present formulation with two conventional multipole expansions: the Cartesian tensor and the irreducible spherical tensor expansions. The new formalism leads to efficient numerical algorithms that are useful for general applications beyond intermolecular potentials. In addition to the electrostatic Coulomb interaction, we illustrate the formalism with applications to special function theory and a bipolar expansion involved in potential theory.