Nucleophilic activity of a linked bis{guanidine} leading to formation of a dicationic C4N4-heterocycle

The methylene-linked bis{guanidine}, H(2)C{hpp}(2) (hppH = 1,3,4,6,7,8-hexahydro-2H-pyrimido[1,2-a]pyrimidine), displays nucleophilic activity towards organic halides, including the activation of dichloromethane under ambient conditions affording the cyclic dication, [H(2)C{hpp}(2)CH(2)](2+)[Cl](2).     

Mn2 bis(pentalene): a mixed-spin bimetallic with two extremes of bonding within the same molecule

Structural, magnetic and theoretical studies show that the bimetallic pentalene complex, Mn(2)(C(8)H(4)(1,4-Si(i)Pr(3)))(2), contains both high and low spin Mn(ii) in two very different sites.     

Poly{guanidinium} salts: application in the preparation of a coordinatively saturated aluminium cation

Protonation of the linked bis(guanidine), H(2)C{hpp}(2), affords isolated guanidinium salts that have been used to prepare a coordinatively saturated aluminium cation.     

Synthesis of the 2,4,5-tri-tert-butyl-1,3-diphospholide anion by phosphinidene elimination from 2,4,6-tri-tert-butyl-1,3,5-triphosphabenzene on treatment with the amide Li[NPh(SiMe3)

Treatment of the lithium amide Li[NPh(SiMe3)] with 2,4,6-tri-tert-butyl-1,3,5-triphosphabenzene, P(3)C(3)tBu(3), in a 1:2 ratio afforded equimolar amounts of the lithium salt of the five-membered 2,4,5-tri-tert-butyl-1,3-diphospholide anion, LiP(2)C(3)tBu(3) (isolated as its N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) adduct), and the tricyclic compound 6-[phenyl(trimethylsilyl)amino]-3,5,7-tri-tert-butyl-1,2,4,6-tetraphosphatricyclo[3.2.0.0(2,7)]hept-3-ene. Both compounds have been structurally characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The mechanism of this remarkable reaction has been elucidated by theoretical methods at the B3LYP/6-311+G** level of theory. The reaction involves a hitherto unobserved aminophosphinidene, which was formed by abstraction of a phosphorus atom from triphosphabenzene. The intermediate aminophosphinidene, which is further stabilised by the solvent THF, shows, in agreement with previous theoretical predictions, enhanced stability and reacts then with a second molecule of triphosphabenzene.     

Quasielastic electron scattering from methane, methane-d4, methane-d2, ethylene, and 2-methylpropane

Quasielastic electron scattering from gaseous species at high momentum transfer was recently reported for the first time [Cooper et al., J. Electron Spectrosc. Relat. Phenom. 155, 28 (2007)]. The first results for CH(4) and CD(4) were well explained by a classical electron Compton scattering picture in which the electron scatters independently from each atom rather than the molecule as a whole. However, an alternative possible interpretation in terms of nondipole molecular vibrational excitation is suggested by previously published quantum mechanical calculations on high momentum transfer electron scattering from diatomic molecules [Bonham and de Souza, J. Chem. Phys. 79, 134 (1983)]. In order to determine which of these two interpretations best fits the experimental results, we have measured the quasielastic spectra of gaseous 2-methylpropane, ethylene, methane, and two isotopically substituted methanes, CH(2)D(2) and CD(4), at a momentum transfer of approximately 20 a.u. (2.25 keV impact energy and 100 degrees scattering angle). The experimental spectra are found to be composed of as many peaks as there are different atomic isotopes in the molecule (two for CH(4), C(2)H(4), 2-methylpropane, and CD(4) and three for CH(2)D(2)). The peak positions are predicted accurately by the independent atom electron Compton scattering model, and the relative intensities are in reasonable agreement. The experimental results thus support classical electron Compton scattering as the origin of the signal.     

Variable coordination behaviour of pyrazole-containing N,P and N,P(O) ligands towards palladium(II)

Three bidentate, mixed-donor ligands based on a triphenylphosphine unit bearing a pyrazole group in the ortho-position of one phenyl ring have been synthesised; the N,P ligand [2-(3-pyrazolyl)phenyl]diphenylphosphine pzphos has been synthesised and transformed into new N,P(O) and N,P(S) derivatives, [2-(3-pyrazolyl)phenyl]diphenylphosphine oxide pzphos(O) and [2-(3-pyrazolyl)phenyl]diphenylphosphine sulfide pzphos(S), respectively. The coordination chemistry of pzphos and pzphos(O) towards palladium(II) has been investigated. Depending on the ligand to metal molar ratio employed in the reactions of palladium(II) with pzphos, either the 1 : 1 chelate [Pd(pzphos)Cl2] 1a or the 2 : 1 N,P chelate [Pd(pzphos)2]Cl2 1b was obtained. 1b contains two six-membered chelate rings in which the chlorides have been displaced from the inner coordination sphere of palladium. Exchange of the chloride anions in 1b for perchlorate anions was achieved using AgClO4 to give [Pd(pzphos)2][ClO4]2 1c. Reaction of pzphos(O) under the same conditions forms the 2 : 1 adduct [Pd(pzphos(O))2Cl2] 2b regardless of the metal to ligand ratio or the order of addition of reactants. Unlike the N,P chelate 1b, the N,P(O) ligands in complex 2b bind in a monodentate fashion through the N-donor atoms of the pyrazole rings. Abstraction of the chloro ligands in compound 2b using AgClO4 gave the 2 : 1 N,P(O) chelate [Pd{pzphos(O)}2][ClO4]2 2c, in which entropically unfavourable 7-membered chelate rings are formed. X-Ray diffraction has been used to confirm the solid-state structures of the pzphos(O) ligand and the complexes 1b, 1c, 2b and 2c.     

Experimental studies of Bose-Einstein condensates in disorder

We review recent studies of the effects of disorder on an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). We focus particularly on our own experiments with ⁷Li BECs in laser speckle. Both the interaction, which gives rise to the nonlinearity in a BEC, and the disorder can be tuned experimentally. This opens many opportunities to study the interplay of interaction and disorder in both condensed matter physics and nonlinear science.