Detection and use of small J couplings in solid state NMR experiments

Over the years, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has become an important tool for materials science, with its local point of view that is highly complementary to the structural information provided by diffraction techniques, electron microscopy, and molecular modeling, for example. As compared to other interactions that determine the spectral expression of the local structure of the observed nuclei in solid-state NMR experiments, the J coupling, characteristic of the chemical bonds, has received far less attention because of its being generally so small that it is masked in the line-widths. Nevertheless, the scalar or isotropic part of J couplings, which is not averaged by magic angle spinning (MAS), can be evidenced in many systems, and exploited to unequivocally characterize the extended coordination sphere. In a first step we describe the different experiments that permit the observation and the measurement of J couplings, even when dealing with quadrupolar nuclei. We then present new and recently-published results that illustrate the state of the art of NMR methodologies based on or intended for measuring J couplings in solids and the novel perspectives that they open towards better understanding of ordered and disordered materials at the subnanometric scale, a length scale that is otherwise difficult to access.     

Americium(III) coordination chemistry: An unexplored diversity of structure and bonding

The comparison of the physicochemical behavior of the actinides with that of the lanthanides can be justified by the analogy of their electronic structure, as each of the series is made up of elements corresponding to the filling of a given (n)f atomic shell. However relatively few points of comparison are available, given the lack of available structure for trans-plutonium(III) elements and the additional difficulty of stabilizing coordination complexes of uranium(III) to plutonium(III). This contribution is a focal point of trans-plutonium(III) chemistry and, more specifically, of some americium compounds that have been recently synthesized, all related with hard acid oxygen donor ligands that may be involved in the reprocessing chain of nuclear fuel. After a brief review of the solid hydrates and aquo species for the lanthanide and actinide families, we discuss two types of ligands that have in common three carboxylic goups, namely the aminotriacetic acid and the citric acid anions. The additional roles of the nitrogen atom for the first one and of the hydroxy function for the second one are discussed. Accordingly, five new complexes with either americium or lanthanides elements are described: [Co(NH₃)₆][M(NTA)₂(H₂O)]·8H₂O with M = Nd, Yb and Am, and [Co(NH₃)₆]₂K[M₃(Cit)₄(H₂O)₃]·18H₂O with Nd and Am cations. In all cases the americium complexes are isostructural with their lanthanide equivalents.     

Synthetic studies toward C-glucosidic ellagitannins: a biomimetic total synthesis of 5-O-desgalloylepipunicacortein A

C-glucosidic ellagitannins constitute a subclass of bioactive polyphenolic natural products with strong antioxidant properties, as well as promising antitumoral and antiviral activities that are related to their capacity to interact with both functional and structural proteins. To date, most synthetic efforts toward ellagitannins have concerned glucopyranosic species. The development of a synthetic strategy to access C-glucosidic ellagitannins, whose characteristic structural feature includes an atropoisomeric hexahydroxydiphenoyl (HHDP) or a nonahydroxyterphenoyl (NHTP) unit that is linked to an open-chain glucose core by a C-aryl glucosidic bond, is described herein. The total synthesis of the biarylic HHDP-containing 5-O-desgalloylepipunicacortein?A (1?β) was achieved by either using the natural ellagic acid bis-lactone as a precursor of the requested HHDP unit or by implementing an atroposelective intramolecular oxidative biarylic coupling to forge this HHDP unit. Both routes converged in the penultimate step of this synthesis to enable a biomimetic formation of the key C-aryl glucosidic bond in the title compound.     

TRANSDIP: A trans-Chelating Ligand Tailor-Made for Probing Unusual Pd(0) and Pd(II) Intermediates

Forty years after Venanzi's seminal studies on trans-spanning diphosphines, a cavity-shaped trans chelator (TRANSDIP) has been used to monitor the stepwise formation of a carbon-carbon bond on a palladium centre. Furthermore, the ligand, which incorporates a cyclodextrin subunit, enabled the synthesis of the first η(2) -dioxygen complex in which the M-O(2) unit is entrapped within a cavity.     

Al–Cu intermetallic coatings processed by sequential metalorganic chemical vapour deposition and post-deposition annealing

Sequential processing of aluminum and copper followed by reactive diffusion annealing is used as a paradigm for the metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) of coatings containing intermetallic alloys. Dimethylethylamine alane and copper N,N′-di-isopropylacetamidinate are used as aluminum and copper precursors, respectively. Deposition is performed on steel and silica substrates at 1.33 kPa and 493–513 K. Different overall compositions in the entire range of the Al–Cu phase diagram are obtained by varying the relative thickness of the two elemental layers while maintaining the overall thickness of the coating close to 1 μm. As-deposited films present a rough morphology attributed to the difficulty of copper to nucleate on aluminum. Post-deposition annealing is monitored by in situ X-ray diffraction, and allows smoothening the microstructure and identifying conditions leading to several Al–Cu phases. Our results establish a proof of principle following which MOCVD of metallic alloys is feasible, and are expected to extend the materials pool for numerous applications, with innovative thin film processing on, and surface properties of complex in shape parts.     

Tree calculus for bivariate difference equations

Following Poupard's study of strictly ordered binary trees with respect to two parameters, namely, ‘end of minimal chain’ and ‘parent of maximum leaf’ a true tree calculus is being developed to solve a partial difference equation system and then make a joint study of those two statistics. Their joint distribution is shown to be symmetric and to be expressed in the form of an explicit three-variable generating function.     

Blaschke condition and zero sets in weighted Dirichlet spaces

Let D(μ) be the Dirichlet space weighted by the Poisson integral of the positive measure μ. We give a characterization of the measures μ equal to a countable sum of atoms for which the Blaschke condition is a necessary and sufficient condition for a sequence to be a zero set for D(μ).     

Comprehensive factorization and I-central extensions

We show that, for a regular reflection functor $I$ between efficiently regular categories, the reflection of an extension to an $I$-central extension is reduced to the comprehensive factorization of an explicit internal functor. We then analyse the Mal’tsev context where similar results are obtained under weaker conditions on $I$.