Triplet—triplet absorption spectra of alternant hydrocarbons within the grand canonical time-dependent hartree—fock approximation

Triplet—triplet excitation energies and transition moments have been calculated for some alternant hydrocarbons by the grand canonical time-dependent Hartree—Fock approximation within the Pariser—Parr—Pople model. The main features of the experimental spectra are found to be reproduced more consistently in this scheme than in previously applied models.     

Fabrication of rutile rod-like particle by hydrothermal method: an insight into HNO3 peptization

In this work, well-crystallized and well-dispersed rod-like TiO(2) rutile particles were prepared by hydrothermally treating acid-peptized TiO(2) sols at relatively low temperatures of 200 and 240 degrees C. Raman spectra, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the peptized sols before and after hydrothermal treatment. The results showed that HNO(3) peptization of amorphous TiO(2) was able to promote, at room temperature, the formation of crystalline phases of anatase or rutile, at low (HNO(3)/Ti=1) or at high (HNO(3)/Ti=4) concentrations of peptizer, respectively. However, after hydrothermal treatment, well-crystalline rutile developed independent of the starting concentration of the peptizer. The formation of well-dispersed rutile particles is attributed to high long-range electrostatic forces between particles in the presence of the high concentration of the peptizer. The acid peptization would easily break the oxolation bonds between triple bond Ti-O-Ti triple bond, promote the formation of titanium species with fewer oxolation bonds depending on the amount of acid, and create conditions for the formation of rutile nuclei after structural rearrangements.     

Pyridinethiones. XV. 3-Methylthio-2-pentene-1,5-diones as synthons for 4-methylthio-2(1H)-pyridinethiones,and synthesis of 4-methylene-1,4-dihydropyridines

Starting from α-oxoketene dithioacetals the 3-methyithio-1,5-pentenedione enolates 4 obtained from ketones 3 give 4-methylthio-2(1H)-pyridinethiones with isothiocyanates. Enolates 4 can be alkylated with methyl iodide at C-2, giving 5-methyl-4-methylthio-2-(1H)-pyridmethiones with isothiocyanates. The S-alkylated pyridinethiones react with the anion of malodinitrile, giving 4-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)-1,4-dihydropyridines.     

Novel optical and statistical methods reveal colloid-wall interactions inconsistent with DLVO and Lifshitz theories

We present an experimental method based on video microscopy to perform nanometer scale position detection of a micrometer bead in the direction along the propagation of the detection light. Using the same bead for calibration and detection significantly improves the in depth resolution in comparison to video microscopy methods from literature. This method is used together with an optical trap to measure interaction potentials between a glass surface and colloids made of polystyrene or silica at different electrolyte concentrations. The results are confirmed by an independent method where the optical trap is used in connection with a quadrant photodiode. Also, we present a maximum likelihood analysis method which considerably improves the spatial resolution of interaction potentials by optimizing the underlying potential function to fit all observed position distributions. The measured interaction potentials agree well with DLVO theory for small electrolyte concentrations; however, for larger electrolyte concentrations the potentials differ qualitatively from both DLVO and Lifshitz theory.     

Long-range deuterium isotope effects on (13)C chemical shifts of intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded N-substituted 3-(cycloamine)thiopropionamides or amides: a case of electric field effects

A series of intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded N-substituted 3-(piperidine, morpholine, N-methylpiperazine)thiopropionamides and some corresponding amides have been studied with special emphasis on hydrogen bonding. The compounds have been selected in order to vary and to minimize the N...N distance. Geometries, charge distributions, and chemical shifts of these compounds are obtained from DFT-type BP3LYP calculations. 1H and 13C 1D and 2D NMR experiments were performed to obtain H,H coupling constants, 13C chemical shifts assignments, and deuterium isotope effects on13C chemical shifts. Variable-temperature NMR studies and 2D exchange NMR spectra have been used to describe the rather complicated conformational behavior mainly governed by the ring flipping of the piperidine (morpholine) rings and intramolecular hydrogen bonding. Unusual long-range deuterium isotope effects on 13C chemical shifts are observed over as far as eight bonds away from the site of deuteriation. The isotope effects are related to the N...N distances, thus being related to the hydrogen bonding and polarization of the N-H bond. Arguments are presented showing that the deuterium isotope effects on 13C chemical shifts originate in electric field effects.     

Linear-scaling implementation of molecular electronic self-consistent field theory

A linear-scaling implementation of Hartree-Fock and Kohn-Sham self-consistent field (SCF) theories is presented and illustrated with applications to molecules consisting of more than 1000 atoms. The diagonalization bottleneck of traditional SCF methods is avoided by carrying out a minimization of the Roothaan-Hall (RH) energy function and solving the Newton equations using the preconditioned conjugate-gradient (PCG) method. For rapid PCG convergence, the Lowdin orthogonal atomic orbital basis is used. The resulting linear-scaling trust-region Roothaan-Hall (LS-TRRH) method works by the introduction of a level-shift parameter in the RH Newton equations. A great advantage of the LS-TRRH method is that the optimal level shift can be determined at no extra cost, ensuring fast and robust convergence of both the SCF iterations and the level-shifted Newton equations. For density averaging, the authors use the trust-region density-subspace minimization (TRDSM) method, which, unlike the traditional direct inversion in the iterative subspace (DIIS) scheme, is firmly based on the principle of energy minimization. When combined with a linear-scaling evaluation of the Fock/Kohn-Sham matrix (including a boxed fitting of the electron density), LS-TRRH and TRDSM methods constitute the linear-scaling trust-region SCF (LS-TRSCF) method. The LS-TRSCF method compares favorably with the traditional SCF/DIIS scheme, converging smoothly and reliably in cases where the latter method fails. In one case where the LS-TRSCF method converges smoothly to a minimum, the SCF/DIIS method converges to a saddle point.     

The room-temperature superstructure of ZrP2O7 is orthorhombic: there are no unusual 180 degrees P-O-P bond angles

The structure of room-temperature ZrP2O7 is shown to be orthorhombic by a combination of high-resolution synchrotron powder diffraction and single-crystal synchrotron diffraction data. Small nontwinned single crystals were obtained by synthesizing the compound using solvothermal methods at temperatures below the cubic to orthorhombic phase transition. The average P-O-P angle is 146 degrees. DFT calculations (B3LYP/AUG-cc-pVDZ) on the isolated P2O7(4-) anion yield a P-O-P angle of 153.42 degrees and indicate that the barrier to inversion is of the order 3.6 kJ mol(-1).