Reactions of oxidizing radicals with 2- and 3-aminopyridines: a pulse radiolysis study

Reactions of OH radicals and some one-electron oxidants with 2-aminopyridine (2-AmPy) and 3-aminopyridine (3-AmPy) were studied in aqueous solutions using pulse radiolysis technique. The OH adduct of 2-AmPy at pH 9 has an absorption maximum at 360 nm along with a weak absorption band in the visible region and was found to be reactive with oxygen. The rate constant for its reaction with O₂ was determined to be 1.0×10⁸ dm³ mol⁻¹ s⁻¹. At pH 4 also, the OH adduct of 2-AmPy has an absorption band at 360 nm. However, there are differences in the absorption at other wavelengths. From the plot of ΔOD vs. pH at 340 nm, the pK_a of the OH adduct was determined to be 6.5. Among the specific oxidants, only SO₄^−√ radicals were able to oxidize 2-AmPy. In the case of 3-aminopyridine (3-AmPy), the transient species formed by OH radical reaction at pH 9 has an absorption maximum at 410 nm with shoulder bands on both the sides. Its absorption spectrum at pH 4 was different indicating the existence of a pK value for the OH adduct. pK_a of 3-AmPy-OH radical adduct species was evaluated to be 5.7. This adduct species was also found to be reactive with oxygen (k=7.6×10⁶ dm³ mol⁻¹ s⁻¹). Specific one-electron oxidants like N₃^√, Br₂^−√ C₂^−√ and SO₄^−√ were able to oxidize 3-AmPy indicating that it is easier to oxidize 3-AmPy as compared to 2-AmPy.     

Visibility with One Reflection

We extend the concept of the polygon visible from a source point S in a simple polygon by considering visibility with two types of reflection, specular and diffuse. In specular reflection a light ray reflects from an edge of the polygon according to the rule: the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. In diffuse reflection a light ray reflects from an edge of the polygon in all inward directions. Several geometric and combinatorial properties of visibility polygons under these two types of reflection are described, when at most one reflection is permitted. We show that the visibility polygon Vs(S) under specular reflection may be nonsimple, while the visibility polygon Vd(S) under diffuse reflection is always simple. We present a Θ(n ² ) worst-case bound on the combinatorial complexity of both Vs(S) and Vd(S) and describe simple O(n ² log ² n) time algorithms for constructing the sets. Received September 27, 1995, and in revised form October 24, 1997.     

Ternary complexes of copper(II), nickel(II) and zinc(II) with nitrilotriacetic acid as a primary ligand and some phenolic acids as secondary ligands

Summary The formation of ternary complexes of the MAL^3– type [where M = Cu^II, Ni^II and Zn^II ; A = nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA); L = 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (1,2 HNA) and 2-hydroxy-1-naphthoic acid (2,1 HNA)] have been studied potentiometrically in 50% v/v aqueous — ethanol (25° and µ = 0.1). Under identical conditions the binary complexes of the 1,2- and 2,1-HNA ligands have also been examined. The values of mixed ligand formation constants K_MAL have been found to be lower than K_ML (first step formation constant of binary complexes) and even less than (second step formation constant of binary complexes).     

Redox Non‐Innocence and Isomer‐Specific Oxidative Functionalization of Ruthenium‐Coordinated β‐Ketoiminate

This article deals with isomeric ruthenium complexes [Ru^III(L^R)₂(acac)] (S=1/2) involving unsymmetric β‐ketoiminates (AcNac) (L^R=R‐AcNac, R=H ( 1 ), Cl ( 2 ), OMe ( 3 ); acac=acetylacetonate) [R=para‐substituents (H, Cl, OMe) of N‐bearing aryl group]. The isomeric identities of the complexes, cct (cis‐cis‐trans, blue, a ), ctc (cis‐trans‐cis, green, b ) and ccc (cis‐cis‐cis_, pink, c ) with respect to oxygen (acac), oxygen (L) and nitrogen (L) donors, respectively, were authenticated by their single‐crystal X‐ray structures and spectroscopic/electrochemical features. One‐electron reversible oxidation and reduction processes of 1 – 3 led to the electronic formulations of [Ru^III(L)(L ^? )(acac)]⁺ and [Ru^II(L)₂(acac)]^? for 1 ⁺‐ 3 ⁺ (S=1) and 1^? – 3^? (S=0), respectively. The triplet state of 1 ⁺‐ 3 ⁺ was corroborated by its forbidden weak half‐field signal near g≈4.0 at 4 K, revealing the non‐innocent feature of L. Interestingly, among the three isomeric forms ( a – c in 1 – 3 ), the ctc ( b in 2 b or 3 b ) isomer selectively underwent oxidative functionalization at the central β‐carbon (C?H→C=O) of one of the L ligands in air, leading to the formation of diamagnetic [Ru^II(L)(L ′ )(acac)] (L ′ =diketoimine) in 4 / 4′ . Mechanistic aspects of the oxygenation process of AcNac in 2 b were also explored via kinetic and theoretical studies.     

Dynamic molecular recognition in the generation of a new crystal-engineering motif: a unique case study of a dicarboxylic acid with a ditopic receptor favouring a polymeric over a dimeric hydrogen-bonded supramolecular complex

A new crystal-engineering motif has been developed where a ditopic receptor 1 shows a novel syn-syn hydrogen-bonded polymeric supramolecular complex (Fig. 4b) (instead of a 1:1 dimeric syn-syn or polymeric syn-anti complex) giving rise to a hydrogen-bonded stair-like polymeric ribbon structure between the binding groups of the receptor pyridine amide and the carboxyl groups of the guest substrate.     

S K-edge XAS and DFT calculations on SAM dependent pyruvate formate-lyase activating enzyme: nature of interaction between the Fe4S4 cluster and SAM and its role in reactivity

S K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy on the resting oxidized and the S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) bound forms of pyruvate formate-lyase activating enzyme are reported. The data show an increase in pre-edge intensity, which is due to additional contributions from sulfide and thiolate of the Fe(4)S(4) cluster into the C-S σ* orbital. This experimentally demonstrates that there is a backbonding interaction between the Fe(4)S(4) cluster and C-S σ* orbitals of SAM in this inner sphere complex. DFT calculations that reproduce the data indicate that this backbonding is enhanced in the reduced form and that this configurational interaction between the donor and acceptor orbitals facilitates the electron transfer from the cluster to the SAM, which otherwise has a large outer sphere electron transfer barrier. The energy of the reductive cleavage of the C-S bond is sensitive to the dielectric of the protein in the immediate vicinity of the site as a high dielectric stabilizes the more charge separated reactant increasing the reaction barrier. This may provide a mechanism for generation of the 5'-deoxyadenosyl radical upon substrate binding.     

Room temperature thermoelectric performance of Methyl Ammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite and their MWCNT-PANI composites

The excellent properties of Methyl Ammonium Lead Iodide (MAPI) have already created an extensive research interest in photovoltaic applications. However, their utility in thermoelectric application is still not realized thoroughly by researchers. By continuing this interest, we have explored the formation of low dimensional CH₃NH₃PbI₃ (MAPI) perovskite in presence of Polyaniline (PANI) and Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT) and its thermoelectric performance. For this purpose, a two stage, in-situ synthesis method was developed to prepare various composites such as MAPI-PANI, MWCNT-MAPI and MWCNT-PANI-MAPI. The as-formed MWCNT-PANI-MAPI composite revealed p-type conductivity with enhanced ZT (up to ~20,000 times) and power factor (3000 times) at room temperature as compared to pristine MAPI sample. Finally, we have demonstrated a proto-type thermoelectric power generator (TE device) fabricated using the best performing composite sample and measured its power output and efficiency at varied δT.     

Sulfur K-edge XAS and DFT calculations on [Fe4S4]2+ clusters: effects of H-bonding and structural distortion on covalency and spin topology

Sulfur K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy of a hydrogen-bonded elongated [Fe4S4]2+ cube is reported. The data show that this synthetic cube is less covalent than a normal compressed cube with no hydrogen bonding. DFT calculations reveal that the observed difference in electronic structure has significant contributions from both the cluster distortion and from hydrogen bonding. The elongated and compressed Fe4S4 structures are found to have different spin topologies (i.e., orientation of the delocalized Fe2S2 subclusters which are antiferromagnetically coupled to each other). It is suggested that the H-bonding interaction with the counterion does not contribute to the cluster elongation. A magneto-structural correlation is developed for the Fe4S4 cube that is used to identify the redox-active Fe2S2 subclusters in active sites of HiPIP and ferredoxin proteins involving these clusters.     

Sulfur K-edge XAS and DFT studies on NiII complexes with oxidized thiolate ligands: implications for the roles of oxidized thiolates in the active sites of Fe and Co nitrile hydratase

S K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy data on a series of NiII complexes with thiolate (RS-) and oxidized thiolate (RSO2-) ligands are used to quantify Ni-S bond covalency and its change upon ligand oxidation. Analyses of these results using geometry-optimized density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that the Ni-S sigma bonds do not weaken on ligand oxidation. Molecular orbital analysis indicates that these oxidized thiolate ligands use filled high-lying S-O pi* orbitals for strong sigma donation. However, the RSO2- ligands are poor pi donors, as the orbital required for pi interaction is used in the S-O sigma-bond formation. The oxidation of the thiolate reduces the repulsion between electrons in the filled Ni t2 orbital and the thiolate out-of-plane pi-donor orbital leading to shorter Ni-S bond length relative to that of the thiolate donor. The insights obtained from these results are relevant to the active sites of Fe- and Co-type nitrile hydratases (Nhase) that also have oxidized thiolate ligands. DFT calculations on models of the active site indicate that whereas the oxidation of these thiolates has a major effect in the axial ligand-binding affinity of the Fe-type Nhase (where there is both sigma and pi donation from the S ligands), it has only a limited effect on the sixth-ligand-binding affinity of the Co-type Nhases (where there is only sigma donation). These oxidized residues may also play a role in substrate binding and proton shuttling at the active site.