The high-pressure phase of boron, {\gamma}-B28: disputes and conclusions of 5 years after discovery

{\gamma}-B28 is a recently established high-pressure phase of boron. Its structure consists of icosahedral B12 clusters and B2 dumbbells in a NaCl-type arrangement (B2){\delta}+(B12){\delta}- and displays a significant charge transfer {\delta}~0.5- 0.6. The discovery of this phase proved essential for the understanding and construction of the phase diagram of boron. {\gamma}-B28 was first experimentally obtained as a pure boron allotrope in early 2004 and its structure was discovered in 2006. This paper reviews recent results and in particular deals with the contentious issues related to the equation of state, hardness, putative isostructural phase transformation at ~40 GPa, and debates on the nature of chemical bonding in this phase. Our analysis confirms that (a) calculations based on density functional theory give an accurate description of its equation of state, (b) the reported isostructural phase transformation in {\gamma}-B28 is an artifact rather than a fact, (c) the best estimate of hardness of this phase is 50 GPa, (d) chemical bonding in this phase has a significant degree of ionicity. Apart from presenting an overview of previous results within a consistent view grounded in experiment, thermodynamics and quantum mechanics, we present new results on Bader charges in {\gamma}-B28 using different levels of quantum-mechanical theory (GGA, exact exchange, and HSE06 hybrid functional), and show that the earlier conclusion about significant degree of partial ionicity in this phase is very robust

The electronic structure and chemical bonding of vitamin

The electronic structure and chemical bonding of vitamin \chem{B_{12}} (cyanocobalamin) and \chem{B_{12}}-derivative (methylcobalamin) are studied by means of X-ray emission (XES) and photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopy. The obtained results are compared with ab initio electronic structure calculations using the orthogonalized linear combination of the atomic orbital method (OLCAO). We show that the chemical bonding in vitamin \chem{B_{12}} is characterized by the strong \chem{Co}-\chem{C} bond and relatively weak axial \chem{Co}-\chem{N} bond. It is further confirmed that the \chem{Co}-\chem{C} bond in cyanocobalamin is stronger than that of methylcobalamin resulting in their different biological activity

A solid-state NMR study of lead and vanadium substitution into hydroxyapatite

A systematic study on cationic and anionic substitution in hydroxyapatite structures was carried out, with the aim of understanding the impact of ion exchange on the crystalline structure and properties of these materials. Lead and vanadium were chosen for the exchange, due to their known effects on the redox and catalytic properties of hydroxypatites. Hydroxyapatites with variable Pb and V contents, Pb-x- Ca10-x(VO4)y(PO4)(6-y)(OH)(2) (x = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 for y = 1; y = 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 6 for x = 10) were synthesized and characterized by NMR spectroscopy. Solid-state NMR allowed an analysis of the chemical environment of every ion after substitution into the hydroxyapatite network. Ca-43 and 207 Pb NMR spectra at different lead concentrations provided clear evidence of the preferential substitution of lead into the Ca(II) site, the replacement of the Ca(I) site starting at x = 4 for y = 1. Two NMR distinguishable Pb(I) sites were observed in Pb-10(PO4)(6)(OH)(2), which is compatible with the absence of a local mirror plane pi rpendicular to the c direction. In contrast with P-31 NMR, for which only small variations related to the incorporation of Pb are observed, the strong change in the V-51 NMR spectrum indicates that lead perturbs the vanadium environment more than the phosphorus one. The existence of a wide variety of environments for OH in substituted apatites, is revealed by H-1 NMR, and the mobility of the water molecules appears to vary upon introduction of lead into the structure