Dielectric constant of solvents at nano to bulk regimes: linear response theory and statistical mechanics-based approaches

Statistical mechanics and generalised linear response theory based approaches are employed to derive the analytical expressions for size-dependent dielectric constant and normalised orientation polarisation of solvents. As an illustrative example, water is considered and the dielectric constants for the same are calculated over the entire range of water clusters. Our results reveal that the dielectric constant and normalised orientation polarisation are monotonically increasing with the increase in the number of solvent molecules and converge to the respective bulk values in the thermodynamic limit. More importantly, the dielectric constant of water is found to be independent of the nature, geometry and microscopic charges of the non-spherical ions. This finding offers a new platform for calculating the hydration energy and orientation polarisation based on linear response theory for different kinds of ions in the solvent medium.     

Synthesis,Characterization, and Singlet Oxygen Sensitization by Antimony (III/V) Corrole Complexes

The synthesis, structural, spectroscopic characterization, and DFT/TD-DFT calculations of antimony corroles are reported herein. The studied complexes can be described as [(Corr)Sb^III] and [(Corr)(oxo)Sb^V]₂, where Corr is the trianion of corrole. All these complexes are diamagnetic in nature as is evident from sharp peaks with normal chemical shifts in the ¹H NMR spectra. Single crystal XRD analysis reveals that the antimony(V) corrole complex is the bis-μ-oxo-bridged dinuclear antimony(V). Both the tetra and hexa-coordinated [(Corr)Sb^III] and [(Corr)(oxo)Sb^V]₂ antimony complexes adopt domed-structure with weak d-π electron coupling. The Sb−O bond distances in the co-facial dimer of [(Corr)(oxo)Sb^V]₂ are 1.9802(16) Å (DFT: 2.0141 Å ) (for Sb1−O1), and 1.9639(17) Å (DFT: 1.9957 Å ) (for Sb2−O2) respectively. We observed that even though iodosobenzene is frequently used to oxidize [(Corr)Sb^III] species, the oxidation of [(Corr)Sb^III] is indeed very facile in nature and it even occurred in the air-equilibrated CHCl₃ solution while storing for few days. Excitation of these antimony (III/V) corrole complexes in DCM/MeOH (1 : 1) at 77 K results in red emission with maxima at 640–720 nm. The singlet oxygen production of [(Corr)(oxo)Sb^V]₂ has a quantum yield of 69 % and is two times higher than the analogous [(Corr)Sb^III] derivatives.     

Diethyldisulfoammonium chlorometallates as heterogeneous Brønsted–Lewis acidic catalysts for one‐pot synthesis of 14‐aryl‐7‐(N‐phenyl)‐14H‐dibenzo[a,j]acridines

A new series of Brønsted–Lewis acidic diethyldisulfoammonium chlorometallates, [DEDSA][FeCl₄] and [DEDSA]₂[Zn₂Cl₆], were synthesized as solid materials from the reaction of [(Et)₂N(SO₃H)₂][Cl] ionic liquid with transition metal chlorides (FeCl₃ and ZnCl₂) at 80 °C in neat condition for 2 h. The chlorometallates were fully characterized using various spectroscopic and analytical techniques such as Fourier transform infrared, UV–visible and Raman spectroscopies, powder X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy‐dispersive X‐ray and thermogravimetric analyses, Hammett acidity and elemental analyses. Their catalytic activity was studied as reusable heterogeneous catalysts for the three‐component synthesis of novel 14‐aryl‐7‐(N‐phenyl)‐14H‐dibenzo[a,j]acridines under solvent‐free conditions at 100 °C.     

A highly contorted push–pull naphthalenediimide dimer and evidence of intramolecular singlet exciton fission

Singlet fission is a process by which two molecular triplet excitons are generated subsequent to the absorption of one photon. Molecules that enable singlet fission have triplet state energy at least half of the bright singlet state energy. This stringent energy criteria have challenged chemists to device new molecular and supramolecular design principles to modulate the singlet–triplet energy gap and build singlet fission systems from a wide range of organic chromophores. Herein, we report for the first time intramolecular singlet fission in the seminal naphthalenediimide (NDI) scaffold constrained in a push–pull cyclophane architecture, while individually the NDI chromophore does not satisfy the energy criterion. The challenging synthesis of this highly contorted push–pull cyclophane is possible from the preorganized pincer-like precursor. The special architecture establishes the shortest co-facial NDI⋯NDI contacts (3.084 Å) realized to date. Using broadband femtosecond transient absorption, we find that the correlated T–T pair forms rapidly within 380 fs of photoexcitation. Electronic structure calculations at the level of state-averaged CASSCF (ne,mo)/XMCQDPT2 support the existence of the multi-excitonic T–T pair state, thereby confirming the first example of singlet exciton fission in a NDI scaffold.

We report for the first-time intramolecular singlet fission (SF) in the naphthalenediimide (NDI) scaffold constrained in a cyclophane architecture, while individually the NDI units does not satisfy the requisite energy criterion for SF.     

Conductance and bulk vertical detachment energy of hydrated sulphate and oxalate dianions: a theoretical study

Analytical expressions have been derived for the vertical detachment energy (VDE) for hydrated sulphate (SO^{2 ?}₄) and oxalate (C₂O^{2 ?}₄) dianions that can be used to calculate the same over a wide range of cluster sizes including the bulk from the knowledge of VDE for a finite number of stable clusters. The calculated bulk detachment energies are found to be very good in agreement (within 5%) with the available experimental results for both the systems. It is observed that two or more water molecules will be essential for the stability of sulphate and oxalate dianions against spontaneous electron loss and this is consistent with the experiment. We have, for the first time, provided a scheme to calculate the radius of the solvent berg for sulphate and oxalate dianions. The calculated conductivity values for the sulphate and oxalate dianions using Stokes–Einstein relation and the radius of solvent berg are found to be very good in agreement (within 4%) with the available experimental results.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the reaction of hydroxopentaaquarhodium(III) ion with <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-Arginine in aqueous solution

The kinetics of the aqua ligand substitution from hydroxopentaaquarhodium(III) ion, [Rh(H₂O)₅(OH)]²⁺, by l-Arginine has been studied spectrophotometrically as a function of Arginine concentration, and temperature, at pH 4.3. The reaction proceeds via a rapid outer sphere association complex formation step followed by two consecutive steps. The first of these involves ligand-assisted anation, while the second involves chelation as the second aqua ligand is displaced. The association equilibrium constant for the outer sphere complex formation has been evaluated together with the rate constants for the two subsequent steps. The activation parameters for both steps have been evaluated using Eyring’s equation. Thermodynamic parameters calculated from the temperature dependence of the outer sphere association equilibrium constants are also consistent with an associative mode of activation. The product of the reaction has been characterized by conductivity measurement and IR spectroscopic analysis.