Synthesis, characterisation and theoretical studies of amidinato-indium(I) and thallium(I) complexes: isomers of neutral group 13 metal(I) carbene analogues

The synthesis and characterisation of the monomeric amidinato-indium(I) and thallium(I) complexes, [M(Piso)].PisoH, M = In or Tl, Piso- = [ArNC(Bu(t))NAr]-, Ar = C6H3Pr(i)2-2,6, are reported. These complexes, in which the metal centre is chelated by the amidinate ligand in an N,eta3-arene-fashion, can be considered as isomers of four-membered group 13 metal(I) carbene analogues. Theoretical studies have compared the relative energies of both isomeric forms of a model complex, [In{PhNC(H)NPh}].     

Peroxycarbenium-mediated C-C bond formation: applications to the synthesis of hydroperoxides and peroxides

The Lewis acid-mediated reaction of alkene nucleophiles with peroxyacetals provides an effective route for the synthesis of homologated peroxides and hydroperoxides. In the presence of Lewis acids such as TiCl(4), SnCl(4), and trimethylsilyl triflate, peroxyacetals and peroxyketals undergo reaction with allyltrimethylsilane, silyl enol ethers, and silyl ketene acetals to afford homoallyl peroxides, 3-peroxyketones, and 3-peroxyalkanoates, respectively. Reactions of peroxyacetals are Lewis acid dependent; TiCl(4) promotes formation of ethers while SnCl(4) and trimethylsilyl triflate promote formation of peroxides. Lewis acid-promoted reactions of silylated hydroperoxyacetals furnish silylated hydroperoxides, which can be deprotected to homologated hydroperoxides. Hydroperoxyketals undergo Lewis acid-mediated allylation to furnish 1,2-dioxolanes via attack of hydroperoxide on the intermediate carbocation. Lewis acid-mediated cyclization of unsaturated peroxyacetals furnishes 1,2-dioxanes, 1,2-dioxepanes, and 1,2-dioxacanes through 6-endo/exo, 7-endo/endo, and 8-endo/endo pathways. The corresponding reactions involving 6-endo/endo and 5-endo/exo pathways were unsuccessful.     

Insights into DNA binding of ruthenium arene complexes: role of hydrogen bonding and pi stacking

Density functional theory (DFT) methods are used to investigate the binding of ruthenium arene complexes, proposed as promising anticancer drugs, to isolated nucleobases. This shows a clear preference for binding at guanine over any other base and an approximately 100 kJ mol (-1) difference in binding between guanine and adenine in the gas phase, while binding to cytosine and inosine are intermediate in energy between these extremes. Solvation reduces binding energies and the discrimination between bases but maintains the overall pattern of binding. DFT and ab initio data on arene-base interactions in the absence of ruthenium show that stacking and hydrogen-bonding interactions play a significant role but cannot account for all of the energy difference between bases observed. Atoms-in-molecules analysis allows further decomposition of binding energies into contributions from covalent-binding, hydrogen-bonding, and pi-stacking interactions. Larger arenes undergo stabilizing stacking interactions, whereas N-H...X hydrogen bonding is independent of arene. Pairing of guanine to cytosine is affected by ruthenium complexation, with individual hydrogen-bonding energies being altered but the overall pairing energy remaining almost constant.     

Auxiliary basis sets for density fitting-MP2 calculations: Nonrelativistic triple-zeta all-electron correlation consistent basis sets for the 3d elements Sc-Zn

Auxiliary basis sets for density fitting second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory (DF-MP2) have been optimized for use with the triple-zeta nonrelativistic all-electron correlation consistent orbital basis sets, cc-pVTZ-NR and aug-cc-pVTZ-NR, for the 3d elements Sc-Zn. The relative error in using these auxiliary basis sets is found to be around four orders of magnitude smaller than that from utilizing triple-zeta orbital basis sets rather than corresponding quadruple-zeta basis sets, in calculation of the correlation energy for a test set of 54 small to medium sized transition metal complexes.     

A facile regioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition protocol for the synthesis of new class of quinolinyl dispiro heterocycles

The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of azomethine ylides generated in situ from isatin and secondary amino acids with quinolinyl dipolarophiles in refluxing methanol afforded new class of quinolinyl dispiro heterocycles with multi hetero core units. The regio and stereochemistry of the product was unambiguously assigned by ¹H, ¹³C, 2D NMR techniques and single crystal X-ray analysis. The structures of the compounds are stabilized through the presence of intermolecular hydrogen bonding and intramolecular non-covalent interactions.     

An investigation of the scope of the 1,7-electrocyclization of α,β:γ,δ-conjugated azomethine ylides

Substituents on the diene component have little influence on the periselectivity of the cyclizations of α,β:γ,δ-conjugated azomethine ylides, with 1,7-electrocyclizations predominating. In some cases, subtle changes to these substituents can, however, influence the product formed, through their effect on the relative energies of the transition states for the 1,5- (6π) and 1,7-electrocyclization (8π) processes. The most striking changes in periselectivity occur for phenylethenyl-substituted azomethine ylides 3d–f, which can give either a pyrroline 4d,f or dihydrobenzazepine 6e, depending upon the alkene configuration.     

Non-covalent interactions using local correlation methods: energy partitioning,geometry optimisation and harmonic frequency calculations

The performance of density fitting, local correlation methods (DF-LMP2 and DF-LCCSD) in studies of non-covalent interactions is tested against literature data for a standard set of 22 inter-molecular complexes. Partitioning of interaction energy in the local correlation approach, based on the classes of occupied and virtual orbital involved in the interaction, clearly distinguishes the three types of interaction present in the set of complexes, in agreement with previous classifications. Geometry optimisation is found to be straightforward with DF-LMP2 without the need for counterpoise correction, resulting in geometries very close to previous, counterpoise-corrected structures. Spin-component scaling of gradients to correct for the known shortcomings of conventional MP2 has only a small effect on geometries in most cases, but significantly alters the distance between aromatic rings in stacked complexes. Harmonic frequency calculation is made possible by efficient use of parallel computing resources, and confirms all structures to be true minima, unlike previous estimates using density functional theory. Corrections for the change in zero-point vibrational energy are determined from this data, and typically constitute between 10 and 50% of the overall binding energy of the complex.     

Neural correlates of semantic and syntactic processes in the comprehension of case marked pronouns: Evidence from German and Dutch

Background  

It is well known that both semantic and syntactic information play a role in pronoun resolution in sentences. However, it is unclear what the relative contribution of these sources of information is for the establishment of a coreferential relationship between the pronoun and the antecedent in combination with a local structural case constraint on the pronoun (i.e. case assignment of a pronoun under preposition governing). In a prepositional phrase in German and Dutch, it is the preposition that assigns case to the pronoun. Furthermore, in these languages different overtly case-marked pronouns are used to refer to male and female persons. Thus, one can manipulate biological/syntactic gender features separately from case marking features.