First Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Compounds Formed by Ge-V-O Clusters and Transition Metal Complexes of Aromatic Organic Ligands

Three compounds based on Ge-V-O clusters were hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by IR, UV-Vis, XRD, ESR, elemental analysis and X-ray crystal structural analysis. Both [Cd(phen)(en)]₂[Cd₂(phen)₂V₁₂O₄₀Ge₈(OH)₈(H₂O)]∙12.5H₂O (1) and [Cd(DETA)]₂[Cd(DETA)₂]_0.5[Cd₂(phen)₂V₁₂O₄₁Ge₈(OH)₇(0.5H₂O)]∙7.5H₂O (2) (1,10-phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, en = ethylenediamine, DETA = diethylenetriamine) are the first Ge-V-O cluster compounds containing aromatic organic ligands. Compound 1 is the first dimer of Ge-V-O clusters, which is linked by a double bridge of two [Cd(phen)(en)]²⁺. Compound 2 exhibits an unprecedented 1-D chain structure formed by Ge-V-O clusters and [Cd₂(DETA)₂]⁴⁺ transition metal complexes (TMCs). [Cd(en)₃]{[Cd(η₂-en)₂]₃[Cd(η₂-en)(η₂-μ₂-en)(η₂-en)Cd][Ge₆V₁₅O₄₈(H₂O)]}∙5.5H₂O (3) is a novel 3-D structure which is constructed from [Ge₆V₁₅O₄₈(H₂O)]¹²⁻ and four different types of TMCs. We also synthesized [Zn₂(enMe)₃][Zn(enMe)]₂[Zn(enMe)₂(H₂O)]₂[Ge₆V₁₅O₄₈(H₂O)]∙3H₂O (4) and [Cd(en)₂]₂{H₈[Cd(en)]₂Ge₈V₁₂O₄₈(H₂O)}∙6H₂O (5) (enMe = 1,2-propanediamine), which have been reported previously. In addition, the catalytic properties of these five compounds for styrene epoxidation have been assessed.     

Phenol-triggered supramolecular transformation of titanium–oxo cluster based coordination capsules

Supramolecular transformations of coordination cage or capsule have received much attention recently,which help elucidate this natural self-assembly behavior in biological systems.The current study describes the first supramolecular transformation of titanium-o rganic coordination capsule triggered by phenol(and H_3 PO_3).The structural alterations are accompanied by the reconstruction of 5-coordinated Ti centers to 6-coordinated ones.Meanwhile,different amounts of encapsulated phenol guest molecules can be identified,dependent on the sizes of the obtained cavities.In addition,they display much better visible light absorption and air stability than the isopropanol stabilized ones.     

Electrodeposition of nanostructured catalysts for electrochemical energy conversion: Current trends and innovative strategies

This review discusses the latest advances in electrodeposition of nanostructured catalysts for electrochemical energy conversion: fuel cells, water splitting, and carbon dioxide electroreduction. The method excels at preparing efficient and durable nanostructured materials, such as nanoparticles, single atom clusters, hierarchical bifunctional combinations of hydroxides, selenides, phosphides, and so on. Yet, in most cases, chemical composition cannot be decoupled from catalyst morphology. This compromises the rational design of electrodeposition procedures because performance indicators depend on both morphology and surface chemistry. We expect electrodeposition will keep unraveling its potential as the preferred method for electrocatalyst synthesis once a deeper understanding of the electrochemical growth process is combined with complex chemistries to have control of the morphology and the surface composition of complex (bifunctional) electrocatalysts.     

适用于Linux系统的高效可并行电磁PIC计算技术

为了能够使大型机和高性能集群得到更好的加速比和并行计算效率,在深入研究并行和FDTD-PIC算法的基础上,在CHIPIC软件平台上开发了Linux系统下的大型全三维可并行电磁PIC代码。分别以一个磁绝缘线振荡器、回旋管和相对论速调管为例进行测试和计算,得到了3.70,6.72和6.00的加速比,验证了在同等的进程数下,高性能集群能够得到比PC机群高得多的加速比和计算效率,能够更好地利用计算资源。     

19F-NMR-spektroskopischer Nachweis und Berechnung der statistischen Bildung der gemischten Clusteranionen [(Mo6BrCl)F]2−, n = 0 – 8

¹⁹F NMR Spectroscopic Evidence and Calculation of the Statistical Formation of Mixed Cluster Anions [(Mo₆Br Cl )F ]^2?, n = 0 – 8 The complete system of the innersphere mixed clusters (Mo₆BrCl)⁴⁺ is formed by exchange of innersphere bound Clⁱ against outersphere bound Br^a on tempering the solid [(Mo₆Cl)Br] at 500°C for 16 h. After conversion with conc. HCl into (H₃O)₂[(Mo₆BrCl)Cl] and precipitation of the outer Cl^a with AgBF₄ in ethanol, treatment with tetrabutylammonium(TBA)fluoride yields (TBA)₂ [(Mo₆BrCl)F], a mixture of 22 different species. According to the sets of chemical equivalent fluorine atoms in total 55 ¹⁹F nmr signals are expected, which are really observed in the high resolution 1D-¹⁹F-nmr spectrum. Using increments of chemical shifts, peak intensities and multiplet structures as well as the 2D-¹⁹F/¹⁹F-COSY spectrum the complete and unambiguous assignment of all resonances is achieved. From the measured integral intensities the distribution of the different compounds is determined, revealing statistical formation of the geometrical isomers.     

Exploring the Interactions of Atomic Oxygen on Silver Clusters with Hydrogen

The interactions between Ag_nO^-(n=1-8) and H₂ (or D₂) were explored by combination of the mass spectroscopy experiments and density function theory (DFT) calculations. The experiments found that all oxygen atoms in Ag_nO^-(n=1-8) are inert in the interactions with H₂ or D₂ at the low temperature of 150 K, which is in contrast to their high reactivity with CO under the same condition. These observations are parallel with the preferential oxidation (PROX) of CO in excess hydrogen catalyzed by dispersed silver species in the condensed phase. Possible reaction paths between Ag_nO^-(n=1-8) and H₂ were explored using DFT calculations. The results indicated that adsorption of H₂ on any site of Ag_nO^-(n=1-8) is extremely weak, and oxidation of H₂ by any kind of oxygen in Ag_nO^-(n=1-8) has an apparent barrier strongly dependent on the adsorption style of the "O". These experiments and theoretical results about cluster reactions provided molecule-level insights into the activity of atomic oxygen on real silver catalysts.     

The oxidative addition of diphenylphosphine and monophenylphosphine to the electron-rich rhenium-rhenium triple bond. The isolation and characterization of compounds that contain the four-center Re(μ-X)(μ-PR2)Re cluster (X=halide)

Diphenylphosphine oxidatively adds to the ReRe bonds of Re₂ X ₄(-dppm)₂ (X=Cl or Br; dppm=Ph₂PCH₂PPh₂) and Re₂Cl₄(-dpam)₂ (dpam=Ph₂AsCH₂AsPh₂) to afford the dirhenium(III) complexes Re₂(-X)(-PPh₂)HX ₃(-LL)₂. The dppm complexes have also been prepared from the reactions of Re₂(-O₂CCH₃)X ₄(-dppm)₂ with Ph₂PH, and a similar strategy has been used to prepare Re₂(-Cl)(-PPh₂)HCl₃(-dmpm)₂ (dmpm=Me₂PCH₂PMe₂) from Re₂(-O₂CCH₃)Cl₄(dmpm)₂. Phenylphosphine likewise reacts with Re₂ X ₄(-dppm)₂ to give Re₂(-X)(-PHPh)HX ₃(-dppm)₂. An X-ray crystal structure determination on Re₂(-Cl)(-PPh₂)HCl₃(-dppm)₂ confirms its edge-shared bioctahedral structure. This complex crystallizes in the space group (No. 148) witha=21.699(3) Å, =84.50(4)°,V=10084(5) ų, andZ=6. The structure was refined toR=0.049 (R _w 0.069) for 5770 data withI>3.0(I). The Re-Re distance is 2.5918(7) Å. Oxidation of the bromide complex Re₂(-Br)(-PPh₂)HBr₃(-dppm)₂ with NOPF₆ produces the unusual dirhenium(III, II) cation [Re₂(-H)(-Br)[P(O)Ph₂]Br₂(NO)(-dppm)₂]⁺ which has been structurally characterized as its perrhenate salt, [Re₂(-H)(-Br)[P(O)Ph₂]Br₂(NO)(-dppm)₂]ReO₄ · 2CH₂Cl₂. This complex crystallizes in the space group (No. 2) witha=14.187(7) Å,b=16.419(5) Å,c=16.729(5) Å, =98.76(2)°, =110.11(3)°, =104.66(3)°,V=3414(6) ų,Z=2. The structure was refined toR=0.040 (R _w =0.051) for 5736 data withI>3.0(I). The presence of a phosphorus-bound [P(O)Ph₂]^– ligand, a linear nitrosyl and a bridging hydrido ligand has been confirmed. The Re-Re distance is 2.6273(8) Å.     

Structures and basicity of LiNOH (N = 1 − 5) species

LiOH is one of the strong bases among neutral molecules. What about hydroxides of small Li_n (n = 2 ? 5) clusters? The addition of a single atom to a cluster sometimes has dramatic effects on its reactivity. This fact motivated us to perform an ab initio MP2/6‐311++G(d, p) investigation on Li_nOH species (n = 1 ? 5). These Li_nOH species are stabilized by both ionic as well as covalent interactions, and are found to be stable against elimination of LiOH and OH. We have determined their gas and aqueous phase basicity by considering hypothetical protonation reactions. The calculated proton affinities of Li_nOH (n ≥ 2) suggest their reduced basicity as compared to LiOH by 50–100 kJ/mol. The NBO charges and the highest occupied molecular orbitals also reveal the electride and alkalide characteristics of Li₂OH and Li₃OH, respectively. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Theoretical study of selenium and tellurium impurities in (ZnO)6 clusters using DFT and TDDFT

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have attracted much interest due to their potential applications in various fields including optoelectronics, glass industries, and solar cells. These compounds hold the promise of creating new materials that can advance energy technologies. In this work, a series of (ZnO)₆ clusters with selenium and tellurium applied as substitutional impurities has been studied. The investigated structures have been produced through the doping of (ZnO)₆ clusters by replacing an oxygen atom with a selenium or a tellurium atom at each time. The ground state geometric parameters of (ZnO)₆ structures, containing selenium or tellurium atoms as substitutional impurities, were calculated using density functional theory (DFT) with B3LYP and LanL2DZ basis set. Excited state energies and absorption wavelengths were computed using time‐dependent‐DFT (TDDFT). For the calculation of emission wavelengths, Hartree–Fock configuration interaction singles (HF/CIS) has been used in order to perform the excited state geometry optimization. This work led to some important results that can be helpful for developing novel THz sensitive materials and imaging detectors that may be an alternative to x‐rays detectors for radiology as well as for the development of solar cells and electroluminescent diodes. Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have attracted growing interest due to their potential applications in many technological fields, including optoelectronics, the glass industry, and energy. The presence of impurities, in particular selenium and tellurium, in ZnO‐based clusters can affect their structural and spectroscopic properties. Some of these doped nanostructures have favorable Terahertz emission characteristics that make them good candidates for applications in biology and medicine.     

CPMD/GULP QM/MM interface for modeling periodic solids: Implementation and its application in the study of Y‐zeolite supported Rhn clusters

We report here the development of hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) interface between the plane‐wave density functional theory based CPMD code and the empirical force‐field based GULP code for modeling periodic solids and surfaces. The hybrid QM/MM interface is based on the electrostatic coupling between QM and MM regions. The interface is designed for carrying out full relaxation of all the QM and MM atoms during geometry optimizations and molecular dynamics simulations, including the boundary atoms. Both Born–Oppenheimer and Car–Parrinello molecular dynamics schemes are enabled for the QM part during the QM/MM calculations. This interface has the advantage of parallelization of both the programs such that the QM and MM force evaluations can be carried out in parallel to model large systems. The interface program is first validated for total energy conservation and parallel scaling performance is benchmarked. Oxygen vacancy in α‐cristobalite is then studied in detail and the results are compared with a fully QM calculation and experimental data. Subsequently, we use our implementation to investigate the structure of rhodium cluster (Rh_n; n = 2 to 6) formed from Rh(C₂H₄)₂ complex adsorbed within a cavity of Y‐zeolite in a reducible atmosphere of H₂ gas. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.