Carbenes,related intermediates,and small-sized cycles: contribution from Professor Nefedov’s laboratory

The review summarizes some of the most prominent results obtained in the laboratory headed by Academician Oleg M. Nefedov at the N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the field of chemistry of carbenes, their heavy analogs, and related intermediates, as well as small-sized cycles. Those include elaboration of safe methodology of cyclopropanation using diazomethane, development and extension of synthetic applications of diazoesters and other diazo compounds in the preparation of valuable chemical products, design of functionalized alkynylcyclopropanes on the basis of alkynylcarbene reactions, creation of versatile synthetic approaches to preparation of various practically useful fluoroorganic compounds on the basis of reactions of fluorocarbenes, development of synthetic applications of heavy carbene analogs and synthesis of small-sized heterocycles containing silicon and germanium atoms, analysis of mechanisms of some important reactions of carbenes, their analogs and related intermediates on the basis of physicochemical studies, direct spectroscopic studies of various labile intermediates of chemical reactions.     

New basis sets for the evaluation of interaction‐induced electric properties in hydrogen‐bonded complexes

Interaction‐induced static electric properties, that is, dipole moment, polarizability, and first hyperpolarizability, of the CO? (HF)_n and N₂? (HF)_n, n = 1–9 hydrogen‐bonded complexes are evaluated within the finite field approach using the Hartree–Fock, density functional theory, Møller–Plesset second‐order perturbation theory, and coupled cluster methods, and the LPol‐n (n = ds, dl, fs, fl) basis sets. To compare the performance of the different methods with respect to the increase of the complex size, we consider as model systems linear chains of the complexes. We analyze the results in terms of the many‐body and cooperative effects. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Hydrogen bonding in 4‐nitrobenzene‐1,2‐diamine and two hydrohalide salts

The structures of 4‐nitrobenzene‐1,2‐diamine [C₆H₇N₃O₂, (I)], 2‐amino‐5‐nitroanilinium chloride [C₆H₈N₃O₂⁺·Cl⁻, (II)] and 2‐amino‐5‐nitroanilinium bromide monohydrate [C₆H₈N₃O₂⁺·Br⁻·H₂O, (III)] are reported and their hydrogen‐bonded structures described. The amine group para to the nitro group in (I) adopts an approximately planar geometry, whereas the meta amine group is decidedly pyramidal. In the hydrogen halide salts (II) and (III), the amine group meta to the nitro group is protonated. Compound (I) displays a pleated‐sheet hydrogen‐bonded two‐dimensional structure with R₂²(14) and R₄⁴(20) rings. The sheets are joined by additional hydrogen bonds, resulting in a three‐dimensional extended structure. Hydrohalide salt (II) has two formula units in the asymmetric unit that are related by a pseudo‐inversion center. The dominant hydrogen‐bonding interactions involve the chloride ion and result in R₄²(8) rings linked to form a ladder‐chain structure. The chains are joined by N—H...Cl and N—H...O hydrogen bonds to form sheets parallel to (010). In hydrated hydrohalide salt (III), bromide ions are hydrogen bonded to amine and ammonium groups to form R₄²(8) rings. The water behaves as a double donor/single acceptor and, along with the bromide anions, forms hydrogen bonds involving the nitro, amine, and ammonium groups. The result is sheets parallel to (001) composed of alternating R₅⁵(15) and R₆⁴(24) rings. Ammonium N—H...Br interactions join the sheets to form a three‐dimensional extended structure. Energy‐minimized structures obtained using DFT and MP2 calculations are consistent with the solid‐state structures. Consistent with (II) and (III), calculations show that protonation of the amine group meta to the nitro group results in a structure that is about 1.5 kJ mol⁻¹ more stable than that obtained by protonation of the para‐amine group. DFT calculations on single molecules and hydrogen‐bonded pairs of molecules based on structural results obtained for (I) and for 3‐nitrobenzene‐1,2‐diamine, (IV) [Betz & Gerber (2011). Acta Cryst. E 67 , o1359] were used to estimate the strength of the N—H...O(nitro) interactions for three observed motifs. The hydrogen‐bonding interaction between the pairs of molecules examined was found to correspond to 20–30 kJ mol⁻¹.     

Covalent anionic copolymer coatings with tunable electroosmotic flow for optimization of capillary electrophoretic separations

We present a method for finely adjustable electroosmotic flow (EOF) velocity in cathodic direction for the optimization of separations in capillary electrophoresis. To this end, we use surface modification of the separation fused silica capillary by the covalently attached copolymer of acrylamide (AM) and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonate (AMPS), that is, poly(AM-co-AMPS) or PAMAMPS. Coatings were formed by the in-capillary polymerization of a mixture of the neutral AM and anionic AMPS monomers premixed in various ratios in order to control the charge density of the copolymer. EOF mobility varies in the 0 to ∼40 × 10⁻⁹ m² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ interval for PAMAMPS coatings ranging from 0 to 60 mol.% of charged AMPS monomer. For EOF in PAMAMPS-treated capillaries, we observed (i) a negligible dependence on pH in the 2–10 interval, (ii) a minor variance among background electrolytes (BGEs) in function of their components and (iii) its standard decrease with increasing ionic strength of the BGE. Interest in variable cathodic EOF was demonstrated by the amelioration of separation of two kinds of isomeric anionic analytes, that is, monosaccharides phosphates and helquat enantiomers, in counter-EOF mode.     

Optimized IR synchrotron beamline design

Synchrotron infrared beamlines are powerful tools on which to perform spectroscopy on microscopic length scales but require working with large bending‐magnet source apertures in order to provide intense photon beams to the experiments. Many infrared beamlines use a single toroidal‐shaped mirror to focus the source emission which generates, for large apertures, beams with significant geometrical aberrations resulting from the shape of the source and the beamline optics. In this paper, an optical layout optimized for synchrotron infrared beamlines, that removes almost totally the geometrical aberrations of the source, is presented and analyzed. This layout is already operational on the IR beamline of the Brazilian synchrotron. An infrared beamline design based on a SOLEIL bending‐magnet source is given as an example, which could be useful for future IR beamline improvements at this facility.     

Cycle-maximal triangle-free graphs

We conjecture that the balanced complete bipartite graph _{K⌊n/2⌋,⌈n/2⌉}$K_{\lfloor n/2\rfloor ,\lceil n/2\rceil }$ contains more cycles than any other n$n$-vertex triangle-free graph, and we make some progress toward proving this. We give equivalent conditions for cycle-maximal triangle-free graphs; show bounds on the numbers of cycles in graphs depending on numbers of vertices and edges, girth, and homomorphisms to small fixed graphs; and use the bounds to show that among regular graphs, the conjecture holds. We also consider graphs that are close to being regular, with the minimum and maximum degrees differing by at most a positive integer k$k$. For k=1$k=1$, we show that any such counterexamples have n≤91$n\le 91$ and are not homomorphic to _C5$C_5$; and for any fixed k$k$ there exists a finite upper bound on the number of vertices in a counterexample. Finally, we describe an algorithm for efficiently computing the matrix permanent (a #P$\#P$-complete problem in general) in a special case used by our bounds.     

Dynamics of magnetic skyrmions

We review the recent progress on the magnetic skyrmions in chiral magnetic materials.The magnetic skyrmion is a topological spin configuration with localized spatial extent,which could be thought of as an emergent rigid particle,owing to its particular topological and chiral properties.Static skyrmionic configurations have been found in various materials with different transport and thermodynamic properties.The magnetic skyrmions respond to externally applied fields in a very unique way,and their coupling to other quasiparticles in solid-state systems gives rise to the emergent electrodynamics.Being not only theoretically important,the magnetic skyrmion is also very promising to be the information carrier in next generation spintronic devices.     

Effect of Protic Ionic Liquid and Surfactant Structure on Partitioning of Polyoxyethylene Non‐ionic Surfactants

The partitioning constants and Gibbs free energies of transfer of poly(oxyethylene) n‐alkyl ethers between dodecane and the protic ionic liquids (ILs) ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) and propylammonium nitrate (PAN) are determined. EAN and PAN have a sponge‐like nanostructure that consists of interpenetrating charged and apolar domains. This study reveals that the ILs solvate the hydrophobic and hydrophilic parts of the amphiphiles differently. The ethoxy groups are dissolved in the polar region of both ILs by means of hydrogen bonds. The environment is remarkably water‐like and, as in water, the solubility of the ethoxy groups in EAN decreases on warming, which underscores the critical role of the IL hydrogen‐bond network for solubility. In contrast, amphiphile alkyl chains are not preferentially solvated by the charged or uncharged regions of the ILs. Rather, they experience an average IL composition and, as a result, partitioning from dodecane into the IL increases as the cation alkyl chain is lengthened from ethyl to propyl, because the IL apolar volume fraction increases. Together, these results show that surfactant dissolution in ILs is related to structural compatibility between the head or tail group and the IL nanostructure. Thus, these partitioning studies reveal parameters for the effective molecular design of surfactants in ILs.