Quantum chemical investigations and bonding analysis of iron complexes with mixed cyano and carbonyl ligands

The equilibrium structures and vibrational frequencies of the iron complexes [Fe(CN)(x)(CO)(y)](q) (x = 0-6 and y = 0-5) have been calculated at the BP86 level of theory. The nature of the Fe-CN and Fe-CO has been analyzed with an energy partitioning method. The calculated Fe-CO bond lengths are in good agreement with the results of X-ray structure analysis whereas the Fe-CN bonds are calculated somewhat longer than the experimental values. The theoretically predicted vibrational frequencies of the C-O stretching mode are always lower and the calculated CN(-) frequencies are higher than the observed fundamental modes. The results of the bonding analysis suggest that the Fe-CO binding interactions have approximately 55% electrostatic character and approximately 45% covalent character. There is a significant contribution of the pi orbital interaction to the Fe-CO covalent bonding which increases when the complexes become negatively charged. The strength of deltaE(pi) may even be larger than deltaE(sigma). The Fe-CN(-) bonds have much less pi character. The calculated binding energy of the Fe-CO pi-interactions correlates very well with the C-O stretching frequencies.     

Unquenched complex dirac spectra at nonzero chemical potential: two-color QCD lattice data versus matrix model

We compare analytic predictions of non-Hermitian chiral random matrix theory with the complex Dirac operator eigenvalue spectrum of two-color lattice gauge theory with dynamical fermions at nonzero chemical potential. The Dirac eigenvalues come in complex conjugate pairs, making the action of this theory real and positive for our choice of two staggered flavors. This enables us to use standard Monte Carlo simulations in testing the influence of the chemical potential and quark mass on complex eigenvalues close to the origin. We find excellent agreement between the analytic predictions and our data for two different volumes over a range of chemical potentials below the chiral phase transition. In particular, we detect the effect of unquenching when going to very small quark masses.     

Towards a Microscopic Understanding of Nucleon Polarizabilities

We outline a microscopic framework to calculate nucleon Compton scattering from the level of quarks and gluons within the covariant Faddeev approach. We explain the connection with hadronic expansions of the Compton scattering amplitude and discuss the obstacles in maintaining electromagnetic gauge invariance. Finally we give preliminary results for the nucleon polarizabilities.     

3D MRI of non-Gaussian (3)He gas diffusion in the rat lung

In (3)He magnetic resonance images of pulmonary air spaces, the confining architecture of the parenchymal tissue results in a non-Gaussian distribution of signal phase that non-exponentially attenuates image intensity as diffusion weighting is increased. Here, two approaches previously used for the analysis of non-Gaussian effects in the lung are compared and related using diffusion-weighted (3)He MR images of mechanically ventilated rats. One approach is model-based and was presented by Yablonskiy et al., while the other approach utilizes the second order decay contribution that is predicted from the cumulant expansion theorem. Total lung coverage is achieved using a hybrid 3D pulse sequence that combines conventional phase encoding with sparse radial sampling for efficient gas usage. This enables the acquisition of nine 3D images using a total of only approximately 1 L of hyperpolarized (3)He gas. Diffusion weighting ranges from 0 s/cm(2) to 40 s/cm(2). Results show that the non-Gaussian effects of (3)He gas diffusion in healthy rat lungs are directly attributed to the anisotropic geometry of lung microstructure as predicted by the Yablonskiy model, and that quantitative analysis over the entire lung can be reliably repeated in time-course studies of the same animal.     

Diatomic interaction energies in the topological theory of atoms in molecules

Summary A partitioning of theab initio total energy into one-center and two-center terms is proposed. The partitioning scheme is developed using the auxiliary function (2, 1; 1, 2) = γ(2, 1)γ(1, 2) and the topological theory of atoms in molecules. It is shown that this scheme can be used at theoretical levels beyond Hartree-Fock. The numerical results indicate that the two-center terms follow the experimental trend of the dissociation energies for a series of related compounds.     

Isotachophoretic analysis of the dihydrofolate reductase reaction in the presence of methotrexate and ascorbic acid

The antifolate methotrexate (MTX) is widely used in cancer chemotherapy. In this study, we show that MTX (MTX-Glu1) and MTX-polyglutamates (MTX-Glu2-5) strongly inhibited the growth of the leukemic cell line MOLT-4. This effect, however, was mitigated by ascorbic acid. We investigated whether ascorbic acid is able to reduce dihydrofolic acid (DHF) to tetrahydrofolic acid (THF) directly or by circumventing the MTX inhibition of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). The inhibition of this NADPH-dependent reduction of DHF by MTX-Glun in the absence or presence of ascorbate, was determined by analytical isotachophoresis. Using 0.01 M HCl/histidine, pH 6.0, as a leading electrolyte (L) and 0.005 M 2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (MES)/histidine, pH 6.0, as a terminating electrolyte (T), MTX-Glun derivatives including MTX-Glu1 could be easily separated, whereas the quantitative estimation of THF was not possible. A quantitative characterization of the DHFR reaction by measuring NADPH, NADP+ and ascorbate was achieved with another system (L: 0.01 M HCI/beta-alanine, pH 3.73; T: 0.01 M caproic acid, pH 3.27). Nanomolar concentrations of MTX-Glu1-5 inhibited consumption of NADPH and production of NADP+. Ascorbic acid was not able to reduce DHF, neither directly nor after inhibition of DHFR by MTX. However, ascorbic acid seemed to diminish the oxidation of THF and this may account for its capacity to reduce the inhibitory effect of MTX on MOLT-4 cells.     

Die Deprotonierung silylierter Amido-Komplexe von Seltenerdelementen

Deprotonation Reactions of Silylated Amido Complexes of Rare Earth Elements The deprotonation of the rare earth element-tris(bistrimethylsilyl)amides Ln[N(SiMe₃)₂]₃ of scandium, ytterbium, and lutetium with sodium-bis(trimethylsilyl)amide in THF leads to the complexes [Na(THF)₃LnCH₂SiMe₂NSiMe₃{N(SiMe₃)₂}₂] [Ln = Sc ( 1 ), Yb ( 2 ), and Lu ( 3 )]. According to crystal structure analyses of 1 and 2 the metal atoms Sc and Yb are constituents of planar LnCSiN four-membered rings. At the same time, the C atom of the CH₂ group is coordinated with the sodium ion in a linear axis Ln–C–Na; the sodium ion obtains a distorted tetrahedral arrangement by three THF molecules. The equatorial positions of the methylene-C atom, which is coordinated in a trigonal bipyramidal fashion, are occupied by the two H atoms and the Si atom of the four-membered ring. 2.6-dimethylbenzoisonitrile can be inserted into the Yb–CH₂ bond of 2 and the new five-membered heterocylce YbNCSiN originates, the exocyclic CH₂ group of which enters into a C–C coupling with the centrosymmetric dimer 4 while the ytterbium undergoes reduction. At the same time, sodium-7-methyl indolate is formed, which together with [NaN(SiMe₃)₂(THF)₂] forms the centrosymmetric dimeric molecular aggregate [NaN(SiMe₃)₂(THF)₂Na(C₉H₁₆N)]₂ ( 5 ). 1 : Space group P2₁/n, Z = 8, lattice dimensions at –80 °C: a = 2941.4(2), b = 1205.5(1), c = 2952.4(3) pm; β = 113.455(8)°; R₁ = 0.0625. 2 : Space group P2₁/n, Z = 8, lattice dimensions at –80 °C: a = 2943.9(1), b = 1219.5(1), c = 2944.3(1) pm; β = 113.372(4)°; R₁ = 0.0361. 4 : Space group P 1, Z = 4, lattice dimensions at –80 °C: a = 1117.0(1), b = 1207.5(1), c = 1614.3(2) pm; α = 73.634(10)°, β = 82.091(10)°, γ = 74.391(10)°; R₁ = 0.0525. 5 : Space group P2₁/n, Z = 2, lattice dimensions at –80 °C: a = 1126.7(1), b = 1459.3(1), c = 1741.1(1) pm; β = 96.461(8)°; R₁ = 0.0458. Quantum chemical DFT calculations of the scandium model compound [Na(Me₂O)₃ScCH₂SiMe₂NSiH₃{N(SiH₃)₂}₂] ( 1 M ) give a very large negative charge at the pentacoordinated carbon atom of the four-membered ring that is concentrated in a lone-pair orbital which has mainly p character. The carbon atom interacts with the positively charged scandium atom mainly by Coulombic interactions.