Computations on Three Isomers of La@C 74

ABSTRACT: Density-functional theory calculations are presented for La@C 74 , where C 74 is either the IPR (isolated pentagon rule) cage or two cages with a pentagon-pentagon junction. Their relative thermodynamic production yields are evaluated using the calculated terms, and it is shown that the IPR-based endohedral prevails at relevant temperatures in agreement with the observation

Photoreactions of Sc3N@C80 with Disilirane, Silirane, and Digermirane: A Photochemical Method to Separate Ih and D5h Isomers

Under photoirradiation, Sc3N@Ih-C80 reacted readily with disilirane 1, silirane 4, and digermirane 7 to afford the corresponding 1:1 adducts, whereas Sc3N@D5h-C80 was recovered without producing those adducts. Based on these results, we described a novel method for the exclusive separation of Ih and D5h isomers of Sc3N@C80. The method includes three procedures: selective derivatization of Sc3N@Ih-C80 using 1, 4, and 7, facile HPLC separation of pristine Sc3N@D5h-C80 and Sc3N@Ih-C80 derivatives, and thermolysis of Sc3N@Ih-C80 derivatives to collect pristine Sc3N@Ih-C80. In addition, laser flash photolysis experiments were conducted to elucidate the reaction mechanism. Decay of the transient absorption of 3Sc3N@Ih-C80* was observed to be enhanced in the presence of 1, indicating the quenching process. When Sc3N@D5h-C80 was used, the transient absorption was much less intensive. Therefore, the quenching of 3Sc3N@D5h-C80* by 1 could not be confirmed. Furthermore, we applied time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations of the photoexcited states of Sc3N@C80 to obtain insights into the reaction mechanism

Lix@C60: Calculations of the Encapsulation Energetics and Thermodynamics

Li@C60 and Li@C70 can be prepared and thus, their calculations at higher levels of theory are also of interest. In the report, the computations are carried out on Li@C60, Li2@C60 and Li3@C60 with the B3LYP density-functional theory treatment in the standard 3-21G and 6-31G* basis sets. The computed energetics suggests that Lix @C60 species may be produced for a few small x values if the Li pressure is enhanced sufficiently. In order to check the suggestion, a deeper computational evaluation of the encapsulation thermodynamics is carried out

Finite-Size Effects in Simulations of Chemical Reactions

To study macroscopic systems with coarse grained simulations one typically simulates a micro- scopic part of this macroscopic system. By reducing the size of the simulated system one introduces finite size effects. In this work we study the finite-size effects in the reaction ensemble, which is used to simulate reactive system. We calculate the finite-size effects in a non-interacting systems by explicitly calculating the partition function. This approach provides high precision data at low computational costs. For a grand canonical insertion/deletion of a pair of particles our results reproduces previously published results, validating our approach. Further, we show that a sim- ple isomerization reaction is not affected by finite size effects. For a decomposition reaction we show that previous estimates were overestimating the finite-size effects, and one can simulate much smaller systems while avoiding the finite-size effects. For previously studied acid-base equilibria the finite-size effects are only relevant at extreme conditions. The tool we provide allows to a priori estimate the finite-size effects and find the limits of the applicability of the reaction ensemble

Intramolecular micellization and nanopatterning in pH- and thermo-responsive molecular brushes

International audienceConformational transitions and nanoscale self-organization triggered in double pH- and thermo-responsive molecular brushes by varying environmental conditions are studied by means of analytical mean-field theory and numerical Scheutjens–Fleer self-consistent field modelling. Such molecular brushes are composed of multiple thermo-responsive side chains end-grafted onto the main chain (backbone) and are capable of acquiring ionic charges via reversible (de)protonation of the monomer units. Competition of long-range Coulomb repulsion with short-range solvophobic interactions leads to complex patterns in the intramolecular self-organization of molecular brushes. In particular, we observed formation of pearl necklace-like structures with multiple dense nanodomains formed by weakly ionized collapsed side chains and stabilized by a fraction protruding into the solution and strongly ionized ones. Such structures are thermodynamically stable in a certain parameter range and can be termed as intramolecular micelles. The stimuli-induced intramolecular nanopatterning occurs via a sequence of quasi-first order phase transitions corresponding to splitting/fusion of collapsed domains accompanied by jumps in the average degree of ionization and macromolecular dimensions. A re-entrant sequence of transitions is observed when the salt concentration is used as a control parameter. These theoretical predictions provide guidelines for design of smart unimolecular devices, for example multicompartment nanocarriers of active substances or nanosensors

A Computational Characterization of CH₄@C₆₀

The recently synthetically prepared endohedral CH4@C60 was characterized here using calculations—namely its structure, energetics, thermodynamics, and vibrational spectrum. The calculations were carried out with DFT (density-functional theory) methods, namely by the DFT M06-2X functional and MP2, as well as B2PLYPD advanced correlated, treatments with the standard 6-31++G** and 6-311++G** basis sets, corrected for the basis set superposition error evaluated using the approximative Boys–Bernardi counterpoise method. The symmetry of the endohedral obtained in the geometry optimizations was tetrahedral T. The energetics of CH4 encapsulation into C60 was attractive (i.e., with a negative encapsulation-energy term), producing a substantial energy gain of −13.94 kcal/mol at the most advanced computational level, B2PLYPD/6-311++G**. The encapsulation equilibrium constants for CH4@C60 were somewhat higher than previously found with the CO@C60 system. For example at 500 K, the encapsulation equilibrium constant for CH4@C60 had a value one order of magnitude larger than for CO@C60. The encapsulation thermodynamic characteristics suggest that high-pressure and high-temperature synthesis could in principle also be possible for CH4@C60

La₂C₂@<i>D</i>₅(450)-C₁₀₀: Calculated High Energy Gain in Encapsulation

The structure and energetics of the clusterfullerene La2C2@D5(450)-C100 are calculated at the B3LYP/6-31G*∼SDD level (including counterpoise correction for the basis set superposition error), and the observed features are confirmed. Its stability is explained by substantial energy gain connected with the encapsulation, viz. 140 kcal/mol per atom of the encapsulate, actually higher than previously found for comparable systems

Eu@C72: Computed Comparable Populations of Two Non-IPR Isomers

Relative concentrations of six isomeric Eu@C 72 —one based on the IPR C 72 cage (i.e., obeying the isolated-pentagon rule, IPR), two cages with a pentagon–pentagon junction (symmetries C 2 and C 2 v ), a cage with one heptagon, a cage with two heptagons, and a cage with two pentagon–pentagon fusions—are DFT computed using the Gibbs energy in a broad temperature interval. It is shown that the two non-IPR isomers with one pentagon–pentagon junction prevail at any relevant temperature and exhibit comparable populations. The IPR-satisfying structure is disfavored by both energy and entropy