Tetrakis(trimethylsiloxy)titanium (TTMST, Ti(OSiMe₃)₄) possesses an isolated Ti center and is a highly active homogeneous catalyst in epoxidation of various olefins. The structure of TTMST resembles that of the active sites in some heterogeneous Ti−Si epoxidation catalysts, especially silylated titania−silica mixed oxides. Water cleaves the Ti−O−Si bond and deactivates the catalyst. An alkyl hydroperoxide, TBHP (tert-butyl hydroperoxide), does not cleave the Ti−O−Si bond, but interacts via weak hydrogen-bonding as supported by NMR, DOSY, IR, and computational studies. ATR−IR spectroscopy combined with computational investigations shows that more than one, that is, up to four, TBHP can undergo hydrogen-bonding with TTMST, leading to the activation of the O−O bond of TBHP. The greater the number of TBHP molecules that form hydrogen bonds to TTMST, the more electrophilic the O−O bond becomes, and the more active the complex is for epoxidation. An allylic alcohol, 2-cyclohexen-1-ol, does not interact strongly with TTMST, but the interaction is prominent when it interacts with the TTMST−TBHP complex. On the basis of the experimental and theoretical findings, a hydrogen-bond-assisted epoxidation mechanism of TTMST is suggested.

In situ attenuated total reflection (ATR) infrared and UV–vis spectroscopy are combined to yield simultaneous time-resolved information on dissolved reaction products, adsorbed species, and the catalyst during the oxidation of ethanol and 2-propanol on a 5% Pd/Al₂O₃ catalyst. The oxidation is initiated by change from hydrogen- to oxygen-saturated solvent flow. 2-Propanol oxidation is observed only in the transient period, whereas ethanol oxidation is also observed in the steady state. This may be ascribed to overoxidation of the catalyst in the former case. In a mixture of the two alcohols the same thing is observed. Competitive adsorption in the steady state may explain this behavior. For ethanol oxidation ethyl acetate is also observed during the transient period. The UV–vis spectra reveal a fast reversible change of the catalyst with switching between hydrogen and oxygen and a slow irreversible change during ethanol oxidation. The latter is ascribed to the change in Pd particle structure, which hardly affects, however, catalyst activity on the time scale of about 1 h.

Adsorption of the tripeptide l-glutathione (γ-glu-cys-gly) on gold surfaces was investigated by polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) and attenuated total reflection (ATR) infrared spectroscopy. PM-IRRAS was used to study ex situ the adsorbate layer prepared from aqueous solutions at different pH, whereas ATR-IR was applied to study in situ adsorption from ethanol in the presence and absence of acid and base. ATR-IR was furthermore combined with modulation spectroscopy in order to investigate the reversible changes within the adsorbate layer induced by acid and base stimuli, respectively. The molecule is firmly anchored on the gold surface via the thiol group of the cys part. However, the ATR-IR spectra in ethanol indicate a further interaction with the gold surface via the carboxylic acid group of the gly part of the molecule, which deprotonates upon adsorption. Hydrochloric acid readily protonates the two acid groups of the adsorbed molecule. During subsequent ethanol flow the acid groups deprotonate again, a process which proceeds in two distinct steps: a fast step associated with the deprotonation of the acid in the glu part of the molecule and a considerably slower step associated with deprotonation of the acid in the gly moiety. The latter process is assisted by the interaction of the corresponding acid group with the surface. The spectra furthermore indicate a rearrangement of the hydrogen bonding network within the adsorbate layer upon deprotonation. Depending on the protonation state during adsorption of l-glutathione, the response toward identical protonation−deprotonation stimuli is significantly different. This is explained by the ionic state-dependent shape of the molecule, as supported by density functional theory calculations. The different shapes of the individual molecules during layer formation thus influence the structure of the adsorbate layer.

The scope of the asymmetric hydrogenation of functionalized ketones over cinchona-modified platinum was extended to achiral α-hydroxyketones. Cinchonidine showed by far the best catalytic performance affording an enantiomeric excess between 57 and 82% depending on the substrate. O-methoxy-cinchonidine showed poor enantioselection. O-phenoxy-cinchonidine favoured the opposite enantiomer compared to cinchonidine. Solvents with empirical solvent parameters E_T ^N – ranging from 0.10 to 0.65 were tested. Tert-butylmethylether proved to be the most suitable. The highest ratio of substrate/cinchonidine where no loss in e.e. was observed was at around 540, independent of the structure of the α-hydroxyketone. The oxygen in α-position to the ketone seems to play an important role in the enantioselection as well as a phenyl ring or a rigid cis-conformation. The dependence of the enantiomeric excess on the modifier structure and the inversion of the sense of enantiodifferentiation is interpreted in terms of repulsive interactions, which become more evident as the steric demand of the functional group (OH, O-Me, O-Ph) of the modifier increases. The findings indicate that a hydrogen bond in the modifier reactant complex involving the hydroxyl functionality of cinchonidine is not crucial in order to achieve high enantioselectivity.

Alumina-supported rhodium modified with cinchonidine has been investigated with regard to its applicability in the enantioselective hydrogenation of various aromatic ketones possessing an α-hydroxy or α-methoxy group. The study revealed that depending on the substrate, rhodium can outperform the catalytic behavior of platinum. With one of the substrates, 2-hydroxy-1-(4-methoxy-phenyl)-ethanone (4), an enantiomeric excess (ee) of 80% at 89% conversion was reached, which is the highest ee reported so far for chirally modified rhodium. However, completely different conditions are required to achieve optimal catalytic performance with rhodium, compared with platinum. Rhodium requires a much higher modifier concentration, and high hydrogen pressure is favorable. The higher modifier concentration required is traced to the much higher activity of rhodium for the hydrogenation of the quinoline ring, which is assumed to be the anchoring moiety of the cinchona modifiers on the platinum group metals. Changing the modifier from cinchonidine to O-phenoxy-cinchonidine resulted in a switch of the major enantiomer of the product, as exemplified for 2-hydroxyacetophenone (1), which showed a switch from 73% ee in favor of the (R)-product to 68% ee for the (S)-product when the modifier was changed from cinchonidine to O-phenoxy-cinchonidine.

The interaction of proline with self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of l-glutathione (γ-glu-cys-gly) on gold was investigated by a combination of attenuated total reflection (ATR-IR) infrared and modulation excitation spectroscopy (MES). The latter technique makes use of phase-sensitive detection of periodically varying signals and allows discrimination between species with different kinetics such as dissolved proline and adsorbed molecules. By applying a convection−diffusion model coupled to adsorption and desorption, it was possible to extract relative adsorption and desorption rates from the experimental data for the two enantiomers of proline, fully accounting for mass transport within the flow-through cell. The results show that, in particular, the desorption kinetics is different for the two enantiomers. Therefore, the l-glutathione SAM can discriminate between enantiomers, d-proline being stronger bound. The IR spectra reveal that upon interaction with proline the adsorbed l-glutathione is protonated at the gly part of the molecule, which, in the absence of proline, is bound to the gold surface as carboxylate. The observed protonation of adsorbed l-glutathione upon interaction with proline goes along with a structural change of the former, which seems to play an important role for enantiodiscrimination.

In the hydrogenation of ketopantolactone, the (R,R) and (R,S) diastereomers of a new chiral modifier, pantoyl-naphthylethylamine, afforded 74 and 40% ee, respectively, to (R)-pantolactone. On the basis of NOE studies and theoretical calculations, the different properties of the diastereomers and in particular the effect of acid on the modifier structure are deduced from differences in conformational rigidity and steric constraint. In case of the (R,R)-diastereomer, a loose, extended structure in apolar solvent changes to a compact conformation via an additional intramolecular hydrogen bond, resulting in a more defined “chiral pocket” available for the reactant on the Pt surface.

O-Phenylcinchonidine (PhOCD) is known to efficiently induce inversion of enantioselectivity with respect to cinchonidine (CD) in the enantioselective hydrogenation of various activated ketones on Pt/Al₂O₃. To understand the origin of the switch of enantioselective properties of the catalyst, the adsorption of PhOCD has been studied by in situ ATR-IR spectroscopy, in the presence of organic solvent and dissolved hydrogen, i.e., under conditions used for catalytic hydrogenation. The adsorption structures and energies of the anchoring group of CD and PhOCD were calculated on a Pt 38 cluster, using relativistically corrected density functional theory (DFT). Both approaches indicate that both modifiers are adsorbed via the quinoline ring and that the spatial arrangement of the quinuclidine skeleton is critical for the chiral recognition. New molecular level information on the conformation of CD relative to PhOCD adsorbed on a surface is extracted from the ATR spectra and supported by DFT calculations. The result is a clearer picture of the role played by the phenyl group in defining the chiral space created by the modifiers on Pt. Moreover, when CD was added to a pre-equilibrated adsorbed layer of PhOCD, a chiral adsorbed layer was formed with CD as the dominant modifier, indicating that CD adsorbs more strongly than PhOCD. Conversely, when PhOCD was added to preadsorbed CD, no significant substitution occurred. The process leading to nonlinear effects in heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis has been characterized by in situ spectroscopy, and new insight into a heterogeneous catalytic R−S switch system is provided.

The adsorption of N-acetyl-l-cysteine from ethanol solution on gold has been studied by in situ attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy, polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy, and a quartz crystal microbalance. After an initial fast adsorption, in situ ATR-IR revealed two considerably slower processes, besides further adsorption. The appearance of carboxylate bands and the partial disappearance of the carboxylic acid bands demonstrated that part of the molecules on the surface underwent deprotonation. In addition, the C=O stretching vibration of the carboxylic acid group shifted to lower and the amide II band to higher wavenumbers, indicating hydrogen-bonding interactions within the adsorbate layer. Based on the initial ATR-IR spectrum, which did not reveal deprotonation, the orientation of the molecule within the adsorbate layer was determined. For this, density functional theory was used to calculate the transition dipole moment vectors of the vibrational modes of N-acetyl-l-cysteine. The projections of the latter onto the z-axis of the fixed surface coordinate system were used to determine relative band intensities for different orientations of the molecule. The analysis revealed that the amide group is tilted with respect to and points away from the surface, whereas the carboxylic acid is in proximity to the surface, which is also supported by a shift of the C−O−H bending mode. This position of the acid group favors its deprotonation assisted by the gold surface and easily enables intermolecular interactions. Periodic acid stimuli revealed reversible protonation/deprotonation of part of the adsorbed molecules. However, only non-hydrogen-bonded carboxylic acid groups showed a response toward the acid stimuli.

To bring evidence for or against the hypothesis of catalytic hydrogenation by intact trinuclear arene ruthenium clusters containing an oxo cap, cationic Ru₃O clusters with three different arene ligands (intrinsically chiral tetrahedra) have been synthesized as racemic mixtures. By introduction of a chiral auxiliary substituent at one of the three different arene ligands, the separation of the two diastereomers was possible. The chiral Ru₃O framework was evidenced by X-ray crystallography, by circular dichroism in the UV and IR regions, and by chiral shift reagents in the NMR spectra. The catalytic hydrogenation of the prochiral substrate methyl 2-acetamidoacrylate using a chiral Ru₃O cluster showed no asymmetric induction, suggesting that the catalytically active species is not the intact Ru₃O cluster.

Vibrational circular dichroism is used to determine the conformation of a thiol adsorbed on gold nanoparticles.

The molecular structure of the highly oxygen-sensitive complex [L³Cu^I(NCCH₃)](BF₄) (1) reveals approximately symmetrical coordination by the fac-tridentate (tripodal) ligand L³ = tris(3-isopropyl-4,5-trimethylenepyrazolyl)methane and a rather short Cu^I-N(acetonitrile) distance of 1.865(5) Å. In CH₂Cl₂ at -78 °C the colourless compound reacts with O₂ to yield a labile purple intermediate (λ_max 517 nm) - presumably a peroxodicopper(II) complex - which decomposes at -30 °C. No such intermediate was observed on reaction of the Cu^I complex of bis(2-pyridylmethyl)benzylamine with O₂ at -80 °C. However, an EPR spectrum with g^|| = 2.17 and g^_|_ = 2.03 without ^63,65Cu hyperfine splitting was observed at low temperatures. Exposure of the precursor 1 to air under ambient conditions yields dinuclear [L³Cu^||(μ-OH)₂Cu^IIL³](BF₄)₂ (2) which exhibits an EPR detectable dissociation into monomers in CH₂Cl₂ solution. The structure of the hexakis(dichloromethane) solvate of 2 with Cu-Cu and Cu-O distances of 3.055 and 1.94Å, respectively, is typical for dihydroxo-bridged dicopper compounds with square-pyramidal Cu^|| configuration (τ = 0.03), adopting an anti arrangement. In agreement with the relatively wide Cu-O-Cu angles of 103.5° an analysis of the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility revealed a rather strong (J = -633 cm^-1) antiparallel spin-spin coupling. The effect is ascribed to the steric bulk of the ligand L³.

Herein is reported an experimental and theoretical study of the circular dichroism properties of TRISPHAT (1) anion. ECD analysis of the [tetramethylammonium][Δ-1] salt confirms the absolute configuration assignment obtained through X-ray crystallographic analysis of the parent cinchonidium salt. The structure, infrared, and vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectra derived from density functional theory (DFT) calculations are compared with experimental data.

The enantioseparation of baclofen (4-amino-3-p-chlorophenylbutyric acid) was achieved by CE-LIF with highly sulfated β-CD (HS-β-CD) as chiral selector. Naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxaldehyde was used for the derivatization of nonfluorescent baclofen. HS-β-CD (2%) containing 50 mM borate buffer at pH 9.5 was chosen as the optimal running electrolyte and applied to the analysis of baclofen enantiomers in human plasma. The linearity of calibration curves (R ² ≥ 0.998) for R-(-) and S-(+)-baclofen was in the 0.1-2.0 μM concentration range. After a simple ACN-protein precipitation, the LOD of baclofen in plasma sample was found as low as 50 nM.

The optical properties of a thin film of the [Ru(bpy)₃][NaCr(ox)₃] network structure obtained by pulsed laser deposition are described. The luminescence shows the characteristic doublet of R lines at 14 400 cm⁻¹ of the spin-forbidden ligand field transition ^2E(t2g3)→^4A₂(t2g3) of the [Cr(ox)₃]³⁻ chromophore. The resonant energy migration within the R₁ line shows that the three-dimensional crystallographic structure is preserved during the coating process. The observation of the R lines of [Cr(bpy)₃]³⁺ at 13 710 cm⁻¹ indicates that a small fraction of Cr³⁺ ions migrate from the oxalate network to the tris-bipyridine cation site in the cavities of the network.

In many instances, the deduction of spectroscopic parameters from electron paramagnetic resonance spectra depends on spectrum simulation and parameter optimization. We have developed two software packages based on the approximate formulae of Iwasaki for the calculation of line positions and on the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm for nonlinear least-squares optimization. Our software applies to systems having an anisotropicg-tensor and an arbitrary number of hyperfine interactions with nuclei. They are written in the FORTRAN 77 programming language. At present, neither the nuclear quadrupolar interaction nor the nuclear Zeeman interaction terms are handled. The programs CRISAJU and EPRPOWDERFIT apply to the cases of single crystals and powders, respectively. For use in the latter, thanks to the software ODYSSEE which implements automatic differentiation of algorithms, an ancillary subroutine, which contributes to the performance of the optimization, was created automatically.

The recombination dynamics of ion pairs generated upon electron transfer quenching of perylene in the first singlet excited state by tetracyanoethylene in acetonitrile is quantitatively described by the extended unified theory of photoionization/recombination. The extension incorporates the hot recombination of the ion pair passing through the level-crossing point during its diffusive motion along the reaction coordinate down to the equilibrium state. The ultrafast hot recombination vastly reduces the yield of equilibrated ion pairs subjected to subsequent thermal charge recombination and separation into free ions. The relatively successful fit of the theory to the experimentally measured kinetics of ion accumulation/recombination and free ion yield represents a firm justification of hot recombination of about 90% of primary generated ion pairs.

UNIL088 is a water-soluble prodrug of cyclosporine A (CsA) developed for topical eye delivery. Such a prodrug has to fulfil two paradoxical requirements as it must be rapidly hydrolysed under physiological conditions but also retain a long shelf-life in aqueous media. This study has been conducted to explore the stability of UNIL088 formulated as an eyedrop solution. The stability study of the prodrug was performed over a pH range of 5–7 at 20 °C and at various ionic strengths. The molecule was more stable at pH 5 than at pH 7 with conversion rate constant of 3.2 × 10⁻³ and 26.0 × 10⁻³ days⁻¹, respectively. The effect of temperature was studied at four different temperatures and activation energy was determined. Conversion of UNIL088 followed a pseudo-first-order kinetic with an activation energy of 79.4 kJ mol⁻¹. Due to its low solubility, CsA generated precipitated in the solution. The average size of CsA precipitates, determined by photon spectroscopy, was 0.22 and 1.08 μm at 7 and 14 days, respectively. The hydrolysis mechanism was partially elucidated by identification of the intermediate pSer-Sar-CsA.

The tendency for mixed-isotope O₂ fragments to exhibit different stretching frequencies in asymmetric environments is examined with various levels of electronic structure theory for simple peroxides and peroxyl radicals, as well as for a variety of monocopper–O₂ complexes. The study of the monocopper species is motivated by their relevance to the active site of galactose oxidase. Extensive theoretical work with an experimental model characterized by Jazdzewski et al. (J. Biol. Inorg. Chem. 8:381–393, 2003) suggests that the failure to observe a splitting between ¹⁶O¹⁸O and ¹⁸O¹⁶O isotopomers cannot be taken as evidence against end-on O₂ coordination. Conformational analysis on an energetic basis, however, is complicated by biradical character inherent in all of the copper–O₂ singlet structures.

Quantum chemical calculations show that metal−hydride molecules are more compact when they are placed inside a fullerene cage than when they are isolated molecules. The metal−hydrogen bond distance in ZrH₄ becomes 0.15 Å shorter when it is placed inside a C₆₀ cage. Metal−polyhydride molecules with a large number of H atoms such as ScH₁₅ and ZrH₁₆, which are not bound as isolated molecules, are predicted to be bound inside a fullerene cage. It is also shown that two TiH₁₆ clusters are bound inside a bicapped (9,0) carbon nanotube. Possible ways to make metal−hydrides inside C₆₀ and nanotubes are suggested.

Four compounds containing metal−metal quadruple bonds, the [M₂(CH₃)₈]^n- ions (M = Cr, Mo, W, Re and n = 4, 4, 4, 2, respectively), have been studied theoretically using multiconfigurational quantum-chemical methods. The molecular structure of the ground state of these compounds has been determined and the energy of the δ → δ* transition has been calculated and compared with previous experimental measurements. The high negative charges on the Cr, Mo, and W complexes lead to difficulties in the successful modeling of the ground-state structures, a problem that has been addressed by the explicit inclusion of four Li⁺ ions in these calculations. The ground-state geometries of the complexes and the δ → δ* transition have been modeled with either excellent agreement with experiment (Re) or satisfactory agreement (Cr, Mo, and W).

The synthesis, structural characterization, and photophysical behavior of a 14-membered tetraazamacrocycle with pendant 4-dimethylaminobenzyl (DMAB) and 9-anthracenylmethyl groups is reported (L³, 6-((9-anthracenylmethyl)amino)-trans-6,13-dimethyl-13-((4-dimethylaminobenzyl)amino)-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane). In its free base form, this compound displays rapid intramolecular photoinduced electron transfer (PET) quenching of the anthracene emission, with both the secondary amines and the DMAB group capable of acting as electron donors. When complexed with Zn(II), the characteristic fluorescence of the anthracene chromophore is restored as the former of these pathways is deactivated by coordination. Importantly, it is shown that the DMAB group, which remains uncoordinated and PET active, acts only very weakly to quench emission, by comparison to the behavior of a model Zn complex lacking the pendant DMAB group, [ZnL²]²⁺ (Chart 1). By contrast, Stern−Volmer analysis of intermolecular quenching of [ZnL²]²⁺ by N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA) has shown that this reaction is diffusion limited. Hence, the pivotal role of the bridge in influencing intramolecular PET is highlighted.

Mixed matlokite hosts of composition BaFBr_xI_1−x(0≤x≤1) (pure and doped with Sm²⁺, Eu²⁺) were studied with x-ray crystallography, luminescence, Raman, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Results are presented for BaFBr_0.5I_0.5 which demonstrate that a ferrielectric domain structure is formed due to the fact that the heavy halogen ions form separate sublattices with randomly distributed domain walls. The space group of a domain is P4  mm (No. 99). The EPR data from Eu²⁺ allowed to determine the volume fraction of domains.

Separation and determination of some common metal ions was achieved with methyl 3-amino-3-(pyridin-3-yl)propanoate dihydrochloride (MAPP) as an ion-pairing reagent and pyridine as a detectable counter-ion for indirect UV detection at 254 nm. The effects of the complexing reagent and chromophore concentrations, applied voltage, and organic solvent content on the separation were investigated. The optimized separation was carried out in a running electrolyte containing 16 mM MAPP and 20 mM pyridine at pH 4.0 and was successfully applied to the qualitative and quantitative analysis of Li⁺, Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Ba²⁺, Ni²⁺, and Zn²⁺ in pharmaceutical vitamin preparations and various water samples.

The orbital-free frozen-density embedding scheme within density-functional theory [ T. A. Wesolowski and A. Warshel, J. Phys. Chem. 97, 8050 (1993) ] is applied to the calculation of induced dipole moments of the van der Waals complexes CO₂⋯X (X = He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Hg). The accuracy of the embedding scheme is investigated by comparing to the results of supermolecule Kohn-Sham density-functional theory calculations. The influence of the basis set and the consequences of using orbital-dependent approximations to the exchange-correlation potential in embedding calculations are examined. It is found that in supermolecular Kohn-Sham density-functional calculations, different common approximations to the exchange-correlation potential are not able to describe the induced dipole moments correctly and the reasons for this failure are analyzed. It is shown that the orbital-free embedding scheme is a useful tool for applying different approximations to the exchange-correlation potential in different subsystems and that a physically guided choice of approximations for the different subsystems improves the calculated dipole moments significantly.

Covalent bonding is commonly described by Lewis's theory, with an electron pair shared between two atoms constituting one full bond. Beginning with the valence bond description for the hydrogen molecule, quantum chemists have further explored the fundamental nature of the chemical bond for atoms throughout the periodic table, confirming that most molecules are indeed held together by one electron pair for each bond. But more complex binding may occur when large numbers of atomic orbitals can participate in bond formation. Such behaviour is common with transition metals. When involving heavy actinide elements, metal–metal bonds might prove particularly complicated. To date, evidence for actinide–actinide bonds is restricted to the matrix-isolation of uranium hydrides, including H₂U–UH₂, and the gas-phase detection and preliminary theoretical study of the uranium molecule, U₂. Here we report quantum chemical calculations on U₂, showing that, although the strength of the U₂ bond is comparable to that of other multiple bonds between transition metals, the bonding pattern is unique. We find that the molecule contains three electron-pair bonds and four one-electron bonds (that is, 10 bonding electrons, corresponding to a quintuple bond), and two ferromagnetically coupled electrons localized on one U atom each—so all known covalent bonding types are contributing.

The U+O chemi-ionization reaction has been investigated by quantum chemical methods. Potential-energy curves have been calculated for several electronic states of UO and UO⁺. Comparison with the available spectroscopic and thermodynamic values for these species is reported and a mechanism for the chemi-ionization reaction U+O→UO⁺+e⁻ is proposed. The U+O and Sm+O chemi-ionization reactions are the first two metal-plus-oxidant chemi-ionization reactions to be studied theoretically in this way.

Quantum chemical calculations, based on multiconfigurational wave functions and including relativistic effects, show that the U₂²⁺ system has a large number of low-lying electronic states with S of 0 to 2 and Λ ranging from zero to ten. These states share a very small bond length of about 2.30 Å, compared to 2.43 Å in neutral U₂. The Coulomb explosion to 2 U⁺ lowers the energy by only 1.6 eV and is separated by a broad barrier.

The gas-phase electronic spectra of 2-(2'-hydroxybenzoyl)pyrrole and 2-(2'-methoxybenzoyl)pyrrole have been determined using multiconfigurational perturbation theory (CASPT2). Solvatochromic spectral shifts for these molecules have been measured in cyclohexane and methanol and the electrostatic components of these shifts have been estimated using the vertical electrostatic model (VEM 4.2) developed for the configuration interaction with single excitations model implemented with the intermediate neglect of differential overlap Hamiltonian (CIS/INDO/S2). Comparison between theory and experiment and an interpretation of the main spectral differences between the two substituted pyrroles and their solvation are presented.

The electronic spectrum of the UO₂ molecule has been determined using multiconfigurational wave functions together with the inclusion spin−orbit coupling. The molecule has been found to have a (5fφ)(7s), ³Φ_2u, ground state. The lowest state of gerade symmetry, ³H_4g, corresponding to the electronic configuration (5f)² was found 3330 cm^-1 above the ground state. The computed energy levels and oscillator strengths were used for the assignment of the experimental spectrum in the energy range 17 000−19 000 and 27 000−32 000 cm^-1.

The coordination environment of uranyl in water has been studied using a combined quantum mechanical and molecular dynamics approach. Multiconfigurational wave function calculations have been performed to generate pair potentials between uranyl and water. The quantum chemically determined energies have been used to fit parameters in a polarizable force field with an added charge transfer term. Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed for the uranyl ion and up to 400 water molecules. The results show a uranyl ion with five water molecules coordinated in the equatorial plane. The U−O(H₂O) distance is 2.40 Å, which is close to the experimental estimates. A second coordination shell starts at about 4.7 Å from the uranium atom. No hydrogen bonding is found between the uranyl oxygens and water. Exchange of waters between the first and second solvation shell is found to occur through a path intermediate between association and interchange. This is the first fully ab initio determination of the solvation of the uranyl ion in water.

In this study, we investigate the performance of the frozen-density embedding scheme within density-functional theory [ J. Phys. Chem. 97, 8050 (1993) ] to model the solvent effects on the electron-spin-resonance hyperfine coupling constants (hfcc’s) of the H₂NO molecule. The hfcc’s for this molecule depend critically on the out-of-plane bending angle of the NO bond from the molecular plane. Therefore, solvent effects can have an influence on both the electronic structure for a given configuration of solute and solvent molecules and on the probability for different solute (plus solvent) structures compared to the gas phase. For an accurate modeling of dynamic effects in solution, we employ the Car-Parrinello molecular-dynamics (CPMD) approach. A first-principles-based Monte Carlo scheme is used for the gas-phase simulation, in order to avoid problems in the thermal equilibration for this small molecule. Calculations of small H₂NO-water clusters show that microsolvation effects of water molecules due to hydrogen bonding can be reproduced by frozen-density embedding calculations. Even simple sum-of-molecular-densities approaches for the frozen density lead to good results. This allows us to include also bulk solvent effects by performing frozen-density calculations with many explicit water molecules for snapshots from the CPMD simulation. The electronic effect of the solvent at a given structure is reproduced by the frozen-density embedding. Dynamic structural effects in solution are found to be similar to the gas phase. But the small differences in the average structures still induce significant changes in the computed shifts due to the strong dependence of the hyperfine coupling constants on the out-of-plane bending angle.

The effect of the excitation wavelength on the charge recombination (CR) dynamics of several donor−acceptor complexes (DACs) composed of benzene derivatives as donors and of tetracyanoethylene or pyromellitic dianhydride as acceptors has been investigated in polar solvents using ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopy. Three different wavelength effects have been observed. (1) With complexes exhibiting two well-separated charge-transfer bands, the CR dynamics was found to be slower by a factor of about 1.5 upon excitation in the high-energy band. This effect was measured in both fast and slow relaxing solvents and was discussed in terms of different DAC geometries. (2) When the CR is faster than diffusive solvation, a slowing down of the CR with increasing excitation wavelength accompanied by an increase of the nonexponential character of the dynamics was measured. This effect appears only when exciting on the red edge of the charge-transfer absorption band. (3) When the driving force for CR is small, both nonequilibrium (hot) and thermally activated CR pathways can be operative. The results obtained with such a complex indicate that the relative contribution of these two paths depends on the excitation wavelength.

Recent applications of one-electron equations for embedded electron density introduced originally for multi-level modeling of solvated molecules (T.A. Wesolowski, A. Warshel, J. Phys. Chem. 1993, 97, 8050) are reviewed. The considered applications concern properties directly related to the electronic structure of molecules (or an atom) in condensed phase such as: i) localized electronic excitations in a chromophore involved in a hydrogen-bonded intermolecular complex; ii) UV/Vis spectra of acetone in water; and iii) energy levels of f-orbitals for lanthanide cations in a crystalline environment. For each case studied, the embedding potential is represented graphically and its qualitative features are discussed.

The absorption spectra of aminocoumarin C151 in water and n-hexane solution are investigated by an explicit quantum chemical solvent model. We improved the efficiency of the frozen-density embedding scheme, as used in a former study on solvatochromism (J. Chem. Phys. 2005, 122, 094115) to describe very large solvent shells. The computer time used in this new implementation scales approximately linearly (with a low prefactor) with the number of solvent molecules. We test the ability of the frozen-density embedding to describe specific solvent effects due to hydrogen bonding for a small example system, as well as the convergence of the excitation energy with the number of solvent molecules considered in the solvation shell. Calculations with up to 500 water molecules (1500 atoms) in the solvent system are carried out. The absorption spectra are studied for C151 in aqueous or n-hexane solution for direct comparison with experimental data. To obtain snapshots of the dye molecule in solution, for which subsequent excitation energies are calculated, we use a classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulation with a force field adapted to first-principles calculations. In the calculation of solvatochromic shifts between solvents of different polarity, the vertical excitation energy obtained at the equilibrium structure of the isolated chromophore is sometimes taken as a guess for the excitation energy in a nonpolar solvent. Our results show that this is, in general, not an appropriate assumption. This is mainly due to the fact that the solute dynamics is neglected. The experimental shift between n-hexane and water as solvents is qualitatively reproduced, even by the simplest embedding approximation, and the results can be improved by a partial polarization of the frozen density. It is shown that the shift is mainly due to the electronic effect of the water molecules, and the structural effects are similar in n-hexane and water. By including water molecules, which might be directly involved in the excitation, in the embedded region, an agreement with experimental values within 0.05 eV is achieved.

The cubic Prussian blue analogue Mn₃[Mn(CN)₆]₂ · 15 H₂O, which has the advantage of being transparent and magnetic (T_N = 35 K) at the same time, has been investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The three-dimensional structure is built of Mn^II ions linked to Mn^III ions by μ-bridging cyanides, to form a crystal structure, which is related to the NaCl type. In a first step, the relative stabilities of the mononuclear complexes [Mn(CN)₆]^z- (z = 2 to 4) have been studied as a function of the oxidation state, spin configuration, and the linkage isomerism of the cyanide ligand. The results we have obtained by this investigation are in good agreement with our chemical expertise. In addition, the calculations have been extended to the dinuclear [Mn₂(CN)₁₁]^z- (z = 5 and 6) clusters. Furthermore, we used DFT to model the magnetic properties as well as the ³T₁ → ¹T₂ transition, which has been observed by single-crystal near-IR spectra of Mn₃[Mn(CN)₆]₂ · 15 H₂O.

The compound {Fe(pmd)[Ag(CN)₂][Ag₂(CN)₃]} (pmd=pyrimidine) was synthesized and characterized. Magnetic, calorimetric and single crystal visible spectroscopic studies demonstrate the occurrence of a two-step high-spin (HS) ↔ low-spin (LS) transition. The critical temperatures are T_c1=185 and T_c2=148 K. Each step involves ~50 % of the iron centers, with the low-temperature step showing a hysteresis of 2.5 K. The enthalpy and entropy variations associated with the two steps are ΔH₁=3.6±0.4 kJ mol^-1 and ΔS₁=19.5±3 J K^-1 mol^-1; ΔH₂=4.8±0.4 kJ mol^-1 and ΔS₂=33.5±3 J K^-1 mol^-1. Photomagnetic and visible spectroscopy experiments show that below 50 K, where the LS state is the thermodynamically stable state, the compound can be switched quantitatively to the HS state using green-red light (550-650 nm). HS-to-LS relaxation experiments in the dark at temperatures between 15 and 55 K show that the relaxation takes place via a two-step cooperative process, which was analyzed in the context of the mean field theory. The crystal structure has been studied at 290, 220, 170, 90 and 30 K together with 30 K after irradiation. The compound adopts monoclinic symmetry (P2₁/c, Z=16) at all temperatures. There are five [FeN₆] pseudo-octahedral sites linked by pmd, [Ag(CN)₂]^- and [Ag₂(CN)₃]^- bridging ligands to form an unprecedented three-dimensional (6,6) topology. The structural analysis allows for an understanding of the microscopic mechanism of the two-step behavior of the thermally induced spin transition as well as the corresponding relaxation of the photoexcited compound based on the individual changes of the five sites. Synergy between metallophilic interactions and the spin transition is also shown by the variation of the Ag^…Ag distances. Correlations between the variation of the unit-cell volume and the change of Ag^…Ag interactions within each step with the asymmetric change of the anomalous heat capacity have also been inferred.

The ability of different density functionals to describe the structural and energy differences between the high- [⁵T_2g:(t_2g)⁴(e_g)²] and low- [¹A_1g:(t_2g)⁶(e_g)⁰] spin states of small octahedral ferrous compounds is studied. This work is an extension of our previous study of the hexaquoferrous cation, [Fe(H₂O)₆]²⁺, [J. Chem. Phys. 120, 9473 (2004)] to include a second compound—namely, the hexaminoferrous cation, [Fe(NH₃)₆]²⁺—and several additional functionals. In particular, the present study includes the highly parametrized generalized gradient approximations (GGAs) known as HCTH and the meta-GGA VSXC [which together we refer to as highly parametrized density functionals (HPDFs)], now readily available in the GAUSSIAN03 program, as well as the hybrid functional PBE0. Since there are very few experimental results for these molecules with which to compare, comparison is made with best estimates obtained from second-order perturbation theory-corrected complete active space self-consistent field (CASPT2) calculations, with spectroscopy oriented configuration interaction (SORCI) calculations, and with ligand field theory (LFT) estimations. While CASPT2 and SORCI are among the most reliable ab initio methods available for this type of problem, LFT embodies many decades of empirical experience. These three methods are found to give coherent results and provide best estimates of the adiabatic low-spin–high-spin energy difference, ΔELHadia, of 12 000–13 000 cm⁻¹ for [Fe(H₂O)₆]²⁺ and 9 000–11 000 cm⁻¹ for [Fe(NH₃)₆]²⁺. All functionals beyond the purely local approximation produce reasonably good geometries, so long as adequate basis sets are used. In contrast, the energy splitting, ΔELHadia, is much more sensitive to the choice of functional. The local density approximation severely over stabilizes the low-spin state with respect to the high-spin state. This “density functional theory (DFT) spin pairing-energy problem” persists, but is reduced, for traditional GGAs. In contrast the hybrid functional B3LYP underestimates ΔELHadia by a few thousands of wave numbers. The RPBE GGA of Hammer, Hansen, and Nørskov gives good results for ΔELHadia as do the HPDFs, especially the VSXC functional. Surprisingly the HCTH functionals actually over correct the DFT spin pairing-energy problem, destabilizing the low-spin state relative to the high-spin state. Best agreement is found for the hybrid functional PBE0.

Inert and optically active pseudo-octahedral Cr^IIIN₆ and Ru^IIN₆ chromophores have been incorporated by self-assembly into heterobimetallic triple-stranded helicates HHH-[CrLnL₃]⁶⁺ and HHH-[RuLnL₃]⁵⁺. The crystal structures of [CrLnL₃](CF₃SO₃)₆ (Ln=Nd, Eu, Yb, Lu) and [RuLnL₃](CF₃SO₃)₅ (Ln=Eu, Lu) demonstrate that the helical structure can accommodate metal ions of different sizes, without sizeable change in the intermetallic M^…Ln distances. These systems are ideally suited for unravelling the molecular factors affecting the intermetallic nd→4f communication. Visible irradiation of the Cr^IIIN₆ and Ru^IIN₆ chromophores in HHH-[MLnL₃]^5/6+ (Ln=Nd, Yb, Er; M=Cr, Ru) eventually produces lanthanide-based near infrared (NIR) emission, after directional energy migration within the complexes. Depending on the kinetic regime associated with each specific d-f pair, the NIR luminescence decay times can be tuned from micro- to milliseconds. The origin of this effect, together with its rational control for programming optical functions in discrete heterobimetallic entities, are discussed.

In the iron(II) low-spin complex [Fe(bpy)₃]²⁺, the zero-point energy difference between the ⁵T_2g(t⁴_2ge²_g) high-spin and the ¹A_1g(t⁶_2g) low-spin states, ΔE⁰_HL, is estimated to lie in the range of 2500-5000 cm^-1. This estimate is based on the low-temperature dynamics of the high-spin→low-spin relaxation following the light-induced population of the high-spin state and on the assumption that the bond-length difference between the two states Δr_HL is equal to the average value of ≈0.2 Å, as found experimentally for the spin-crossover system. Calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) validate the structural assumption insofar as the low-spin-state optimised geometries are found to be in very good agreement with the experimental X-ray structure of the complex and the predicted high-spin geometries are all very close to one another for a whole series of common GGA (PB86, PW91, PBE, RPBE) and hybrid (B3LYP, B3LYP*, PBE1PBE) functionals. This confirmation of the structural assumption underlying the estimation of ΔE⁰_HL from experimental relaxation rate constants permits us to use this value to assess the ability of the density functionals for the calculation of the energy difference between the HS and LS states. Since the different functionals give values from -1000 to 12000 cm^-1, the comparison of the calculated values with the experimental estimate thus provides a stringent criterion for the performance of a given functional. Based on this comparison the RPBE and B3LYP* functionals give the best agreement with experiment.

The synthesis of tetrakis(tetrathiafulvalene)-annulated metal-free and metallophthalocyanines 5−8 via the tetramerization of the phthalonitrile derivative 4 is reported. All of them have been fully characterized by electronic absorption spectroscopy, thin-layer cyclic voltammetry, mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. Their solution electrochemical data show two reversible four-electron oxidation waves, indicating that these fused systems are strong π-electron donors, which give rise to tetra- or octaradical cation species. For the metal-free phthalocyanine 5, additionally a reversible one-electron wave was found in the negative direction arising from the reduction of the macrocycle. Moreover, the tetrathiafulvalene unit acts as an efficient reductive electron-transfer quencher for the phthalocyanine emission, but upon its oxidation, an intense luminescence is switched on.

Electrochemical oxidation of (C₆H₅)₃P=N(C₆H₅) and (C₆H₅)₃P=N(C₆H₅) leads to EPR spectra which reveal the dimeric structure of the resulting radical cation. In contrast to this behaviour, oxidation of bis-iminophosphorane leads to [(C₆H₅)₃P=N(C₆H₄)N=P(C₆H₅)₃]^•+: In these species the unpaired electron is delocalized on the N(C₆H₄)N moiety and the persistency of the radical depends upon the relative position of the two P=N bonds.

Visible pump−probe spectroscopy has been used to identify and characterize short-lived metal-to-metal charge transfer (MMCT) excited states in a group of cyano-bridged mixed-valence complexes of the formula [LCo^IIINCM^II(CN)₅]^-, where L is a pentadentate macrocyclic pentaamine (L¹⁴) or triamine-dithiaether (L^14S) and M is Fe or Ru. Nanosecond pump−probe spectroscopy on frozen solutions of [L¹⁴Co^IIINCFe^II(CN)₅]^- and [L^14SCo^IIINCFe^II(CN)₅]^- at 11 K enabled the construction of difference transient absorption spectra that featured a rise in absorbance in the region of 350−400 nm consistent with the generation of the ferricyanide chromophore of the photoexcited complex. The MMCT excited state of the Ru analogue [L¹⁴Co^IIINCRu^II(CN)₅]^- was too short-lived to allow its detection. Femtosecond pump−probe spectroscopy on aqueous solutions of [L¹⁴Co^IIINCFe^II(CN)₅]^- and [L^14SCo^IIINCFe^II(CN)₅]^- at room temperature enabled the lifetimes of their Co^II−Fe^III MMCT excited states to be determined as 0.8 and 1.3 ps, respectively.

The emission from two photoactive 14-membered macrocyclic ligands, 6-((naphthalen-1-ylmethyl)-amino)-trans-6,13-dimethyl-13-amino-1,4,8,11-tetraaza-cyclotetradecane (L¹) and 6-((anthracen-9-ylmethyl)-amino)-trans-6,13-dimethyl-13-amino-1,4,8,11-tetraaza-cyclotetradecane (L²) is strongly quenched by a photoinduced electron transfer (PET) mechanism involving amine lone pairs as electron donors. Time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC), multiplex transient grating (TG), and fluorescence upconversion (FU) measurements were performed to characterize this quenching mechanism. Upon complexation with the redox inactive metal ion, Zn(II), the emission of the ligands is dramatically altered, with a significant increase in the fluorescence quantum yields due to coordination-induced deactivation of the macrocyclic amine lone pair electron donors. For [ZnL²]²⁺, the substituted exocyclic amine nitrogen, which is not coordinated to the metal ion, does not quench the fluorescence due to an inductive effect of the proximal divalent metal ion that raises the ionization potential. However, for [ZnL¹]²⁺, the naphthalene chromophore is a sufficiently strong excited-state oxidant for PET quenching to occur.

Metal (4f)−ligand (Cl 3p) bonding in LnCl₆^3- (Ln = Ce to Yb) complexes has been studied on the basis of 4f→4f and Cl,3p→4f charge-transfer spectra and on the analysis of these spectra within the valence bond configuration interaction model to show that mixing of Cl 3p into the Ln 4f ligand field orbitals does not exceed 1%. Contrary to this, Kohn−Sham formalism of density functional theory using currently available approximations to the exchange-correlation functional tends to strongly overestimate 4f−3p covalency, yielding, for YbCl₆^3-, a much larger mixing of Cl 3p→4f charge transfer into the f¹³ ionic ground-state wave function. Thus, ligand field density functional theory, which was recently developed and applied with success to complexes of 3d metals in our group, yields anomalously large ligand field splittings for Ln, the discrepancy with experiment increasing from left to the right of the Ln 4f series. It is shown that eliminating artificial ligand-to-metal charge transfer in Kohn−Sham calculations by a procedure described in this work leads to energies of 4f−4f transitions in good agreement with experiment. We recall an earlier concept of Ballhausen and Dahl which describes ligand field in terms of a pseudopotential and give a thorough analysis of the contributions to the ligand field from electrostatics (crystal field) and exchange (Pauli) repulsion. The close relation of the present results with those obtained using the first-principles based and electron density dependent effective embedding potential is pointed out along with implications for applications to other systems.

The EPR spectrum of the novel radical Mes*(CH₃)P—PMes* (Mes*=2,4,6-(tBu)₃C₆H₂) was measured in the temperature range 100-300 K, and was found to be drastically temperature dependent as a result of the large anisotropy of the ³¹P hyperfine tensors. Below 180 K, a spectrum of the liquid solution is accurately simulated by calculating the spectral modifications due to slow tumbling of the radical. To achieve this simulation, an algorithm was developed by extending the well-known nitroxide slow-motion simulation technique for the coupling of one electron spin to two nuclear spins. An additional dynamic process responsible for the observed line broadening was found to occur between 180 K and room temperature; this broadening is consistent with an exchange between two conformations. The differences between the isotropic ³¹P couplings associated with the two conformers are shown to be probably due to an internal rotation about the P—P bond.

It is shown that for pairs of electron densities (ρ_α and ρ_α‾) obtained from mixing orbital densities in a spin-compensated four-electron system, the kinetic energy functional of the non-interacting reference system (T_s[ρ]) satisfies the general inequality T_s[ρ_α  +ρ_α‾] ≥ T_s[ρ_α] + T_s[ρ_α‾]. This condition is discussed in the context of the gradient expansion approximation to T_s[ρ] and its possible use in variational orbital-free calculations. In particular, it is shown that the second-order term of the analytic form given by von Weizsäcker violates this inequality for the considered pairs.

A new four-wave-mixing technique with evanescent optical fields generated by total internal reflection at a liquid-liquid interface is described. Several applications of this method to measure thermoacoustic and dynamic properties near liquid-liquid interfaces are presented.

An optical investigation of the properties of europium (II) ions introduced in Ba₂Mg₃F₁₀ single crystals is presented. The spectra and time-dependence of both the inter-configurational (f–d) and the intra-configurational (f–f) transitions are described. The emission spectrum consists of two emitting Eu²⁺ centres, each showing one broad f–d band and one ⁶P_7/2 quartet. The thermal equilibrium between the f–f and f–d emitting states is investigated and found to take place on a microsecond timescale for one of the two Eu²⁺ centres. The spectroscopic results combined with numerical modelling of the influence of the host crystal on the ⁶P_7/2 energy scheme allow the assignment of each f–f and f–d emission to its corresponding Eu²⁺ centre.

Transient grating experiments performed with evanescent fields resulting from total internal reflection at an interface between a polar absorbing solution and an apolar transparent solvent are described. The time evolution of the diffracted intensity was monitored from picosecond to millisecond time scales. The diffracted signal originates essentially from two density phase gratings:  one in the absorbing phase induced by thermal expansion and one in the transparent solvent due to electrostriction. A few nanoseconds after excitation, the latter grating is replaced by a thermal grating due to thermal diffusion from the absorbing phase. The speed of sound and the acoustic attenuation measured near the interface are found to be essentially the same as in the bulk solutions. However, after addition of a surfactant in the polar phase, the speed of sound near the interface differs substantially from that in the bulk with the same surfactant concentration. This effect is interpreted in terms of adsorption at the liquid/liquid interface. Other phenomena, which are not observed in bulk experiments, such as acoustic echoes and a fast oscillation of the signal intensity, are also described.

We investigate the usefulness of a frozen-density embedding scheme within density-functional theory [ J. Phys. Chem. 97, 8050 (1993) ] for the calculation of solvatochromic shifts. The frozen-density calculations, particularly of excitation energies have two clear advantages over the standard supermolecule calculations: (i) calculations for much larger systems are feasible, since the time-consuming time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) part is carried out in a limited molecular orbital space, while the effect of the surroundings is still included at a quantum mechanical level. This allows a large number of solvent molecules to be included and thus affords both specific and nonspecific solvent effects to be modeled. (ii) Only excitations of the system of interest, i.e., the selected embedded system, are calculated. This allows an easy analysis and interpretation of the results. In TDDFT calculations, it avoids unphysical results introduced by spurious mixings with the artificially too low charge-transfer excitations which are an artifact of the adiabatic local-density approximation or generalized gradient approximation exchange-correlation kernels currently used. The performance of the frozen-density embedding method is tested for the well-studied solvatochromic properties of the n→π^* excitation of acetone. Further enhancement of the efficiency is studied by constructing approximate solvent densities, e.g., from a superposition of densities of individual solvent molecules. This is demonstrated for systems with up to 802 atoms. To obtain a realistic modeling of the absorption spectra of solvated molecules, including the effect of the solvent motions, we combine the embedding scheme with classical molecular dynamics (MD) and Car-Parrinello MD simulations to obtain snapshots of the solute and its solvent environment, for which then excitation energies are calculated. The frozen-density embedding yields estimated solvent shifts in the range of 0.20–0.26 eV, in good agreement with experimental values of between 0.19 and 0.21 eV.

The photophysics of the dye Lucifer Yellow ethylenediamine (LYen) has been investigated in various polar solvents. The main deactivation pathways of its first singlet excited state are the fluorescence and the intersystem crossing. In water, non-radiative decay by intermolecular proton transfer becomes a significant deactivation channel. The early fluorescence dynamics, which was investigated in liquids and in reverse micelles, was found to depend substantially on the environment. An important static quenching of LYen by tryptophan and indole occurring in the subpicosecond timescale was observed. The use of the fluorescence dynamics of LYen as a local probe is illustrated by preliminary results obtained with a biotinylated Lucifer Yellow derivative complexed with avidin.

The effects of milling and doping NaAlH₄ with TiCl₃, TiF₃ and Ti(OBuⁿ)₄, and of cycling doped NaAlH₄ have been investigated by infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. Milling and doping produce similar effects. Both decrease the crystal domain size (~900 Å for milled and ~700 Å for doped, as compared to ~1600 Å for unmilled and undoped NaAlH₄) and increase anisotropic strain (by a factor >2.5, mainly along c). They also influence structure parameters such as the axial ratio c/a, cell volume and atomic displacement amplitudes. They show IR line shifts by ~15 cm⁻¹ to higher frequencies for the Al–H asymmetric stretching mode ν₃, and by ~20 cm⁻¹ to lower frequencies for one part of the H–Al–H asymmetric bending mode ν₄, thus suggesting structural changes in the local environment of the [AlH₄]⁻ units. The broad ν₃ bands become sharpened which suggests a more homogeneous local environment of the [AlH₄]⁻ units, and there appears a new vibration at 710 cm⁻¹. The Raman data show no such effects. Cycling leads to an increase in domain size (1200–1600 Å), IR line shifts similar to doped samples (except for TiF₃: downward shift by ~10 cm⁻¹) and a general broadening of the ν₃ mode that depend on the nature of the dopants. These observations support the idea that some Ti diffusion and substitution into the alanate lattice does occur, in particular during cycling, and that this provides the mechanism through which Ti-doping enhances kinetics during re-crystallisation.

Oxidation of the square planar Rh(I) complex [Rh(SPS^Me)(PPh₃)] (SPS^Me = 1-methyl-1-P-2,6-bis(diphenylphosphinosulfide)-3,5-(bisphenyl)-phosphinine) (1) based on mixed SPS-pincer ligand with hexachloroethane yielded the Rh(III) dichloride complex [Rh(SPS^Me)(PPh₃)Cl₂] (2), which was structurally characterized. The homoleptic Rh(III) complex [Rh(SPS^Me)₂][Cl] (4) was obtained via the stoichiometric reaction of SPS^Me anion (3) with [Rh(tht)₃Cl₃] (tht = tetrahydrothiophene). Complex 4, which was characterized by X-ray diffraction, was also studied by cyclic voltammetry. Complex 4 can be reversibly reduced at E = −1.16 V (vs SCE) to give the neutral 19-electron Rh(II) complex [Rh(SPS^Me)₂] (5). Accordingly, complex 5 could be synthesized via chemical reduction of 4 with zinc dust. EPR spectra of complex 5 were obtained after electrochemical or chemical reduction of 4 in THF or CH₂Cl₂. Hyperfine interaction with two equivalent ³¹P nuclei was observed in liquid solution, while an additional coupling with a spin ¹/₂ nucleus, probably ¹⁰³Rh, was detected in frozen solution. The ³¹P couplings are consistent with DFT calculations that predict a drastic increase in the axial P−S bond lengths when reducing (SPS^Me)₂Rh(III). In the reduced complex, the unpaired electron is mainly localized in a rhodium d_z² orbital, consistent with the g-anisotropy measured at 100 K.

Geometry and interaction energy in complexes of the Ph-L type (L = Ar, N₂, CO, H₂O, NH₃, CH₄, CH₃OH, CH₃F) involving neutral or cationic phenol were determined using the density functional theory formalism based on the minimization of the total energy bifunctional and gradient-dependent approximations for its exchange-correlation and nonadditive kinetic-energy parts. For the neutral complexes the calculated interaction energies range from 1 kcal/mol for the Ph-Ar complex to about 10 kcal/mol for Ph-NH₃. The interactions are stronger if the cationic phenol is involved (up to 25 kcal/mol). It is found, except for neutral Ph-Ar, that the hydrogen-bonded structure is more stable than the π-bound one. Calculated interaction energies (D_e) correlate well with the experimental dissociation energies (D₀).

The basis set effect on the results of the minimization of the total energy bifunctional E[ρ_A, ρ_B] approximated at the local density approximation level is analyzed for several weak intermolecular complexes. The considered complexes formed by hydrocarbons at the equilibrium geometry were previously studied by means of the same formalism using large decontracted basis sets consisting of Gaussian-type atomic orbitals limited to s-, p-, and d-functions. In this work, we use our two new computer implementations of the formalism to analyze the basis set effects accompanying changing the basis sets from Gaussian-type orbitals to Slater-type orbitals and including f-functions. We show that the interaction energies, their components, and the energies of the highest occupied molecular orbital converge within a range of 0.07 kcal/mol, 0.08 kcal/mol, and 0.06 eV, respectively.

The radical cation of the redox active ligand 3,4-dimethyl-3',4'-bis-(diphenylphosphino)-tetrathiafulvalene ( P2) has been chemically and electrochemically generated and studied by EPR spectroscopy. Consistent with DFT calculations, the observed hyperfine structure (septet due to the two methyl groups) indicates a strong delocalization of the unpaired electron on the central S₂C=CS₂ part of the tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) moiety and zero spin densities on the phosphine groups. In contrast with the ruthenium(0) carbonyl complexes of P2 whose one-electron oxidation directly leads to decomplexation and produces P2^•+, one-electron oxidation of [Fe( P2)(CO)₃] gives rise to the metal-centered oxidation species [Fe^(I)( P2)(CO)₃], characterized by a coupling with two ³¹P nuclei and a rather large g-anisotropy. The stability of this complex is however modest and, after some minutes, the species resulting from the scission of a P–Fe bond is detected. Moreover, in presence of free ligand, [Fe^(I)( P2)(CO)₃] reacts to give the complex [Fe^(I)( P2)₂(CO)] containing two TTF fragments. The two-electron oxidation of [Fe( P2)(CO)₃] leads to decomplexation and to the P2^•+ spectrum. Besides EPR spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry as well as FTIR spectroelectrochemistry are used in order to explain the behaviour of [Fe( P2)(CO)₃] upon oxidation. This behaviour notably differs from that of the Ru(0) counterpart. This difference is tentatively rationalized on the basis of structural arguments.