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The amplification of microscopic molecular motions so as to produce a controlled macroscopic body effect is the main challenge in the development of molecular mechanical devices. That amplification requires the coherent and ordered movement of each molecule of a whole macroscopic set, such as that taking place in a single-crystal-to-single-crystal transition. Actually, single-crystal-to-single-crystal transitions in molecular crystals can produce a variety of mechanical effects potentially useful in the development of smart materials. A challenging issue in these dynamic crystals, propedeutic to many possible applications in devices, is the gaining of a strict control over the mechanical effects associated with the transition. Here we report an example in which the control of the mechanical effects was successfully obtained. The compound studied undergoes a reversible single-crystal-to-single-crystal transition at 71 °C, from a planar stacked to a herringbone type packing. To this transition, a reversible macroscopic self-reshaping of the crystal is associated. Depending on the morphology, the crystal specimen undergoes a reversible longitudinal expansion of about 20% or a reversible transverse expansion of 20%, the other two dimensions of the crystal specimen being substantially unchanged. The amount of the macroscopic reshaping effect (20%) fully matches the relative variation of the sole unit cell parameter that changes during the transition (from 8.139 to 9.666 Å) in a sort of scale-invariant process. This represents striking evidence of controlled translation of sub-nanometer molecular motions up to the macroscopic scale of body motion.

The sole crystal structure generally observed for a chemical compound (actual crystal structure) corresponds to only one of the many minima present in the crystal energy landscape of that compound. A challenging problem of crystallography is to explain why the many other possible crystal structures (in terms of energy and density) present in the landscape (virtual structures) are not observed as polymorphs. In the present paper, with specific reference to semicarbazides of substituted benzoic acids, the concept of actual and virtual structures is extended and it is proven that optimization of a molecule in a different crystal packing of another molecule (interchangeability of molecules and packings) can lead to low minima of the lattice energy and to a high lattice density also in the case of molecules significantly different in shape (para/meta substituted compounds). This suggests that a crystal structure can be viewed as a sort of elastic system that can be deformed to fit molecules of different electronic character and shape. Surprisingly, in many cases, this deformation is accomplished at low cost of energy and density. Our results also suggest that the small number of polymorphs cannot be explained only by inspection of the crystal energy landscape, which would otherwise suggest many, but also, and perhaps mostly, by the analysis of the initial steps of crystal formation even before nucleation, when many different molecular clusters corresponding to different packings are in competition with each other.

Imines obtained by condensation of 4-hydroxybenzohydrazide with aliphatic ketones are a rare example of a class of compounds showing a remarkable tendency to crystallize in acentric polar space groups (Pna21 or Cc). In fact, all of the (seven) compounds studied up to now show at least one polar polymorph. In some cases, polymorphism was detected, and a nonpolar centrosymmetric phase was also identified (P21/c or P21/n space group). With the aim to disclose the conditions that can favor the formation of acentric structures in molecular crystals, we report, in this paper, a theoretical analysis (ab initio density functional theory with periodic boundary) of the lattice energy and density of all the packing modes observed in the whole set of imines. The computational analysis has been performed by optimizing each compound in its own experimental packings (actual crystal structures) and also in the packings of the other compounds of the class (virtual structures). The experimental crystallographic data and the theoretical analysis suggest that two conformers, basically differing for the orientation of the phenolic H atom in the plane of the phenyl ring, compete, in solution, for the formation of polar or centrosymmetric packings. The transitions between polar and centrosymmetric polymorphs are of diffusive type, and single crystals are not preserved, while the transitions between different polar polymorphs can be of single-crystal-to-single-crystal type.

Series of ZnII complexes with coordinated pyridine and a O,N,O tridentate core are reported. Four species of the general formula ZnLiPy2 were synthesized, where Li is a substituted ((aroylhydrazono)methyl)-3-hydroxyphenyl-4-(octyloxy)benzoate. The structure of the four mononuclear complexes and of dinuclear Zn2L24Py2 was solved by single crystals X-ray analysis. By TGA-DSC analysis and optical observation a nematogenic phase behavior was detected for ligands only and not for complexes. Photoluminescence spectra were recorded both in solution and in solid state Only the complexes showed a noteworthy photoluminescence in the solid state with tunable wavelength by varying the aroyl group. Medium to very high PL quantum yields were recorded on the crystalline complexes obtained in their mononuclear coordination environment. In the case of 4-nitrobenzoyl substituent a dinuclear complex with formula Zn2L24Py2 showed an unprecedent exceptionally high PLQY value. Both periodic and molecular DFT calculations were performed to rationalize the absorbance of these complexes at “one particle” level.

The adsorption of TiCl4 on the surfaces of MgCl2 crystals has been investigated by means of state-of-the-art periodic hybrid DFT methods, as the first step of a comprehensive study aiming to elucidate the structure of the active species in industrial MgCl2-supported Ziegler-Natta catalysts for ethene and propene polymerization. A first distinctive feature of the approach was the thorough evaluation of dispersion forces, crucial because the binding of TiCl4 on MgCl2 surfaces turned out to be essentially dispersion-driven. Also important was a careful investigation of the effects of different choices on basis set and density functional (DF) on the quantitative aspects of the results; this allowed us to trace the unusually large disagreement in the previous literature and identify unambiguous trends. In particular, three full sets of calculations were run adopting the B3LYP(-D), PBE0(-D) and M06 approximations: to the best of our knowledge, the last represents the first case of M06 functional implementation in a periodic code (CRYSTAL) of widespread use. The results consistently indicated that the adsorption of TiCl4 on well-formed MgCl2 crystals under conditions relevant for catalysis can only occur on MgCl2(1 1 0) or equivalent lateral faces, whereas the interaction with MgCl2(1 0 4) - for decades claimed as the most important surface in stereoselective catalysts - is too weak for the formation of stable adducts. The implications of these findings for catalysis are discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The present paper studies MX crystals in rock-salt structure (M: Li, Na, K; X: F, Cl, Br, I). They are often described as being formed by ions. Pictures based on quantum mechanical calculations sustain and quantify it. The tools used are (i) the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules, (ii) the Electron Localization Function, and (iii) the maximization of the probability to find in a spatial domain a number of electrons equal to that of the ion under consideration. The present paper shows that the images provided by these three different tools to analyze the quantum mechanical calculations yield, for these systems, very similar results, in the sense that the spatial domains and probability distributions are close. While results for the first two methods are already present in the literature, the last of the methods is applied for the first time to these systems, and details about the method of calculation and program are also given.

In this work, the GLOB model, an effective and reliable computational approach well suited for ab initio and QM/MM molecular dynamics simulations of complex molecular systems in solution, has been applied to study two representative open-shell systems, the cobalt(II) ion and the glycine radical in aqueous solution, with special reference to their structural and magnetic properties. The main structural features of the solvent cage around the cobalt ion and the hydrogen bonding patterns around the neutral and zwitterionic forms of the glycine radical have been investigated in some detail. The general good agreement with experiments supports the use of the present model to investigate more challenging and biological/technological relevant open-shell systems.

Graphite, and particularly defective graphite, is chosen to model soot particles. Quantum mechanical calculations are first carried out on molecular polycyclic-aromatic-hydrocarbon-type systems and then extended to a periodic representation of one graphite layer. The features of the interaction of H, HO, NO, NO2, and NO3 with these model systems are examined, with the aim of defining a suitable representation of the atmospheric or combustion gas−solid interactions by which functionalization reactions can take place. The more interesting interactions with small reactive molecules regard the edge of the graphene sheet and the in-plane carbon vacancies. While these interactions can be well described by sufficiently extended molecular models, periodic models are necessary to describe accurately the equilibrium geometries because they introduce the necessary geometric constraints. The ability of a graphene sheet to easily accommodate unpaired electrons in σ or π orbitals is the basis for its interesting intera...

The role of surface oxygen vacancies in the optical properties of tin dioxide nanobelts is investigated in this paper. Using a first-principles approach, based on the density functional theory combined to a very accurate exchange correlation functional, we characterize SnO(2) (101), that is the nanobelt largest surface. We show that the presence of surface oxygen vacancies leads to the appearance of (i) occupied states located at about 1 eV above the valence band and (ii) unoccupied states lying in resonance with the conduction band. Photoluminescence characterization performed on samples of SnO(2) nanobelts at low temperature shows that the basic spectral features of luminescence are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions.

Calculations are reported of the enthalpies of mixing of MnO/MgO and NiO/MgO based on temperature-dependent lattice statics and dynamics and ab initio periodic Hartree-Fock methodology with a posteriori corrections for electron correlation derived from density-functional theory. For MnO/MgO both methodologies predict enthalpies of mixing that are close to those reported by Hahn and Muan (J. Phys. Chem. Solids, 1961, 19, 338). For NiO/MgO, on the other hand, classical simulations predict positive deviations from ideality in contrast to Hartree-Fock calculations which predict small negative deviations in agreement with the experimental data of Davies and Navrotsky (J. Solid State Chem., 1981, 38, 264).

The preliminary results of a simulation of the air quality in a region of Northern Italy are presented. The simulation was performed using a modelling system based on a meteorological model, an interface code and a transport-chemistry model. Comparisons with measured data are presented and discussed.