Electron and hydrogen-atom self-exchange reactions of iron and cobalt coordination complexes

Reported here are self-exchange reactions between iron 2,2'-bi(tetrahydro)pyrimidine (H(2)bip) complexes and between cobalt 2,2'-biimidazoline (H(2)bim) complexes. The (1)H NMR resonances of [Fe(II)(H(2)bip)(3)](2+) are broadened upon addition of [Fe(III)(H(2)bip)(3)](3+), indicating that electron self-exchange occurs with k(Fe,e)(-) = (1.1 +/- 0.2) x 10(5) M(-1) s(-1) at 298 K in CD(3)CN. Similar studies of [Fe(II)(H(2)bip)(3)](2+) plus [Fe(III)(Hbip)(H(2)bip)(2)](2+) indicate that hydrogen-atom self-exchange (proton-coupled electron transfer) occurs with k(Fe,H.) = (1.1 +/- 0.2) x 10(4) M(-1) s(-1) under the same conditions. Both self-exchange reactions are faster at lower temperatures, showing small negative enthalpies of activation: DeltaH++(e(-)) = -2.1 +/- 0.5 kcal mol(-1) (288-320 K) and DeltaH++(H.) = -1.5 +/- 0.5 kcal mol(-1) (260-300 K). This behavior is concluded to be due to the faster reaction of the low-spin states of the iron complexes, which are depopulated as the temperature is raised. Below about 290 K, rate constants for electron self-exchange show the more normal decrease with temperature. There is a modest kinetic isotope effect on H-atom self-exchange of 1.6 +/- 0.5 at 298 K that is close to that seen previously for the fully high-spin iron biimidazoline complexes.(12) The difference in the measured activation parameters, E(a)(D) - E(a)(H), is -1.2 +/- 0.8 kcal mol(-1), appears to be inconsistent with a semiclassical view of the isotope effect, and suggests extensive tunneling. Reactions of [Co(H(2)bim)(3)](2+)-d(24) with [Co(H(2)bim)(3)](3+) or [Co(Hbim)(H(2)bim)(2)](2+) occur with scrambling of ligands indicating inner-sphere processes. The self-exchange rate constant for outer-sphere electron transfer between [Co(H(2)bim)(3)](2+) and [Co(H(2)bim)(3)](3+) is estimated to be 10(-)(6) M(-1) s(-1) by application of the Marcus cross relation. Similar application of the cross relation to H-atom transfer reactions indicates that self-exchange between [Co(H(2)bim)(3)](2+) and [Co(Hbim)(H(2)bim)(2)](2+) is also slow, < or =10(-3) M(-1) s(-1). The slow self-exchange rates for the cobalt complexes are apparently due to their interconverting high-spin [Co(II)(H(2)bim)(3)](2+) with low-spin Co(III) derivatives.     

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.     

Complex formation between α-cyclodextrin and amines in water and DMF solvents

Complexation between -cyclodextrin (-CD) and aliphatic amines in water and DMF solvents was studied by calorimetry. Amines form complexes with -CD in both solvents but the nature of the complexes is quite different. In DMF the amines donate a hydrogen from the amine N–H group to the cyclodextrin forming a normal hydrogen bonded complex. In DMF solutions with large amine concentrations, complexes other than 11 are observed. In contrast, in aqueous environment the amines form inclusion complexes in which the amine alkyl group penetrates the -CD cavity and is stabilized by van der Waals interactions. The equilibrium constants for the complexes formed in water solvent increase with increasing alkyl chain length due to an entropy effect.     

Tambouranolide, a new cytotoxic hydroxybutanolide from a Tambourissa sp. (Monimiaceae)

A new cytotoxic hydroxybutanolide, tambouranolide, has been isolated by solid phase extraction from an ethanol extract of the dried roots of a species of Tambourissa (Monimiaceae) from the Madagascar rainforest. The structure was elucidated through the interpretation of spectral data and its comparison to data reported in the literature for related molecules. The compound showed moderate in vitro cytotoxicity with an IC50 of 8 micro g mL(-1) in the A2780 human ovarian cancer cell line assay.     

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.     

Alignment dependent chemisorption of vibrationally excited CH4(ν3) on Ni(100), Ni(110), and Ni(111)

We present a stereodynamics study of the dissociative chemisorption of vibrationally excited methane on the (100), (110), and (111) planes of a nickel single crystal surface. Using linearly polarized infrared excitation of the antisymmetric C-H stretch normal mode vibration (ν(3)), we aligned the angular momentum and C-H stretch amplitude of CH(4)(ν(3)) in the laboratory frame and measured the alignment dependence of state-resolved reactivity of CH(4) for the ν(3) = 1, J = 0-3 quantum states over a range of incident translational energies. For all three surfaces studied, in-plane alignment of the C-H stretch results in the highest dissociation probability and alignment along the surface normal in the lowest reactivity. The largest alignment contrast between the maximum and minimum reactivity is observed for Ni(110), which has its surface atoms arranged in close-packed rows separated by one layer deep troughs. For Ni(110), we also probed for alignment effects relative to the direction of the Ni rows. In-plane C-H stretch alignment perpendicular to the surface rows results in higher reactivity than parallel to the surface rows. The alignment effects on Ni(110) and Ni(100) are independent of incident translational energy between 10 and 50 kJ/mol. Quantum state-resolved reaction probabilities are reported for CH(4)(ν(3)) on Ni(110) for translational energies between 10 and 50 kJ/mol.     

Quantifying desorption of saturated hydrocarbons from silicon with quantum calculations and scanning tunneling microscopy

Electron stimulated desorption of cyclopentene from the Si(100)-(2 x 1) surface is studied experimentally with cryogenic UHV STM and theoretically with transport, electronic structure, and dynamical calculations. Unexpectedly for a saturated hydrocarbon on silicon, desorption is observed at bias magnitudes as low as 2.5 V, albeit the desorption yields are a factor of 500 to 1000 lower than previously reported for unsaturated molecules on silicon. The low threshold voltage for desorption is attributed to hybridization of the molecule with the silicon surface, which results in low-lying ionic resonances within 2-3 eV of the Fermi level. These resonances are long-lived, spatially localized, and displaced in equilibrium with respect to the neutral state. This study highlights the importance of nuclear dynamics in silicon-based molecular electronics and suggests new guidelines for the control of such dynamics.