Trans-cis photoisomerization of azobenzene by n→π* excitation:A semiclassical dynamics study

A realistic dynamics simulation study is reported for the trans-cis photoisomerization of azobenzene triggered by the n →π^＊ excitation and the results show that the formation ofcis isomer follows the rotational motion around the N=N bond. The simulation find that the CNN bond angle bending vibrations also play a significant role in the vibronic coupling between the HOMO and LUMO, which essentially leads a nonadiabatic transition of the molecule to the electronic ground state.

AIM Study on the Reaction of CH2SH Radical with Fluorine Atom

The reaction of CH2SH radical with fluorine atom was studied at the levels of B3LYP/6-311G（d,p） and MP2（Full）/6-311G（d,p）. The computational results show that the reaction has three channels and proceeds by the addition of fluorine atoms on carbon or sulfur sites of CH2SH, forming initial intermediates. The calculated results show that the channel, in which fluorine attaches to the carbon atom to form CH2S and HF, is the most likely reaction pathway. Topological analysis of electron density was carried out for the three channels. The change trends of the chemical bonds on the reaction paths were discussed. The energy transition states and the structure transition regions （states） of the three channels were found. The calculated results show that the structure transition regions are broad in unobvious exothermic reactions or unobvious endothermic reactions, and are narrow in obvious exothermic reactions or obvious endothermic reactions.

Mechanisms of Ketone/Imine Hydrogenation Catalyzed by Transition-Metal Complexes

Alcohols and amines are important in pharmaceutical, perfume, and agrochemical industries. Catalytic asymmetric synthesis is one of the major ways to produce chiral alcohols/amines from prochiral ketones/imines via hydrogenation. Meanwhile, the alcohol/amine dehydrogenation with high hydrogen energy density is paid more and more attention as promising hydrogen-storage media. In this review, we summarize classifications of mechanisms of ketone/imine hydrogenation and alcohol/amine dehydrogenation catalyzed by transition-metal (TM) complexes, the H2activation modes, and the nature of asymmetric ketone/imine hydrogenation (AKH/AIH). This will elaborate our understanding on the nature of the TM-catalyzed ketone/imine hydrogenation and alcohol/amine dehydrogenation reactions.

Computational studies of σ-type weak interactions between NCO/NCS radicals and XY(X = H,Cl;Y = F,Cl,and Br)

The triatomic radicals NCO and NCS are of interest in atmospheric chemistry,and both the ends of these radicals can potentially serve as electron donors during the formation of σ-type hydrogen/halogen bonds with electron acceptors XY(X = H,Cl;Y = F,Cl,and Br).The geometries of the weakly bonded systems NCO/NCS···XY were determined at the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level of calculation.The results obtained indicate that the geometries in which the hydrogen/halogen atom is bonded at the N atom are more stable than those where it is bonded at the O/S atom,and that it is the molecular electrostatic potential(MEP)-not the electronegativity-that determines the stability of the hydrogen/halogen bond.For the same electron donor(N or O/S) in the triatomic radical and the same X atom in XY,the bond strength decreases in the order Y = F > Cl > Br.In the hydrogen/halogen bond formation process for all of the complexes studied in this work,transfer of spin electron density from the electron donor to the electron acceptor is negligible,but spin density rearranges within the triatomic radicals,being transferred to the terminal atom not interacting with XY.

A Computational Study on Iridium-Catalyzed Production of Acetic Acid from Ethanol and Water Solution

The mechanism for the production of acetic acid from ethanol and water mixture catalyzed by iridium catalyst has been theoretically investigated.The cooperation of the iridium center and bpyO ligand is highlighted,which plays an important role in the catalytic activity.The hydrogen release from the iridium center is the rate-determining step,with an energy barrier of 22.5 kcal/mol.The electronic structure analysis suggests electron-donating substituents could decrease the energy barrier.

The application of aromaticity and antiaromaticity to reaction mechanisms

Aromaticity,in general,can promote a given reaction by stabilizing a transition state or a product via a mobility ofπelectrons in a cyclic structure.Similarly,such a promotion could be also achieved by destabilizing an antiaromatic reactant.However,both aromaticity and transition states cannot be directly measured in experiment.Thus,computational chemistry has been becoming a key tool to understand the aromaticity-driven reaction mechanisms.In this review,we will analyze the relationship between aromaticity and reaction mechanism to highlight the importance of density functional theory calculations and present it according to an approach via either aromatizing a transition state/product or destabilizing a reactant by antiaromaticity.Specifically,we will start with a particularly challenging example of dinitrogen activation followed by other small-molecule activation,Csingle bondF bond activation,rearrangement,as well as metathesis reactions.In addition,antiaromaticity-promoted dihydrogen activation,CO_(2)capture,and oxygen reduction reactions will be also briefly discussed.Finally,caution must be cast as the magnitude of the aromaticity in the transition states is not particularly high in most cases.Thus,a proof of an adequate electron delocalization rather than a complete ring current is recommended to support the relatively weak aromaticity in these transition states.

AIM and ELF Analyses of Halogen Bonding in NCS ： BrCl Complexes

The nature of halogen bonding in five complexes formed between the thiocyanate （NCS） radical and a BrC1 molecule was analyzed by quantum theory of atoms in molecules （QTAIM） and electron-localization function （ELF） in this paper. The calculated results show that the geometry of the halogen atom bonded at the N-atom is stable than those bonded at S- or C-atom. The molecular electrostatic potentials determine the geometries and stabilities of the complexes. The valence basin of the S- or N-atom in the electron-donating NCS radical is compressed and its population decreases during the process of formation of the halogen-bonded complexes.

Theoretical Studies on Reaction Mechanism of CH3SO with NO

The potential energy surface （PES） of CH3SO radical with NO reaction has been studied at MP2/6-311G（2df, p） and QCISD/6-311G（2df, p） levels. Geometries of the reactants, transition states （TS） and products were optimized at B3LYP/6-311G （d,p） level. The geometries of the transition states were found for the first time. The calculated results show that the reaction can proceed via singlet-state or triplet-state PES. Because of the high energy barrier of triplet surface, the singlet surface reactions are dominant. The topological analysis of electron density shows that there are two kinds of structaral transition states （the bifurcation-type ring structure transition state and the T-shaped conflict structure transition state） in the titled reaction. The total electronic density of the reactants, TS and products and the spin electronic density on the triplet surface were also discussed in this paper.

Molecular calculations for HeH^+ with two-center correlated orbitals

A two-center correlated orbital approach was used to calculate the electronic ground state energy for the HeH+ molecular ion. The wavefunctions were constructed from the exact solution of the Schrdinger equation for the HeH++ problem in prolate-spheroidal coordinates taken together with a Hylleraas type correlation factor. With a simple single term wavefunction,we obtained ground state energy of -2.95308691 hartree without any variational parameters in the calculation. When a two-configuration-state wavefunction was used and effective charges were allowed to be adjusted,we found an energy of -2.97384868 hartree,which is to be compared with -2.97869074 hartree obtained by an 83 term configuration interaction wavefunction or -2.97364338 hartree by an ab initio calculation (at the MP4(SDQ)/6-311++G(3df,3dp) level) using the well-known "canned" code.

AIM Study on Reaction HNCX→HXCN （X=O, S and Se）

The reactions of HNCO to HOCN, HNCS to HSCN and HNCSe to HSeCN have been studied at MP2/6-311 ＋ ＋ G（2df, pd）//B3LYP/6-311 ＋ ＋G（2df, pd） level. Geometries of the reactants, transition states and products have been optimized and geometries of the transition states are reported for the first time. The reasons why HNCO and HNCS instead of HOCN and HSCN were easily detected have been explained. It was predicted that HNCSe will be more easily detected than HSeCN. The breakage and formation of the chemical bonds in the reactions have been discussed by the topological analysis method of electronic density. The calculated results show that there are two kinds of structure transition states （STS） in reactions studied.

Theoretical Studies on the Hydrogen-bonding and π-Stacking Interactions in the m-Nisoldipine Polymorphism Dimers

The intermolecular interactions in the dimers of m-nisoldipine polymorphism were studied by B3LYP calculations and quantum theory of ＂atoms in molecules＂ （QTAIM） studies. Four geometries of dimers were obtained： dimer I （a：dimer, O…H--N）, dimer II （b-dimer, O…H--N）, dimer III （b-dimer, n-stacking-c）, and dimer IV （b-dimer, n-stacking-p）. The interaction energies of the four dimers are along the sequence of II〉I〉III〉IV. The intermolecular distance of the interactions follows the order： I （O…H--N）〈II （O…H--N）, and III （n-stacking）〈 IV （n-stacking）. Both the O…H--N hydrogen-bonding and n-stacking interactions belong to weak non-covalent interactions. The O…H--N hydrogen-bonding interactions with more electrostatic characters are stronger than the n-stacking interactions. The strength of the weak interactions decreases in the order： I〉II〉III〉IV, and the electrostatic character decreases along the sequence： I〉II〉III〉IV.