Number Of Solvent Molecules Research Articles

How the nature and charge of metal cations affect vibrations in acetone solvent molecules.

Vibrational spectra of a series of gas-phase metal 1+ and 2+ ions solvated by acetone molecules are collected to investigate how the metal charge, number of solvent molecules and nature of the metal affect the acetone. The spectra of Cu+(Ace)(N2)2, Cu+(Ace)4, and M2+(Ace)4, where M = Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn are measured via photodissociation by monitoring fragment ion signal as a function of IR wavenumber. The spectra show a red shift of the CO stretch and a blue shift of the C-C antisymmetric stretch. DFT calculations are carried out to provide the simulated spectra of possible isomers to be compared with the observed vibrational spectra, and specific structures are proposed. The red shift of the CO stretch increases as the number of acetone molecules decreases. Higher charge on the metal leads to a larger red shift in the CO stretch. Although all of the M2+ complexes have very similar red shifts, they are predicted to have different geometries due to their different electron configurations. Unexpectedly, we find that the calculated red shift in the CO stretch in M+/2+(Ace) is highly linearly correlated with the ionization energy of the metal for a wide range of metal cations and dications.

Telescoping-Solvation-Box Protocol-Based Umbrella Sampling Method for Potential Mean Force Estimation.

Previously, it was shown that the telescoping box scheme, in combination with adaptive steered molecule dynamics (ASMD), can be used to estimate the potential of mean force (PMF) with a decrease in computational cost associated with large solvation boxes. Since ASMD reduces to umbrella sampling (US) in the limit of infinitely slow pulling velocity, a hypothesis was made that the telescoping box scheme can be extended to include the US method. The hypothesis was tested using the unfolding pathway of a polyalanine peptide in a water box and translocation of α-tocopherol through the human membrane. Two different approaches were tried: telescoping US (TELUS), in which the number of solvent molecules was linearly coupled to the reaction coordinate, and Block-TELUS, which was a compromise between the fixed solvation box of the US and the window-wise variable solvation box of TELUS. In the case of polyalanine peptide in a water box, both approaches gave overlapping potential of mean force (PMF) concerning the benchmark US-PMF. Window-wise comparison of properties like root-mean-square inner product, Ramachandran plot, α-helix content, and hydrogen bond formation was used to verify that both approaches captured the same dynamics as the US method. Applying the Block-TELUS protocol in the system with diffusing α-tocopherol through the bilayer resulted in overlapping PMF to its US benchmark. A comparison between the window-wise orientation of the chromanol headgroup also produced almost identical results. This study concluded that with the careful application of telescoping solvation boxes, a less computationally expensive US could be performed for systems where the effect of distant solvent molecules on the configurational space sampled in the window depends on the value of the reaction coordinate.

Principles, properties and preparation of thermochromic materials

The unique temperature-induced color changing properties of thermochromic materials make them of significant interest for applications in aerospace, anti-counterfeiting technology, construction, defense, drugs & pharmaceuticals, electronics, energy, food & agriculture, maintenance of infrastructure, materials processing & storage, military technology, optoelectronics, packaging, sensors, smart displays, textiles, thermal storage and transportation. Thermochromism occurs due to the following characteristics: (a) phase transitions in a compound (e.g. leuco dyes); (b) changes in ligand geometry or the number of solvent molecules in the coordination sphere (e.g. transition metal complex that derives its color from crystal field effects) and (c) complex factors in multicomponent mixtures. Thermochromic materials can be divided into several categories depending on their material properties and operating conditions. In recent years, numerous techniques have been used to synthesize thermochromic materials for a variety of purposes and applications. This review summarizes the various mechanisms of thermochromism, their classification, preparation and applications and discusses future development trends.

Solvation of serine-based model peptides and the role of the intramolecular OH·O hydrogen bond in interpreting VCD spectra.

Infrared and vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectra are occasionally very sensitive to solute-solvent interactions and show distinct spectral changes when strong solute-solvent hydrogen bonds give rise to conformational changes. In this regard, small peptides are ideal model systems to investigate such solvent effects on IR and VCD spectra as they possess several hydrogen bonding donor sites. In the present study, we investigate serine and serine-phenylalanine, which both are N-protected with Boc and C-capped with n-propylamine. Compared to previously studied model peptides, the serine residue introduces a strong hydrogen bonding site that competes with the amides for intra- and intermolecular interactions. For both compounds, we computationally found that the intramolecular OH·O interactions are preferentially broken by DMSO, but it was not sufficient to model only this particular interaction. Instead, depending on the conformer family, it was necessary to consider different numbers of solvent molecules in the computed structures and the experimental spectra were found to be best described by assuming mixed solvation states. Our analyses show that the IR and VCD spectra of molecules with multiple hydrogen bonding cannot be simulated by simply solvating all donor sites as this would neglect the presence of important conformer families. In turn, these results stresss the need for novel routines to account for solvation in IR and VCD spectra, that help estimating the contributions of different solvations states to the conformational distribution.

Rare Earth Complexes of Europium(II) and Substituted Bis(pyrazolyl)borates with High Photoluminescence Efficiency.

Rare earth europium(II) complexes based on d-f transition luminescence have characteristics of broad emission spectra, tunable emission colors and short excited state lifetimes, showing great potential in display, lighting and other fields. In this work, four complexes of Eu(II) and bis(pyrazolyl)borate ligands, where pyrazolyl stands for pyrazolyl, 3-methylpyrazolyl, 3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl or 3-trifluoromethylpyrazole, were designed and synthesized. Due to the varied steric hindrance of the ligands, different numbers of solvent molecules (tetrahydrofuran) are participated to saturate the coordination structure. These complexes showed blue-green to yellow emissions with maximum wavelength in the range of 490-560 nm, and short excited state lifetimes of 30-540 ns. Among them, the highest photoluminescence quantum yield can reach 100%. In addition, when the complexes were heated under vacuum or nitrogen atmosphere, they finally transformed into the complexes of Eu(II) and corresponding tri(pyrazolyl)borate ligands and sublimated away.

A Thermodynamic-Consistent Model for the Thermo-Chemo-Mechanical Couplings in Amorphous Shape-Memory Polymers

Chemically-responsive amorphous shape-memory polymers (SMPs) can transit from the temporary shape to the permanent shape in responsive to solvents. This effect has been reported in various polymer-solvent systems. However, limited attention has been paid to the constitutive modeling of this behavior. In this work, we develop a fully thermo-chemo-mechanical coupled thermodynamic framework for the chemically-responsive amorphous SMPs. The framework shows that the entropy, the chemical potential and the stress can be directly obtained if the Helmholtz free energy density is defined. Based on the entropy inequality, the evolution equation for the viscous strain, the temperature and the number of solvent molecules are also derived. We also provide an explicit form of Helmholtz free energy density as an example. In addition, based on the free volume concept, the dependence of viscosity and diffusivity on the temperature and solvent concentration is defined. The theoretical framework can potentially advance the fundamental understanding of chemically-responsive shape-memory effect. Meanwhile, it can also be used to describe other important physical processes such as the diffusion of solvents in glassy polymers.

Accelerated Computation of Free Energy Profile at Ab Initio Quantum Mechanical/Molecular Mechanics Accuracy via a Semiempirical Reference Potential. 4. Adaptive QM/MM.

Although quantum mechanical/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) methods are now routinely applied to the studies of chemical reactions in condensed phases and enzymatic reactions, they may experience technical difficulties when the reactive region is varying over time. For instance, when the solvent molecules are directly participating in the reaction, the exchange of water molecules between the QM and MM regions may occur on a time scale comparable to the reaction time. To cope with this situation, several adaptive QM/MM schemes have been proposed. However, these methods either add significantly to the computational cost or introduce artificial restraints to the system. In this work, we developed a novel adaptive QM/MM scheme and applied it to the study of a nucleophilic addition reaction. In this scheme, the configuration sampling was performed with a small QM region (without solvent molecules), and the thermodynamic properties under another potential energy function with a larger QM region (with a certain number of solvent molecules and/or different levels of QM theory) are computed via extrapolation using the reference-potential method. Our simulation results show that this adaptive QM/MM scheme is numerically stable, at least for the case studied in this work. Furthermore, this method also offers an inexpensive way to examine the convergence of the QM/MM calculation with respect to the size of the QM region.

Acidity-Driven Bidirectional Room-Temperature Spin-State Switch and Fluorescence Modulation of a Mononuclear Fe(II) Complex

Room-temperature switchable materials showing multiple responses toward external stimuli are highly desired. Herein, we report bidirectional spin-state switch and fluorescence modulation of an Fe(I...

Structure and Conformational Analysis of 5-Methyl-2,2-diphenyl-1,3-dioxane

The structure of 5-methyl-2,2-diphenyl-1,3-dioxane has been studied by1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy and X-ray analysis. Its molecules in crystal, as well as in CDCl3 and C6D6 solutions, have achair conformation with equatorial methyl group. The conformational transformation pathways, ΔG0298 value for the 5-methyl group in CDCl3 and C6D6, and the optimal number of solvent molecules in the nearest solvation shell of 5-methyl-2,2-diphenyl-1,3-dioxane have been determined by quantum chemical calculations at the PBE/3ξ and RI-MP2/λ2 levels of theory and by comparing the theoretical and experimental vicinal spin–spin coupling constants.

Molecular Organization of Reagents in the Kinetics and Catalysis of Liquid-Phase Reactions: XIII. Cyclic Transition States Involving Solvent Molecules in the Mechanism of Aminolysis of Cyclocarbonates in an Alcohol Medium

Trends in the influence of a proton-donor solvent on the reaction of aminolysis of ethylene carbonate, which proceeds through concerted and stepwise mechanisms, are studied. The study is based on kinetic data of model reactions in alcohol solutions and results of DFT quantum chemical calculations of reaction paths that involve hydrogen-bonded transition states and intermediates containing different numbers of solvent molecules in the proton-transfer and stabilization cycles. The calculated data on the activation energies of the reaction, which includes cycles of different sizes, indicate that the stepwise mechanism is preferable compared to the concerted one when the reaction proceeds in methanol. The activation barrier of the stepwise path of the reaction is lower by 2.9 kcal/mol than that for the concerted path. Only the proton-transfer cycle is essential for the progress of the reaction, and the presence of a stabilization cycle does not lead to a decrease in the activation barrier.

Structure of the Nearest Environment of Na+, K+, Rb+, and Cs+ Ions in Oxygen-Containing Solvents

The review generalizes and analyzes published data on different methods of studying structural characteristics of the solvation environment of alkali metal ions (except for Li+) in various electron-donor oxygen-containing solvents. Coordination numbers of alkali metal ions, interspecies distances, and types of ion association are discussed. The solvation structures of alkali metal cations in water and some nonaqueous systems are compared. The number of solvent molecules and the distance between the cation and oxygen atom of solvent molecule in the first coordination sphere are independent of physicochemical properties of the solvent.

Morphology prediction of 5,5′-bistetrazole-1,1′-diolate (BTO) crystal in solvents with different models using molecular dynamics simulation

For explaining in detail the influence of solvents on the morphology of 5,5′-bistetrazole-1,1′-diolate (BTO) crystal, molecular dynamics (MD) methods were used to simulate solution-crystal interface interactions, modified attachment energy (AE) model and occupancy model were used to predict the morphology of BTO. The simulation results demonstrated that the morphologically dominant growth surfaces of BTO in vacuum are (001), (110), (20–1) and (200), respectively. There has many intramolecular and intermolecular interactions exist with different strength in the crystal of BTO, and the atomic system is dominated by N···H/H···N contacts which are comprising 60.2%. Analysis of the crystal bond chain and crystal packing further explained the mechanism of crystal surface growth. The size of the BTO crystal face-solvent model and the number of solvent molecules was designed. The morphologies of BTO in different solvents with three models were displayed. Results of comparing the BTO crystal relative surface/volume ratio in different solvents indicated that the Diethyl Ether (DEE) solvent is more favorable for the spheroidization of BTO crystal in the study.

Intermolecular Pauli repulsion: a QMC study of molecules in ground and excited state in free space and in solution

In this work we present a method to compute the Pauli repulsion interaction energy between two molecules and for a molecule solvated by a discrete medium. The method of Amovilli and Mennucci, that has been developed within a continuum solvent model approach, is here revised in order to treat the solvation environment with a discrete number of solvent molecules. In our model, one of the two interacting systems, and the solvent in the case of solvation, acts as ‘probe’. A probe has a volume domain defined by the atomic spheres centred on the nuclei of the relevant molecule. The probe measures the fraction of electrons of the solute molecule falling in its domain leading to the evaluation of Pauli repulsion energy. To this end, Quantum Monte Carlo calculations are used to sample the electronic configurations of the solute. The method has been designed to be applied also to excited states. We show results for test systems in the ground state and for the ground and the excited states of acetone in a cluster with 14 water molecules.

PECULIARITIES OF STRUCTURE AND SPECTRAL-LUMINESCENT PROPERTIES OF CARBOXYMETHOXY-SUBSTITUTED CALIX[4]ARENES AND THEIR COMPLEXES WITH LANTHANIDES

Spectral-luminescent properties of a variety of carboxymethoxy-substituted p-tert-butyl-calix[4]arenes and their complexes with lanthanides (Nd, Er, Yb) that exhibit the 4f-luminescence in the IR-spectrum region have been investigated. The effect of substitution of hydrogen phenolic atoms by carboxymethoxy groups on the stability and spectral-luminescent characteristics of both the ligands and lanthanide complexes was analyzed. Thus, based on the combination of the results obtained by means of elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy, and taking into account the data of pH-metric titration, spectrophotometric and luminescence measurements, it can be concluded that lanthanide ions form neutral complexes of 1:1 ratio with L1H4 - L4H4. This is explained by the presence of mobile hydrogen atoms of phenol and/or carboxyl groups in the molecules of these ligands. An increase in the number of donor substituents leads to changes in the number of solvent molecules in the series L3H4 < L1H4 < L2H4 < L4H4 from 0.8 to 2.4 for neodymium complexes, from 1.2 to 2.2 - for ytterbium complexes. Both the quantum yield and lifetime of the 4f-luminescence of the neodymium and ytterbium complexes and also the luminescence intensity of the erbium-containing compounds change in the same order.

Chloranilato-Based Layered Ferrimagnets with Solvent-Dependent Ordering Temperatures

We report the synthesis and the characterization of six new heterometallic chloranilato-based ferrimagnets formulated as (NBu4)[MnCr(C6O4Cl2)3]·nG with n = 1 for G = C6H5Cl (1), C6H5I (3), and C6H5CH3 (4); n = 1.5 for G = C6H5Br (2) and n = 2 for G = C6H5CN (5) and C6H5NO2 (6); (C6O4Cl2)2− = 1,3-dichloro,2,5-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone dianion. The six compounds are isostructural and show hexagonal honeycomb layers of the type [MnCr(C6O4Cl2)3]− alternating with layers containing the NBu4+ cations. The hexagons are formed by alternating Mn(II) and Cr(III) connected by bridging bis-bidentate chloranilato ligands. The benzene derivative solvent molecules are located in the hexagonal channels (formed by the eclipsed packing of the honeycomb layers) showing π-π interactions with the anilato rings. The six compounds behave as ferrimagnets with ordering temperatures in the range 9.8–11.2 K that can be finely tuned by the donor character of the benzene ring and by the number of solvent molecules inserted in the hexagonal channels. The larger the electron density on the aromatic ring and the larger the number of solvent molecules are, the higher Tc is. The only exception is provided by toluene, where the formation of H-bonds might be at the origin of weaker π-π interactions observed in this compound.

Structure of the nearest surrounding of ions in aqueous solutions of iron(III) chloride by x-ray diffraction method

The radial distribution functions of iron(III) chloride aqueous solutions in a wide range of concentrations under ambient conditions have been calculated from the experimental data obtained earlier by X-ray diffraction method. Various models of the structural organization of the systems investigated have been developed. By calculating the theoretical functions for each model and comparing them with the experimental functions, optimal variants have been identified. Quantitative characteristics of the nearest environment structure of Fe3+ and Cl− ions, such as coordination numbers, interparticle distances and varieties of ion pairs, have been determined. It has been found that in a saturated solution of iron(III) chloride the cation coordinates four water molecules at an average distance of 0.210 nm and two chloride ions. As the concentration decreases, the number of solvent molecules in the first coordination sphere of the cation increases to six, and contact ionic associates turn into solvent-separated ion pairs. The Fe3+ ion also forms a second coordination sphere at an average distance of 0.408 nm, the number of H2O molecules in which increases with dilution.

Study of the Wilcox torsion balance in solution for a Tröger's base derivative with hexyl-and heptyl substituents using a combined molecular mechanics and quantum chemistry approach.

The folding equilibrium of the Wilcox torsion balance in solution has been studied using a molecular mechanics method for sampling the conformational space and semi-empirical and density-functional quantum chemistry methods for characterizing the relative stabilities of various solute-solvent clusters extracted with the aid of the MD-quench technique from the different simulations that were performed. The role of the solvent environment has been analyzed by choosing four solvents of different polarities, namely water, acetone, tetrachloromethane, and n-hexane. In all cases, it is found that the attractive intramolecular interactions in folded conformations are strongly compensated by the increase of the solute-solvent interaction energies when the molecule unfolds. The latter can be well explained by the larger number of solvent molecules that can bind to the Wilcox molecule when in an unfolded conformation. The results of this work therefore support the experimental results of Yang et al. (Nature Chem 5:1006, 2013) that the folding free energy of the Wilcox balance is strongly reduced in solution as compared to the gas phase.

Scrutinizing the substituent effect on Mo-based electrocatalysts for molecular hydrogen release through axial-equatorial decomposition: a DFT study.

Based on the experimental precedent discovered by Kuranadasa and coworkers [H. I. Karunadasa et al., Nature, 2010, 464, 1329] to produce dihydrogen from water electrocatalyzed by 2,6-bis[1,1-bis(2-pyridyl)ethyl]-pyridine oxo-molybdenum complexes, we performed an extensive analysis to study the substituent group effect of derivatised compounds coming from the before mentioned Mo-based metal-organic cations in terms of two kinds of substitutions: axial and equatorial at the para-position of pyridine rings; several conceptual tools were used to back up our conclusions. We found that each type of substituent group (electron-withdrawing and electron-donating ones) exerts an independent influence on energetic parameters (energy barrier and overall energy). This opens the chance to search for a synergistic effect by combining these opposite behaviours of these substituents located in the equatorial and axial para-positions of pyridine rings to computationally modulate the aforementioned energetic parameters. This procedure will make easier the proposal of new catalysts to favour either kinetically or thermodynamically or in both ways the production of dihydrogen from water. Additionally, we encompassed a key point: the number of solvent molecules, so that including their presence in further investigations is mandatory.

Solution Structure Effects on the Properties of Electric Double Layers with Surface Charge Regulation Assessed by Density Functional Theory.

The structure of electrolyte solutions in electric double layers is primarily determined by the solvent, despite the fact that it is usually neutral and not subject to Coulombic interactions. The number of solvent molecules in a typical electrolyte solution may be significantly greater that the number of ions. Hence, the charged species compete for space with a much larger number of neutral molecules, which has a strong effect on the density distributions near charged surfaces. Even for very dilute electrolyte solutions, the density profiles resemble liquidlike structure, which is entirely due to the presence of the dense solvent. Our work demonstrates that the solvent structural effect strongly couples to the surface chemistry, which governs the charge and potential. We argue that a comprehensive statistical-mechanical approach, such as classical density functional theory that explicitly includes all solution species, in combination with a surface charge regulation condition at the interface, provides an excellent approach for describing charged interfaces. It allows for revealing important physical features and includes non-Coulombic contributions such as ionic and surface solvation.

Structure of the Nearest Environment of Ions in Aqueous Solutions of Aluminum Chloride According to X-ray Diffraction

Aqueous solutions of aluminum chloride in a wide range of concentrations have been studied by X-ray diffraction under standard conditions. It has been demonstrated that aluminum speciation in highly concentrated solutions is dominated by ionic associates involving two chloride ions. As the concentration decreases, the associates first converts to ion pairs and then to independently hydrated ions. The coordination number of the Al3+ ion increases to 6 when the solution is diluted and with an increase in the Al3+–OH2 distance from 0.190 to 0.207 nm. The second coordination sphere of the cation is formed at an average distance of 0.400 nm. The number of solvent molecules in it naturally increases as the solution is diluted. The anion in highly concentrated solutions does not form its own coordination sphere. It begins to form at a distance of 0.315 nm only in solutions of average concentrations.