Double exchange in polynuclear mixed-valence clusters. 1. General solution of the electronic problem

The problem of calculating the electronic energy spectra of mixed-valence clusters with one “extra” electron (dⁿ-dⁿ...dⁿ⁺¹) or hole (dⁿ⁺¹-dⁿ⁺¹...dⁿ) delocalized in the paramagnetic cores of transition metals is solved. Unlike the available particular solutions, which are restricted to small numbers of ions and electrons, the solution proposed in this work is general and is suitable for many-electron systems of arbitrary numbers of nuclei and arbitrary symmetries. The new microscopic approach to the double exchange problem is based on the combination of the sequential (“chain”) scheme of spin coupling and angular momentum method. In terms of this approach, an analytical dependence of the matrix elements of the double exchange, Heisenberg exchange, and vibronic interaction on all spin quantum numbers is obtained. The final equations contain only the 6j symbols and are free of the higher-order nj symbols, which obstructed the solution of the double exchange problem in previous works. Valencia University, Spain. Bordeaux University, France. Moldova State University. Institute of Chemistry, Academy of Sciences, Moldova Republic. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 37, No. 5, pp. 805–815, September–October, 1996. Translated by I. Izvekova     

Group 6 heteroatom- and non-heteroatom-stabilized carbene complexes. beta,beta'- and alpha,beta,beta'-annulation reactions of cyclic enamines

Cyclization reactions of group 6 Fischer carbene complexes with cyclopentanone and cyclohexanone enamines are described. Enamine 3a undergoes thermal alpha,beta,beta'-annulation with alkenylcarbene complexes 1 and 2 (THF, 60 degrees C), affording semibullvalenes 5. The metalate intermediates 6, resulting from beta,beta'-annulation of the enamines 3a and 4a, were quantitatively formed by running the reaction in hexane at room temperature. Acid-promoted demetalation of 6 afforded endo-2-bicyclo[3.2.1]octen-8-ones 7 and endo/exo-2-bicyclo[3.3.1]nonen-9-ones 8 (endo/exo = 5:1). Using (S)-methoxymethylpyrrolidine-derived enamines 3b and 4b,c allowed highly enantioenriched cycloadducts endo-(+)-7 as well as endo-(-)-8 and exo-(-)-8 to be accessed. The non-heteroatom-stabilized carbene complex 10 was formed from complex 6 by Me(3)SiOTf-promoted elimination of the methoxy group, characterized by (13)C NMR, and transformed into the organic compounds 7, 7-d, and 11 as well as into bicyclo[3.2.1]octan-2,8-diones 14 and cycloheptanones 15. On the basis of this sequence, enantioenriched cycloheptanones (+)-15 were efficiently prepared in one pot from carbene complexes 2 and enamine 3b (51-55% yield, 91-96% ee). Extension of this work to simple Fischer carbene complexes 16 allowed an appropriate way to generate the nonstabilized pentacarbonyl[(phenyl(alkyl)carbene]tungsten complex 17 to be designed, for which the thermal and chemical behavior leading to compounds 18-21 is described.     

Role of Hartree-Fock and Kohn-Sham orbitals in the basis set superposition error for systems linked by hydrogen bonds

In this work the effect of the basis set superposition error (BSSE) is explored with the counterpoise method on the occupied and unoccupied Hartree-Fock (HF) and Kohn-Sham (KS) orbitals. Three different systems linked by hydrogen bonds, H(2)O...FH, H(2)O...H(2)O, and H(2)O...CFH(3), were studied by using the basis set families cc-pVXZ and aug-cc-pVXZ (X = D, T, Q). The basis sets were tested with the HF method and two approximations for the exchange-correlation functional of KS: a generalized gradient approximation and a hybrid approach. In addition to these methods, the second-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory, MP2, was considered. It was found that the presence of the "ghost" basis set affects the orbitals in two ways: (1) The occupied KS orbitals are more sensitive to the presence of this "ghost" basis set than the occupied HF orbitals. For this reason the BSSE observed in HF is less than that obtained with KS. (2) The unoccupied HF orbitals are more sensitive to the presence of the "ghost" basis set than their corresponding occupied orbitals. Because the MP2 method uses both, occupied and unoccupied HF orbitals, to compute the total energy, the contribution of the BSSE is bigger than that obtained with HF or KS methodologies.     

As, Bi, Sb and Sn determination in atmospheric particulate matter by direct solid sampling-hydride generation-electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A novel, rapid and simple method by hydride generation-electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-ETAAS) after direct As, Bi, Sb and Sn hydrides generation from untreated filters of atmospheric particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5) was optimised. PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 were not subjected to any pre-treatment: circular portions between 0.28 and 6.28 cm² were directly placed into the reaction vessel of a batch mode generation system. A 2⁸ × 3/64 Plackett–Burman design was used as a multivariate strategy for the evaluation of the effects of several variables affecting the hydride generation, trapping and atomisation efficiencies. Trapping temperature was the most statistically significant variable for As, Bi and Sn. Atomisation temperature was also statistically significant for Sb determination. Optimum values of significant variables were selected by using univariate optimisation approaches. An aqueous calibration method was used throughout. The developed method has been found to be precise with relative standard deviations of 6.2, 5.3, 9.1 and 7.5% for 11 determinations in a filter sample containing 0.7, 1.0, 1.4 and 1.7 μg l⁻¹ for As, Bi, Sb and Sn, respectively. Results obtained by direct solid sampling-HG-ETAAS have been found statistically comparable with those obtained after conventional method based on an acid digestion followed to ICP-MS. Absolute detection limits were 37, 15, 30, and 41 ng l⁻¹ for As, Bi, Sb and Sn, respectively. Detection limits referred to the air volume sampled (in the range of 0.020–0.050 ng m⁻³) were low enough for the determination of several hydride-forming elements from PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 samples collected in a non-polluted suburban area of A Coruña (NW Spain).     

Symmetry numbers and chemical reaction rates

This article shows how to evaluate rotational symmetry numbers for different molecular configurations and how to apply them to transition state theory. In general, the symmetry number is given by the ratio of the reactant and transition state rotational symmetry numbers. However, special care is advised in the evaluation of symmetry numbers in the following situations: (i) if the reaction is symmetric, (ii) if reactants and/or transition states are chiral, (iii) if the reaction has multiple conformers for reactants and/or transition states and, (iv) if there is an internal rotation of part of the molecular system. All these four situations are treated systematically and analyzed in detail in the present article. We also include a large number of examples to clarify some complicated situations, and in the last section we discuss an example involving an achiral diasteroisomer.     

A new selective cleavage of n,n-dicarbamoyl-protected amines using lithium bromide

A mild and new procedure for the selective cleavage of an alkoxycarbonyl group (Boc, CBz) in N,N-dicarbamoyl-protected amino compounds is described. The method is based on the use of lithium bromide in acetonitrile and is compatible with a large range of other functionalities present in the substrates. Compared with other reported methodologies, the procedure is particularly useful for the Cbz-selective cleavage in N,N-Ts,Cbz-diprotected amines. A rationalization of the selectivity supported by ab initio calculations is also presented.     

Separation of molybdenum from interfering elements by extraction as phosphomolybdenum blue

A simple method is described for the separation of molybdenum from titanium, zirconium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, uranium and aluminium in a wide variety of samples in <30 min. Phosphomolybdenum blue is produced by boiling for 2 min a molybdate solution containing phosphate to give Mo/P = 20-37 (w/w) with hydrazine sulphate in 0.1N sulphuric acid. The volume and acidity are adjusted to give a molybdenum concentration of 0.6-5 my/ml in 0.4-0.5N sulphuric acid. The phosphomolybdenum blue is 99.5% extracted with methyl isobutyl ketone in a single extraction. The residual molybdenum and hydrazine in the aqueous phase are oxidized with a few drops of liquid bromine and the molybdenum is quantitatively extracted with the same solvent from 1N sulphuric acid as its reddish brown thiosulphato complex. The molybdenum is stripped by ammonia-hydrogen peroxide solution. The back-extract is heated to boiling and filtered to remove the insoluble hydroxides of traces of accompanying elements. The thiosulphate in the filtrate is destroyed by boiling for 4-5 min with excess of hydrogen peroxide in slightly ammoniacal medium. The molybdenum is determined finally by cerimetry or other standard methods.     

Reactions of Sulphate Radicals with Substituted Pyridines: A Structure–Reactivity Correlation Analysis

The kinetics of the oxidation of pyridine, 3‐chloropyridine, 3‐cyanopyridine, 3‐methoxypyridine and 3‐methylpyridine mediated by SO₄ ^{< M ‐>} radicals are studied by flash photolysis of peroxodisulphate, S₂O₈^2?, at pH 2.5 and 9. The absolute rate constants for the reactions of both, the basic and acid forms of the pyridines, are determined and discussed in terms of the Hammett correlation. The monosubstituted pyridines react about 10 times faster with sulphate radicals than their protonated forms, the pyridine ions. The organic intermediates are identified as the corresponding hydroxypyridine radical adducts and their absorption spectra compared with those estimated employing the time‐dependent density functional theory with explicit account for bulk solvent effects. A reaction mechanism which accounts for the observed intermediates and the pyridinols formed as products is proposed.     

Analysis of mono- and disaccharides in milk-based formulae by high-performance liquid chromatography with refractive index detection

A simple and reproducible method for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of free mono- and disaccharides (fructose, glucose, galactose, sucrose, lactulose and lactose) in milk-based formulae by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with refractive index (RI) detection was developed and validated. The method showed good linearity with determination coefficients exceeding 0.99. The limits of detection (DL) in these sugars were 0.17, 0.13, 0.06, 0.16, 0.05 and 0.25 mg/ml, respectively; and the limits of quantification (QL), 0.27, 0.24, 0.20, 0.26, 0.22 and 0.38 mg/ml. The relative standard deviations (R.S.D.s) for repeatability in fructose, sucrose, lactulose and lactose were 0.78, 0.99, 2.91 and 0.46 and the R.S.D.s for reproducibility were 4.8, 6.15, 7.04 and 2.49, respectively. Recoveries in all sugars were between 93 and 113%.