Beryllium Bonds Research Articles

Tetrel bond involving -CH3 group in HnXCH3 (X = F, Cl, and Br, n = 0; X = O, S, and Se, n = 1; X = N, P, and As, n = 2). Cooperativity with triel bond and beryllium bond

The tetrel bond formed between the σ-hole on the C atom of HnXCH3 (X = F, Cl, and Br, n = 0; X = O, S, and Se, n = 1; X = N, P, and As, n = 2) and the N atom of NCM (M = Li and Na) was studied by ab initio calculations at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level. The molecules involving nitrogen or oxygen group substituents engage in a weaker tetrel bond with interaction energies in the range of 5–12 kJ/mol. In contrast, a stronger tetrel bond is formed when the X atom of HnXCH3 is a halogen, with interaction energies in the range of 16–18 kJ/mol. The tetrel bond is further enhanced by the addition of the electron-deficient molecule BeH2 or BH3 to the X atom of HnXCH3 and the interaction energy can be increased to 38 kJ/mol. Moreover, the enhancing effect of beryllium bond on the tetrel bond is greater than that from the triel bond.

Nature of Beryllium, Magnesium, and Zinc Bonds in Carbene⋯MX2 (M = Be, Mg, Zn; X = H, Br) Dimers Revealed by the IQA, ETS-NOCV and LED Methods.

The nature of beryllium−, magnesium− and zinc−carbene bonds in the cyclopropenylidene⋯MX2 (M = Be, Mg, Zn; X = H, Br) and imidazol-2-ylidene⋯MBr2 dimers is investigated by the joint use of the topological QTAIM-based IQA decomposition scheme, the molecular orbital-based ETS-NOCV charge and energy decomposition method, and the LED energy decomposition approach based on the state-of-the-art DLPNO-CCSD(T) method. All these methods show that the C⋯M bond strengthens according to the following order: Zn < Mg << Be. Electrostatics is proved to be the dominant bond component, whereas the orbital component is far less important. It is shown that QTAIM/IQA underestimates electrostatic contribution for zinc bonds with respect to both ETS-NOCV and LED schemes. The σ carbene→MX2 donation appears to be much more important than the MX2→ carbene back-donation of π symmetry. The substitution of hydrogen atoms by bromine (X in MX2) strengthens the metal−carbene bond in all cases. The physical origin of rotational barriers has been unveiled by the ETS-NOCV approach.

Disrupting bonding in azoles through beryllium bonds: Unexpected coordination patterns and acidity enhancement

Although triazoles and tetrazole are amphoteric and may behave as weak acids, the latter property can be hugely enhanced by beryllium bonds. To explain this phenomenon, the structure and bonding characteristics of the complexes between triazoles and tetrazoles with one and two molecules of BeF2 have been investigated through the use of high-level G4 ab initio calculations. The formation of the complexes between the N basic sites of the azoles and the Be center of the BeF2molecule and the (BeF2)2 dimer leads to a significant bonding perturbation of both interacting subunits. The main consequence of these electron density rearrangements is the above-mentioned increase in the intrinsic acidity of the azole subunit, evolving from a typical nitrogen base to a very strong nitrogenous acid. This effect is particularly dramatic when the interaction involves the (BeF2)2 dimer, that is, a Lewis acid much stronger than the monomer. Although the azoles investigated have neighboring N-basic sites, their interaction with the (BeF2)2 dimer yields a monodentate complex. However, the deprotonated species becomes extra-stabilized because a second N-Be bond is formed, leading to a new five-membered ring, with the result that the azole-(BeF2)2 complexes investigated become stronger nitrogenous acids than oxyacids such as perchloric acid.

Malonaldehyde-like Systems: BeF2 Clusters—A Subtle Balance between Hydrogen Bonds, Beryllium Bonds, and Resonance

The stability of malonaldehyde is governed by intramolecular hydrogen bonds (IMHBs) as well as in malonaldehyde-like systems where oxygen is replaced by N or S at any of the basic sites. As beryllium bonds have been shown to strongly cooperate with hydrogen bonds, this work explores at the high level ab initio G4 level of theory the effect of including this non-covalent interaction in the system through its association with BeF2. Although malonaldehyde follows the expected trends, where the formation of a pseudocyclic form is favored also when IMHB and Be bonds are present, the subtle balance between both non-covalent interactions leads to some surprising results when other heteroatoms are involved, to the point that interaction energies can be much larger than expected or even cyclization is not favored. A complete analysis using different computational tools gives an answer to those cases escaping the predictable trends.

Perturbating Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonds through Substituent Effects or Non-Covalent Interactions.

An analysis of the effects induced by F, Cl, and Br-substituents at the α-position of both, the hydroxyl or the amino group for a series of amino-alcohols, HOCH2(CH2)nCH2NH2 (n = 0–5) on the strength and characteristics of their OH···N or NH···O intramolecular hydrogen bonds (IMHBs) was carried out through the use of high-level G4 ab initio calculations. For the parent unsubstituted amino-alcohols, it is found that the strength of the OH···N IMHB goes through a maximum for n = 2, as revealed by the use of appropriate isodesmic reactions, natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis and atoms in molecules (AIM), and non-covalent interaction (NCI) procedures. The corresponding infrared (IR) spectra also reflect the same trends. When the α-position to the hydroxyl group is substituted by halogen atoms, the OH···N IMHB significantly reinforces following the trend H < F < Cl < Br. Conversely, when the substitution takes place at the α-position with respect to the amino group, the result is a weakening of the OH···N IMHB. A totally different scenario is found when the amino-alcohols HOCH2(CH2)nCH2NH2 (n = 0–3) interact with BeF2. Although the presence of the beryllium derivative dramatically increases the strength of the IMHBs, the possibility for the beryllium atom to interact simultaneously with the O and the N atoms of the amino-alcohol leads to the global minimum of the potential energy surface, with the result that the IMHBs are replaced by two beryllium bonds.

Large Stabilization Effects by Intramolecular Beryllium Bonds in Ortho-Benzene Derivatives.

Intramolecular interactions are shown to be key for favoring a given structure in systems with a variety of conformers. In ortho-substituted benzene derivatives including a beryllium moiety, beryllium bonds provide very large stabilizations with respect to non-bound conformers and enthalpy differences above one hundred kJ·mol−1 are found in the most favorable cases, especially if the newly formed rings are five or six-membered heterocycles. These values are in general significantly larger than hydrogen bonds in 1,2-dihidroxybenzene. Conformers stabilized by a beryllium bond exhibit the typical features of this non-covalent interaction, such as the presence of a bond critical point according to the topology of the electron density, positive Laplacian values, significant geometrical distortions and strong interaction energies between the donor and acceptor quantified by using the Natural Bond Orbital approach. An isodesmic reaction scheme is used as a tool to measure the strength of the beryllium bond in these systems in terms of isodesmic energies (analogous to binding energies), interaction energies and deformation energies. This approach shows that a huge amount of energy is spent on deforming the donor–acceptor pairs to form the new rings.

Microsolvation of the Be-F bond in complexes of BeF2, BeF3 –1, and BeF4 –2 with nH2O, for n = 1–6

Ab initio MP2/aug’-cc-pVTZ calculations have been carried out to determine the structures and binding energies of complexes of BeF2, BeF3 –1, and BeF4 –2 with n H2O molecules, with n = 1–6. For each series of complexes with BeF2, BeF3 –1, and BeF4 –2, the binding energies increase as the number of water molecules increases, but the binding energies per intermolecular bond for complexes formed between BeF2 and BeF4 –2 and nH2O decrease as the number of water molecules increases. The binding energies per bond of the BeF3 –1 complexes show little dependence on the number of H2O molecules present. Intermolecular O-H … F hydrogen bonds (HB) stabilise all complexes of H2O with the beryllium bases except for BeF2:1H2O and BeF2:2H2O. Complexes of BeF2 are also stabilised by O … Be beryllium bonds (BeB) and O-H … O hydrogen bonds. EOM-CCSD calculations have also been performed to determine the spin–spin coupling constants. The one-bond coupling constants 1J(Be-F) increase as the Be-F distance decreases, and exhibit an excellent second-order correlation with that distance. 2hJ(O-F) coupling constants across O-H … F hydrogen bonds also exhibit a second-order dependence on distance. Coupling constants 1beJ(O-Be) and 2hJ(O-O) are found in complexes with BeF2 and exhibit a linear dependence on the Be-O and O-O distances, respectively.

Study of Beryllium, Magnesium, and Spodium Bonds to Carbenes and Carbodiphosphoranes.

The aim of this article is to present results of theoretical study on the properties of C⋯M bonds, where C is either a carbene or carbodiphosphorane carbon atom and M is an acidic center of MX (M = Be, Mg, Zn). Due to the rarity of theoretical data regarding the C⋯Zn bond (i.e., the zinc bond), the main focus is placed on comparing the characteristics of this interaction with C⋯Be (beryllium bond) and C⋯Mg (magnesium bond). For this purpose, theoretical studies (B97X-D/6-311++G(2df,2p)) have been performed for a large group of dimers formed by MX (X = H, F, Cl, Br, Me) and either a carbene ((NH)C, imidazol-2-ylidene, imidazolidin-2-ylidene, tetrahydropyrymid-2-ylidene, cyclopropenylidene) or carbodiphosphorane ((PH)C, (NH)C) molecule. The investigated dimers are characterized by a very strong charge transfer effect from either the carbene or carbodiphosphorane molecule to the MX one. This may even be over six times as strong as in the water dimer. According to the QTAIM and NCI method, the zinc bond is not very different than the beryllium bond, with both featuring a significant covalent contribution. However, the zinc bond should be definitely stronger if delocalization index is considered.

IR and NMR properties of N-base:PH2F:BeX2 ternary and corresponding binary complexes stabilised by pnicogen and beryllium bonds

Ab initio MP2/aug’-cc-pVTZ calculations have been performed to determine selected stretching frequencies and chemical shieldings for ternary complexes N-base:PH2F:BeX2 and the corresponding binary complexes, with NH3, H2C=NH, and HCN as the nitrogen bases and H, F, and Cl as the substituents X. Be-F and P-F stretching frequencies depend on the Be-F and P-F distances, respectively, while P and F chemical shieldings depend on the N-P and P-F distances, respectively. The graph of the P chemical shieldings versus the P-F distance bears a remarkable resemblance to the graph of the P-F stretching frequencies versus that same distance. EOM-CCSD spin–spin coupling constants have also been evaluated for binary and ternary complexes. 1pJ(N-P) is negative at the longer N-P distances found in ternary complexes with HCN in which the N … P bond is a traditional pnicogen bond with some phosphorous-shared character, gains phosphorus-shared character as the N-P distance continues to decrease, and then becomes a phosphorous-transferred bond with ion-pair character at the shorter distances in the complexes with NH3 and H2C=NH. 1J(P-F) values are large and negative in complexes with HCN, but increase and become positive in complexes with H2C=NH and NH3 as the P-F distance increases.

The Importance of Strain (Preorganization) in Beryllium Bonds.

In order to explore the angular strain role on the ability of Be to form strong beryllium bonds, a theoretical study of the complexes of four beryllium derivatives of ortho closo-carboranes with eight molecules (CO, N2, NCH, CNH, OH2, SH2, NH3, and PH3) acting as Lewis bases has been carried out at the G4 computational level. The results for these complexes, which contain besides Be other electron-deficient elements, such as B, have been compared with the analogous ones formed by three beryllium salts (BeCl2, CO3Be and SO4Be) with the same set of Lewis bases. The results show the presence of large and positive values of the electrostatic potential associated to the beryllium atoms in the isolated four beryllium derivatives of ortho-carboranes, evidencing an intrinsically strong acidic nature. In addition, the LUMO orbital in these systems is also associated to the beryllium atom. These features led to short intermolecular distances and large dissociation energies in the complexes of the beryllium derivatives of ortho-carboranes with the Lewis bases. Notably, as a consequence of the special framework provided by the ortho-carboranes, some of these dissociation energies are larger than the corresponding beryllium bonds in the already strongly bound SO4Be complexes, in particular for N2 and CO bases. The localized molecular orbital energy decomposition analysis (LMOEDA) shows that among the attractive terms associated with the dissociation energy, the electrostatic term is the most important one, except for the complexes with the two previously mentioned weakest bases (N2 and CO), where the polarization term dominates. Hence, these results contribute to further confirm the importance of bending on the beryllium environment leading to strong interactions through the formation of beryllium bonds.

Mutual Influence of Pnicogen Bonds and Beryllium Bonds: Energies and Structures in the Spotlight.

Pnicogen bonds, which are weak noncovalent interactions (NCIs), can be significantly modified by the presence of beryllium bonds, one of the strongest NCIs known. We demonstrate the importance of this influence by studying ternary complexes in which both NCIs are present, that is, the ternary complexes formed by a nitrogen base (NH3, NHCH2, and NCH), a phosphine (fluorophosphane, PH2F) and a beryllium derivative (BeH2, BeF2, BeCl2, BeCO3, and BeSO4). Energies, structures, and nature of the chemical bonding in these complexes are studied by means of ab initio computational methods. The pnicogen bond between the nitrogen base and the phosphine and the beryllium bond between the fluorine atom of fluorophosphane and the beryllium derivative show large cooperativity effects both on energies and geometries, with dissociation energies up to 296 kJ mol-1 and cooperativity up to 104 kJ mol-1 in the most strongly bound complex, CH2HN:PH2F:BeSO4. In the complexes between the strongest nitrogen bases and the strongest beryllium donors, phosphorus-shared and phosphorus-transfer bonds are found.

Beryllium bonding: insights from the σ- and π-hole analysis.

Beryllium bonding is actually a subclass of secondary bonding. Similar to the case of halogen bonding, the σ- and π-holes on the Be atom of the monomers give in zeroth approximation the direction of electrophilic attack favorable to the formation of beryllium bonds. The nature of beryllium bonding is purely electrostatic so that the symmetry-adapted perturbation theory energy decomposition perfectly explains the relevance of the polarization and dispersion contribution on the formation of the beryllium bond.

On single-electron magnesium bonding formation and the effect of methyl substitution.

The complexes formed between MgX2 (X = F, H) molecules and alkyl radicals Y [Y = CH3, CH2CH3, CH(CH3)2, and C(CH3)3] have been characterized by using quantum chemical methods. The binding distance in all cases is less than the sum of vdW radii of Mg and C, indicating the formation of a non-covalent interaction, namely single-electron magnesium bond. Energy decomposition analysis reveals that electrostatic and polarization contributions are the major components responsible for the stability of the studied complexes. According to interaction energy, atoms in molecules, and independent gradient model analyses, methyl substitution on electron donor Y imposes a positive effect on its complexation with MgX2. When compared with other nonbonded interactions, the single-electron magnesium bond is found to have strength comparable to those of the single-electron beryllium bond and π-magnesium bond.

Non-Covalent Interactions Involving Alkaline-Earth Atoms and Lewis Bases B: An ab Initio Investigation of Beryllium and Magnesium Bonds, B···MR2 (M = Be or Mg, and R = H, F or CH3)

Geometries, equilibrium dissociation energies (De), intermolecular stretching, and quadratic force constants (kσ) determined by ab initio calculations conducted at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory, with De obtained by using the complete basis set (CBS) extrapolation [CCSD(T)/CBS energy], are presented for the B···BeR2 and B···MgR2 complexes, where B is one of the following Lewis bases: CO, H2S, PH3, HCN, H2O or NH3, and R is H, F or CH3. The BeR2 and MgR2 precursor molecules were shown to be linear and non-dipolar. The non-covalent intermolecular bond in the B···BeR2 complexes is shown to result from the interaction of the electrophilic band around the Be atom of BeR2 (as indicated by the molecular electrostatic potential surface) with non-bonding electron pairs of the base, B, and may be described as a beryllium bond by analogy with complexes such as B···CO2, which contain a tetrel bond. The conclusions for the B···MgR2 series are similar and a magnesium bond can be correspondingly invoked. The geometries established for B···BeR2 and B···MgR2 can be rationalized by a simple rule previously enunciated for tetrel-bonded complexes of the type B···CO2. It is also shown that the dissociation energy, De, is directly proportional to the force constant, kσ, in each B···MR2 series, but with a constant of proportionality different from that established for many hydrogen-bonded B···HX complexes and halogen-bonded B···XY complexes. The values of the electrophilicity, EA, determined from the De for B···BeR2 complexes for the individual Lewis acids, A, reveal the order A = BeF2 &gt; BeH2 &gt; Be(CH3)2—a result that is consistent with the −I and +I effects of F and CH3 relative to H. The conclusions for the MgR2 series are similar but, for a given R, they have smaller electrophilicities than those of the BeR2 series. A definition of alkaline-earth non-covalent bonds is presented.

Coordination of Be and Mg Centres by HCN Ligands - Be…N and Mg…N Interactions.

ωB97XD/aug-cc-pVTZ calculations were performed for clusters of Z2+ cations (Z=Be and Mg) and HCN molecules (up to six molecules). The clusters of Be(CH3 )2 and Mg(CH3 )2 with HCN species were also calculated to analyse the influence of the Be/Mg-C formally covalent bonds on interactions of Be or Mg centre with ligands. The beryllium and magnesium centres possess different areas of a positive electrostatic potential that depend on a number of HCN ligands in the cluster considered. Numerous correlations between geometrical, energetic and topological parameters of the clusters considered are discussed since various theoretical approaches are applied; Quantum Theory of 'Atoms in Molecules', Natural Bond Orbital method and decomposition of the energy of interaction. The Be/Mg…N interactions classified as beryllium and magnesium bonds possess numerous characteristics which are known for the hydrogen bonds. Different types of coordination of Be and Mg centres analysed here exist also in crystal structures.

Fostering the Basic Instinct of Boron in Boron-Beryllium Interactions.

A set of complexes L2HB···BeX2 (L = CNH, CO, CS, N2, NH3, NCCH3, PH3, PF3, PMe3, OH2; X = H, F) containing a boron-beryllium bond is described at the M06-2X/6-311+G(3df,2pd)//M062-2X/6-31+G(d) level of theory. In this quite unusual bond, boron acts as a Lewis base and beryllium as a Lewis acid, reaching binding energies up to -283.3 kJ/mol ((H2O)2HB···BeF2). The stabilization of these complexes is possible thanks to the σ-donor role of the L ligands in the L2HB···BeX2 structures and the powerful acceptor nature of beryllium. According to the topology of the density, these B-Be interactions present positive laplacian values and negative energy densities, covering different degrees of electron sharing. ELF calculations allowed measuring the population in the interboundary B-Be region, which varies between 0.20 and 2.05 electrons upon switching from the weakest ((CS)2HB···BeH2) to the strongest complex ((H2O)2HB···BeF2). These B-Be interactions can be considered as beryllium bonds in most cases.

Weak interactions and cooperativity effects on disiloxane: a look at the building block of silicones

ABSTRACTThe behaviour of disiloxane 1 towards a set of Lewis acids (LA) and Lewis bases (LB) forming complexes through its oxygen and silicon atoms, respectively, was studied at the MP2/aug′-cc-pVTZ level of theory, exploring a wide variety of non-covalent interactions. Disiloxane is a moderate electron acceptor and a good electron donor, exhibiting in the latter case binding energies up to almost −100 kJ/mol with BeCl2. Cooperativity effects were also analysed by looking at ternary 1:LA:LB complexes. Shorter intermolecular distances than in the corresponding binary complexes and a negative contribution of the three-body term to the binding energy indicate that the non-covalent interactions allowed by disiloxane through its acid and basic centres cooperate between them to reinforce both donor–acceptor pairs. These effects are particularly strong in complexes involving beryllium and triel bonds, but are also relevant for complexes containing hydrogen bonds.

Beryllium Bonding in the Light of Modern Quantum Chemical Topology Tools.

We apply several modern quantum chemical topology (QCT) tools to explore the chemical bonding in well established beryllium bonds. By using the interacting quantum atoms (IQA) approach together with electron distribution functions (EDF) and the natural adaptive orbitals (NAdOs) picture, we show that, in agreement with orbital-based analyses, the interaction in simple σ and π complexes formed by BeX2 (X = H, F, Cl) with water, ammonia, ethylene, and acetylene is dominated by electrostatic terms, albeit covalent contributions cannot be ignored. Our detailed analysis proves that several σ back-donation channels are relevant in these dimers, actually controlling the conformational preference in the π adducts. A number of one-electron beryllium bonds are also studied. Orbital invariant real space arguments clearly show that the role of covalency and charge transfer cannot be ignored.

Characterizing magnesium bonds: main features of a non-covalent interaction

Compounds of formula MgX2 can interact with small Lewis bases such as halides, amines, phosphines or water. These interactions are directly related with the chemistry of very relevant compounds, such as Grignard reagents and their role in the Schlenk equilibrium. A systematic exploration of the interaction between MgCl2 and a series of Lewis bases is carried out with different theoretical approaches, along with the analysis of the topological features and the estimation of interaction and binding energies. The ability of Mg to establish non-covalent interactions, named in the literature as magnesium bonds, is compared to beryllium bonds. Magnesium bonds present topological features of closed-shell interactions (∇2ρ > 0). Interaction energies at the B3LYP/6-311 + G(3df,2p) level including BSSE correction are in a range between −36 and −125 kJ/mol, larger than many typical hydrogen bonds. Although weaker for bases such as water or ammonia, magnesium energies are larger than the beryllium ones for hydrogen halide complexes due to the presence of a neighboring hydrogen bond. Unlike beryllium bonds, interactions between lone pairs of the Lewis base and empty Mg orbitals and antibonding Mg–Cl orbitals are of equal importance, being the second ones more relevant for Lewis bases from the second row and beyond.

Modulating the strength of tetrel bonding through beryllium bonding.

Quantum chemical calculations were performed to investigate the stability of the ternary complexes BeH2···XMH3···NH3 (X = F, Cl, and Br; M = C, Si, and Ge) and the corresponding binary complexes at the atomic level. Our results reveal that the stability of the XMH3···BeH2 complexes is mainly due to both a strong beryllium bond and a weak tetrel-hydride interaction, while the XMH3···NH3 complexes are stabilized by a tetrel bond. The beryllium bond with a halogen atom as the electron donor has many features in common with a beryllium bond with an O or N atom as the electron donor, although they do exhibit some different characteristics. The stability of the XMH3···NH3 complex is dominated by the electrostatic interaction, while the orbital interaction also makes an important contribution. Interestingly, as the identities of the X and M atoms are varied, the strength of the tetrel bond fluctuates in an irregular manner, which can explained by changes in electrostatic potentials and orbital interactions. In the ternary systems, both the beryllium bond and the tetrel bond are enhanced, which is mainly ascribed to increased electrostatic potentials on the corresponding atoms and charge transfer. In particular, when compared to the strengths of the tetrel and beryllium bonds in the binary systems, in the ternary systems the tetrel bond is enhanced to a greater degree than the beryllium bond. Graphical Abstract A tetrel bond can be strengthened greatly by a beryllium bond.