An Ab Initio Molecular Orbital Theory and Density Functional Theory (DFT) Study of Conformers and Rotamers of 4-Substituted (Methyl, Hydroxymethyl, Methanoyl, Ethanoyl, Cyano, Fluoro, Chloro, Bromo, Acetoxy) Tetrahydro-2H-thiopyran-1,1-dioxides

The structures and energies of axial and equatorial conformers and rotamers of 4-substituted tetrahydro-2H-thiopyran-1,1-dioxides (tetrahydrothiopyran-1,1-dioxides, thiacyclohexane-1,1-dioxides, thiane-1,1-dioxides, and 1,1-dioxothianes; CH₃, CH₂OH, CHO, COCH₃, CN, F, Cl, Br, and OCOCH₃) were calculated using the hybrid density functionals B3LYP, B3P86, and B3PW91, as well as MP2 and the 6-31G(d), 6-31G(2d), 6-31G(3d), 6-31G(d,p), and 6-31+G(d) basis sets. MP2/6-31+G(d)/ /HF/6-31+G(d) [–G° = 1.73 kcal/mol], B3P86/6-31G(d) [–G° = 1.75 kcal/mol], and B3PW91/6-31G(d) [–G° = 1.85 kcal/mol] gave conformational free energy (G°) values at 180 K for 4-methyltetrahydro-2H-thiopyran-1,1-dioxide which were similar to the reported experimental values for methylcyclohexane (–G° = 1.80 kcal/mol), 4-methyltetrahydro-2H-thiopyran (–G° = 1.80 kcal/mol), and other 4-methyl-substituted heterocycles. All levels of theory showed that the conformational preferences of the 4-methanoyl (4-formyl), 4-ethanoyl (4-acetyl), and 4-cyano substituents were small. The HF calculations gave conformational free energy (G°) values for 4-chlorotetrahydro-2H-thiopyran-1,1dioxide which were closer to the experimental value than the MP2 and density functional methods. The best agreement with available experimental data for 4-bromotetrahydro-2H-thiopyran-1,1-dioxide was obtained from the HF/6-31G(2d), HF/6-31G(3d), and B3LYP/6-31G(2d) calculations, and, for 4-acetoxytetrahydro-2H-thiopyran-1,1-dioxide, from the HF/6–31G(3d) calculations. The conformational free energies (G°) and relative energies (E) of the conformers and rotamers have been compared with the correspondingly substituted cyclohexanes and tetrahydro-2H-thiopyrans and are discussed in terms of dipole–dipole (electrostatic) interactions and repulsive nonbonded interactions (steric) in the most stable axial and equatorial conformers. The axial S=O bond lengths are shorter than the equatorial S=O bond lengths and the C2–C3 bond lengths in the substituents with carbon-bonded to the ring are shorter than the C3–C4 and C4–C-5 bond lengths. In contrast, the C2–C3 bond lengths in the 4-halogen and 4-acetoxy substituents are longer than the C3–C4 and C4–C-5 bond lengths.     

Advances,opportunities, and challenges of hydrogen and oxygen production from seawater electrolysis: An electrocatalysis perspective

With increasing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, the importance of developing renewable energy sources to replace fossil fuels has become a vital global task. Hydrogen produced via water electrolysis powered by renewable energy systems at a large scale is an essential measure to reduce greenhouse gas and particulate emissions. Electrolysers use a substantial amount of water (mainly freshwater) to produce hydrogen and oxygen at the cathode, and anode, respectively. However, seawater is preferred because it is the most abundant water resource. Although many R&D efforts on seawater electrolysis have been carried out since the 1970s, the barriers are the undesired chlorine gas evolution reaction at the anode, and corrosion induced by chloride ions. Unlike the available data for electrocatalyst materials based upon platinum group metals in pure solutions, limited data is available for electrocatalysts in seawater. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new electrocatalysts for seawater electrolysis.     

Metastable Kitaev Magnets

Nearly two decades ago, Alexei Kitaev proposed a model for spin-1/2 particles with bond-directional interactions on a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice which had the potential to host a quantum spin-liquid ground state. This work initiated numerous investigations to design and synthesize materials that would physically realize the Kitaev Hamiltonian. The first generation of such materials, such as Na2IrO3, α-Li2IrO3, and α-RuCl3, revealed the presence of non-Kitaev interactions such as the Heisenberg and off-diagonal exchange. Both physical pressure and chemical doping were used to tune the relative strength of the Kitaev and competing interactions; however, little progress was made towards achieving a purely Kitaev system. Here, we review the recent breakthrough in modifying Kitaev magnets via topochemical methods that has led to the second generation of Kitaev materials. We show how structural modifications due to the topotactic exchange reactions can alter the magnetic interactions in favor of a quantum spin-liquid phase.     

The 3F Library: Fluorinated Fsp3‐Rich Fragments for Expeditious 19F NMR Based Screening

Fragment‐based drug discovery (FBDD) is a popular method in academia and the pharmaceutical industry for the discovery of early lead candidates. Despite its wide‐spread use, the approach still suffers from laborious screening workflows and a limited diversity in the fragments applied. Presented here is the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of the first fragment library specifically tailored to tackle both these challenges. The 3F library of 115 fluorinated, Fsp³‐rich fragments is shape diverse and natural‐product‐like with desirable physicochemical properties. The library is perfectly suited for rapid and efficient screening by NMR spectroscopy in a two‐stage workflow of ¹⁹F NMR and subsequent ¹H NMR methods. Hits against four diverse protein targets are widely distributed among the fragment scaffolds in the 3F library and a 67 % validation rate was achieved using secondary assays. This collection is the first synthetic fragment library tailor‐made for ¹⁹F NMR screening and the results demonstrate that the approach should find broad application in the FBDD community.     

Piperazinediium,Zr(IV) and Ce(IV) pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylates: Syntheses,characterizations, crystal structures, ab initio HF,DFT calculations and solution studies

The novel title compounds, (pipzH₂)_1.5(pydcH)₃·3.7H₂O, 1, (pipzH₂)[Zr(pydc)₃]·8H₂O, 2 and (pipzH₂)[Ce(pydc)₃]·8H₂O, 3 in which pydcH₂ is pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid and pipz is piperazine were obtained in aqueous solution. The compounds were characterized by IR, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, elemental analyses, and X-ray crystallography. Compound 1 is resulted from proton transfer between pydcH₂ and pipz. However, compounds 2 and 3 are resulted from complexation of 1 and corresponding metallic salts. Both compounds 2 and 3 contain three pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate species as tridentate ligands, one piperazinediium as counter ion, and eight-uncoordinated water molecules in the asymmetric unit. In both structures each M(IV) is coordinated in a distorted tricapped trigonal prism geometry by three nitrogen and six oxygen atoms of carboxylate groups of three (pydc)²⁻ fragments. In the crystal structures of 1, 2 and 3, extensive O–H···O, N–H···O and C–H···O hydrogen bonds as well as electrostatic forces, C–H···π, C–O···π and π–π stacking play important roles in stabilizing structures. The geometrical parameters of the [M(pydc)₃]²⁻ anionic complexes, where M = Ce(IV), Zr(IV) have been optimized with the B3LYP method of density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio Hartree–Fock (HF) methods for comparison. In addition, we have studied the structures of (pydc)²⁻ anion and its mono and doubly protonated forms, (pydcH)⁻ and pydcH₂. The electronic properties of the anionic complexes and ligands have been investigated based on the natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis at the B3LYP method which verifies that the synergistic effect has been occurred in the title complexes. In solution study of 2, the stoichiometry and stability constant of complexation of pipz, pydc, pydc–pipz proton transfer system and Zr(IV) ion in aqueous solution were investigated by potentiometric method.     

Triazènes et benzotriazines dérivés de sucres

Sugar triazenes and benzotriazines Several triazenylsugars have been prepared, generally in good yields, by treating an amino sugar with a substituted benzenediazonium salt. The triazenylsugars bearing a hydrogen atom on the triazenyl group are acetylated on the nitrogen atom closest to the glycosyl moiety (N(1)), even when the proton exchanged sites between N(1) and N(3). When an acetyl or a methoxycarbonyl group was present in the ortho position of the benzene ring cyclization took place leading to a 3,4-dihydro-4-methylidene-1,2,3-benzo[d]triazine or a 3,4-dihydro-1,2,3-benzo[d]triazin-4-one respectively.     

Nouveaux types de sucres triazotés: triazènes et phénylimino-2-oxadiazoles-1,3,4. Communication préliminaire

Novel types of sugars bearing three nitrogen atoms: triazenes and 2-phenylimino-1, 3, 4-oxadiazoles . A series of aminodeoxysugars treated with p-nitrobenzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate led to the corresponding triazenes, each of which in chloroform solution existing as an equilibrium between its two tautomeric forms. The free energy of activation of the exchange of the proton between the two nitrogen atoms has been estimated by variable temperature ¹H-NMR. measurements. Each triazenylsugar gave on acetylation an unique positional isomer bearing its acyl group on the nitrogen atom directly attached to the glycosyl group. Phenylsemicarbazones of two keto-sugars were oxidized with El Khadem's reagent (I₂, HgO, MgO) to give the corresponding spiro-2-phenylimino-1, 3, 4-oxadiazoles.     

Computational study of sulfoxides of thiacyclohexane, 4‐silathiacyclohexane, 4‐fluoro‐4‐silathiacyclohexane,and 4,4‐difluoro‐4‐silathiacyclohexane: Relative energies of conformations and sulfinyl oxygen stabilized pentacoordinate silicon in boat and twist structures

Second‐order Møller‐Plesset theory (MP2) has been used to calculate the equilibrium geometries and relative energies of the chair, 1,4‐twist, 2,5‐twist, 1,4‐boat, and 2,5‐boat conformations of thiacyclohexane 1‐oxide (tetrahydro‐2H‐thiopyran 1‐oxide), 4‐silathiacyclohexane 1‐oxide, cis‐ and trans‐4‐fluoro‐4‐silathiacyclohexane 1‐oxide, and 4,4‐difluoro‐4‐silathiacyclohexane 1‐oxide. At the MP2/6‐311+G(d,p) level of theory, the chair conformer of axial thiacyclohexane 1‐oxide is 0.99, 5.61, 5.91, 8.57, and 7.43 kcal/mol more stable (ΔE) than its respective equatorial chair, 1,4‐twist, and 2,5‐twist conformers and 1,4‐boat and 2,5‐boat transition states. The chair conformer of equatorial thiacyclohexane 1‐oxide is 4.62, 6.31, 7.56, and 7.26 kcal/mol more stable (ΔE) than its respective 1,4‐twist and 2,5‐twist conformers and 1,4‐boat and 2,5‐boat transition states. The chair conformer of axial 4‐silathiacyclohexane 1‐oxide is 1.79, 4.26, 3.85, and 5.71 kcal/mol more stable (ΔE) than its respective equatorial chair, 1,4‐twist, and 2,5‐twist conformers and 2,5‐boat transition state. The 2,5‐twist conformer of axial 4‐silathiacyclohexane 1‐oxide is stabilized by a transannular interaction between the sulfinyl oxygen and silicon, to give trigonal bipyramidal geometry at silicon. The chair conformer of equatorial 4‐silathiacyclohexane 1‐oxide is 2.47, 7.90, and 8.09 kcal/mol more stable (ΔE) than its respective 1,4‐twist, and 2,5‐twist conformers and 2,5‐boat transition state. The chair conformer of axial cis‐4‐fluoro‐4‐silathiacyclohexane 1‐oxide is 4.18 and 5.70 kcal/mol more stable than its 1,4‐twist conformer and 2,5‐boat transition state and 1.51 kcal/mol more stable than the chair conformer of equatorial cis‐4‐fluoro‐4‐silathiacyclohexane 1‐oxide. The chair conformer of axial trans‐4‐fluoro‐4‐silathiacyclohexane 1‐oxide is 5.02 and 6.11 kcal/mol more stable than its respective 1,4‐twist conformer and 2,5‐boat transition state, but is less stable than its 2,5‐twist conformer (ΔE = ?1.77 kcal/mol) and 1,4‐boat transition state (ΔE = ?1.65 kcal/mol). The 2,5‐twist conformer and 1,4‐boat conformer of axial trans‐4‐fluoro‐4‐silathiacyclohexane 1‐oxide are stabilized by intramolecular coordination of the sulfinyl oxygen with silicon that results in trigonal bipyramidal geometry at silicon. The chair conformer of axial 4,4‐difluoro‐4‐silathiacyclohexane 1‐oxide is 3.02, 5.16, 0.90, and 6.21 kcal/mol more stable (ΔE) than its respective equatorial chair, 1,4‐twist, and 1,4‐boat conformers and 2,5‐boat transition state. The 1,4‐boat conformer of axial 4,4‐difluoro‐4‐silathiacyclohexane 1‐oxide is stabilized by a transannular coordination of the sulfinyl oxygen with silicon that results in a trigonal bipyramidal geometry at silicon. The relative energies of the conformers and transition states are discussed in terms of hyperconjugation, orbital interactions, nonbonded interactions, and intramolecular sulfinyl oxygen–silicon coordination. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005