Stepwise activation of "non-innocent" Cp* substituents--a Cp* based cascade reaction

Reactions of Cp* substituted pentelidene complexes with the primary phosphine Cp*PH(2) yield novel polycyclic phosphorus/arsenic and carbon containing cage compounds via cascade-like reactions. These reactions include a sequence of nucleophilic addition reactions, intramolecular hydrophosphination (partially hydroarsination) reactions, retro-Diels-Alder reactions with Cp*H elimination and subsequent [2+4]-cycloadditions.     

Generation of hard x rays by femtosecond laser pulse interaction with solid targets in atmosphere

X ray radiation as high as 50 keV, including K(α) of Ba and Mo, have been observed from a solid target during the interaction of low energy ~0.65 mJ, 1 kHz 40 femtosecond laser pulses focused in air at atmospheric pressure. Energetic electrons generating such x rays are possibly produced when the field strength in laser pulse wake exceeds the runaway threshold in air. Two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations that include optical field ionization of air and elastic collisions support this mechanism.     

Ligand‐site exchange in intramolecular complexes of silicon: substituent effects

The intramolecular complexes containing coordination bonds Si←N or Si←O are distinguished for their stereochemical nonrigidity resulting in interconversion between isomers, that is, ligand‐site exchange. The influence of the substituents bound to the silicon atom on the free energies of activation for ligand exchange ΔG^≠ of specific interest is poorly understood. In this work, the literature data on substituent influence on the energies ΔG^≠ for 13 series of the complexes have been considered, using the correlation analysis. On the basis of the obedience of the energies ΔG^≠ to the linear free energy relationship, it has been established for the first time that the ΔG^≠ values depend not only on the inductive and resonance effects but also on the polarizability and steric effects of substituents. The reason for the occurrence of the polarizability effect is the appearance of excess charges on Si and N (or O) atoms as a result of intramolecular coordination consisting in the charge transfer from the donor center (N or O atom) to the acceptor one (Si atom). In some series the contribution of the polarizability or steric effect to the overall change in ΔG^≠ because of the influence of substituents is a maximum. An understanding of these effects may give a better insight into the mechanism of nucleophilic substitution, involving organoelement compounds. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The universe formation by space reduction cascades with random initial parameters

In this paper we discuss the creation of our universe using the idea of extra dimensions. The initial, multidimensional Lagrangian contains only metric tensor. We have found many sets of the numerical values of the Lagrangian parameters corresponding to the observed low-energy physics of our Universe. Different initial parameters can lead to the same values of fundamental constants by the appropriate choice of a dimensional reduction cascade. This result diminishes the significance of the search for the ‘unique’ initial Lagrangian. We also have obtained a large number of low-energy vacua, which is known as ‘landscape’ in the string theory.     

On Global Attractors of Multivalued Semiflows Generated by the 3D Bénard System

In this paper we prove the existence of solutions for the 3D Bénard system in the class of functions which are strongly continuous with respect to the second component of the vector (that is, the one corresponding to the parabolic equation). We construct then a multivalued semiflow generated by such solutions and obtain the existence of a global φ −attractor for the weak-strong topology. Moreover, a family of multivalued semiflows is defined on suitable convex bounded subsets of the phase space, proving for them the existence of a global attractor (which is the same for every semiflow of the family) for the weak-strong topology.     

Electronic structure and spectroscopic studies of D3d-C60Cl30, a chlorofullerene with a [18]trannulene ring, and its relation to other [18]trannulenes

Detailed spectroscopic characterization of D3d-C60Cl30, including IR, Raman, UV-vis absorption, and fluorescence spectra, is presented for the first time. Assignment of the vibrational spectra is proposed on the basis of density functional theory computations. Electronic structure and excitations of C60Cl30 and other [18]trannulenes are studied theoretically with the use of time-dependent density functional theory and time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation. Assignment of the low-energy part of electronic spectra of C60-based [18]trannulenes is given and importance of the interactions between trannulene moiety and remaining pi-subsystems in these molecules is established.     

Preparation, crystallographic characterization and theoretical study of C70(CF3)16 and C70(CF3)18

C70(CF3)16 and C70(CF3)18, the first trifluoromethylated fullerene derivatives to comprise a pair of adjacent CF3 groups, have been isolated from a mixture obtained via reaction of C70 with CF3I, characterized in a single crystal XRD study and theoretically investigated at the DFT level of theory.     

Trifluoromethyl derivatives of insoluble small-HOMO-LUMO-gap hollow higher fullerenes. NMR and DFT structure elucidation of C2-(C74-D3h)(CF3)12, Cs-(C76-Td(2))(CF3)12, C2-(C78-D3h(5))(CF3)12, Cs-(C80-C2v(5))(CF3)12, and C2-(C82-C2(5))(CF3)12

Reaction of a mixture of insoluble higher fullerenes with CF3I at 500 degrees C produced a single abundant isomer of C74(CF3)12, C76(CF3)12, and C80(CF3)12, two abundant isomers of C78(CF3)12 and C82(CF3)12, and an indeterminant number of isomers of C84(CF3)12. Using a combination of 19F NMR spectroscopy, DFT calculations, and the structures and spectra of previously reported fullerene(CF3)n compounds, the most-probable structures of six of the seven isolated compounds were determined to be specific isomers of C2-(C74-D3h)(CF3)12, Cs-(C76-Td(2))(CF3)12), C2-(C78-D3h(5))(CF3)12), Cs-(C80-C2v(5))(CF3)12), C2-(C82-C2(5))(CF3)12), and C2-(C82-C2(3))(CF3)12) containing ribbons and/or loops of edge-sharing para-C6(CF3)2 hexagons. The seventh isolated compound is a C1 isomer of C78(CF3)12 containing two such ribbons. This set of compounds represents only the second reported isolable compound with the hollow C74-D3h cage and the first experimental evidence for the existence of the hollow fullerenes C76-Td(2), C78-D3h(5), C80-C2v(5), and C82-C2(5) in arc-discharge soots.     

Deviation from the planarity--a large Dy3N cluster encapsulated in an Ih-C80 cage: an X-ray crystallographic and vibrational spectroscopic study

The high-yield synthesis of Dy3N@C80 (I) opens the possibility of characterizing its molecular and vibrational structures. We report on the structure determination of Dy3N@C80 (I) by X-ray crystallographic study of single crystal of Dy3N@C80.Ni(OEP).2C6H6, revealing a nearly planar Dy3N cluster encapsulated in an Ih-C80 cage. The vibrational structure of Dy3N@C80 (I) is studied by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy in combination with force-field calculations. A correlation was found between the antisymmetric metal-nitrogen stretching vibration and the structure of the M3N cluster of M3N@C80 (I) (M = Y, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm). Moreover, a stronger interaction between the encaged nitride cluster and the C80 carbon cage was found in the class II M3N@C80 (I) (M = Y, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm) than in Sc3N@C80 (I). This study demonstrates that the cluster size plays the dominating role in the structure of the M3N cluster in M3N@C80 (I).