Kinetic studies of the reactions of the carbene complex W(CO)5[C(SCH3)2] with phosphines to form phosphorane complexes W(CO)5[(CH3S)2C-PR3] and the synthesis of some cyclic phosphorane complexes

The dithiocarbene complex W(CO)₅[C(SCH₃)₂ reacts with tertiary phosphines, PPh₂CH₃, PPh(CH₃)₂, P(C₂H₅)₃ and P(OCH₃)₃ to form the phosphorane complexes W(CO)₅[CH₃S)₂C-PR₃] and with HPPh₂ to form the phosphine complex W(CO)₅[PPh₂[CH(SCH₃)₂]. Kinetic studies of both types of reactions show that their rates are first order each in W(CO)₅[C(SCH₃)₂] and in the phosphorus ligand. A mechanism involving rate determining phosphorus attack at the carbene carbon followed by rapid rearrangement to the product is consistent with this rate law. Rate constants for the reactions increase with increasing nucleophilicities of the phosphines: P(OCH₃)₃ < PPh₂H < PPh₂C_H3 ? PPh(CH₃)₂ < P(C₂H₅)₃. The ΔH values decrease (P(OCH₃)₃ > PPh₂H > PPh₂(CH₃) > PPh(CH₃)₂ > P(C₂H₅)₃) as the nucleophilicities of the phosphines increase. The ΔS values (≈-30 e.u.) remain essentially constant for all the reactions. The cyclic dithiorcarbenes W(CO)₅[CS(CH₂)_nS], wheren- 3 or 4, react with PPh₂(CH₃) to form the cyclic phosphorane complexes, W(CO)₅[S(CH₂)_nSC-PPh₂(CH₃)]. The 6- and 7- membered cyclic dithiocarbenes also react with PPh₂H to form the phosphine complexes, W(CO)₅ {PPh₂- [CS(CH₂)_nS(H)]}.     

2,5-Dimethylthiophene coordination to three metal centers in the complexes (η4, S-μ3-2,5-Me2T)(IrCp*) [M(CO)2Cp]2 where MMo or W

The 2,5-dimethylthiophene (2,5-Me₂T) ligand in the isomers Cp*Ir(η⁴-2,5-Me₂T) (1) and Cp*Ir(C,S-2,5-Me₂T) (2) is activated to react with the dimers Cp(CO)₂M?M(CO)₂Cp[M?Mo (3), W (4)] to give complexes (5,6) in which the thiophene is coordinated to three metals. Oxidation of 5 with Cp₂Fe⁺ removes the Mo dimer to give Cp*Ir(η⁵-2,5-Me₂T)²⁺. Reaction of 5 with CO displaces the Mo as [CpMo(CO)₃]₂ to give Cp*Ir(CO)(C,S-2,5-Me₂T) (7). Ultraviolet photolysis of 1 provides a convenient route to the ring-opened isomer 2. Despite the remarkable nature of the thiophene coordination in 5 and 6, its reactivity does not suggest new pathways that would lead to the hydrodesulfurization of thiophenes.     

Nonnucleosidic Base Surrogates: The Effect of 1,2‐Disubstituted Phenanthrenes on DNA Duplex Stability

Phenanthrene‐1,2‐dimethanol was incorporated into oligodeoxynucleotides via formation of phosphodiester bonds (cf. Scheme 1). If placed at internal positions in a DNA duplex, a strong reduction of duplex stability is observed (Table 1). Terminal attachment of stretches of phenanthrene residues, however, leads to a substantial increase in stability. The stabilization is attributed to a cooperative interaction of the phenanthrene residues of the two strands rather than to dangling end effects. Chimeric oligomers containing a stretch of six phenanthrene residues show two separate transitions (Table 2): one arising from the denaturation of the DNA stem (observable by a hyperchromic effect at 260 nm) and a second one from the denaturation of the phenanthrene part (observable by temperature‐dependant gel mobility assays). Based on these findings, a model of the chimeric hybrids is proposed, in which the phenanthrene residues stack in a zipper‐like manner on top of the DNA base pairs without disrupting the B‐form of the DNA stem (see Fig. 7).     

Chemical behavior of the biradicaloid (HO...ONO) singlet states of peroxynitrous acid. The oxidation of hydrocarbons, sulfides, and selenides

Various high levels of theory have been applied to the characterization of two higher lying biradicaloid metastable singlet states of peroxynitrous acid. A singlet minimum (cis-2) was located that had an elongated O-O distance (2.17 A) and was only 12.2 kcal/mol [UB3LYP/6-311+G(3df,2p)+ZPVE] higher in energy than its ground-state precursor. A trans-metastable singlet (trans-2) was 10.9 kcal/mol higher in energy than ground-state HO-ONO. CASSCF(12,10)/6-311+G(d,p) calculations predict the optimized geometries of these cis- and trans-metastable singlets to be close to those obtained with DFT. Optimization of cis- and trans-2 within the COSMO solvent model suggests that both exist as energy minima in polar media. Both cis- and trans-2 exist as hydrogen bonded complexes with several water molecules. These collective data suggest that solvated forms of cis-2.3H(2)O and trans-2.3H(2)O represent the elusive higher lying biradicaloid minima that were recently (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 16204) advocated as the metastable forms of peroxynitrous acid (HOONO). The involvement of metastable trans-2 in the gas phase oxidation of methane and isobutane is firmly established to take place on the unrestricted [UB3LYP/6-311+G(d,p)] potential energy surface (PES) with classical activations barriers for the hydrogen abstraction step that are 15.7 and 5.9 kcal/mol lower than the corresponding activation energies for producing products methanol and tert-butyl alcohol formed on the restricted PES. The oxidation of dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl selenide, two-electron oxidations, proceeds by an S(N)2-like attack of the heteroatom lone pair on the O-O bond of ground-state peroxynitrous acid. No involvement of metastable forms of HO-ONO was discernible.     

Nanostructuring, compositional fluctuations, and atomic ordering in the thermoelectric materials AgPb(m)SbTe(2+m). The myth of solid solutions

The nature of the thermoelectric materials Ag(1-x)Pb(m)SbTe(m+2) or LAST-m materials (LAST for Lead Antimony Silver Tellurium) with different m values at the atomic as well as nanoscale was studied with powder/single-crystal X-ray diffraction, electron diffraction, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Powder diffraction patterns of different members (m = 0, 6, 12, 18, infinity) are consistent with pure phases crystallizing in the NaCl-structure-type (Fmm) and the proposition that the LAST family behaved as solid solutions between the PbTe and AgSbTe2 compounds. However, electron diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy studies suggest the LAST phases are inhomogeneous at the nanoscale with at least two coexisting sets of well-defined phases. The minority phase which is richer in Ag and Sb is on the nanosized length scale, and it is endotaxially embedded in the majority phase which is poorer in Ag and Sb. Moreover, within each nanodomain we observe extensive long range ordering of Ag, Pb, and Sb atoms. The long range ordering can be confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Indeed, data collections of five different single crystals were successfully refined in space groups of lower symmetry than Fmm including P4/mmm and Rm. The results reported here provide experimental evidence for a conceptual basis that could be employed when designing high performance thermoelectric materials and dispel the decades long belief that the systems (AgSbTe2)(1-x)(PbTe)x are solid solutions.     

Functionalized organosilica microspheres via a novel emulsion-based route

Thiol-functionalized organosilica microspheres were synthesized via a two-step process: (1) acid-catalyzed hydrolysis and condensation of 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS), followed by (2) base-catalyzed condensation, which led to the rapid formation of emulsion droplets with a narrow size distribution. These droplets continued to condense to form solid microspheres. Solution (29)Si NMR and optical microscopy were applied to study the mechanism of this novel synthetic route. Solid-state (29)Si NMR, SEM, zeta potential titration, and Coulter counter measurements were used to study the bulk and surface properties and to determine the particle size distributions of the final microspheres. Compared to conventional St?ber silica particles, these microspheres were shown to have a lower degree of cross-linking (average degree of condensation, r = 1.25), a larger average size (up to 6 microm), and a higher isoelectric point (pH = 4.4). Confocal microscopy of dye-labeled microspheres showed an even distribution of dye molecules throughout the interior, characteristic of a readily accessible and permeable organosilica network. These findings have implications for the production of functionalized solid supports for use in catalysis and biological applications, such as optically encoded carriers for combinatorial synthesis.     

Structure, bonding, and reactivity of Ti and Zr amidate complexes: DFT and X-ray crystallographic studies

Easily prepared and highly modular organic amide proligands have been used to synthesize a series of new bis(amidate)-bis(amido) Ti and Zr complexes via protonolysis. These complexes have been structurally characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. The solid-state molecular structures of these complexes indicate that the amidate ligands bind to the metal centers in an exclusively bidentate fashion, resulting in discrete monomeric species. Geometric isomerism in these species is highly dependent upon the steric characteristics of the proligands utilized in the synthesis. In solution, these complexes are observed to isomerize on the NMR time scale, with one isomer being predominant. Bonding in the bis(amidate)-bis(amido) complexes was investigated by DFT calculations. The geometric isomers predicted by theory matched the experimentally observed results, within experimental error. The orbitals associated with amidate-metal bonding are energetically well below the frontier orbitals. The HOMO in these complexes is a pi orbital associated with amido ligand-to-metal bonding character, while the LUMO in all cases is a vacant d orbital on the metal center.     

Analytical TEM examinations of CoPt-TiO2 perpendicular magnetic recording media.

For this analytical TEM study, nonmagnetic oxygen-rich boundaries were introduced into Co-Pt-alloy perpendicular recording media by cosputtering Co and Pt with TiO2. Increasing the TiO2 content resulted in changes to the microstructure and elemental distribution within grains and boundaries in these films. EFTEM imaging was used to generate composition maps spanning many tens of grains, thereby giving an overall depiction of the changes in elemental distribution occurring with increasing TiO2 content. Comparing EFTEM with spectrum-imaging maps created by high-resolution STEM with EDXS and EELS enabled both corroboration of EFTEM results and quantification of the chemical composition within individual grain boundary areas. The difficulty of interpreting data from EDXS for these extremely thin films is discussed. Increasing the TiO2 content of the media was found to create more uniformly wide Ti- and O-rich grain boundaries as well as Ti- and O-rich regions within grains.     

The [2 + 4] Diels-Alder cycloadditon product of a probable dialuminene,Ar'AlAlAr' (Ar' = C(6)H(3)- 2,6-dipp(2); dipp = C(6)H(3)-2,6-Pr(i)(2)), with toluene

Reduction of Ar'AlI2 (Ar' = Ar'= C6H3-2,6-Dipp2; Dipp = C6H3-2,6-Pri2) with KC8 in diethyl ether most probably affords the first "dialuminene", Ar'AlAlAr'; it was characterized by its reaction with toluene which yielded a [2 + 4] cycloaddition product incorporating the Ar'AlAlAr' unit.     

Quantum chemical modeling for 157 nm photolithography

In its continuing quest for smaller length scales, the electronics industry plans to introduce 157 nm as the next lithographic wavelength. Accordingly, there is a pressing need to develop photoresists that are more transparent, and pellicles that are both more transparent and more durable. With the advent and popularization of time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), we now have a practical quantum chemical method for calculating excitation energies and transition moments in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) which can greatly assist in the scouting of highly transparent materials. We have performed TD-DFT calculations for a broad variety of fluorinated molecules and we will report calculated VUV photoabsorption spectra for a large family of model fluorohexanes. These calculations, which span a range from 1-fluorohexane to CH₃CF₂CF₂CF₂CF₂CH₃, illustrate some of the principles one may use to design low absorption polymeric materials.