Synthesis, Electrical Properties, and Powder Neutron Crystal Structure Refinement of Pb1−xBixPt2O4 Compounds (0≤x≤0.3)

Substitution of Pb for Bi in the recently characterized mixed-valence lead-platinum oxide PbPt₂O₄ was attempted and a Pb_1−xBi_xPt₂O₄ solid solution was obtained for 0≤x≤0.3. Powder X-ray diffraction study showed that all substituted compounds crystallize with similar triclinic unit cell and PbPt₂O₄ lattice parameters. The structural model of Pb_0.7Bi_0.3Pt₂O₄ was refined from powder X-ray diffraction data using the Rietveld method and the results indicate the same crystal structure than PbPt₂O₄ with one mixed Pb/Bi atomic site. Neutron diffraction realized on the two limit compositions of the solid solution (x=0 and 0.3) allowed to confirm the PbPt₂O₄ and Pb_0.7Bi_0.3Pt₂O₄ stoichiometries. Mean oxidation degree of Pt atoms in the [PtO₄] infinite chains decreases from +3 for PbPt₂O₄ to +2.7 for Pb_0.7Bi_0.3Pt₂O₄. Conductivity measurements show a metallic behavior for all the compositions except the limit composition x=0.3 for which a semiconducting behavior appears.     

Mixed-valence, mixed-spin-state, and heterometallic [2x2] grid-type arrays based on heteroditopic hydrazone ligands: synthesis and electrochemical features

An extended family of heterometallic [(M1)2(M2)2(L-)4](n+) [2x2] grid-type arrays 1-9 has been prepared. The three-tiered synthetic route encompasses regioselective, redox and enantioselective features and is based on the stepwise construction of heteroditopic hydrazone ligands A-C. These ligands contain ionisable NH and nonionisable NMe hydrazone units, which allows the metal redox properties to be controlled according to the charge on the ligand binding pocket. The 2-pyrimidine (R) and 6-pyridine (R') substituents have a significant effect on complex geometry and influence both the electrochemical and magnetic behaviour of the system. 1H NMR spectroscopic studies show that the Fe(II) ions in the grid can be low spin, high spin or spin crossover depending on the steric effect of substituents R and R'. This steric effect has been manipulated to construct an unusual array possessing two low-spin and two spin-crossover Fe(II) centres (grid 8). Electrochemical studies were performed for the grid-type arrays 1-9 and their respective mononuclear precursor complexes 10-13. The grids function as electron reservoirs and display up to eight monoelectronic, reversible reduction steps. These processes generally occur in pairs and are assigned to ligand-based reductions and to the Co(III)/Co(II) redox couple. Individual metal ions in the heterometallic grid motif can be selectively addressed electrochemically (e.g., either the Co(III) or Fe(II) ions can be targeted in grids 2 and 5). The Fe(II) oxidation potential is governed by the charge on the ligand binding unit, rather than the spin state, thus permitting facile electrochemical discrimination between the two types of Fe(II) centre in 7 or in 8. Such multistable heterometallic [2x2] gridlike arrays are of great interest for future supramolecular devices incorporating multilevel redox activity.     

YIHn: A New Family of Metal‐rich Hydride Halides

The graphite‐like yttrium hydride halides, YIH_n (0.8 ? n ? 1.0), have been prepared in quantitative yields by heating either YI₃, YH₂ (1:2) or stoichiometric YI₃, YH₂, Y mixtures in sealed Ta ampoules at 900°C. A lower limit of the homogeneity range, n ≈ 2/3, has been determined from dehydrogenation experiments. All YIH_n phases adopt the ZrBr‐type heavy‐atom structure. The hydrogen variation is accompanied by a change in the c lattice constant from 31.162(3) to 31.033(1) Å for n = 0.61(3) to 1.02(3). The YIH_n phases reversibly react with hydrogen at 400‐600°C to form the light green transparent compound YIH₂. However, increasing the reaction temperature above 700°C causes decomposition to an unidentified phase being in equilibrium with YH₂ and YI₃. The arrangement of the heavy atoms in YIH₂ (P m1; a = 3.8579(3) Å, c = 10.997(1) Å) corresponds to a four‐layer I‐Y‐Y‐I slab with the stacking sequence (AbaB) as was found by x‐ray powder diffraction data refinement with the Rietveld method. A miscibility gap exists between YIH and YIH₂. Samples YIH_n (n ? 1.0) show metallic conductivity at room temperature, which changes into semiconducting behavior with decreasing temperature as n approaches its lower value ≈ 2/3.     

Hydrothermal Synthesis and Thermal Stability of Natural Mineral Lindgrenite

IntroductionSynthesis of natural minerals is helpful for tracingthe geological origin of mineral formation and forverifying the quality of minerals. The investigations onthe conditions for mineral formation, such as pressure,temperature, and starting mate…     

Chemical shift driven geometry optimization

A new method for refinement of 3D molecular structures by geometry optimization is presented. Prerequisites are a force field and a very fast procedure for the calculation of chemical shifts in every step of optimization. To the energy, provided by the force field (COSMOS force field), a pseudoenergy, depending on the difference between experimental and calculated chemical shifts, is added. In addition to the energy gradients, pseudoforces are computed. This requires the derivatives of the chemical shifts with respect to the coordinates. The pseudoforces are analytically derived from the integral expressions of the bond polarization theory. Single chemical shift values attributed to corresponding atoms are considered for structural correction. As a first example, this method is applied for proton position refinement of the D-mannitol X-ray structure. A crystal structure refinement with 13C chemical shift pseudoforces is carried out.     

The mixed valent tellurate SrTe3O8: Electronic lone pair effect of Te

A novel mixed valent tellurium oxide, SrTe₃O₈, has been synthesized and its crystal structure was determined ab initio from powder X-ray diffraction data. This oxide, which crystallizes in a tetragonal unit-cell, P4₂/m space group, with very close a and c cell parameters (6.8257(1) and 6.7603(1) Å, respectively), exhibits a very original structure built up of corner-sharing TeO₆ (Te⁶⁺) octahedra and Te₂O₈ (Te⁴⁺) twin-pyramidal units. The latter ones form [Te₃O₈]_∞ chains running along the [001] and the [110] directions. Besides the four sided tunnels where the Sr²⁺ cations are located, there are very large four sided tunnels running along the c-axis which are obstructed by the electronic lone pairs of the Te⁴⁺ cations.     

Homo- and heterometallic [2x2] grid arrays containing RuII, OsII, and FeII subunits and their mononuclear RuII and OsII precursors: synthesis, absorption spectra, redox behavior, and luminescence properties

The absorption spectra, redox behavior, and luminescence properties (both at 77 K in rigid matrices and at room temperature in fluid solution) of a series of [2x2] molecular grids have been investigated. The latter were prepared either by means of sequential self-assembly, or by a stepwise protection/deprotection procedure, and are based on a ditopic hexadentate ligand 1 in which two terpyridine-like binding sites are fused together in a linear arrangement. The molecular grids studied include the homometallic species [[Fe(1)](4)](8+) (Fe(2)Fe(2)), and the heterometallic species [[Ru(1)](2)[Fe(1)](2)](8+) (Ru(2)Fe(2)) and [[Os(1)](2)[Fe(1)](2)](8+) (Os(2)Fe(2)). For comparison purposes, the properties of the mononuclear complexes [Ru(1)(2)](2+) (1-Ru) and [Os(1)(2)](2+) (1-Os) have been studied. All these compounds exhibit very intense absorption bands in the UV region (epsilon in the 10(5)-10(6) M(-1) cm(-1) range, attributed to spin-allowed ligand-centered (LC) transitions), as well as intense metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) transitions (epsilon in the 10(4)-10(5) M(-1) cm(-1) range) that extend to the entire visible region. The mononuclear species 1-Ru and 1-Os exhibit relatively intense luminescence, both in acetonitrile at room temperature (tau=59 and 18 ns, respectively) and in butyronitrile rigid matrices at 77 K. In contrast, the tetranuclear molecular grids do not exhibit any luminescence, either at room temperature or at 77 K. This is attributed to fast intercomponent energy transfer from the Ru- or Os-based subunits to the low-lying metal-centered (MC) levels involving the Fe(II) centers, which leads to fast radiationless decay. The redox behavior of the compounds is characterized by several metal-centered oxidation and ligand-centered reduction processes, most of them reversible in nature (as many as twelve for Fe(2)Fe(2)). Detailed assignment of each redox process has been made, and it is apparent that these systems can be viewed as multilevel molecular electronic species capable of reversibly exchanging a number of electrons at accessible and predetermined potentials. Furthermore, it is shown that the electronic interaction between specific subunits depends on their location in the structure and on the oxidation states of the other components.     

A unified set of proposals for control and design of high speed data networks

In this paper we articulate our philosophy and approach to the design and control of high speed data networks. The object is to put into perspective and to explain the coordination of various isolated pieces of detailed technical analyses that have been reported in several recent papers. In the process we summarize what we have learnt in our recent work and, also, we give indications of the direction of our future work. Our scheme integrates feedback and open loop control. The feedback control is exercised by sliding windows; access controllers regulate bursty sources. All our design proposals are rooted in asymptotic analyses; the justification for asymptotics comes from the largeness of the parameters, such as propagation delay, speed, window size, buffer size, and the number of virtual circuits. This analysis makes a strong case for operating in a specific moderate usage regime, and adaptive dynamic windowing algorithms are given that make this happen; moreover, when in this regime, buffers may be sized aggressively small without jeopardizing performance and the simplicity of the retransmission protocol. The topics in the paper are: model of communication, results on the steady-state behavior of the basic model, access control, small buffers and retransmission protocols, dynamic adaptive windows, bursty sources, and contrast with previous work.I. Mitrani's work was done while AT&T Bell Laboratories.     

Application of torsion angle molecular dynamics for efficient sampling of protein conformations

We investigate the application of torsion angle molecular dynamics (TAMD) to augment conformational sampling of peptides and proteins. Interesting conformational changes in proteins mainly involve torsional degrees of freedom. Carrying out molecular dynamics in torsion space does not only explicitly sample the most relevant degrees of freedom, but also allows larger integration time steps with elimination of the bond and angle degrees of freedom. However, the covalent geometry needs to be fixed during internal coordinate dynamics, which can introduce severe distortions to the underlying potential surface in the extensively parameterized modern Cartesian-based protein force fields. A "projection" approach (Katritch et al. J Comput Chem 2003, 24, 254-265) is extended to construct an accurate internal coordinate force field (ICFF) from a source Cartesian force field. Torsion crossterm corrections constructed from local molecular fragments, together with softened van der Waals and electrostatic interactions, are used to recover the potential surface and incorporate implicit bond and angle flexibility. MD simulations of dipeptide models demonstrate that full flexibility in both the backbone phi/psi and side chain chi1 angles are virtually restored. The efficacy of TAMD in enhancing conformational sampling is then further examined by folding simulations of small peptides and refinement experiments of protein NMR structures. The results show that an increase of several fold in conformational sampling efficiency can be reliably achieved. The current study also reveals some complicated intrinsic properties of internal coordinate dynamics, beyond energy conservation, that can limit the maximum size of the integration time step and thus the achievable gain in sampling efficiency.