Influence of the solvent and R groups on the structure of (carboranyl)R2PI2 compounds in solution. Crystal structure of the first iodophosphonium salt incorporating the anion [7,8-nido-C2B9H10]-

The influence of the electron-donor or electron-acceptor capacity of the R groups (R = (i)Pr, Ph, Et) and the solvent on the molecular geometry in solution of adducts of carboranylphosphanes [(carboranyl)(i)Pr2P, (carboranyl)Ph2P and (carboranyl)Et2P] with I2 in 1 : 1 ratios, has been studied in detail by 31P{1H} and 11B{1H} NMR spectroscopies. The more electron-accepting Ph groups make the (carboranyl)Ph2P less nucleophilic, thus stabilizing the I2 encapsulated neutral biscarboranylphosphane-diiodine adducts in solution, such as (carboranyl)Ph2PI-IPPh2(carboranyl), generating P---I-I---P motifs. Even in a polar solvent, such as EtOH, the arrangement is preserved. The expected basicity of these carboranylphosphanes is: (carboranyl)(i)Pr2P > (carboranyl)Et2P > (carboranyl)Ph2P. Thus, the comparatively higher basicity of (carboranyl)Et2P vs. (carboranyl)Ph(2)P facilitates a higher transfer of electron density to the I2 sigma*, generating the ionic species, [(carboranyl)Et2PI]+I-, even in low polar solvents, such as CH2Cl2 and toluene, with no degradation of the cluster. However, in EtOH, the formation of the anionic [7,8-nido-C2B(9)H10]- cluster takes place by removal of one boron atom from the closo cluster. The basicity of (carboranyl)(i)Pr(2)P should be the highest, superior to (carboranyl)Et2P. This is observed in the reaction of these carboranylphosphanes with I(2) in EtOH. Whereas the formation of P four-coordinated molecular "spoke" charge-transfer complexes, (carboranyl)(i)Pr2P-I-I, are suggested for (carboranyl)(i)Pr2P in low polarity solvents, ionic species are formed in ethanolic solutions, which deboronate in a few days, faster than (carboranyl)Et2P, to yield the zwitterionic species. This is attributed to the higher basicity of (carboranyl)(i)Pr2P vs. (carboranyl)Et2P. The X-ray crystal structure of [7-PI(i)Pr2-8-Ph-7,8-nido-C2B9H10], 2c, obtained from the reaction of 1-P(i)Pr2-2-Ph-closo-1,2-closo-C2B10H10 with I(2) in EtOH, confirms the formation of the zwitterion. These results prove that minor changes in the nature of the R substituents on the P atom in carboranylphosphanes, along with the solvent in which the reaction takes place, produce major alterations in the geometry of the (carboranyl)R2P-I-I species in solution, and in their possible further reactivity.     

Water at the surfaces of aligned phospholipid multibilayer model membranes probed with ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy

The dynamics of water at the surface of artificial membranes composed of aligned multibilayers of the phospholipid dilauroyl phosphatidylcholine (DLPC) are probed with ultrafast polarization selective vibrational pump-probe spectroscopy. The experiments are performed at various hydration levels, x = 2 - 16 water molecules per lipid at 37 degrees C. The water molecules are approximately 1 nm above or below the membrane surface. The experiments are conducted on the OD stretching mode of dilute HOD in H 2O to eliminate vibrational excitation transfer. The FT-IR absorption spectra of the OD stretch in the DLPC bilayer system at low hydration levels shows a red-shift in frequency relative to bulk water, which is in contrast to the blue-shift often observed in systems such as water nanopools in reverse micelles. The spectra for x = 4 - 16 can be reproduced by a superposition of the spectra for x = 2 and bulk water. IR Pump-probe measurements reveal that the vibrational population decays (lifetimes) become longer as the hydration level is decreased. The population decays are fit well by biexponential functions. The population decays, measured as a function of the OD stretch frequency, suggest the existence of two major types of water molecules in the interfacial region of the lipid bilayers. One component may be a clathrate-like water cluster near the hydrophobic choline group and the other may be related to the hydration water molecules mainly associated with the phosphate group. As the hydration level increases, the vibrational lifetimes of these two components decrease, suggesting a continuous evolution of the hydration structures in the two components associated with the swelling of the bilayers. The agreement of the magnitudes of the two components obtained from IR spectra with those from vibrational lifetime measurements further supports the two-component model. The vibrational population decay fitting also gives an estimation of the number of phosphate-associated water molecules and choline-associated water molecules, which range from 1 to 4 and 1 to 12, respectively, as x increases from 2 to 16. Time-dependent anisotropy measurements yield the rate of orientational relaxation as a function of x. The anisotropy decay is biexponential. The fast component is almost independent of x, and is interpreted as small orientational fluctuations that occur without hydrogen-bond rearrangement. The slower component becomes very long as the hydration level decreases. This component is a measure of the rate of complete orientational randomization, which requires H-bond rearrangement and is discussed in terms of a jump reorientation model.     

Synthesis and NMR characterization of the cis and trans isomers of [Pt(II)(N9-adeH)2(pz)2] and X-ray crystallography of the trans isomer

The reaction of tetrapyrazine Pt(II) with adenine under basic conditions yielded two products both disubstituted by adenine and bound in all cases to the N-9 nitrogen of adenine. Crystals amenable to X-crystallographic analysis were obtained for one product which was consequently identified as trans-[Pt(II)(N9-adeH)2(pz)2](NO3)(4).H2O. The other product, though, was identified as the cis isomer based on extensive and comparative NMR structural studies whereby the two compounds were examined as both neutral and tetraprotonated species in solution. The major product of the reaction was unexpectedly the cis isomer, thus obtained in contrast to the trans effect, and the reason for this result is speculated on. Computational calculations using DFT at the B3LYP/TZVP-MARI-J level of theory provided the head-to-tail conformer as the overwhelmingly more stable species over the head-to-head conformer for both compounds whilst the trans product was found to be more stable than the cis. Thus the reaction does not follow a thermodynamic course and rather is kinetically controlled in concert with the speculated mode of reaction.     

On planar harmonic grid generation

It has been shown that the harmonic map is a diffeomorphism. In some cases, numerical solutions to the equation have been noticed to produce folded grids, however. The folding of the grid is due to truncation error and not an incorrect theorem as has been suggested earlier. Difference approximations are constructed that solve the problem. The difference approximations can be of low order, which shows that the order of the difference approximations is not the key factor. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 15: 305–315, 1999     

Paramagnetic aluminium β-diketiminate

The β-diketiminate ligand framework is shown to undergo reduction to form a neutral main group radical stabilized by spiroconjugation of the unpaired electron over the group 13 element centre. The synthesized paramagnetic complex was characterized by EPR spectroscopy and computational chemistry.     

Asymmetric synthesis of α,β-diamino acid derivatives with an aziridine-, azetidine- and γ-lactone-skeleton via Mannich-type additions across α-chloro-N-sulfinylimines

The efficient asymmetric synthesis of new chiral γ-chloro-α,β-diamino acid derivatives via highly diastereoselective Mannich-type reactions of N-(diphenylmethylene) glycine esters across a chiral α-chloro-N-p-toluenesulfinylimine was developed. The influence of the base, LDA or LiHMDS, used for the formation of the glycine enolates, was of great importance for the anti-/syn-diastereoselectivity of the Mannich-type reaction. The γ-chloro-α,β-diamino acid derivatives proved to be excellent building blocks for ring closure towards optically pure anti- and syn-β,γ-aziridino-α-amino esters, and subsequent ring transformation into trans-3-aminoazetidine-2-carboxylic acid derivatives and α,β-diamino-γ-butyrolactones.     

Diphenoxo-bridged Ni(II)Ln(III) dinuclear complexes as platforms for heterotrimetallic (Ln(III)Ni(II))2Ru(III) systems with a high-magnetic-moment ground state: synthesis, structure, and magnetic properties

The first examples of pentanuclear heterotrimetallic [(LnNi)(2)Ru] [Ln(3+) = Gd (1) and Dy (2)] complexes were prepared and magnetostructurally characterized. They exhibit ferromagnetic interactions, leading to a high-magnetic-moment ground state.     

A computational and experimental study of the structures and Raman and 77Se NMR spectra of SeX3+ and SeX2 (X = Cl, Br, I): FT-Raman spectrum of (SeI3)[AsF6

The ability of MP2, B3PW91 and PBE0 methods to produce reliable predictions in structural and spectroscopic properties of small selenium-halogen molecules and cations has been demonstrated by using 6-311G(d) and cc-pVTZ basis sets. Optimized structures and vibrational frequencies agree closely with the experimental information, where available. Raman intensities are also well reproduced at all levels of theory. Calculated GIAO isotropic shielding tensors yield a reasonable linear correlation with the experimental chemical shift data at each level of theory. The largest deviations between calculated and experimental chemical shifts are found for selenium-iodine species. The agreement between observed and calculated chemical shifts for selenium-iodine species can be improved by inclusion of relativistic effects using the ZORA method. The best results are achieved by adding spin-orbit correction terms from ZORA calculations to nonrelativistic GIAO isotropic shielding tensors. The calculated isotropic shielding tensors can be utilized in the spectroscopic assignment of the 77Se chemical shifts of novel selenium-halogen molecules and cations. The experimental FT-Raman spectra of (SeI3)[AsF6] in the solid state and in SO2(l) solution are also reported.     

2‐Methyl‐1‐phenylsulfanyl‐1,2‐dicarba‐closo‐dodecaborane(12)

In the title o‐carborane derivative, C₉H₁₈B₁₀S, the methyl and phenyl­sulfanyl groups are connected to the C atoms of the carborane cage. The C_cage—C_cage distance is 1.708 (4) Å.