Broken symmetry density functional study of a mixed‐valence unsymmetrical dinuclear iron complex

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations with different exchange‐correlation functionals were performed for a mixed valence Fe(II)/Fe(III) binuclear complex with μ‐methoxo and two μ‐carboxylate bridging ligands, (1) with geometry optimizations being performed for all possible spin multiplicities (M_S = 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10). Within the exchange‐correlation functionals studied, only the hybrid GGA functionals B3P and B3LYP and also the pure GGA functional RPBE, predicts the geometry with high spin (S = 9/2) to be more stable than the geometry with low spin state (S = 1/2) by 20 kcal/mol, in agreement with the experimental findings. These functionals also predict the same stability order for the different spin states, being M_S = 10>8>6>2>4. The meta‐GGA functionals TPSS and TPSSh and also the pure GGA functionals BLYP and BP86 predict different stability orders. The computed average EPR g‐tensor, g_av, of 2.03, at the B3LYP level, is in good agreement with the experimental findings. Heisenberg exchange coupling constants, J, were calculated within the broken‐symmetry formalism, at the B3LYP level, showing that the two iron centers are antiferromagnetic coupling, with a very weak coupling constant of about ?7 cm^?1, in good agreement with the experimental value. Additionally, the effect of using different multiplicities of the reference geometries on the computed J value is discussed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2010     

Bounds for the Kirchhoff index of regular graphs via the spectra of their random walks

Using probabilistic tools, we give tight upper and lower bounds for the Kirchhoff index of any d‐regular N‐vertex graph in terms of d, N, and the spectral gap of the transition probability matrix associated to the random walk on the graph. We then use bounds of the spectral gap of more specialized graphs, available in the literature, in order to obtain upper bounds for the Kirchhoff index of these specialized graphs. As a byproduct, we obtain a closed‐form formula for the Kirchhoff index of the d‐dimensional cube in terms of the first inverse moment of a positive binomial variable. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2010     

Conformation of aromatic rings in isolable atropisomers of 2-arylindoline derivatives and kinetic evidences for π-π interaction

The equilibrium constants [K=anti/syn] of a pair of atropisomers due to restricted rotation about Csp³-Csp² bond for [2-(2-hydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)-3,3-dimethylindolin-1-yl](4-substituted phenyl)methanone were determined in some solvents. The presence of the effective π-π interaction was demonstrated by the correlation between the equilibrium constants (K) and the substituent effect of the phenyl groups (σ_p), suggesting that the ‘neutral-type’ interaction is operative.     

Additive Differential Pulse Voltammetry for the Study of Slow Charge Transfer Processes at Spherical Electrodes

The application of additive differential pulse voltammetry to the study of the kinetics of a charge transfer process is studied. A simple analytical solution is presented, valid for spherical electrodes of any size and for electrode processes of any reversibility. From this solution, valuable diagnostic criteria for the elucidation of the electrochemical reversibility are established based on the variation of the ADPV signal with the duration of the potential pulses, the electrode radius and the pulse height. Working curves for the determination of the kinetic parameters are also given. The value of the ADPV technique is experimentally demonstrated by studying the kinetics of the reduction of 3‐nitrophenolate^? and europium³⁺ at mercury hemispherical microelectrodes.     

Novel soluble thermally stable silane-containing aromatic polyimides with reduced dielectric constant

Bis(p-aminophenoxy)diphenylsilane (BPS), bis(m-aminophenoxy)diphenylsilane (BMS) and bis(5-amino-1-naphthoxy)diphenylsilane (BAS) as three silane-diamines were prepared by the reactions of 4-aminophenol, 3-aminophenol, and 5-amino-1-naphthol respectively, with dichlorodiphenylsilane in the presence of triethylamine. The related silane-containing polyimides were prepared by two-step polycondensation reactions of these diamines with three different aromatic dianhydrides. All the polymers were characterized and their physical and thermal properties were studied. The polymers showed high thermal stability while their solubility was greatly increased in polar aprotic solvents. Wide angle X-ray diffraction showed that all the polyimides were almost amorphous. Also their dielectric constants were decreased due to the incorporation of softening and low-polarizing siloxane units into the polymer backbone.     

Potentiometric determination of coextraction constants of potassium salts in ion-selective electrodes utilizing a nitrobenzene liquid membrane phase

A theoretical treatment of potentiometric data is applied to calculate coextraction constants (K_IA) for three potassium salts from water into a liquid nitrobenzene phase. The experiment involves treating nitrobenzene as a membrane and contacting it with two aqueous solutions of different ion activities. In the presence of either a cation or anion exchanger, the ratio of activities of ions in the two aqueous phases gives rise to a potential difference across the membrane that depends upon the nature and charge of the counter ion of the ion-exchanger in excess. Here, the cation exchanger was chosen to be potassium tetrakis(4-chlorophenyl)borate (KTpClPB) and the anion exchanger was tetradodecylammonium chloride (TDDACl). TDDACl was incrementally added to the nitrobenzene phase containing a fixed concentration of KTpClPB, and the corresponding emf was recorded as a function of concentration of TDDACl. The membrane changes from one with cation exchanger properties (excess KTpClPB) to one with anion exchanger properties (excess TDDACl). The potential difference and shape of the titration curve can be predicted by theory based on the phase boundary potential model. Log(K_IA) values calculated for KCl, KNO₃ and KClO₄ in nitrobenzene were found as: −10.53 (± 0.09), −8.16 (± 0.05) and −5.63 (± 0.03) respectively, in accordance with the Hofmeister series of lipophilicity, and similar to those observed in PVC membranes containing other plasticizers. The method presented here offers the advantage over other methods to calculate K_IA, in that it is relatively experimentally simple without compromising the accuracy of the calculated coextraction constants. The ability to titrate directly into the liquid membrane phase affords a higher precision compared to the preparation of a series of PVC/plasticizer membranes with different compositions.     

Complexation of metal ions with the novel azathia crown ethers carrying anthracene pendant in acetonitrile–dichloromethane

A series of crown ethers carrying an anthracene group with nitrogen–sulfur donor atom, which differ in having three, four and five sulfur atoms in the macrocycle was designed and synthesized by the reaction of the corresponding macrocyclic compound and 9-chloromethyl-anthracene. The influence of metal cations such as Al³⁺, Zn²⁺, Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Mn²⁺, Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺, Hg²⁺ and Pb²⁺ on the spectroscopic properties of the ligands was investigated in acetonitrile–dichloromethane (1:1) by means of absorption and emission spectrometry. Absorption spectra show isosbestic points in the spectrophotometric titration of Al³⁺, Zn²⁺, Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, Cu²⁺, Hg²⁺ and Pb²⁺ the results of which disclosed the complexation compositions and complex stability constants of the novel ligands with these cations. The monoazapentathia crown ether showed sensitivity for Al³⁺ with linear range and detection limit of 2.6 × 10⁻⁶ M–2.6 × 10⁻⁵ M and 8.1 × 10⁻⁷ M, respectively.     

Polyimide/polyoxometalate copolymer thin films: synthesis,thermal and dielectric properties

A mono‐lancunary keggin‐type decatungstosilicate (SiW₁₁) polyoxometalate (POM) modified by γ‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550) was incorporated into polyimide (PI) through copolymerization. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), fourier transition infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) were used to characterize the structure and composition of the polyoxometalate–organosilane hybrid (SiW₁₁KH550) and PI/SiW₁₁KH550 copolymers. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies indicate that the glass transition temperature (T_g) of PI/SiW₁₁KH550 copolymers increases from 330°C (for neat PI) to 409°C (for the copolymer sample with 10 wt% of SiW₁₁KH550). Dielectric measurement showed that both the dielectric constant and the dielectric loss for the copolymer thin films decreased with the increase in SiW₁₁KH550 content, and the dielectric constant and dielectric loss values decreased to 2.1 and 3.54 × 10^?3, respectively, for the copolymer sample with 10 wt% of SiW₁₁KH550. The incorporation of SiW₁₁KH550 into polymer matrices is a promising approach to prepare PI films with a low dielectric constant and low dielectric loss. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ACE applied to the quantitative characterization of benzo‐18‐crown‐6‐ether binding with alkali metal ions in a methanol–water solvent system

ACE was applied to the quantitative evaluation of noncovalent binding interactions between benzo‐18‐crown‐6‐ether (B18C6) and several alkali metal ions, Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺ and Cs⁺, in a mixed binary solvent system, methanol–water (50/50 v/v). The apparent binding (stability) constants (K_b) of B18C6–alkali metal ion complexes in the hydro‐organic medium above were determined from the dependence of the effective electrophoretic mobility of B18C6 on the concentration of alkali metal ions in the BGE using a nonlinear regression analysis. Before regression analysis, the mobilities measured by ACE at ambient temperature and variable ionic strength of the BGE were corrected by a new procedure to the reference temperature, 25°C, and the constant ionic strength, 10 mM . In the 50% v/v methanol–water solvent system, like in pure methanol, B18C6 formed the strongest complex with potassium ion (log K_b=2.89±0.17), the weakest complex with cesium ion (log K_b=2.04±0.20), and no complexation was observed between B18C6 and the lithium ion. In the mixed methanol–water solvent system, the binding constants of the complexes above were found to be about two orders lower than in methanol and about one order higher than in water.     

Mechanistic and kinetic investigations of N2H4 + OH reaction

The reaction of N₂H₄ with OH has been investigated by quantum chemical methods. The results show that hydrogen abstraction mechanism is more feasible than substitution mechanism thermodynamically. The calculated rate constants agree with the available experimental data. The calculated results show that the variational effect is small at lower temperature region, while it becomes significant at higher temperature region. On the other hand, the small‐curvature tunneling effect may play an important role in the temperature range 220?3000 K. Moreover, the calculated rate constants show negative temperature dependence at the temperatures below 500 K, which is in accordance with Vaghjiani's report that slightly negative temperature dependence is found over the temperature range of 258?637 K. The mechanism of the major product (N₂H₃) with OH has also been investigated theoretically to understand the title reaction thoroughly. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010