Reduction of Dimerization Tendency Due to the Decrease in Hybridization Index by Inclusion of 4s and 4p Semicore States as Valence States in Mon (n=2-18) Clusters: A First-Principles Study

Owing to the unique structural, electronic, and physico-chemical properties, molybdenum clusters are expected to play an important role in future nanotechnologies. However, their ground states are still under debate. In this study, the crystal structure analysis by particle swarm optimization (CALYPSO) approach is used for the global minimum search, which is followed by first-principles calculations, to detect an obvious dimerization tendency in Mo\begin{document}$ _n $\end{document} (\begin{document}$ n $\end{document} = 2\begin{document}$ - $\end{document}18) clusters when the 4s and 4p semicore states are not regarded as the valence states. Further, the clusters with even number of atoms are usually magic clusters with high stability. However, after including the 4s and 4p electrons as valence electrons, the dimerization tendency exhibits a drastic reduction because the average hybridization indices \begin{document}$ H_{ \rm{sp}} $\end{document}, \begin{document}$ H_{ \rm{sd}} $\end{document}, and \begin{document}$ H_{ \rm{pd}} $\end{document} are reduced significantly. Overall, this work reports new ground states of Mo\begin{document}$ _n $\end{document} (\begin{document}$ n $\end{document} = 11, 14, 15) clusters and proves that semicore states are essential for Mo\begin{document}$ _n $\end{document}     

Monitoring of the Pre-Equilibrium Step in the Alkyne Hydration Reaction Catalyzed by Au(III) Complexes: A Computational Study Based on Experimental Evidences

The coordination ability of the [(ppy)Au(IPr)]²⁺ fragment [ppy = 2-phenylpyridine, IPr = 1,3-bis(2,6-di-isopropylphenyl)-imidazol-2-ylidene] towards different anionic and neutral X ligands (X = Cl⁻, BF₄⁻, OTf⁻, H₂O, 2-butyne, 3-hexyne) commonly involved in the crucial pre-equilibrium step of the alkyne hydration reaction is computationally investigated to shed light on unexpected experimental observations on its catalytic activity. Experiment reveals that BF₄⁻ and OTf⁻ have very similar coordination ability towards [(ppy)Au(IPr)]²⁺ and slightly less than water, whereas the alkyne complex could not be observed in solution at least at the NMR sensitivity. Due to the steric hindrance/dispersion interaction balance between X and IPr, the [(ppy)Au(IPr)]²⁺ fragment is computationally found to be much less selective than a model [(ppy)Au(NHC)]²⁺ (NHC = 1,3-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene) fragment towards the different ligands, in particular OTf⁻ and BF₄⁻, in agreement with experiment. Effect of the ancillary ligand substitution demonstrates that the coordination ability of Au(III) is quantitatively strongly affected by the nature of the ligands (even more than the net charge of the complex) and that all the investigated gold fragments coordinate to alkynes more strongly than H₂O. Remarkably, a stabilization of the water-coordinating species with respect to the alkyne-coordinating one can only be achieved within a microsolvation model, which reconciles theory with experiment. All the results reported here suggest that both the Au(III) fragment coordination ability and its proper computational modelling in the experimental conditions are fundamental issues for the design of efficient catalysts.     

Exploration of carbonic anhydrase inhibition of bioactive metabolites from Pistacia integerrima by molecular docking and first-principles investigations

Bioassay guided fractionation of Pistacia integerrima crude methanolic extract gave Pistacide-A (1) and Pistacide-B (2), along with ten known phytochemicals (3–12). Biochemical analysis of crude plant extract, in-vitro and in-silico carbonic anhydrase inhibitory potential of newly isolated compounds Pistacide-A (1) and Pistacide-B (2) were performed. The cytotoxicity of extract in methanol, ethylacetate and n-butanol against Artemia salina brine-shrimp was 34.98 g/ml, 160.81 g/ml, and 135.77 g/ml, respectively. The significant antimicrobial activity was exhibited by crude, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol fractions. Compounds 1 (IC₅₀ = 6.51 ± 0.42 mM) and 2 (IC₅₀ = 2.85 ± 0.09 mM) showed good carbonic anhydrase inhibition compared with standard zonisamide drug (IC₅₀ = 1.87 ± 0.003 mM). In addition, we have also clarified the electronic properties, absorption wavelengths, molecular electrostatic potential and Hirshfeld analysis by first-principles studies. The coherent intra-molecular charge transfer was seen from occupied to unoccupied molecular orbitals. The absorption wavelengths calculated at time dependent B3LYP/6-31G** level in methanol provided excellent accord with the experimental evidence. Molecular docking score revealed that Pistacide-B would be an efficient drug than its other counterpart that is rational to the experimental data.     

A Combined Experimental and Computational Study of Chrysanthemin as a Pigment for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

The theoretical study of chrysanthemin (cyanidin 3-glucoside) as a pigment for TiO₂-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was performed with the GAUSSSIAN 09 simulation. The electronic spectra of neutral and anionic chrysanthemin molecules were calculated by density functional theory with B3LYP functional and DGDZVP basis set. A better energy level alignment was found for partially deprotonated molecules of chrysanthemin, with the excited photoelectron having enough energy in order to be transferred to the conduction band of TiO₂ semiconductor in DSSCs. In addition, we used the raw aqueous extracts of roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) calyces as the source of chrysanthemin and the extracts with various pH values were tested in DSSCs. The extracts and photosensitized semiconductor layers were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, and DSSCs based on raw extracts were characterized by current density-voltage measurements.     

Comparative Studies of Selected Criteria Enabling Optimization of the Extraction of Polar Biologically Active Compounds from Alfalfa with Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

The aim of this research was to provide crucial and useful data about the selection of the optimization criteria of supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of alfalfa at a quarter-technical plant. The correlation between more general output, including total phenolics and flavonoids content, and a more specified composition of polar constituents was extensively studied. In all alfalfa extracts, polar bioactive constituents were analyzed by both spectrometric (general output) and chromatographic (detailed output) analyses. Eight specific phenolic acids and nine flavonoids were determined. The most dominant were salicylic acid (221.41 µg g⁻¹), ferulic acid (119.73 µg g⁻¹), quercetin (2.23 µg g⁻¹), and apigenin (2.60 µg g⁻¹). For all seventeen analyzed compounds, response surface methodology and analysis of variance were used to provide the optimal conditions of supercritical fluid extraction for each individual constituent. The obtained data have shown that eight of those compounds have a similar range of optimal process parameters, being significantly analogous for optimization based on total flavonoid content.     

过渡态理论在化学体系中的2个应用实例*

在大学本科一二年级的物理化学教学中,化学动力学章节的学习涉及到对不同时间尺度的认识。本文利用过渡态理论得到的速率常数表达公式,以乙烷分子碳/碳单键旋转和水分子氢键交换的动力学过程为例,对这2个应用实例的动力学过程所发生的时间尺度做出估算。这些时间尺度的估算对于学生理解不同动力学过程的物理图像至关重要,同时也有助于加强学生对重要公式的理解并能够将这些公式在化学体系中灵活运用。     

大学基础化学教学中的知其所以然*

针对大学本科一年级基础化学如“化学概论”等课程教学中,学生对于不断出现的专业名词及物理化学含义的理解问题,以“焓”“熵”等外来词汇以及角动量l、能级分裂单位“Dq”等缩写为例,从专业名词来源开始讲解,使学生在学习过程中既知其然又知其所以然,更好地理解化学专业词汇,尤其是外来词汇的内涵与物理化学意义。     

溯源辨析“活化分子”概念在化学教材中的角色定位*

“活化分子”作为国内化学教育领域广为人知的科学概念,在各类相关化学教材中都有介绍。然而在国外多种经典化学教材中却完全没有“活化分子”的概念,反映出国内外化学教育领域对化学反应速率理论相关知识点的处理上存在明显的差异与分歧。通过溯源关键历史文献,回顾了“活化分子”概念的形成及其在化学反应速率理论发展过程中的角色演变,指出“活化分子”概念已经退出反应速率理论的舞台,在教材中应更多地呈现其在科学史方面的价值,而不是科学价值。     

Nature of Alkali- and Coinage-Metal Bonds versus Hydrogen Bonds

We have quantum chemically studied the structure and nature of alkali- and coinage-metal bonds (M-bonds) versus that of hydrogen bonds between A−M and B⁻ in archetypal [A−M⋅⋅⋅B]⁻ model systems (A, B=F, Cl and M=H, Li, Na, Cu, Ag, Au), using relativistic density functional theory at ZORA-BP86-D3/TZ2P. We find that coinage-metal bonds are stronger than alkali-metal bonds which are stronger than the corresponding hydrogen bonds. Our main purpose is to understand how and why the structure, stability and nature of such bonds are affected if the monovalent central atom H of hydrogen bonds is replaced by an isoelectronic alkali- or coinage-metal atom. To this end, we have analyzed the bonds between A−M and B⁻ using the activation strain model, quantitative Kohn-Sham molecular orbital (MO) theory, energy decomposition analysis (EDA), and Voronoi deformation density (VDD) analysis of the charge distribution.