Three-dimensional aromaticity in deltahedral boranes and carboranes

Methods derived from topology and graph theory indicate that the deltahedral boranes B _n H _n ^2– and the corresponding carboranes C₂B_n–2H _n (6 n 12) may be regarded as three-dimensional delocalized aromatic systems in which surface bonding and core bonding correspond to -bonding and -bonding, respectively, in planar polygonal two-dimensional hydrocarbons CinnH _n ^(n–6)+ (n=5/7). The two extreme types of topologies which may be used to model core bonding in deltahedral boranes and carboranes are the deltahedral (D _n ) topology based on the skeleton of the underlying deltahedron and the complete (K _n ) topology based on the corresponding complete graph. Analyses of the Hoffmann-Lipscomb LCAO extended Hückel computations, the Armstrong—Perkins—Stewart self-consistent molecular orbital computations, and SCF MOab initio GAUSSIAN-82 computations on B₆H₆ ^2– indicate that the approximation of the atomic orbitals by the sum of the molecular orbitals, as is typical in modernab initio computations, leads to significantly weaker apparent core bonding approximated more closely by deltahedral (D _n ) topology than by complete (K _n ) topology.This work was presented at the Workshop The Modern Problems of Heteroorganic Chemistry sponsored by the A. N. Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds of the Russian Academy of Sciences (May 8–13, 1993).Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 8, pp. 1353–1360, August, 1993.     

Asynchronous multicanonical basin hopping method and its application to cobalt nanoclusters

The multicanonical basin hopping (MUBH) method, which uses a multicanonical weight in the basin hopping (BH) Monte Carlo method, was found to be very efficient for global optimization of large-scale systems such as Lennard-Jones clusters containing more than 150 atoms. We have implemented an asynchronous parallel version of the MUBH method using the message passing interface (MPI) to take advantage of the full usage of multiprocessors in either a homogeneous or heterogeneous computational environment. Based on the intrinsic properties of the Monte Carlo method, this MPI implementation used the task parallelism to minimize interthread data communication. For a Co nanocluster consisting of N atoms, we have applied the asynchronous multicanonical basin hopping (AMUBH) method (for 181 < N < or = 200), together with BH (for 2 < or = N < 150) and MUBH (for 150 < or = N < or = 180), to search for the molecular configuration of the global energy minimum. AMUBH becomes the only practical computational scheme for locating the energy minimum within realistic computational time for a relatively large cluster.     

Experimental tests of chirality algebra

Most chiral molecules can be dissected into a collection of ligands attached to an underlying skeleton. Application of permutation group theory and group representation theory to such a model can lead to chirality functions which can be used to approximate pseudoscalar measurements such as optical rotation or circular dichroism. Such chirality functions have been tested experimentally for the following skeletons: (1) The polarized triangle of phosphines and phosphine oxides; (2) the tetrahedron of methane derivatives; (3) the disphenoid of allene and 2, 2-spirobiindane derivatives; (4) the polarized rectangle of [2, 2]-metacyclophanes; (5) the polarized pentagon of heterodisubstituted ferrocenes. The success of this method is fair to good for the polarized triangle, tetrahedron, and disphenoid skeletons but deteriorates rapidly for the polarized rectangle and polarized pentagon skeletons, in accord with the greater group-theoretical complexity of the latter skeletons.     

Chemical applications of topology and group theory

The 60 even permutations of the ligands in the five-coordinate complexes, ML ₅, form the alternating group A ₅, which is isomorphic with the icosahedral pure rotation group I. Using this idea, it is shown how a regular icosahedron can be used as a topological representation for isomerizations of the five-coordinate complexes, ML ₅, involving only even permutations if the five ligands L correspond either to the five nested octahedra with vertices located at the midpoints of the 30 edges of the icosahedron or to the five regular tetrahedra with vertices located at the midpoints of the 20 faces of the icosahedron. However, the 120 total permutations of the ligands in five-coordinate complexes ML ₅ cannot be analogously represented by operations in the full icosahedral point group I _h, since I _his the direct product I×C₂ whereas the symmetric group S ₅ is only the semi-direct product A ₅S₂. In connection with previously used topological representations on isomerism in five-coordinate complexes, it is noted that the automorphism groups of the Petersen graph and the Desargues-Levi graph are isomorphic to the symmetric group S ₅ and to the direct product S ₅×S ₂, respectively. Applications to various fields of chemistry are briefly outlined.     

P-Nitrosophosphate compounds: new N-O heterodienophiles and nitroxyl delivery agents

P-Nitrosophosphates, such as 9, react as N-O heterodienophiles with 1,3-dienes to form highly functionalized cycloadducts that can be directly transformed into allylic phosphoramidates. The in situ periodate oxidation of the unstable N-hydroxyphosphoramidate precursors provides an efficient preparation of these new reactive intermediates. P-Nitrosophosphate (9) regioselectively reacts with 1-methoxy-1,3-butadiene to provide cycloadduct 16. P-Nitrosophosphate (9) also reacts with 9,10-dimethylanthracene to give cycloadduct 17, which undergoes retro Diels-Alder dissociation to re-form 9. In the absence of a 1,3-diene, the decomposition of 17 produces nitrous oxide, evidence for nitroxyl, the one-electron-reduced form of nitric oxide. An asymmetric P-nitrosophosphate reacted with 1,3-cyclohexadiene to form a mixture of diastereomeric cycloadducts (19 and 20) in a 1.6:1 ratio. These results identify P-nitrosophosphates as new species that react similarly to acyl nitroso compounds, making them useful synthetic intermediates and potential nitroxyl delivery agents.