Structure of Isolated 1,4-Butanediol: Combination of MP2 Calculations, NBO Analysis, and Matrix-Isolation Infrared Spectroscopy

Theoretical calculations at the MP2 level, NBO and AIM analysis, and matrix-isolation infrared spectroscopy have been used to investigate the structure of the isolated molecule of 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BDO). Sixty-five structures were found to be minima on the potential energy surface, and the three most stable forms are characterized by a folded backbone conformation leading to the formation of an intramolecular H-bond. To better characterize the intramolecular interactions and particularly the hydrogen bonds, natural bond orbital analysis (NBO) was performed for the four most stable conformers, and was further complemented with an atoms-in-molecules (AIM) topological analysis. Infrared spectra of 1,4-BDO isolated in low-temperature argon and xenon matrixes show a good agreement with a population-weighted mean theoretical spectrum, and the spectral features of the conformers expected to be trapped in the matrixes were observed experimentally. Annealing the xenon matrix from 20 to 60 K resulted in significant spectral changes, which were interpreted based on the barriers to intramolecular rotation. An estimation of the intramolecular hydrogen bond energy was carried out following three different methodologies.     

Luminescent excited-state intramolecular proton-transfer (ESIPT) dyes based on 4-alkyne-functionalized [2,2'-bipyridine]-3,3'-diol dyes

Functionalized 6,6'-dimethyl-3,3'-dihydroxy-2,2'-bipyridine dyes (BP(OH)(2)) exhibit relatively intense fluorescence from the relaxed excited state formed by excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT). Bromo functionalization of (BP(OH)(2)) species followed by palladium(0)-catalyzed reactions allows the connection (via alkyne tethers) of functional groups, such as the singlet-emitter diazaboraindacene (bodipy) group or a chelating module (terpyridine; terpy). The X-ray structure of the terpy-based compound confirms the planarity of the 3,3'-dihydroxy-bipyridine unit. The new dyes exhibit relatively intense emission on the nanosecond timescale when in fluid solution, in the solid state at 298 K, and in rigid glasses at 77 K. In some cases, the excitation wavelength luminescence was observed and attributed to 1) inefficiency of the ESIPT process in particular compounds when not enough vibrational energy is introduced in the Franck-Condon state, which is populated by direct light excitation or 2) the presence of an additional excited state that deactivates to the ground state without undergoing the ESIPT process. For some selected species, the effect of the addition of zinc salts on the absorption and luminescence spectra was investigated. In particular, significant fluorescence changes were observed as a consequence of probable consecutive formation of a 1:1 and 1:2 molecular ratio of ligand/zinc adducts owing to coordination of Zn(II) ions by the bipyridyldiol moieties, except when an additional terpyridine subunit is present. In fact, this latter species preferentially coordinates to the Zn(II) ion in a 1:1 molecular ratio and further inhibits Zn(II) interaction. In the hybrid Bodipy/BP(OH)(2) species, complete energy transfer from the BP(OH)(2) to the bodipy fluorophore occurs, leading to exclusive emission from the lowest-lying bodipy subunit.     

N,N-Di-iso-propylcarbamato complexes of boron

N,N-di- iso-propylcarbamato derivatives of boron(III) have been synthesized from di-iso-propylamine and boron trichloride in the presence of carbon dioxide. With a large excess of amine, a single boron product was obtained, [NH2i)Pr2][B(O2CNiPr2)4], 1, while with a lower excess a mixture of 1 and of the dinuclear derivative [B2(O2CNiPr2)6], 2, was produced. By heating in vacuo at 60 degrees C, solid 1 slowly converted to 2. The transformation was reversible, 2 giving 1 back with di- iso-propylamine under carbon dioxide at atmospheric pressure. The molecular structure of both compounds was established by X-ray diffraction methods. Compound 1 is constituted by ion-pairs where the ammonium cation is hydrogen-bonded to the mononuclear anion. Compound 2 is a dinuclear species with two bridging carbamato ligands. In both derivatives, boron shows tetrahedral coordination. As IR- and 1H NMR spectra of the two species are well differentiated, it is possible to monitor the interconversion of 1 and 2 by both spectroscopic methods.     

Simple preparations of Pd6Cl12, Pt6Cl12, and Qn[Pt2Cl8+n], n=1, 2 (Q=TBA+, PPN+) and structural characterization of [TBA][Pt2Cl9] and [PPN]2[Pt2Cl10].C7H8

The hexanuclear Pd6Cl12, i.e., the crystal phase classified as beta-PdCl2, was obtained by reacting [TBA]2[Pd2Cl6] with AlCl3 (or FeCl3) in CH2Cl2. The action of AlCl3 on PtCl42-, followed by digestion of the resulting solid in 1,2-C2H4Cl2 (DCE), CHCl3, or benzene, produced Pt6Cl12.DCE, Pt6Cl12.CHCl3, or Pt6Cl12.C6H6, respectively. Treating [TBA]2[PtCl6] with a slight excess of AlCl3 afforded [TBA][Pt2Cl9], whose anion was established crystallographically to be constituted by two "PtCl6" octahedra sharing a face. Dehydration of H2PtCl6.nH2O with SOCl2 gave an amorphous compound closely analyzing as PtCl4, reactive with [Q]Cl in SOCl2 to yield [Q][Pt2Cl9] or [Q]2[Pt2Cl10], depending on the [Q]Cl/Pt molar ratio (Q=TBA+, PPN+). A single-crystal X-ray diffraction study has shown [PPN]2[Pt2Cl10].C7H8 to contain dinuclear anions formed by two edge-sharing PtCl6 octahedra.     

Exact state-to-state quantum dynamics of the F + HD --> HF(v' = 2) + D reaction on model potential energy surfaces

In this paper, we present the results of a theoretical investigation on the dynamics of the title reaction at collision energies below 1.2 kcal/mol using rigorous quantum reactive scattering calculations. Vibrationally resolved integral and differential cross sections, as well as product rotational distributions, have been calculated using two electronically adiabatic potential energy surfaces, developed by us on the basis of semiempirical modifications of the entrance channel. In particular, we focus our attention on the role of the exothermicity and of the exit channel region of the interaction on the experimental observables. From the comparison between the theoretical results, insight about the main mechanisms governing the reaction is extracted, especially regarding the bimodal structure of the HF(v = 2) nascent rotational state distributions. A good overall agreement with molecular beam scattering experiments has been obtained.     

The meta and para OH Substitution Effect on C-Phenyl-Nitrilimine Bond-Shift Isomers

The geometric and electronic structure of 1,3-dipolar species, in particular of nitrile imines, can be surprisingly intricate. A particular example is the C-phenyl-nitrilimine, which exists as two energy minima that constitute bond-shift isomers. To examine the effect of substituents in the phenyl ring, here we investigate the meta and para OH substituted derivatives. These two nitrile imines were generated in an argon matrix by UV-irradiation of 2H-tetrazole precursors and found to photoisomerize to carbodiimides via 1H-diazirines. The different effects of the OH substitution in meta and para positions on the bond-shift isomerism are rationalized with the support of Natural Resonance Theory and Hirshfeld atomic charges. The understanding of how substitution affects the structural characteristics of C-phenyl-nitrilimines, opens a door to modulate the chemistry of those compounds (e. g. in cycloaddition reactions) by appropriate tuning of their substitution (substituent type and position).     

Density and bond-orientational relaxations in supercooled water

ABSTRACT

Recent computational studies have reported evidence of a metastable liquid–liquid phase transition (LLPT) in molecular models of water under deeply supercooled conditions. A competing hypothesis suggests, however, that non-equilibrium artefacts associated with coarsening of the stable crystal phase have been mistaken for an LLPT in these models. Such artefacts are posited to arise due to a separation of time scales in which density fluctuations in the supercooled liquid relax orders of magnitude faster than those associated with bond-orientational order. Here, we use molecular simulation to investigate the relaxation of density and bond-orientational fluctuations in three molecular models of water (ST2, TIP5P and TIP4P/2005) in the vicinity of their reported LLPT. For each model, we find that density is the slowly relaxing variable under such conditions. We also observe similar behaviour in the coarse-grained mW model of water. Our findings, therefore, challenge the key physical assumption underlying the competing hypothesis.     

Preclinical pharmacokinetics comparison between resveratrol 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin complex and resveratrol suspension after oral administration

Trans-Resveratrol (RV) is a natural polyphenol characterized by interesting pleiotropic potentials and health benefits, but its administration is hampered by a unsatisfactory pharmacokinetics. Various approaches have been identified to circumvent it: among them, 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrins (HPβCD) are valuable strategy. Here, we compare the employment of HPβCD based formulation with a resveratrol nanosupension (obtained by diluting a RV ethanol solution with PBS, added of 0.05 % hydroxyethylcellulose) to improve RV bioavailability after oral administration to mice. The inclusion of RV in HPβCD was confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, and phase solubility study. The two formulations were orally administered to BALB-c mice. RV concentrations in plasma and tissues were detected at different time (0–120 min) by HPLC method. HPβCD complexation mediate a approximately fourfold increment in plasma RV C_max and  approximately twofold augment of RV AUC_0-120 in comparison with RV nanosuspension. Similar increased concentrations were observed in heart, liver, kidney and gut. In particular, HPβCD mediated a 5.5-folds increase of resveratrol concentration in the intestine, in comparison to the nanosuspension. In conclusion, based on our results, HPβCD complexation is a promising approach to increase the oral bioavailability of RV. Moreover, the achievement of high concentrations in gut suggested a potential employment of oral RV-HPβCD as anti-inflammatory/chemopreventive agent in this tissue.     

Partial least squares model and design of experiments toward the analysis of the metabolome of Jatropha gossypifolia leaves: Extraction and chromatographic fingerprint optimization

A major challenge in metabolomic studies is how to extract and analyze an entire metabolome. So far, no single method was able to clearly complete this task in an efficient and reproducible way. In this work we proposed a sequential strategy for the extraction and chromatographic separation of metabolites from leaves Jatropha gossypifolia using a design of experiments and partial least square model. The effect of 14 different solvents on extraction process was evaluated and an optimized separation condition on liquid chromatography was estimated considering mobile phase composition and analysis time. The initial conditions of extraction using methanol and separation in 30 min between 5 and 100% water/methanol (1:1 v/v) with 0.1% of acetic acid, 20 μL sample volume, 3.0 mL min^?1 flow rate and 25°C column temperature led to 107 chromatographic peaks. After the optimization strategy using i‐propanol/chloroform (1:1 v/v) for extraction, linear gradient elution of 60 min between 5 and 100% water/(acetonitrile/methanol 68:32 v/v with 0.1% of acetic acid), 30 μL sample volume, 2.0 mL min^?1 flow rate, and 30°C column temperature, we detected 140 chromatographic peaks, 30.84% more peaks compared to initial method. This is a reliable strategy using a limited number of experiments for metabolomics protocols.     

Dissociation of ground and nsigma* states of CF3Cl using multireference configuration interaction with singles and doubles and with multireference average quadratic coupled cluster extensivity corrections

Extended complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF), multireference configuration interaction with singles and doubles (MR-CISD), and multireference average quadratic coupled cluster (MR-AQCC) calculations have been performed on the ground (S(0)) and first excited (nsigma(*),S(1)) states of the CF(3)Cl molecule. Full geometry optimizations have been carried out for S(0) as well as "relaxed" potential energy calculations for both states, along the C-Cl bond distance. Vertical excitation energies (DeltaE(vertical)), dissociation energies (DeltaE(diss)), dissociation enthalpies (DeltaH(diss)), and the oscillator strength (f) have also been computed. Basis set effects, basis set superposition error (BSSE), and spin-orbit and size-extensivity corrections have also been considered. The general agreement between theoretical and available experimental results is very good. The best results for the equilibrium geometrical parameters of S(0) (at MR-AQCCaug-cc-pVTZ+d level) are 1.762 and 1.323 A, for the C-Cl and C-F bond distances, respectively, while the corresponding experimental values are 1.751 and 1.328 A. The [angle](ClCF) and [angle](FCF) bond angles are in excellent agreement with the corresponding experimental values (110.3 degrees and 108.6 degrees ). The best calculated values for DeltaE(vertical), DeltaH(diss), and f are 7.63 eV [at the MR-AQCCaug-cc-pV(T+d)Z level], 3.59 eV[MR-AQCCaug-cc-pV(T+d)Z level+spin-orbit and BSSE corrections], and 2.74x10(-3) (MR-CISD/cc-pVTZ), in comparison with the corresponding experimental values of 7.7+/-0.1 eV, 3.68 eV, and 3.12 x 10(-3)+/-2.50 x 10(-4). The results concerning the potential energy curves for S(0) and S(1) show a tendency toward the nonoccurrence of crossing between these two states (in the intermediate region along the C-Cl coordinate), as the basis set size increases. Such tendency is accompanied by a decreasing well depth for the S(1) state. Dynamic electronic correlation (especially at the MR-AQCC level) is also an important factor toward an absence of crossing along the C-Cl coordinate. Further investigations of a possible crossing using gradient driven techniques (at CASSCF and MR-CISD levels) seem to confirm its absence.