Comparison of Nitrogen Activation on Trinuclear Niobium and Tungsten Sulfide Clusters Nb3Sn and W3Sn (n=0–3): A DFT Study

The reaction of N₂ with trinuclear niobium and tungsten sulfide clusters Nb₃S_n and W₃S_n (n=0–3) was systematically studied by density functional theory calculations with TPSS functional and Def2-TZVP basis sets. Dissociations of N−N bonds on these clusters are all thermodynamically allowed but with different reactivity in kinetics. The reactivity of Nb₃S_n is generally higher than that of W₃S_n. In the favorite reaction pathways, the adsorbed N₂ changes the adsorption sites from one metal atom to the bridge site of two metal atoms, then on the hollow site of three metal atoms, and at that place, the N−N bond dissociates. As the number of ligand S atoms increases, the reactivity of Nb₃S_n decreases because of the hindering effect of S atoms, while W₃S and W₃S₂ have the highest reactivity among four W₃S_n clusters. The Mayer bond order, bond length, vibrational frequency, and electronic charges of the adsorbed N₂ are analyzed along the reaction pathways to show the activation process of the N−N bond in reactions. The charge transfer from the clusters to the N₂ antibonding orbitals plays an essential role in N−N bond activation, which is more significant in Nb₃S_n than in W₃S_n, leading to the higher reactivity of Nb₃S_n. The reaction mechanisms found in this work may provide important theoretical guidance for the further rational design of related catalytic systems for nitrogen reduction reactions (NRR).     

Tuning the Structure and Properties of N-doped Positively Charged Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

A detailed study of the geometry, aromatic character, electronic and magnetic properties for a series of positively charged N-doped polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was performed. Magnetic properties of the examined molecules were analyzed by means of the magnetically induced current density calculated using the diamagnetic-zero version of the continuous transformation of origin of current density (CTOCD-DZ) method. The comparative study of the local aromaticity of the studied molecules was performed using several different indices: energy effect (ef), harmonic oscillator model of aromaticity (HOMA) index, six centre delocalization index (SCI) and nucleus independent chemical shifts (NICS). The presence of N-atoms in the inner rings was found to cause a planarity distortion in the studied N-doped systems. The geometric changes and charged nature of the studied N-doped systems do not significantly influence the current density and the local aromaticity distribution in comparison with the corresponding parent benzenoid hydrocarbons. The present study demonstrates how quantum chemical calculations can be used for rational design of novel PAHs and for fine tuning of their properties.     

Insights and Activation Energy Surface of the Dehydrogenation of C2HxO Species in Ethanol Oxidation Reaction on Ir(100)

Dehydrogenation of an organic compound is the first and the most fundamental elementary reaction in many organic reactions. In ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) to form CO₂, there are a total of 46 pathways in C₂H_xO (x=1–6) species leading to the removal of all six hydrogen atoms in five C−H bonds and one O−H bond. To investigate the degree of dehydrogenation in EOR under operando conditions, we performed density function theory (DFT) calculations to study 28 dehydrogenation steps of C₂H_xO on Ir(100). An activation energy surface was then constructed and compared with that of the C−C bond cleavages to understand the importance of the degree of dehydrogenation in EOR. The results show that there are likely 28 dehydrogenations in EOR under fuel cell temperatures and the last two hydrogens in C₂H₂O are less likely cleaved. On the other hand, deep dehydrogenation including 45 dehydrogenations can occur under ethanol steam reforming conditions.     

Theoretical insights into the mechanism of photocatalytic reduction of CO2 over semiconductor catalysts

Photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ is one important approach to alleviate greenhouse gas emission and energy crisis, which has gained huge attention in the past decades. However, the lack of understanding complex reaction mechanism impedes new catalysts design. It is also very difficult to understand the mechanism by using only experimental approaches. For this concern, theoretical calculations can effectively supplement the experimental deficiency and thus play an important role. Recently theoretical calculations have been performed on adsorption, migration and reduction of CO₂ molecule on the photocatalyst surface, leading to useful information that have contributed greatly to this field. This review summarizes recent advances in first-principles calculations about CO₂ photoreduction over various semiconductor photocatalysts like metal oxides, sulfides and g-C₃N₄. The methods, models, adsorption and reaction pathways have been discussed in detail. The perspective about future investigation on the photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ using first principles calculations is also presented.     

Catechin mediated green synthesis of Au nanoparticles: Experimental and theoretical approaches to the determination HOMO-LUMO energy gap and reactivity indexes for the (+)-epicatechin (2S, 3S)

This work suggests a green method for synthesizing Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) using the aqueous extract of Salix aegyptiaca extract. The mechanism of green synthesized AuNPs was examined by molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) calculations. AuNPs were characterized with different techniques such as Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Electrochemical investigation of modified glassy carbon electrode using AuNPs (AuNPs/GCE) shows that the electronic transmission rate between the modified electrode and [Fe (CN)₆]^3?/4? increased. Process of oxidation, energy gap, and chemical reactivity indexes of the (+)-epicatechin (2S,3S) were investigated using electrochemical techniques (cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) as well as UV–Visible spectroscopy and compared with quantum mechanical calculations. DPV and CV were used to obtain HOMO energies of the (+)-epicatechin (2S,3S), an optical energy gap was obtained from the UV–Vis spectroscopy. Frontier molecular orbitals analysis (FMO) and reactivity indexes such as chemical hardness (?), electrophilicity (?), electronic chemical potential (μ), electron acceptor power (?⁺), electron donor power (?^?) were determined with functional theory (DFT) calculations. In summary, the HOMO energy obtained from the experimental analyses (E_HOMO (from DPV) = -5.24 eV, and E_HOMO (from CV) = -5.28 eV) has a relative agreement with the HOMO energy calculated by B3LYP/6–31 g (d, p) including the solvent effect (water) (E_HOMO (from B3LYP) = -5.75 eV). Also, UV–Vis spectroscopy gives the bandgap energy equal to 4.31 eV, while the 4.13 eV is calculated by TD-DFT-b3lyp/6–31 + g(d).     

Structural elucidation of two intricate polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols using quantum chemical calculations and their hypoglycemic activities

Compounds 1-2, the rare examples of polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols (PPAPs) with unique 6/5/7 and 6/6 ring systems possessing unprecedented 2, 3, 12-trioxatricyclo-[5.3.1.1^5,11] dodecane and bicyclo-[4.4.0] decane, respectively, were isolated from the fruits of Garcinia bracteata and Garcinia multiflora, respectively. Their structures and absolute configurations were elucidated by the combination of gauge-independent atomic orbital (GIAO) NMR calculations and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. Furthermore, the hypoglycemic activity of 1 was assayed by the insulin resistance (IR)-HepG2 cell model. The results showed that compound 1 at the concentrations of 2, 4, and 6 μM could significantly promote glucose uptake dose-dependently and improve glucose metabolism disorder. Taken together, these findings suggested 1 could be a promising candidate for the treatment of diabetes mellitus.     

Conformational polymorphs of 3‐cyclopropyl‐5‐(3‐methyl‐[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3‐a]pyridin‐7‐yl)‐1,2,4‐oxadiazole

The dipharmacophore compound 3‐cyclopropyl‐5‐(3‐methyl‐[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3‐a]pyridin‐7‐yl)‐1,2,4‐oxadiazole, C₁₂H₁₁N₅O, was studied on the assumption of its potential biological activity. Two polymorphic forms differ in both their molecular and crystal structures. The monoclinic polymorphic form was crystallized from more volatile solvents and contains a conformer with a higher relative energy. The basic molecule forms an abundance of interactions with relatively close energies. The orthorhombic polymorph was crystallized very slowly from isoamyl alcohol and contains a conformer with a much lower energy. The basic molecule forms two strong interactions and a large number of weak interactions. Stacking interactions of the `head‐to‐head' type in the monoclinic structure and of the `head‐to‐tail' type in the orthorhombic structure proved to be the strongest and form stacked columns in the two polymorphs. The main structural motif of the monoclinic structure is a double column where two stacked columns interact through weak C—H…N hydrogen bonds and dispersive interactions. In the orthorhombic structure, a single stacked column is the main structural motif. Periodic calculations confirmed that the orthorhombic structure obtained by slow evaporation has a lower lattice energy (0.97 kcal mol^?1) compared to the monoclinic structure.     

Polymorphism of methyl 4‐amino‐3‐phenylisothiazole‐5‐carboxylate: an experimental and theoretical study

Being a close analogue of amflutizole, methyl 4‐amino‐3‐phenylisothiazole‐5‐carboxylate (C₁₁H₁₀N₂O₂S) was assumed to be capable of forming polymorphic structures. Noncentrosymmetric and centrosymmetric polymorphs have been obtained by crystallization from a series of more volatile solvents and from denser tetrachloromethane, respectively. Identical conformations of the molecule are found in both structures. The two polymorphs differ mainly in the intermolecular interactions formed by the amino group and in the type of stacking interactions between the π‐systems. The most effective method for revealing packing motifs in structures with intermolecular interactions of different types (hydrogen bonding, stacking, dispersion, etc.) is to study the pairwise interaction energies using quantum chemical calculations. Molecules form a column as the primary basic structural motif due to stacking interactions in both polymorphic structures under study. The character of a column (straight or zigzag) is determined by the orientations of the stacked molecules (in a `head‐to‐head' or `head‐to‐tail' manner). Columns bound by intermolecular N—H…O and N—H…N hydrogen bonds form a double column as the main structural motif in the noncentrosymmetric structure. Double columns in the noncentrosymmetric structure and columns in the centrosymmetric structure interact strongly within the ab crystallographic plane, forming a layer as a secondary basic structural motif. The noncentrosymmetric structure has a lower density and a lower (by 0.59 kJ mol^?1) lattice energy, calculated using periodic calculations, compared to the centrosymmetric structure.     

Switch From Pauli-Lowering to LUMO-Lowering Catalysis in Brønsted Acid-Catalyzed Aza-Diels-Alder Reactions

Brønsted acid-catalyzed inverse-electron demand (IED) aza-Diels-Alder reactions between 2-aza-dienes and ethylene were studied using quantum chemical calculations. The computed activation energy systematically decreases as the basic sites of the diene progressively become protonated. Our activation strain and Kohn-Sham molecular orbital analyses traced the origin of this enhanced reactivity to i) “Pauli-lowering catalysis” for mono-protonated 2-aza-dienes due to the induction of an asynchronous, but still concerted, reaction pathway that reduces the Pauli repulsion between the reactants; and ii) “LUMO-lowering catalysis” for multi-protonated 2-aza-dienes due to their highly stabilized LUMO(s) and more concerted synchronous reaction path that facilitates more efficient orbital overlaps in IED interactions. In all, we illustrate how the novel concept of “Pauli-lowering catalysis” can be overruled by the traditional concept of “LUMO-lowering catalysis” when the degree of LUMO stabilization is extreme as in the case of multi-protonated 2-aza-dienes.     

Planar Iron Hydride Nanoclusters: Combined Spectroscopic and Theoretical Insights into Structures and Building Principles

The controlled assembly of well-defined planar nanoclusters from molecular precursors is synthetically challenging and often plagued by the predominant formation of 3D-structures and nanoparticles. Herein, we report planar iron hydride nanoclusters from reactions of main group element hydrides with iron(II) bis(hexamethyldisilazide). The structures and properties of isolated Fe₄, Fe₆, and Fe₇ nanoplatelets and calculated intermediates enable an unprecedented insight into the underlying building principle and growth mechanism of iron clusters, metal monolayers, and nanoparticles.