Site-selective EXAFS in mixed-valence compounds using high-resolution fluorescence detection: a study of iron in Prussian Blue

A quantitative analysis is presented for the site-selective Fe K-edge absorption spectra of Prussian Blue: Fe(4)[Fe(CN)(6)](3) x xH(2)O (x = 14-16). The site-selective spectra were recorded using high-resolution fluorescence detection of the K beta emission from a polycrystalline sample. The K beta fluorescence lines arising from the high-spin and low-spin sites are shifted in energy. Since the emission features partially overlap, fluorescence-detected absorption spectra using different emission energies represent different linear combinations of the pure high-spin and low-spin EXAFS. A numerical method was used to extract the individual site EXAFS spectra from the experimental data. The analysis yields a range of solutions. A unique solution can be obtained if homovalent model compounds are used to simulate the K beta fluorescence emission from the two Fe sites in Prussian Blue. EXAFS analysis of the range of spectra obtained in the numerical method yields almost identical interatomic distances for the different spectra while the Debye-Waller factors vary considerably. The distances obtained in the EXAFS fit correspond to the crystallographic distances.     

Pi bonding and negative hyperconjugation in mono-, di-, and triaminoborane, -alane, -gallane, and -indane

A systematic quantum chemical investigation of mono-, di-, and triaminoborane, -alane, -gallane, and -indane is carried out to determine quantitatively the effects of pi bonding and negative hyperconjugation on structures, energetics, and rotational barriers in these systems. Pi bonding plays a significant role in the aminoborane compounds, but becomes rapidly less significant in the aminoalanes, -gallanes, and -indanes. For each main-group metal X investigated, X-N rotational barriers are found to be essentially equal depending only on the number of remaining in-plane amino groups. The contribution of negative hyperconjugation to reducing rotational barriers, as assessed from natural bond orbital (NBO) delocalization energies, is independent of the pyramidalization of the out-of-plane amino group, and is also dependent only on the number of rotated groups. Optimized tris[bis(trimethylsilyl)amino]-substituted structures of boron, aluminum, gallium, and indium are found to compare quite well with available experimental structural data, and exhibit X-N torsion angles that are independent of the central metal atom.     

Mixed metal bis(mu-oxo) complexes with [CuM(mu-O)2]n+(M = Ni(III) or Pd(II)) cores

Two highly reactive heterodinuclear bis(mu-oxo) complexes were prepared by combining mononuclear peroxo species with reduced metal precursors at -80 degrees C and were identified by UV-vis, EPR/NMR, and resonance Raman spectroscopy, with corroboration in the case of the CuPd system from density functional calculations.     

Experimental and theoretical characterization of the 3,5-didehydrobenzoate anion: a negatively charged meta-benzyne

A negatively charged analogue of meta-benzyne, 3,5-didehydrobenzoate, was synthesized in a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer, and its reactivity was compared to that of the same ion generated previously in a flowing afterglow apparatus and to its positively charged cousin, N-(3,5-didehydrophenyl)-3-fluoropyridinium. 3,5-Didehydrobenzoate was found to react as a nucleophile with electrophilic reagents. In contrast, N-(3,5-didehydrophenyl)-3-fluoropyridinium does not react with the same electrophilic reagents but reacts instead with nucleophilic reagents. Neither ion is able to abstract hydrogen atoms from typical hydrogen atom donors. The absence of any radical reactivity for these meta-benzynes is consistent with predictions that radical reactions of singlet biradicals should be hindered as compared to their monoradical counterparts. High-level calculations predict that the carboxylate moiety does not significantly perturb the singlet-triplet splitting of 3,5-didehydrobenzoate relative to the parent meta-benzyne.     

High-performance liquid chromatography of deferoxamine and ferrioxamine: interference by iron present in the chromatographic system

The assay of the complexed (ferrioxamine) and uncomplexed forms of deferoxamine, a strong iron(III) chelating agent, by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography was investigated. Complex formation with trace amounts of iron in the chromatographic system hinders the assay of deferoxamine by causing appearance of unexpected peaks, reaction zones and variations in retention time. By purging the column with deferoxamine and using EDTA in the mobile phase, these adverse effects in the determination of deferoxamine were eliminated. No interference by iron contamination of the chromatographic system was found in the assay of ferrioxamine, which is facilitated by the strong absorption of the analyte at 430 nm.