Use of the CNDO method for the study of the electronic structure and properties of complexes of the transition metals

Conclusions In our view, the material examined in the present review indicates that, in spite of the appearance of more accurate methods of calculating the electronic structure and the increasing possibilities provided for their realization for fairly complex systems, the applied value of simple semiempirical methods, in particular the CNDO method, is far from exhausted. In the near future, semiempirical calculations will probably provide the chief means of studying the electronic structures of complex molecules, by becoming accessible to an increasing circle of chemists.Leningrad State University. Translated from Zhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 549–577, May–June, 1976.     

Fast formation of aromatic cations in cyclohexane observed by pulse radiolysis

The fast formation of cations of benzophenone, biphenyl, naphthalene, anthracene and phenanthrene in liquid cyclohexane was studied by nanosecond pulse radiolysis. Rate constants between 2.3 × 10¹⁰ M^?1 s^?1 (for naphthalene) and not below 2.5 × 10¹² M^?1 s^?1 (for benzophenone) were derived and compared with the corresponding rate constants for anion formation.     

Distribution of some elements in a solid - aqueous system: Mineral phosphate in contact with groundwater

The distribution of U, Th, Am, Eu, Cs, Sr and Ra in a solid-aqueous system, natural phosphate in contact with groundwater was investigated using g- and a-spectroscopy. The effect of contact time, pH, particle size of the solid phase, and the concentration of a concurrent element Ca, were studied. The results show that more than 98% of the actinide elements and europium are adsorbed by the solid phase under all conditions. The fission products Cs and Sr have different behaviors, depending on the experiment conditions. The behavior of Ra is closer to the actinides than to the fission products. There are small differences between the behaviors of the actinide elements, which can be interpreted by migration mechanism from the aqueous to the solid phase, i.e., adsorption or precipitation.     

Some lessons from the development of metal hydride chemistry in the light of hydrogen storage problems

The main trends of the chemistry of hydrides of transition metals and their alloys are briefly reviewed. “Sensational” hydrogen capacity data and the potential of some metal materials (metals, alloys, and quasi-crystals) and carbon nanomaterials in reversible hydrogen storage applications are critically analyzed. The significance of research in this field for hydrogen energy applications is underlined.     

Enantioselective reduction of ketophosphonates using chiral acid adducts with sodium borohydride

A method for asymmetric reduction of α-and β-ketophosphonates using a chiral complex prepared from sodium borohydride and D-or L-tartaric acid is developed. Reduction of α-or β-ketophosphonates by these reagents led to formation of corresponding (S)-or (R)-hydroxyphosphonates. Reduction of chiral di(1R,2S,5R)-menthylketophosphonates by the chiral complex NaBH₄/(R,R)-tartaric acid due to the dual compliant asymmetric induction resulted in increased stereoselectivity of the reaction and led to formation of the hydroxyphosphonates with ee 90% or higher. On the other hand, reduction of di(1R,2S,5R)-methylketophosphonates by the chiral complex NaBH₄/(S,S)-tartaric acid proceeded as non-compliant dual asymmetric induction and resulted in decreased reaction stereoselectivity leading to formation of hydroxyphosphonates with ～45–60% ee. The developed methodology was applied to the synthesis of (R)-phosphocarnitine in multigram amounts.     

On the synthesis of the N2F+5 cation. A critical comment on the paper by Toy and Stringham.

Toy and Stringham recently reported [1] the synthesis of N₂F⁺₅ (CF₃)₃CO^-, a salt containing the novel pentafluorohydrazinium cation. This cation would be of significant academic and practical interest [2] since it would constitute the first known example of a substituted NF⁺₄ cation, i.e. an NF⁺₄ cation in which a fluorine ligand is replaced by an NF₂ group. According to the authors of [1], N₂F⁺₅(CF₃)₃CO^- was formed in a very unusual reaction involving the transfer of a fluorine cation from (CF₃)₃COF to N₂F₄ according to: