The "invisible" 13C NMR chemical shift of the central carbon atom in [(Ph3PAu)6C]2+: a theoretical investigation

The experimental 13C NMR chemical shift of the central carbon atom in the octahedral [(Ph3PAu)6C]2+ cluster was investigated on the basis of relativistic density functional calculations. In order to arrive at independent model conclusions regarding the value of the chemical shift, a systematic study of the dependence of the cluster structure on the phosphine ligands, the chosen density functionals, and the basis set size was conducted. The best structures obtained were then used in the NMR calculations. Because of the cage-like cluster structure a pronounced deshielding of the central carbon nucleus could have been expected. However, upon comparison with the 13C NMR properties of the related complex [C{Au[P(C6H5)2(p-C6H4NMe2)]}6]2+, Schmidbaur et al. have assigned a signal at delta=135.2 ppm to the interstitial carbon atom. Our calculations confirm this value in the region of the aromatic carbon atoms of the triphenylphosphine ligands. The close-lying signals of the 108 phenyl carbon atoms can explain the difficulties of assigning them experimentally.     

Dependence of the rate constants on the treatment of internal rotation modes: the reaction OH + CH3SH --> CH3S + H2O as an example

The title reaction has been used as an example to test the importance of using a hindered rotor treatment instead of a harmonic oscillator model for calculating vibrational partition functions corresponding to low-frequency internal rotation modes. First, a normal-mode analysis according to the Ayala and Schlegel's algorithm has been used to identify the internal rotation modes of methanethiol and the transition state structure. Then, after calculation of the energy barrier for each internal rotation, the corresponding hindered rotor partition functions have been calculated following the CW scheme of Chuang and Truhlar. The results show that the anharmonic treatment produces a rather modest improvement of the rate constants at room temperature or below.     

Tetra- and hexaatomic cyclic clusters of main-group elements (XY)2 and (XY)3: an ab initio and density functional study

The electronic and molecular structure of planar (cyclic and linear) tetra- and hexaatomic clusters (XY) _n (XY = CC, BN, BeO, LiF; n = 2, 3) was studied using the ab initio CCD(full)/6-311+G** method and density functional approach (B3LYP/6-311+G**). The stability of cyclic clusters C₆, B₃N₃, and Be₃O₃ with D_3h symmetry is mainly determined by the aromaticity of their -electron systems.     

Electrostatic calculation of the substituent effect: an efficient test on isolated molecules

The energy of a disubstituted molecule has often been approximated by simple electrostatic formulas that represent the substituents as poles or dipoles. Herein, we test this approach on a new model system that is more direct and more efficient than testing on acid-base properties. The energies of 27 1,4-derivatives of bicyclo[2.2.2]octane were calculated within the framework of the density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level; interaction of the two substituents was evaluated in terms of isodesmic homodesmotic reactions. This interaction energy, checked previously on some experimental gas-phase acidities, was considered to be accurate and served as reference to test the electrostatic approximation. This approximation works well in the qualitative sense as far as the sign and the order of magnitude are concerned: beginning with the strongest interaction between two poles, a weaker interaction between pole and dipole, and the weakest between two dipoles. However, all the electrostatic calculations yield energies that are too small, particularly for weak interaction, and this fundamental defect is not remedied by some possible improvements. In particular, variation of the effective permittivity would require a physically impossible value less than unity. The explanation must lie in a more complex distribution of electron density than anticipated in the electrostatic model. It also follows that possible conclusions about the transmission of substituent effects "through space" have little validity.     

Oxygenolysis of flavonoid compounds: DFT description of the mechanism for quercetin.

Flavonoids are naturally occurring phenol derivatives present in substantial amounts in a large variety of plants, fruits and vegetables daily eaten by humans. Most of these compounds exhibit several interesting biological activities, such as antiradical and antioxidant actions. Indeed, by complexation with specific enzymes, flavonoids are notably liable to metabolize molecular dioxygen. On the basis of experimental results describing oxygenolysis of the flavonoid quercetin, activated by the enzyme quercetin 2,3-dioxygenase (2,3-QD),ur attention has focused on the role of metal center in the activation of the substrate quercetin. Thus, in the present study, by means of DFT calculations at the B3LYP/ 6-31(+)G* level on model molecular systems, we describe different mechanisms for dioxygen metabolization by quercetin. Stationary points are described, and energetic and structural analyses along the reaction paths are reported. Our calculations show that the copper cation must act as an oxidant towards the substrate and that the reaction proceeds through a 1,3-cycloaddition.     

Determination of enthalpies of formation of organic free radicals from bond dissociation energies 2. Halosubstituted radicals

The enthalpies of formation (ΔH _f ^o) for 23 halosubstituted radicals were determined from the published data on bond dissociation energies. The ΔH _f ^o values of the corresponding molecules necessary for the calculation of ΔH _f ^o of the radicals were taken from handbooks or calculated by the additive-group method. The conjugation energies of the radicals are calculated, and the effect of substituents at the π-system on these values was shown. Errors of determination of the ΔH _f ^o values of the radicals were estimated. For Part 1, see Ref. 1. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 643–646, April, 1998.     

Structural and magnetic characterization of Mn3IrGe and Mn3Ir(Si1−xGex): experiments and theory

The structural and magnetic properties of a new ternary Ir-Mn-Ge phase, Mn₃IrGe, as well as the solid solution Mn₃Ir(Si_1−xGe_x), 0?x?1, have been investigated by means of X-ray and neutron powder diffraction, magnetization measurements and first principles calculations. The crystal structure is cubic, of the AlAu₄-type (an ordered form of the β-Mn structure), Z=4, space group P2₁3, and the unit-cell dimension varies linearly with the silicon content. For all compositions, antiferromagnetic ordering is found below a critical temperature of about 225 K. The magnetic structure is noncollinear, as a result of frustrated magnetic interactions on a triangular network of Mn atoms, on which the moments rotate 120° around the triangle axes. The magnitude of the magnetic moment at 10 K is 3.39(4) μ_B for Mn₃IrGe. The theoretical calculations reproduce with very good accuracy the magnitudes as well as the directions of the experimentally observed magnetic moments.