The Periodic Table. The Power of Systematization. The Importance of Precision

One hundred and fifty years ago the first important systematization in the realm of chemistry was done, ordering the elements in terms of its atomic mass. This first attempt was crucial even though not totally correct. A better knowledge of the atomic structure improved this initial systematization in terms of the atomic number; but a real understanding of the periodicity in the atomic properties was possible only when the mathematical functions describing the electrons within an atom were obtained. The use of the variational principle looking for the minimal energy of an atomic or molecular system was the engine behind this understanding, though soon it became also clear that, in some specific cases, second order properties could be not adequately described even if the precision got for the energy was large. Magnetic properties are a good example, or the singularity of the elements of the first row of the periodic table with respect to the others within the same group. Some of these questions will be analyzed in our presentation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

La química computacional en la nueva frontera

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Substituent Effects on B−N Bonding and Coupling Constants in Fivemembered Rings N3B2H4X and N2B3H4X, for X = H, F, and Li

Ab initio calculations have been carried out to investigate bonding patterns and B−N coupling constants in five-membered rings N3B2H4X and N2B3H4X, for X = H, F, and Li, with substitution occurring only at N. F-substitution results in the formation of a covalent N−F bond, whereas Li-substitution leads to an ion-pair with little covalency. Substitution has a highly localized effect, changing the electron density only at the substituted N. F-substitution also has a very localized effect on coupling constants, at most only changing 1J(B−N) involving the substituted N. Li-substitution has a more delocalized effect. It always decreases 1J(B−N) involving the substituted N, and may also decrease 1J(B−N) of a proximal B−N bond if the B atom is bonded to the substituted N

Can Transition Metals and Group II Mono- and Dications Discriminate between Homo- and Heterochiral XYYX’ Dimers (X,X’=H,Me; Y=O,S,Se)?

We present a density functional theory and ab initio (MP2) study of stereoisomer discrimination between the homochiral and heterochiral dimers of the form M(XYYX’)2, where M is a cationic metal (Li+, Ca2+, Zn2+, Cu+, Cu2+) complexing chalcogen-chalcogen bridges (H2O2, H2S2, H2Se2, and their corresponding methyl and dimethyl derivatives). The heterochiral complexes examined were in general found to be more stable than the homochiral complexes, with the exception of several selenium-containing complexes. The large majority of the relative energy differences amounted to 1 kJ/mol or less, with the largest energy gap being 3.42 kJ/mol in the case of Ca2+(HSeSe(CH3))2 at B3LYP/aug-cc-pVTZ. Racemization mechanisms of these complexes and the description of their bonding using the Atoms in Molecules theory of Bader are also presented

Modeling the interactions between peptide functions and Sr2+ : Formamide-Sr2+ reactions in the Gas Phase

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Significant bonding rearrangements triggered by Mg4 clusters

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Journal of Chemical Physics 154.4 (2021): 044302 and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0038047The structure, stability, and bonding of the complexes formed by the interaction of Mg4 clusters and first row Lewis bases, namely, ammonia, water, and hydrogen fluoride, have been investigated through the use of high-level G4 single-reference and CASPT2 multireference formalisms. The adducts formed reflect the high electrophilicity of the Mg4 cluster through electron density holes in the neighborhood of each metallic center. After the adduct formation, the metallic bonding of the Mg4 moiety is not significantly altered so that the hydrogen shifts from the Lewis base toward the Mg atoms lead to new local minima with enhanced stability. For the particular case of ammonia and water, the global minima obtained when all the hydrogens of the Lewis base are shifted to the Mg4 moiety have in common a very stable scaffold with a N or an O center covalently tetracoordinated to the four Mg atoms, so the initial bonding arrangements of both reactants have completely disappeared. The reactivity features exhibited by these Mg4 clusters suggest that nanostructures of this metal might have an interesting catalytic behaviorThis work was supported by the projects PGC2018-094644-BC21, PGC2018-094644-B-C22, and PID2019-110091GB-I00 (MICINN) of the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades of Spai

Modelling peptide-metal dication interactions : Formamide-Ca2+ reactions in the Gas Phase.

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A theoretical survey of the UV–visible spectra of axially and peripherally substituted boron subphthalocyanines

The UV–visible spectra of a series of subphthalocyanines (SubPcs) characterized by three different axial substituents (An ) in combination with H, F, NO2, SO2 H and SO2 CH3 peripheral substituents (Ri ) were predicted and analyzed by means of time-dependent DFT calculations, including chloroform as a solvent. In this analysis, we paid particular attention to the Q band, which remained almost unchanged regardless of the nature of the axial substituent. For the same axial substituent, changes in the Q band were also rather small when hydrogens at the periphery were replaced by R1 = SO2 H and R1 = R2 = SO2 H. However, the shifting of the Q band was almost 10 times larger when R1 = NO2 and R1 = R2 = NO2 due to the participation of this substituent in the π SubPc cloud. In most cases, the characteristics of the spectra can be explained considering only the transitions involving the HOMO-1, HOMO, LUMO and LUMO + 1 orbitals, where the Q band can be decomposed into two main contributions, leading to charge separation. Only for SubPc(A3,F,F,H) would one of the two contributions from the deepest orbital involved not lead to charge transfer. For this latter case, the HOMO-2 orbital must also be taken into account. In summary, the results obtained with the analysis of the MO indicate that the studied SubPcs are appropriate for photochemical device

Intramolecular magnesium bonds in malonaldehyde-like systems. A critical view of the resonance-assisted phenomena

Through the use of high-level G4-theory calculations we have investigated the structure, stability and bonding of a set of Mg derivatives formed by replacing the –OH group of malonaldehyde or only the hydrogen atom of this group by a –MgH group. To give insight on the resonance-assisted phenomenon, which might be involved in the stabilization of these compounds, we also included the corresponding saturated analogues in our survey. The effect of the rigidity of the molecular framework was considered by analyzing the Mg-derivatives of (Z)-4-(hydroxymethylene)cyclobut-2- enone, obtained through the same substitutions mentioned above. The effect of replacing the carbonyl group by an imino group was also contemplated. In all cases, the global minimum is a cyclic conformer stabilized through the formation of rather strong intramolecular magnesium bonds. The strength of these interactions is directly related with the intrinsic basicity of the carbonyl group (or the imino group) and the intrinsic acidity of the –MgH group, rather than with a resonance-assisted phenomenon. As a matter of fact, for all the investigated systems, the conclusion is that resonance in the cyclic conformer is directly correlated with the strength of the intramolecular magnesium bond, and not vice-versa. Interestingly, the strength and characteristics of these interactions for these Mg-containing derivatives are very similar to those of the corresponding Be-containing analoguesWork supported by the Projects CTQ2015-63997-C2 and CTQ2016-76061-P of the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain, FOTOCARBON-CM S2013/MIT-2841 of the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid and by the COST Action CM1204 of the EU Framework Programme. Horizon 202

Alkaline-earth (Be, Mg and Ca) bonds at the origin of huge acidity enhancements

The interaction between alkaline-earth derivatives with the general formula X2M (X = H, F and Cl; M = Be, Mg and Ca) and a set of Lewis bases, including first and second-row hydrides, namely YHn(Y = O, N, F, S, P and Cl) hydrides, as well as other typical cyclic organic bases, such as aniline, 1H-1,2,3-triazole, 1H-tetrazole and phenylphosphine, was investigated using the G4 ab initio composite method. Contrary to what was expected, it was found that the interactions involving Mg and Ca derivatives were not necessarily weaker than those between beryllium bonds. The origin is two-fold: larger deformation of the interacting systems when Be-derivatives are involved and appearance of secondary non-covalent interactions in the formation of some of the Mg- and Ca-containing complexes. Hence, the dissociation of the latter complexes may require higher enthalpies than that of the Be complexes. These deformations are triggered by a significant redistribution of electron density of the two interacting moieties, which also result in dramatic changes in the reactivity of the interacting compounds and in particular in the intrinsic basicity of the Lewis bases investigated, to the point that conventional bases, such as ammonia or aniline, upon complexation with MCl2(M = Be, Mg and Ca), become stronger Brønsted acids than phosphoric acid, whereas other bases, such as 1H-tetrazole, become stronger acids than perchloric acid.This work was carried out with financial support from the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (projects CTQ2015-63997-C2 and CTQ2013-43698-P), by the COST Action CM1204 and Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (S2013/MIT2841, Fotocarbon