Critical endpoint and analytical phase diagram of attractive hard-core Yukawa spheres

We analytically calculate the gas-liquid critical endpoint (cep) for hard spheres with a Yukawa attraction. This cep is a boundary condition for the existence of a liquid. We use an analytical Helmholtz energy expression for the attractive Yukawa (hard) spheres based on the first-order mean spherical approximation to the attractive Yukawa potential by Tang and Lu (J. Chem. Phys. 1993, 99, 9828). This theory and our analytical simplification of it predict the gas-liquid and fluid-solid phase behavior, as found from computer simulations, very accurately as long as the range 1/kappa of attraction is not too short. We find that the cep is situated at kappasigma approximately 6 and at a contact potential around 2 kT. It follows that a liquid state is only possible when the attraction range is longer than (1/6) of the particle diameter sigma, and the attraction strength is smaller than 2 kT. The liquid region does not span more than 0.6 kT in strength, and there is also a relatively narrow window for the attraction range.     

Three new polynuclear tetracarboxylato-bridged copper(II) complexes: Syntheses, X-ray structure and magnetic properties

The synthesis, crystal structure and magnetic measurements of three new polynuclear tetracarboxylato-bridged copper(II) complexes, i.e. {[Cu₄(phen)₂(μ-O₂CC₂H₅)₈] · (H₂O)}_n (1), [Cu₂(μ-O₂CC₆H₄OH)₄(C₇H₇NO)₂] · 6H₂O (2) and [Cu₂(μ-O₂CCH₃)₄(C₇H₇NO)₂] (3) (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, O₂CC₆H₄OH = 3-hydroxy benzoate, C₇H₇NO = 4-acetylpyridine) are reported. All compounds consist of dinuclear units, in which two Cu(II) ions are bridged by four syn,syn-η¹:η¹:μ carboxylates, showing a paddle-wheel cage type with a square-pyramidal geometry, arranged in different ways. The structure of compound 1 consists of an one-dimensional structure generated by an alternating classical dinuclear paddle-wheel unit and an unusual dinuclear Cu₂(μ-OCOC₂H₅)₂(μ-O₂CC₂H₅)₂(phen)₂unit, which are connected to each other via a syn,anti-triatomic propionato bridge in an axial-equatorial configuration. The adjacent chains are connected to generate a 2D structure through the face-to-face π–π interaction between phen rings. Structures of compounds 2 and 3 both consist of a symmetric dinuclear Cu(II) carboxylate paddle-wheel core and pyridyl nitrogen atoms of 4-acetylpyridine ligand at the apical position, and just differ in the substituents of the equatorial ligands.

The magnetic properties have been measured and correlated with the molecular structures. It is found that in the two classical paddle-wheel compounds the Cu(II) ions are strongly antiferromagnetically coupled with J = −278.5 and −287.0 cm⁻¹ for complexes 2 and 3, respectively. In compound 1 the magnetic susceptibility could be fitted with two different, independent Cu(II) units, one strongly coupled and one weakly coupled; the paddle-wheel dinuclear unit has the strongest antiferromagetic coupling with a value for J of −299.5 cm⁻¹, whereas the Cu(II) ions in the propionato-bridged dinuclear unit of 1 display a very weak antiferromagnetic coupling with a value for J = −0.75 cm⁻¹, due to the orthogonality of the magnetic orbitals. Also the exchange within the chain is therefore very weak. The magneto-structural correlations for complexes 1, 2, and 3 are discussed on the basis of the structural parameters and magnetic data for the complexes.     

Influence of pressure and temperature on the physico-chemical properties of mobile phase mixtures commonly used in high-performance liquid chromatography

To fulfil the increasing demand for faster and more complex separations, modern HPLC separations are performed at ever higher pressures and temperatures. Under these operating conditions, it is no longer possible to safely assume the mobile phase fluid properties to be invariable of the governing pressures and temperatures, without this resulting in significantly deficient results. A detailed insight in the influence of pressure and temperature on the physico-chemical properties of the most commonly used liquid mobile phases: water-methanol and water-acetonitrile mixtures, therefore becomes very timely. Viscosity, isothermal compressibility and density were measured for pressures up to 1000 bar and temperatures up to 100 degrees C for the entire range of water-methanol and water-acetonitrile mixtures. The paper reports on two different viscosity values: apparent and real viscosities. The apparent viscosities represent the apparent flow resistance under high pressure referred to by the flow rates measured at atmospheric pressure. They are of great practical use, because the flow rates at atmospheric pressure are commonly stable and more easily measurable in a chromatographic setup. The real viscosities are those complying with the physical definition of viscosity and they are important from a fundamental point of view. By measuring the isothermal compressibility, the actual volumetric flow rates at elevated pressures and temperatures can be calculated. The viscosities corresponding to these flow rates are the real viscosities of the solvent under the given elevated pressure and temperature. The measurements agree very well with existing literature data, which mainly focus on pure water, methanol and acetonitrile and are only available for a limited range of temperatures and pressures. As a consequence, the physico-chemical properties reported on in this paper provide a significant extension to the range of data available, hereby providing useful data to practical as well as theoretical chromatographers investigating the limits of modern day HPLC.     

p-tert-Butylcalix[4]arene complexes of molybdenum and tungsten: reactivity of the calixarene methylene C-H bond and the facile migration of the metal around the phenolic rim of the calixarene

p-tert-Butylcalix[4]arene, [CalixBut(OH)4], reacts with Mo(PMe3)6 and W(PMe3)4(eta2-CH2PMe2)H to yield compounds of composition {[CalixBut(OH)2(O)2]M(PMe3)3H2} which exhibit unprecedented use of a C-H bond of a calixarene methylene group as a binding functionality in the form of agostic and alkyl hydride derivatives. Thus, X-ray diffraction studies demonstrate that, in the solid state, the molybdenum complex [CalixBut(OH)2(O)2]Mo(PMe3)3H2 exists as an agostic derivative with a Mo...H-C interaction, whereas the tungsten complex exists as a metallated trihydride [Calix-HBut(OH)2(O)2]W(PMe3)3H3. Solution 1H NMR spectroscopic studies, however, provide evidence that [Calix-HBut(OH)2(O)2]W(PMe3)3H3 is in equilibrium with its agostic isomer [CalixBut(OH)2(O)2]W(PMe3)3H2. Dynamic NMR spectroscopy also indicates that the [M(PMe3)3H2] fragments of both the molybdenum and tungsten complexes [CalixBut(OH)2(O)2]M(PMe3)3H2 migrate rapidly around the phenolic rim of the calixarene on the NMR time scale, an observation that is in accord with incorporation of deuterium into the methylene endo positions upon treatment of the isomeric mixture of [CalixBut(OH)2(O)2]W(PMe3)3H2 and [Calix-HBut(OH)2(O)2]W(PMe3)3H3 with D2. Treatment of {[CalixBut(OH)2(O)2]W(PMe3)3H2} with Ph2C2 gives the alkylidene complex [CalixBut(O)4]W=C(Ph)Ar [Ar = PhCC(Ph)CH2Ph].     

Palladium complexes with Pd-->B dative bonds: analysis of the bonding in the palladaboratrane compound [kappa4-B(mimBut)3]Pd(PMe3)

The dinuclear complex {[mu-kappa(1),kappa(3)-B(mim(Bu(t)))(3)]Pd}(2), which features a Pd-->B dative bond, may be obtained by the reaction of [Tm(Bu(t))]K with Pd(OAc)(2); treatment of {[mu-kappa(1),kappa(3)-B(mim(Bu(t)))(3)]Pd}(2) with PMe(3) affords the mononuclear boratrane derivative [kappa(4)-B(mim(Bu(t)))(3)]Pd(PMe(3)), for which a molecular orbital analysis indicates that the palladium center possesses a d(8) configuration.     

1,2-dioxetanes as chemiluminescent intermediates in the triplet oxygen oxygenation of olefins.

Several enol ethers react in the dark at elevated temperatures with triplet oxygen, producing ketones and chemiluminescene. Other electron-rich olefins were investigated.     

Density functional theory based molecular-dynamics study of aqueous iodide solvation

We study the solvation of iodide in water using density functional theory based molecular-dynamics simulations. Detailed analysis of the structural and dynamical properties of the first solvation shell is presented, showing a disruptive influence of the ion on the local water structure. Iodide-water hydrogen bonding is weak, compared to water-water hydrogen bonds. This effective repulsive ion-water interaction leads to the formation of a quite unstructured solvation shell. The dynamics of water molecules surrounding the iodide is relatively fast. The intramolecular structural and electronical properties of water molecules around the ion are not affected.     

Dynamic Supramolecular Polymers Based on Benzene‐1,3,5‐tricarboxamides: The Influence of Amide Connectivity on Aggregate Stability and Amplification of Chirality

N‐Centred benzene‐1,3,5‐tricarboxamides (N‐BTAs) composed of chiral and achiral alkyl substituents were synthesised and their solid‐state behaviour and self‐assembly in dilute alkane solutions were investigated. A combination of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarisation optical microscopy (POM) and X‐ray diffraction revealed that the chiral N‐BTA derivatives with branched 3,7‐dimethyloctanoyl chains were liquid crystalline and the mesophase was assigned as Col_ho. In contrast, N‐BTA derivatives with linear tetradecanoyl or octanoyl chains lacked a mesophase and were obtained as crystalline compounds. Variable‐temperature infrared spectroscopy showed the presence of threefold, intermolecular hydrogen bonding between neighbouring molecules in the mesophase of the chiral N‐BTAs. In the crystalline state at room temperature a more complicated packing between the molecules was observed. Ultraviolet and circular dichroism spectroscopy on dilute solutions of N‐BTAs revealed a cooperative self‐assembly behaviour of the N‐BTA molecules into supramolecular polymers with preferred helicity when chiral alkyl chains were present. Both the sergeants‐and‐soldiers as well as the majority‐rules principles were operative in stacks of N‐BTAs. In fact, the self‐assembly of N‐BTAs resembles closely that of their carbonyl (C?O)‐centred counterparts, with the exception that aggregation is weaker and amplification of chirality is less pronounced. The differences in the self‐assembly of N‐ and C?O‐BTAs were analysed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. These reveal a substantially lower interaction energy between the monomeric units in the supramolecular polymers of N‐BTAs. The lower interaction energy is due to the higher energy penalty for rotation around the Ph? NH bond compared to the Ph? CO bond and the diminished magnitude of dipole–dipole interactions. Finally, we observed that mixed stacks are formed in dilute solution when mixing N‐BTAs and C?O BTAs.     

Coordination chemistry of 5,6,7-trimethyl-[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine with first-row transition-metal salts: Synthesis, spectroscopy and single-crystal structures, with counter-anion dependence of the structures

A variety of new coordination compounds with transition-metal salts and the ligand trimethyl[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine (abbreviated as tmtp) is described, together with several of their 3D crystal structures and spectroscopic and magnetic properties. The compounds were selected based on the coordination ability of the counterion, halide, nitrate, sulfate, thiocyanate and perchlorate. The formed coordination compounds and their coordination numbers were found to be strongly dependent on both the cation and the used counter-anion. The several compounds studied have the following structural formulae: [CuCl₂(tmtp)₂], [CuBr₂(tmtp)₂], [ZnBr₂(tmtp)₂], [Cu(NO₃)₂(tmtp)₂], [CuSO₄(tmtp)₂]₂(H₂O)(MeOH), [Cu(H₂O)(NCS)₂(tmtp)₂], [Zn(NCS)₂(tmtp)₂], [Cd(NCS)₂(tmtp)₂] and [M(H₂O)₂(tmtp)₄](BF₄)₂, in which M = Co, Ni, Zn.The new coordination compounds have been further characterized by NMR, (far-)IR and LF spectra, as well as by C, H, N element analyses, and EPR spectra for the Cu(II) compounds. The coordination around the metal varies from 4 (Zn, Cu), via 5 (Cu) to 6 (for Co, Cu and Cd). The anions usually complete the coordination sphere; only the Co and Zn compounds with the tetrafluoridoborate anions have no coordinated anions, but water ligands complete the octahedral coordination sphere. In the 5-coordinated [Cu(H₂O)(NCS)₂(tmtp)₂] water completes the square pyramid geometry.     

Conformational control in the cyclization of hydrogen-bonded supramolecular polymers

Bifunctional 2-ureido-4[1H]-pyrimidinone (UPy) derivatives can form small cyclic oligomers as well as long supramolecular polymers in chloroform solutions using the quadruple hydrogen-bonding motif. Ring-chain equilibria of a set of supramolecular monomers containing methyl-substituted alkyl linkers between the hydrogen-bonding UPy moieties were investigated by (1)H NMR spectroscopy and viscometry. The data were characterized in terms of critical concentration (CC, denoting the onset of polymerization) and equilibrium cyclic dimer concentration (EDC, representing preorganization of the monomer toward selective formation of cyclic dimer). Methyl substituents in the monomer were found to promote conformations favorable for cyclic dimerization, leading to an increase in both the EDC and the CC with respect to unsubstituted monomer. Furthermore, we observed an odd-even effect in the CC and EDC with increasing length of the linker between the hydrogen-bonding units. The combined results allow tuning of the critical concentration over a broad range and offer detailed information on the correlation between monomer structure, conformation, and polymerizability which may provide new insights for the study and design of other ring-chain equilibria or helix-random coil transitions.