Kinetic and mechanistic study on the reactions of [Pt(bpma)(H2O)]2+ and [Pd(bpma)(H2O)]2+ with some nucleophiles. Crystal structure of [Pd(bpma)(py)](ClO4)2

Substitution reactions of the complexes [Pd(bpma)(H2O)]2+ and [Pt(bpma)(H2O)]2+, where bpma = bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amine, with TU, DMTU and TMTU for both complexes and Cl-, Br-, I- and SCN- for the platinum complex, were studied in aqueous 0.10 M NaClO4 at pH 2.5 using a variable-temperature stopped-flow spectrophotometer. The pKa value for the coordinated water molecule in [Pd(bpma)(H2O)]2+ (6.67) is a unit higher than that of [Pt(bpma)(H2O)]2+. The observed pseudo-first-order rate constants k(obs) (s(-1)) obeyed the equation k(obs) = k2[Nu] (Nu = nucleophile). The second-order rate constants indicate that the Pd(II) complex is a factor of 10(3) more reactive than Pt(II) complex. The nucleophile reactivity attributed to the steric hindrance in case of TMTU and the inductive effect for DMTU was found to be DMTU > TU > TMTU for [Pt(bpma)(H2O)]2+ and DMTU approximately TU > TMTU for [Pd(bpma)(H2O)]2+. The trend for ionic nucleophile was I- > SCN- > Br- > Cl-, an order linked to their polarizability and the softness or hardness of the metal. Activation parameters were determined for all reactions and the negative entropies of activation (Delta S++) support an associative ligand substitution mechanism. The X-ray crystal structure of [Pd(bpma)(py)](ClO4)2 was determined; it belongs to the triclinic space group P1 and has one formula unit in the unit cell. The unit cell dimensions are a = 8.522(2), b = 8.627(2), c = 16.730(4) A; alpha = 89.20(2), beta = 81.03(2), gamma = 60.61(2) degrees ; V = 1055.7(5) A3. The structure was solved using direct methods in WinGX's implementation of SHELXS-97 and refined to R = 0.054. The coordination geometry of [Pd(bpma)(py)]2+ is distorted square-planar. The Pd-N(central) bond distance, 1.996(3) A, is shorter than the other two Pd-N distances, 2.017(3) and 2.019(3) A. The Pd-N(pyridine) distance is 2.037(3) A.     

spiro-Mamakone A: a unique relative of the spirobisnaphthalene class of compounds

[structure: see text] A spirobisnaphthalene derivative with a new spiro-nonadiene skeleton, spiro-mamakone A (1), has been isolated from the extract of a cultured nonsporulating fungal endophyte derived from the New Zealand native tree Knightia excelsa (rewarewa). The carbon skeleton of spiro-mamakone A represents a new structural entity and an intriguing addition to the structurally diverse spirobisnaphthalene group of compounds. spiro-Mamakone A is potently cytotoxic and is also antimicrobial.     

High-bandwidth hybrid quantum repeater

We present a physical- and link-level design for the creation of entangled pairs to be used in quantum repeater applications where one can control the noise level of the initially distributed pairs. The system can tune dynamically, trading initial fidelity for success probability, from high fidelity pairs (F=0.98 or above) to moderate fidelity pairs. The same physical resources that create the long-distance entanglement are used to implement the local gates required for entanglement purification and swapping, creating a homogeneous repeater architecture. Optimizing the noise properties of the initially distributed pairs significantly improves the rate of generating long-distance Bell pairs. Finally, we discuss the performance trade-off between spatial and temporal resources.     

Eigenvalue Asymptotics of the Stokes Operator for Fractal Domains

The leading asymptotic term for the function that counts theeigenvalues of the Stokes operator is determined for fairlygeneral underlying bounded domains. Moreover, the remainderis estimated in terms of the fractality of the boundary of thedomain. The results obtained resemble corresponding ones forthe Dirichlet Laplacian. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification:35P20.     

The iso­thio­cyanate complex of tri­phenyl­borane forms an unusual coordination polymer with [K(18‐crown‐6)]+, both in the solid state and in solution

The title salt, (1,4,7,10,13,16‐hexa­oxa­cyclo­octa­decane‐κ⁶O)[(iso­thio­cyanato)­tri­phenyl­borato‐κS]­potassium(I), [K(C₁₉H₁₅BNS)(C₁₂H₂₄O₆)] or [K(SCNBPh₃)(18‐crown‐6)], where 18‐crown‐6 is 1,4,7,10,13,16‐hexaoxa­cyclo­octa­decane and [SCNBPh₃]⁻ is the (iso­thio­cyanato)­tri­phenyl­borate anion, exhibits a supramol­ecular structure that is best described as a helical coordination polymer or molecular screw. This unusual supramolecular structure is based on a framework in which the SCN⁻ ion bridges the chelated K⁺ ion and the B atom of BPh₃ in a μ₂ fashion. The X‐ray crystal structure of the title salt has been determined at 100 (1) and 293 (2) K. The K⁺ ion exhibits axial ligation by the S atom of the [SCNBPh₃]⁻ anion, with a K—S distance of 3.2617 (17) Å (100 K). The trans‐axial ligand is an unexpected η²‐bound C=C bond of a phenyl group (meta‐ and para‐C atoms) that belongs to the BPh₃ moiety of a neighboring mol­ecule. The K—C bond distances span the range 3.099 (3)–3.310 (3) Å (100 K) and are apparently retained in CDCl₃ solution (as evidenced by ¹³C NMR spectroscopy). By virtue of the latter interaction, the supramolecular structure is a helical coordination polymer, with the helix axis parallel to the b axis of the unit cell. IR spectroscopy and semi‐empirical molecular orbital (AM1) calculations have been used to investigate further the electronic structure of the [SCNBPh₃]⁻ ion.