Stable [48]‐, [50]‐, and [52]Dodecaphyrins(1.1.0.1.1.0.1.1.0.1.1.0): The Largest Hückel Aromatic Molecules

[52]Dodecaphyrin(1.1.0.1.1.0.1.1.0.1.1.0) was quantitatively oxidized with 2,3‐dichloro‐5,6‐dicyano‐1,4‐benzoquinone (DDQ) to the corresponding [50]dodecaphyrin. Further oxidation of [50]dodecaphyrin with MnO₂ quantitatively afforded [48]dodecaphyrin. Of the three, [50]dodecaphyrin showed Hückel aromatic character as the largest aromatic molecule reported to date. Protonation of [50]dodecaphyrin with methanesulfonic acid (MSA) led to the formation of a planar tetraprotonated species that displayed a sharp and intense Soret‐like band at 906 nm with ε=6.5×10⁵ M ^?1 cm^?1 and Q‐band‐like bands at 1346 and 1600 nm.     

Computer estimation of dissociation constants. Part IV. Precision and accuracy of potentiometric determinations

The protonation constants logK _Hj of the acidH _J are determined by regression analysis of potentiometric titration data whencommon parameters (logK _Hj,j = 1,...,J) andgroup parameters (E ⁰,L ₀,H _T ) are refined. Two kinds of systematic error have been investigated: the error from an uncertainty of group parameters and the error from a computational strategy of the minimization algorithm used. An analysis of variance of logK _Hj matrix was made for 6 reproduced titrations and 7 computational strategies of 6 various regression programs. It was concluded that the influence of the program used is negligible. From two ways of calibration of the glass electrode cell,the internal calibration (performed during titration) was slightly more accurate thanthe external calibration (done separately). Of programs tested, the ESAB and ACBA are most powerful because they permit refinement of group parameters and internal calibration. D-tartaric acid was chosen as model substance.Previous Part III.: Iraqi J. Sci.1981,22, 67.     

Laser flash photolysis of fluorinated aryl azides in neutral and acidic solutions

Laser flash photolysis of perfluoro-4-biphenyl azide andN-propyl-4-azido-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzylamide in acetonitrile, water-acetonitrile mixtures, and HCl-containing solutions was studied. The absorption spectra of primary intermediates, singlet arylnitrenes(2a(S) and2b(S), respectively), were recorded. The absolute rate constants of their intersystem crossing in MeCN were measured, and the corresponding Arrhenius parameters were found from the temperature dependences of the rate constants of isomerization of singlet arylnitrenes2a(S) and2b(S) to azirines. Protonation of singlet arylnitrenes2a(S) and2b(S) was observed, the rate constants of their protonation were measured, and the transient absorption spectra of arylnitrenium ions were recorded. It was shown by quantum-chemical calculations (the hybrid B3LYP method) that the arylnitrenium ions that formed have the singlet ground state and the singlet-triplet gap is ∼20 kcal mol⁻¹. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 49–54, January, 2000.     

Boratabenzene Anions C5B(CN)6− and C5B(CF3)6− and the Superacidic Properties of their Conjugate Acids

Designing superacids: A computational study of protonated boratabenzenes and the gas‐phase acidity of their conjugate acids is presented. Conjugate acids of boratabenzenes substituted with CN or CF₃ groups (see figure) are highly acidic species; the protonated hexacyanoboratabenzene and hexakis(trifluoromethyl)boratabenzene have computational gas‐phase acidities of 250.5 and 276.8 kcal mol^?1, respectively.

     

Reactive N-protonated isocyanate species stabilized by bis(μ-hydroxo)divanadium(IV)-substituted polyoxometalate

O- or N-protonated? The bis(μ-hydroxo)divanadium(IV)-substituted γ-Keggin-type polyoxometalate (see picture, left) (TBA)(4)[γ-SiV(IV)(2)W(10)O(36)(μ-OH)(4)] (TBA = tetra(n-butyl)ammonium) was synthesized and characterized by X-ray crystallography. Its reaction with phenyl isocyanate gave (TBA)(4)[γ-SiV(IV)(2)W(10)O(38)(μ-OH)(2)(PhNHCO)(2)], which contains two N-protonated phenyl isocyanate species and catalyzes the cyclotrimerization of phenyl isocyanate.     

On stability and protonation of multielectron systems: The concept of proton affinity. II. Dissociative proton attachment and protonation—Deprotonation mapping

A few touches on the thematic palette “molecular protonation” directly linked to the concept of molecular stability have been accomplished. They are of different nature, of different origin, and taken from “different angles” of lighting; however, together, they definitely provide a sufficiently complete picture “The protonation interaction, as being strong enough, may break the stability of molecules subject to protonation.” © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2012     

Effect of atomic charge,solvation, entropy,and ligand protonation state on MM-PB(GB)SA binding energies of HIV protease

The molecular mechanics-Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM-PBSA) and MM-generalized-Born surface area (MM-GBSA) approaches are commonly used in molecular modeling and drug design. Four critical aspects of these approaches have been investigated for their effect on calculated binding energies: (1) the atomic partial charge method used to parameterize the ligand force field, (2) the method used to calculate the solvation free energy, (3) inclusion of entropy estimates, and (4) the protonation state of the ligand. HIV protease has been used as a test case with six structurally different inhibitors covering a broad range of binding strength to assess the effect of these four parameters. Atomic charge methods are demonstrated to effect both the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and MM-PB(GB)SA binding energy calculation, with a greater effect on the MD simulation. Coefficients of determination and Spearman rank coefficients were used to quantify the performance of the MM-PB(GB)SA methods relative to the experimental data. In general, better performance was achieved using (i) atomic charge models that produced smaller mean absolute atomic charges (Gasteiger, HF/STO-3G and B3LYP/cc-pVTZ), (ii) the MM-GBSA approach over MM-PBSA, while (iii) inclusion of entropy had a slightly positive effect on correlations with experiment. Accurate representation of the ligand protonation state was found to be important. It is demonstrated that these approaches can distinguish ligands according to binding strength, underlining the usefulness of these approaches in computer-aided drug design. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Asymmetric hydroazidation of α-substituted vinyl ketones catalyzed by chiral primary amine

We report herein the first example of asymmetric hydroazidation of α-substituted vinyl ketones by using chiral primary amines as the catalysts.A simple chiral primary-tertiary diamine catalyst derived from lphenylalanine was found to readily promote this aza-Michael addition reaction with enamine protonation as the key stereogenic step,thus enabling the effective synthesis of α-chiral β-azido ketones with good yields and moderate enantioselectivities.