Status of electroweak phase transition and baryogenesis

I review recent progress on the electroweak phase transition and baryogenesis, focusing on the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model as the source of new physics.     

Chemical Reactions of Cationic Metallofullerenes: An Alternative Route for Exohedral Functionalization

The chemistry of cationic forms of clusterfullerenes remain less explored than that of the corresponding neutral or anionic species. In the present work, M₃N@I_h-C₈₀ (M=Sc or Lu) cations were generated by both electrochemical and chemical oxidation methods. The as-obtained cations successfully underwent the typical Bingel–Hirsch reaction that fails with neutral Sc₃N@I_h-C₈₀. Two isomeric Sc₃N@I_h-C₈₀ cation derivatives, [5,6]-open and [6,6]-open adducts, were synthesized, and the former has never been prepared by means of a Bingel–Hirsch reaction with neutral clusterfullerenes. In the case of the Lu₃N@I_h-C₈₀ cation, however, only a [6,6]-open adduct was obtained. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicated that the oxidized M₃N@I_h-C₈₀ was much more reactive than the neutral compound upon addition of the diethyl bromomalonate anion. The Bingel–Hirsch reaction of M₃N@I_h-C₈₀ cations occurred by means of an unusual outer-sphere single-electron transfer (SET) process from the diethyl bromomalonate anion to the stable intermediate [M₃N@C₈₀(C₂H₅COO)₂CBr]^.. Remarkably, the diethyl bromomalonate anion was found to act as both a nucleophile and an electron donor.     

Modular Molecules: Site‐Selective Metal Substitution,Photoreduction, and Chirality in Polyoxometalate Hybrids

The first members of a promising new family of hybrid amino acid–polyoxometalates have emerged from a search for modular functional molecules. Incorporation of glycine (Gly) or norleucine (Nle) ligands into an yttrium‐tungstoarsenate structural backbone, followed by crystallization with p‐methylbenzylammonium (p‐MeBzNH₃⁺) cations, affords (p‐MeBzNH₃)₆K₂(GlyH)[As^III₄(Y^IIIW^VI₃)W^VI₄₄Y^III₄O₁₅₉(Gly)₈‐ (H₂O)₁₄] ? 47 H₂O ( 1 ) and enantiomorphs (p‐MeBzNH₃)₁₅(NleH)₃ [As^III₄(Mo^V₂Mo^VI₂)W^VI₄₄Y^III₄O₁₆₀(Nle)₉(H₂O)₁₁][As^III₄(Mo^VI₂W^VI₂)‐ W^VI₄₄Y^III₄O₁₆₀(Nle)₉(H₂O)₁₁] (generically designated 2 : L ‐Nle, 2 a ; D ‐Nle, 2 b ). An intensive structural, spectroscopic, electrochemical, magnetochemical and theoretical investigation has allowed the elucidation of site‐selective metal substitution and photoreduction of the tetranuclear core of the hybrid polyanions. In the solid state, markedly different crystal packing is evident for the compounds, which indicates the role of noncovalent interactions involving the amino acid ligands. In solution, mass spectrometric and small‐angle X‐ray scattering studies confirm maintenance of the structure of the polyanions of 2 , while circular dichroism demonstrates that the chirality is also maintained. The combination of all of these features in a single modular family emphasizes the potential of such hybrid polyoxometalates to provide nanoscale molecular materials with tunable properties.     

Sc2O@Td(19151)‐C76: Hindered Cluster Motion inside a Tetrahedral Carbon Cage Probed by Crystallographic and Computational Studies

A new cluster fullerene, Sc₂O@T_d(19151)‐C₇₆, has been isolated and characterized by mass spectrometry, UV/Vis/NIR absorption, ⁴⁵Sc NMR spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. The crystallographic analysis unambiguously assigned the cage structure as T_d(19151)‐C₇₆, which is the first tetrahedral fullerene cage characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. This study also demonstrated that the Sc₂O cluster has a much smaller Sc?O?Sc angle than that of Sc₂O@C_s(6)‐C₈₂ and the Sc₂O unit is fully ordered inside the T_d(19151)‐C₇₆ cage. Computational studies further revealed that the cluster motion of the Sc₂O is more restrained in the T_d(19151)‐C₇₆ cage than that in the C_s(6)‐C₈₂ cage. These results suggest that cage size affects not only the shapes but also the cluster motion inside fullerene cages.     

Purification of Uranium‐based Endohedral Metallofullerenes (EMFs) by Selective Supramolecular Encapsulation and Release

Supramolecular nanocapsule 1 ?(BArF)₈ is able to sequentially and selectively entrap recently discovered U₂@C₈₀ and unprecedented Sc₂CU@C₈₀, simply by soaking crystals of 1 ?(BArF)₈ in a toluene solution of arc‐produced soot. These species, selectively and stepwise absorbed by 1 ?(BArF)₈, are easily released, obtaining highly pure fractions of U₂@C₈₀ and Sc₂CU@C₈₀ in one step. Sc₂CU@C₈₀ represents the first example of a mixed metal actinide‐based endohedral metallofullerene (EMF). Remarkably, the host–guest studies revealed that 1 ?(BArF)₈ is able to discriminate EMFs with the same carbon cage but with different encapsulated cluster and computational studies provide support for these observations.     

Construction of titanasiloxanes by incorporation of silanols to the metal oxide model [(Ti(eta 5-C5Me5)(mu-O))3(mu3-CR)]: DFT elucidation of the reaction mechanism

A family of novel titanasiloxanes containing the structural unit {[Ti(eta(5)-C(5)Me(5))O](3)} were synthesized by hydron-transfer processes involving reactions with equimolecular amounts of mu(3)-alkylidyne derivatives [{Ti(eta(5)-C(5)Me(5))(mu-O)}(3)(mu(3)-CR)] (R=H (1), Me (2)) and monosilanols, R(3)'Si(OH), silanediols, R(2)'Si(OH)(2), and the silanetriol tBuSi(OH)(3). Treatment of 1 and 2 with triorganosilanols (R'=Ph, iPr) in hexane affords the new metallasiloxane derivatives [{Ti(eta(5)-C(5)Me(5))(mu-O)}(3)(mu-CHR)(OSiR(3)')] (R=H, R'=Ph (3), iPr (4); R=Me, R'=Ph (5), iPr (6)). Analogous reactions with silanediols, (R'=Ph, iPr), give the cyclic titanasiloxanes [{Ti(eta(5)-C(5)Me(5))(mu-O)}(3)(mu-O(2)SiR'(2))(R)] (R=Me, R'=Ph (7), iPr (8); R=Et, R'=Ph (9), iPr (10)). Utilization of tBuSi(OH)(3) with 1 or 2 at room temperature produces the intermediate complexes [{Ti(eta(5)-C(5)Me(5)) (mu-O)}(3)(mu-O(2)Si(OH)tBu)(R)] (R=Me (11), Et(12)). Further heating of solutions of 11 or 12 affords the same compound with an adamantanoid structure, [{Ti(eta(5)-C(5)Me(5))(mu-O)}(3)(mu-O(3)SitBu)] (13) and methane or ethane elimination, respectively. The X-ray crystal structures of 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 13 have been determined. To gain an insight into the mechanism of these reactions, DFT calculations have been performed on the incorporation of monosilanols to the model complex [{Ti(eta(5)-C(5)H(5))(mu-O)}(3)(mu(3)-CMe)] (2 H). The proposed mechanism consists of three steps: 1) hydron transfer from the silanol to one of the oxygen atoms of the Ti(3)O(3) ring, forming a titanasiloxane; 2) intramolecular hydron migration to the alkylidyne moiety; and 3) a mu-alkylidene ligand rotation to give the final product.     

Understanding the stabilization of metal carbide endohedral fullerenes m(2)c(2)@c(82) and related systems

We analyze the electronic structure of carbide endohedral metallofullerenes of the type Sc(2)C(2)@C(82) and study the possibility of rotation of the encapsulated Sc(2)C(2) moiety in the interior of the cage. Moreover, we rationalize the higher abundance of M(2)C(2)@C(82) (M = Sc, Y) in which the metal-carbide cluster is encapsulated in the C(3v)-C(82):8 carbon cage with respect to other carbides of the same family on the basis of the formal transfer of four electrons from the cluster to the cage and sizeable (LUMO-3)-(LUMO-2) gap in the empty cages. This rule also applies to all those endohedral metallofullerenes in which the encapsulated cluster transfers four electrons to the carbon cage as, for example, the reduced [M@C(82)](-) systems (M = group 3 or lanthanide metal ion).