An efficient method for computing the QTAIM topology of a scalar field: The electron density case

An efficient method for computing the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) topology of the electron density (or other scalar field) is presented. A modified Newton–Raphson algorithm was implemented for finding the critical points (CP) of the electron density. Bond paths were constructed with the second‐order Runge–Kutta method. Vectorization of the present algorithm makes it to scale linearly with the system size. The parallel efficiency decreases with the number of processors (from 70% to 50%) with an average of 54%. The accuracy and performance of the method are demonstrated by computing the QTAIM topology of the electron density of a series of representative molecules. Our results show that our algorithm might allow to apply QTAIM analysis to large systems (carbon nanotubes, polymers, fullerenes) considered unreachable until now. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Computational Insights into Different Mechanisms for Ag-, Cu-, and Pd-Catalyzed Cyclopropanation of Alkenes and Sulfonyl Hydrazones

The [2+1] cycloaddition reaction of a metal carbene with an alkene can produce important cyclopropane products for synthetic intermediates, materials, and pharmaceutical applications. However, this reaction is often accompanied by side reactions, such as coupling and self-coupling, so that the yield of the cyclopropanation product of non-silver transition-metal carbenes and hindered alkenes is generally lower than 50 %. To solve this problem, the addition of a low concentration of diazo compound (decomposition of sulfonyl hydrazones) to alkenes catalyzed by either CuOAc or PdCl₂ was studied, but side reactions could still not be avoided. Interestingly, however, the yield of cyclopropanation products for such hindered alkenes were as high as 99 % with AgOTf as a catalyst. To explain this unexpected phenomenon, reaction pathways have been computed for four different catalysts by using DFT. By combining the results of these calculations with those obtained experimentally, it can be concluded that the efficiency of the silver catalyst is due to the barrierless concerted cycloaddition step and the kinetic inhibition of side reactions by a high concentration of alkene.     

Ab initio modelling of the interaction of H interstitials with grain boundaries in bcc Fe

Hydrogen that is accumulated within the grain boundaries can lead to a decrease of the critical strain required to fracture the material. The paper presents results of ab initio modelling of hydrogen–grain boundary interaction in ferromagnetic bcc iron. Modelling was performed using density functional theory with generalised gradient approximation (GGA’96), as implemented in WIEN2k package. Three fully relaxed tilt grain boundaries, Σ5(310), Σ5(210) and Σ3(111), were studied. The supercells contained 40–48 atoms, i.e. 20–24 atoms in each of the two ‘grains’. Calculated formation energies of grain boundaries is 1.44, 1.83 and 1.46 J/m² and the maximum binding (trapping) energies of hydrogen to the boundaries are 0.43, 0.83 and 0.39 eV, respectively. These values are close to other researchers’ data. The higher value of trapping energy of the Σ5(210) boundary is probably due to the asymmetrical atom configurations resulting from mutual rigid shift of the two grains that was necessary to be introduced to provide optimal distances between Fe atoms, unlike the other two boundary types.     

Improved solution for inventory model with defective goods

This paper is a consequence for a paper of Lin et al. [S.W. Lin, Y.W. Wou, P. Julian, Note on minimax distribution free procedure for integrated inventory model with defective goods and stochastic lead time demand, Appl. Math. Model. 35 (2011) 2087–2093]. We simplified their complicated solution procedure and then presented a revision to patch their negligence for the boundary minimums. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate our findings.     

Tissue distribution and excretion study of neopanaxadiol in rats by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

Neopanaxadiol (NPD), a major ginsenoside in Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer (Araliaceae), was reported to have neuroprotective effect. In this study, a method of ultra‐performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/QTOF‐MS) was developed and validated for quantitative analysis of NPD in tissues, urine and feces, using liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) to isolate NPD from different biological samples, and chromatographic separation was performed on an Agilent Zorbax Stable Bond C₁₈ (2.1 × 50 mm, 1.8 µm) column with 0.1% formic acid in water and acetonitrile. All standard calibration curves were linear (all r² > 0.995) within the test range. After oral administration, NPD was extensively distributed to most of the tissues without long‐term accumulation. The higher levels were observed in stomach and intestine, followed by kidney and liver. Approximately 64.56 ± 20.32% of administered dose in feces and 0.0233 ± 0.0356% in urine were found within 96 h, which indicated that the major elimination route was fecal excretion. This analytical method was applied to the study of NPD distribution and excretion in rats after oral intake for the first time. The results we found here are helpful for us to understand the pharmacological effects of NPD, as well as its toxicity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis of well‐defined,soluble poly(3‐alkyl‐4‐benzamide) by chain‐growth condensation polymerization

Well‐defined poly(3‐alkyl‐4‐benzamide) was synthesized by means of chain‐growth condensation polymerization of phenyl 3‐octyl‐4‐(4‐octyloxybenzyl(OOB)amino)benzoate ( 1c ) from initiator 2 , followed by removal of the OOB groups on amide nitrogen of poly 1c . Polymerization of 1c with phenyl 4‐(trifluoromethyl)benzoate ( 2b ) in the presence of 1,1,1,3,3,3‐hexamethyldisilazide (LiHMDS) and LiCl in THF at ?10 °C gave poly 1c with a narrow molecular weight distribution (M_w/M_n ≤ 1.08) and a well‐defined molecular weight (M_n = 4480–12,700) determined by the feed ratio of monomer to initiator (from 10 to 30). The OOB groups of poly 1c were removed with H₂SO₄ to give the corresponding N‐unsubstituted poly(p‐benzamide) (poly 1c′ ) with low polydispersity. The solublity of poly 1c′ in polar organic solvents was dramatically higher than that of poly(p‐benzamide), demonstrating that introduction of an alkyl group on the aromatic ring is very effective for improving the solubility of poly(p‐benzamide). © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 360–365     

A Frustrated Phosphane–Borane Lewis Pair and Hydrogen: A Kinetics Study

The energy profile of a frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) dihydrogen splitting system was determined by a combined experimental kinetic and DFT study. A trimethylene‐bridged phosphane–borane FLP was converted into its endothermic H₂‐cleavage product by sequential H⁺/H^? addition. The system could be handled at low temperature, and the kinetics of the H₂ elimination were determined to give a rate constant of k_HH,exp(299 K)=(2.87±0.1)×10^?4 s^?1 in solution. The primary kinetic isotope effects were determined; for example, (k_HH/k_DD)_exp=3.19. The system was accurately analyzed by DFT calculations.