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Singlet and triplet spin state energies for three-dimensional Hooke atoms, that is, electrons in a quadratic confinement, with even number of electrons (2, 4, 6, 8, 10) is discussed using Full-CI and CASSCF type wavefunctions with a variety of basis sets and considering perturbative corrections up to second order. The effect of the screening of the electron–electron interaction is also discussed by using a Yukawa-type potential with different values of the Yukawa screening parameter (λee = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0). Our results show that the singlet state is the ground state for two and eight electron Hooke atoms, whereas the triplet is the ground spin state for 4-, 6-, and 10-electron systems. This suggests the following Aufbau structure 1s

In this work, we have computed and implemented one-body integrals concerning Gaussian confinement potentials over Gaussian basis functions. Then, we have set an equivalence between Gaussian and Hooke atoms and we have observed that, according to singlet and triplet state energies, both systems are equivalent for large confinement depth for a series of even number of electrons n = 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. Unlike with harmonic potentials, Gaussian confinement potentials are dissociative for small enough depth parameter; this feature is crucial in order to model phenomena such as ionization. In this case, in addition to corresponding Taylor-series expansions, the first diagonal and sub-diagonal Pade approximant were also obtained, useful to compute the upper and lower limits for the dissociation depth. Hence, this method introduces new advantages compared to others. This research was funded by Eusko Jaurlaritza (the Basque Government), through Consolidated Group Project No. IT1254-19 and IT1584-22. Technical and human support provided by IZO-SGI, SGIker (UPV/EHU, MICINN, GV/EJ, ERDF and ESF) is gratefully acknowledged.

The electronic structures of the lowest energy spin-states of the cationic, neutral and anionic bare boron pentamer clusters have been investigated by means of high level multiconfigurational type calculations, in view of the large static and dynamical electron correlation effects for these species. We found that B5+ resembles a singlet spin-state perfect pentagon, which bears no intra-annular chemical bonding interactions, as shown by our analysis of the electron delocalization carried out in terms of the normalized Giambiagi ring-current index, and the total and adjacent atom-pair delocalization indices. However, its lowest-energy triplet and quintet spin-state isomers have C2v symmetry, with large intra-annular chemical bonding interactions. This geometrical feature extends to both the neutral and the anionic species. Namely, the lowest-energy isomers of boron pentamer neutral and anionic clusters have peripheral and intra-annular sizable bonding interactions reflected in the delocalization of both π- and σ-type valence natural orbitals over the whole molecular plane, which impart large structural stability. In accordance to our calculations, the lowest energy triplet spin-state isomer of the anionic boron pentamer cluster has C2 symmetry, and consequently, it should show optical activity. Finally, we have studied the change of the geometrical structure of the boron pentamer clusters from planar to compact three-dimensional structures caused by the bonding of ligands to the boron atoms. Our explicit all-electron calculations have been rationalized in terms of the shell-closure of the delocalized valence orbitals of the clusters as predicted by the jellium model extended to nonspherical confinement potentials, circumscribing the role of the ligand to modulate the total number of valence electrons assigned to the core cluster.

We thank the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (CTQ2017-85454-C2-1-P), Ministerio de Ciencia en Innovacion (PID2020-113059GB-C21) and Junta de Andalucia (P20_00162) (Spain) for funding and P. R. and A. O. G. also for FPU contracts. We also thank the UGR CSIRC for access to computational facilities. We also thank Big&Open Data Innovation Laboratory (BODaI-Lab), University of Brescia, granted by Fondazione Cariplo and Regione Lombardia, for access to resources of Computing Center CINECA (Bologna), Italy. Support from the Italian MIUR (grant N. 2017A4XRCA) is also acknowledged. VM acknowledges a Fellowship from Ikerbasque, the Basque Foundation for Science., A novel synthetic strategy based on a bifunctional stapled chiral nucleus from which segments of different lengths can be added to both ends of o-phenylene ethynylenes (o-OPEs) has been developed to obtain a new type of foldamer and a novel chiral Pd2L2 metallacycle. For the first time, an enantiopure fully conjugated helical foldamer having 14 phenyl rings and 13 alkynes is reported. The folded structure has four complete loops and is able to host three Ag(I) cations in their cavity with high binding constants. The complete photophysical and chiroptical (ECD, CPL and VCD) characterization of these foldamers has shown that these molecules show intense chiroptical responses with dissymmetry ratios in the range of 10−2. Theoretical modeling of these systems reveals the origin of these remarkable responses and points out a potential connection with the chiral induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect. The magnetic dipole moment is proposed as a key physical variable connecting the chiroptical properties and CISS-based spin filtering properties observed in chiral compounds., Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Spain) CTQ2017-85454-C2-1-P, Ministerio de Ciencia en Innovacion (Spain) PID2020-113059GB-C21, Junta de Andalucia European Commission P20_00162, Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) 2017A4XRCA, Ikerbasque, the Basque Foundation for Science

[EN] Using Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, it was experimentally determined that Sc+ in the highly diluted gas phase reacts with SO2 to form ScO+ and SO. By O-18 labeling, ScO+ was shown to play the role of a catalyst when further reacting with SO2 in a Mars-van Krevelen-like (MvK) oxygen exchange process, where a solid catalyst actively reacts with the substrate but emerges apparently unchanged at the end of the cycle. High-level quantum chemical calculations confirmed that the multi-step process to form ScO+ and SO is exoergic and that all intermediates and transition states in between are located energetically below the entrance level. The reaction starts from the triplet surface; although three spin-crossing points with minimal energy have been identified by computational means, there is no evidence that a two-state scenario is involved in the course of the reaction, by which the reactants could switch from the triplet to the singlet surface and back. Pivotal to the oxygen exchange reaction of ScO+ with SO2 is the occurrence of a highly symmetric four-membered cyclic intermediate by which two oxygen atoms become equivalent. The authors thank IZO-SGI SGIker (UPV/EHU), supported by ERDF and ESF European funding programmes, for technical and human assistance with the calculations, and the DIPC for generous allocation of computational resources. Financial support comes from the Spanish Office for Scientific Research (MCIU /AEI /FEDER, UE), Ref.: PGC2018-097529-B-100 and Eusko Jaurlaritza (Basque Government), Ref.: IT1254-19, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21773085 and 92161120).

Using Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, it was experimentally determined that Sc

Chirality is a defining property of optically active molecules, i.e., those capable of having an asymmetric Raman response to circularly polarized light or rotating the plane defined by the two vec...

The tetravalent oxygen or sulphur centres, especially in H4 O2+ and H4 S2+ dications, were analysed experimentally and theoretically in various studies. Herein, we discuss stabilities of such centres in related H(CH3 )3 O2+ and H(CH3 )3 S2+ dications mediated by carborane superacid. The ωB97X-D/6-311++G(d,p) calculations were performed for a gas phase and for different solvents characterized by a wide range of dielectric constants for complexes of these dications with the conjugated base of H(CHB11 F11 ) carborane superacid, CHB11 F11- , which indicate that these complexes are linked by hydrogen bonds. The Quantum Theory of 'Atoms in Molecules' (QTAIM) approach is applied to characterize these interactions. DFT results show that tetravalent oxygen and sulphur structures are additionally stabilized by polar solvents.

Methane activation reaction by small alternant [N2Y2] + (Y O, S) radical cation rings is predicted by the methods of computational chemistry. Approximate density functional theory and coupled cluster singles and doubles with perturbative triples calculations are employed to investigate the potential energy surface of this putative reaction. On the contrary to previously reported methane activation processes by square planar four-membered rings following the proton coupled electron transfer mechanism, the [N2O2] + and [N2S2] + clusters, according to our results, may activate methane through the hydrogen atom transfer mechanism. On the contrary, the similar oxide cluster in which the nitrogen atoms were substituted by phosphorous atoms, [P2O2] +, does not perform methane activation.

A fundamental problem for thermal energy harvesting is the development of atomistic design strategies for smart nanodevices and nanomaterials that can be used to selectively transmit heat. We carry out here an extensive computational study demonstrating that heterogeneous molecular junctions, consisting of molecular wires bridging two different nanocontacts, can act as a selective phonon filter. The most important finding is the appearance of gaps on the phonon transmittance spectrum, which are strongly correlated to the properties of the vibrational spectrum of the specific molecular species in the junction. The filtering effect results from a delicate interplay between the intrinsic vibrational structure of the molecular chains and the different Debye cutoffs of the nanoscopic electrodes used as thermal baths.

The reliability of the recently proposed natural orbital functional supplemented with second-order Moller–Plesset calculations (NOF-MP2) has been assessed for the mechanistic studies of elementary reactions of transition metal compounds by investigating the dehydrogenation of water by the scandium cation. Both high- and low-spin state potential energy surfaces have been searched thoroughly. Special attention has been paid to the assessment of the capability of the NOF-MP2 method to describe the strong, both static and dynamic, electron correlation effects on the reactivity of Sc $$^{+}$$ ( $$^{3}$$ D, $$^{1}$$ D) with water. In agreement with experimental observations, our calculations correctly predict that the only exothermic products are the lowest-lying ScO $$^{+} (^{1}{\Sigma })$$ and H $$_{2}(^{1}{\Sigma }_{g}^{+})$$ species. Nevertheless, an in-depth analysis of the reaction paths leading to several additional products was carried out, including the characterization of various minima and several key transition states. Our results have been compared with the highly accurate multiconfigurational supplemented with quasi-degenerated perturbation theory, MCQDPT, wavefunction-type calculations, and the available experimental data. It is observed that NOF-MP2 is able to give a satisfactorily quantitative agreement, with a performance on par with that of the MCQDPT method.

We report herein on a NMR-based enantiospecific response for a family of optically active metal-organic frameworks. Cross-polarization of the 1H-13C couple was performed, and the intensities of the 13C nuclei NMR signals were measured to be different for the two enantiomers. In a direct-pulse experiment, which prevents cross-polarization, the intensity difference of the 13C NMR signals of the two nanostructured enantiomers vanished. This result is due to changes of the nuclear spin relaxation times due to the electron spin spatial asymmetry induced by chemical bond polarization involving a chiral center. These experiments put forward on firm ground that the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect, which induces chemical bond polarization in the J-coupling, is the mechanism responsible for the enantiospecific response. The implications of this finding for the theory of this molecular electron spin polarization effect and the development of quantum biosensing and quantum storage devices are discussed.

The non-monotonic behavior of the electron repulsion energy and the interelectronic distance, as a function of the internuclear separation, in the $^{3}\Pi_{u}$ excited state of the hydrogen molecule has been assessed by explicitly calculation and analysis of the electron-pair density distribution functions from high level ab initio Full Configuration Interaction wave functions, for both the $^{3}\Pi_{u}$ and the $^{1}\Pi_{u}$ states. Additionally, the Hund's rule as applied to these two states has been accounted for in terms of simple electronic shielding effects induced by wave function antisymmetrization., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures

There is increasing interest in the study of chiral degrees of freedom occurring in matter and in electromagnetic fields. Opportunities in quantum sciences will likely exploit two main areas that are the focus of this Review: (1) recent observations of the chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect in chiral molecules and engineered nanomaterials and (2) rapidly evolving nanophotonic strategies designed to amplify chiral light-matter interactions. On the one hand, the CISS effect underpins the observation that charge transport through nanoscopic chiral structures favors a particular electronic spin orientation, resulting in large room-temperature spin polarizations. Observations of the CISS effect suggest opportunities for spin control and for the design and fabrication of room-temperature quantum devices from the bottom up, with atomic-scale precision and molecular modularity. On the other hand, chiral-optical effects that depend on both spin- and orbital-angular momentum of photons could offer key advantages in all-optical and quantum information technologies. In particular, amplification of these chiral light-matter interactions using rationally designed plasmonic and dielectric nanomaterials provide approaches to manipulate light intensity, polarization, and phase in confined nanoscale geometries. Any technology that relies on optimal charge transport, or optical control and readout, including quantum devices for logic, sensing, and storage, may benefit from chiral quantum properties. These properties can be theoretically and experimentally investigated from a quantum information perspective, which has not yet been fully developed. There are uncharted implications for the quantum sciences once chiral couplings can be engineered to control the storage, transduction, and manipulation of quantum information. This forward-looking Review provides a survey of the experimental and theoretical fundamentals of chiral-influenced quantum effects and presents a vision for their possible future roles in enabling room-temperature quantum technologies., ACS Nano, 16 (4), ISSN:1936-0851, ISSN:1936-086X

An enantiopure, conductive, and paramagnetic crystalline 3-D metal-organic framework (MOF), based on Dy(III) and the l-tartrate chiral ligand, is proved to behave as an almost ideal electron spin filtering material at room temperature, transmitting one spin component only, leading to a spin polarization (SP) power close to 100% in the ±2 V range, which is conserved over a long spatial range, larger than 1 μm in some cases. This impressive spin polarization capacity of this class of nanostructured materials is measured by means of magnetically polarized conductive atomic force microscopy and is attributed to the Chirality-Induced Spin Selectivity (CISS) effect of the material arising from a multidimensional helicity pattern, the inherited chirality of the organic motive, and the enhancing influence of Dy(III) ions on the CISS effect, with large spin-orbit coupling values. Our results represent the first example of a MOF-based and CISS-effect-mediated spin filtering material that shows a nearly perfect SP. These striking results obtained with our robust and easy-to-synthesize chiral MOFs constitute an important step forward in to improve the performance of spin filtering materials for spintronic device fabrication.

A new cadmium/6-aminonicotinate-based coordination polymer (CP) with an unprecedented multicolored and long-lasting emission is reported. This material shows a blue fluorescence which rapidly turns to green persistent phosphorescence with a lifetime of nearly 1 s. Time-dependent density functional theory calculations revealed that electronic transitions arising from both first excited singlet and triplet states involving ligand-centered and ligand-to-metal charge-transfer mechanisms are responsible for such behavior.

Quantum chemical calculations using density functional theory and correlated ab initio methods of the 10 π-electron systems (N6H6)2+ and C2N4H6 show that the planar forms are no minima on the potential energy surfaces. The twisted ring structures of the two species are energy minima, but acyclic isomers are much lower in energy. The planar geometries sustain strong diamagnetic ring current comparable with that of benzene. In contrast, the calculated multicenter normalized Giambiagi electron delocalization index ING suggests that π-delocalization in planar (N6H6)2+ and C2N4H6 is much weaker than in benzene. Since aromaticity is synonymous for a particular stability of cyclic delocalized systems, it may be stated that calculation or measurement of magnetic chemical shifts due to induced ring currents is not a reliable method to ascertain the aromatic character of a molecule. Aromatic compounds exhibit ring current induced magnetic shielding, but the reverse conclusion that ring current induced magnetic shielding identifies aromaticity is not justified. Furthermore, the 4n+2 rule as indicator of aromatic stabilization should only be used in conjunction with the ring size; the nature of the occupied π orbitals must always be examined.

The basic concepts relevant to the approximate natural orbital functional (NOF) theory are presented. We discuss in detail the reconstruction that leads to Piris NOF (PNOF) approximations focusing on the electron pairing, namely, the independent pair model PNOF5 and the inter-pair electron correlation model PNOF7. It is shown that PNOF7 is an ideal candidate to study model systems for strong correlation such as the Hubbard model and hydrogen rings. Analytic first- and second-order energy derivatives are presented for any given nuclear perturbation. Results for equilibrium geometries and harmonic vibrational frequencies corresponding to a selected set of molecules are reported.

Recently, plasmonic resonances in molecules, clusters, and nanostructures have gathered a lot of attention for their potential range of applicability. Unlike other metal nanostructures, a wide variety of aluminum nanostructures show very promising plasmonic properties. Theoretical and computational investigations helped to understand the nature of collective excitations in such finite systems. However, such theoretical investigations are based on qualitative approaches rather than accurate quantitative methods. In the present work, the collectivity of the low-lying states of Al13– are investigated within the time-dependent density functional theory and analyzed through different computational tools. A novel tool, which provides a quantitative index of the collective nature of the electronic excitations, has been introduced, the so-called transition inverse participation ratio (TIPR) index. The obtained results suggest the presence of plasmonic-like transitions in the Al13– cluster and that these transitio...

Free volume voids in lipid bilayers can be measured by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). This technique has been applied, together with differential scanning calorimetry and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, to study the effects of cholesterol (Chol) and ceramide (Cer) on free volume voids in sphingomyelin (SM) or dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayers. Binary lipid samples with Chol were studied (DPPC:Chol 60:40, SM:Chol 60:40 mol ratio), and no phase transition was detected in the 20-60 °C range, in agreement with calorimetric data. Chol-driven liquid-ordered phase showed an intermediate free volume void size as compared to gel and fluid phases. For SM and SM:Cer (85:15 mol:mol) model membranes measured in the 20-60 °C range the gel-to-fluid phase transition could be observed with a related increase in free volume, which was more pronounced for the SM:Cer sample. MD simulations suggest a hitherto unsuspected lipid tilting in SM:Cer bilayers but not in pure SM. Ternary samples of DPPC:Cer:Chol (54:23:23) and SM:Cer:Chol (54:23:23) were measured, and a clear pattern of free volume increase was observed in the 20-60 °C because of the gel-to-fluid transition. Interestingly, MD simulations showed a tendency of Cer to change its distribution along the membrane to make room for Chol in ternary mixtures. The results suggest that the gel phase formed in these ternary mixtures is stabilized by Chol-Cer interactions.

High-level multiconfigurational self-consistent field calculations, supplemented with multiconfigurational quasi-degenerate perturbation theory ab initio calculations with the aug-cc-pVTZ basis set, demonstrate that the [E(μ-XH)]2 (E = P, As; X = N, P, As) compounds possess one planar and one butterfly-like isomer. The calculations predict that for X = N, planar isomers, which bear substantial biradicaloid character, are more stable than their butterfly-like counterpart isomers, which feature closed-shell electronic structures. This has been ascribed to the fact that the increased bond angle strain at E-N-E is not compensated by the E-E σ (deformed) bond formation in the butterfly-like isomers, yielding the planar structures, which hold wider E-N-E bond angles, as the most stable isomers. As N is substituted by heavier atoms, either P or As, the E-P(As)-E bond angle strain is released and, additionally, as the formed E-E σ-bond is less deformed, the butterfly isomer becomes the most stable isomer. Subsequent evaluation of the normalized Giambiagi multicenter electron delocalization indices revealed no sign of electron delocalization in the four-membered rings and consequently, it is concluded that aromaticity does not play any role in the stabilization of the planar isomers.

NMR-based techniques are supposed to be incapable of distinguishing pure crystalline chemical enantiomers. However, through systematic studies of cross-polarization magic angle spinning (CP-MAS) NMR in a series of amino acids, we have found a rather unexpected behavior in the intensity pattern of optical isomers in hydrogen/nitrogen nuclear polarization transfer that would allow the use of CP NMR as a nondestructive enantioselective detection technique. In all molecules considered, the d isomer yields higher intensity than the l form, while the chemical shift for all nuclei involved remains unchanged. We attribute this striking result to the onset of electron spin polarization, accompanying bond charge polarization through a chiral center, a secondary mechanism for polarization transfer that is triggered only in the CP experimental setup. Electron spin polarization is due to the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect (CISS), which creates an enantioselective response, analogous to the one involved in molecular recognition and enantiospecific separation with achiral magnetic substrates. This polarization influences the molecular magnetic environment, modifying the longitudinal relaxation time T1 of 1H, and ultimately provoking the observed asymmetry in the enantiomeric response.

We report an investigation of a series of auropolyynes, Au-(C≡C)

Correction for 'The stability of biradicaloid versus closed-shell [E(μ-XR)]

The chemical formation process from the study of radial intracule densities by constructing the relaxation holes, Dh(u), resulting from the difference between the actual radial intracule density and the nonrelaxed one, which is obtained from atomic radial intracule densities and the pair density constructed from the overlap of the atomic densities has been studied. Our results show that the internal reorganization of electron pairs prior to bond formation and the covalent bond formation from electrons in separate atoms are completely recognizable processes from the shape of the relaxation hole, Dh(u). The magnitude of Dh(u), the shape of Dh(u) for all u < Req and the distance between the minimum and the maximum in Dh(u) provide further information about the nature of the chemical bond formed. A computational affordable approach to calculate the radial intracule density from approximate pair densities has been also suggested, paving the way to study electronpair distributions in larger systems This research has been funded by the Spanish MINECO/FEDER Projects CTQ2014-52525-P (E.M.), CTQ2014-54306-P (M.S.), CTQ2015-67608-P (X.L.), CTQ2015-67660-P (J.M.U.) and EUIN2017-88605 (E.M.), the Basque Country Consolidated Group Project No. IT588-13, the Generalitat de Catalunya (Project 2014SGR931, Xarxa de Referència en Química Teòrica i Computacional, and the ICREA Academia 2014 prize (M.S.)). The FEDER grant UNGI10-4E-801 (European fund for Regional Development) has also supported this research. M.R.M. acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports for the doctoral grant FPU-2013/00176 and M.V.N. the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO) for the doctoral grant BES-2015-072734. The authors acknowledge the computational resources and technical and human support provided by the DIPC and the SGI/IZO-SGIker UPV/EHU

Multiconfigurationalh igh-level electronic struc-ture calculations show that the Al À 3 ring-likec lustera nion has three close low-lying electronic states of different spin, all of them having strong multiconfigurationalc har-acter.T he aromaticity of the clusterh as, therefore, been studied by meanso ft otal electron delocalization and nor-malized multicenter electron delocalization indicese valu-ated from the multiconfigurationalw ave functions of each state. The lowest-lying singlet and triplet states are found to be highlya romatic, whereas the next lowest-lying state, the quintet state, has much less, though non-negli-gible, aromatic character. The aromaticity of the all-metal clusters has emerged as an ew paradigm of modern chemistry since the seminal discovery by Wang, Boldyrev,a nd co-workers [1] of the [Al 4 X] À (X = Li, Na,C u) cluster family,w hich was rationalized as consisting of the X

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) can measure changes in local free volume voids in lipid bilayers. PALS has been applied, together with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, to study free volume voids in DPPC and DPPC : ceramide (85 : 15 mol : mol) model membranes in the 20–60 °C range. The free volume void average size clearly increases with the gel–fluid phase transition of the lipid, or lipid mixture. Ceramide increases void size at all temperatures, particularly in the range causing the gel–fluid transition of the mixture. A parallel study of PALS and calorimetric data indicates that, for the complex thermotropic transition of the DPPC–ceramide mixture, PALS is detecting the transition of the DPPC component, while calorimetry changes indicate mainly the melting of the ceramide-enriched domains. Molecular dynamics calculations provide a clear distinction between ceramide-rich and poor domains, and show that the voids are predominantly located near the membrane nodal plane. The ceramide-induced increase in void volume size occurs as well at temperatures when both phospholipid and ceramide are in the fluid state, indicating that the effect is not the result of phospholipid–ceramide domain coexistence. The above observations may be related to hitherto unexplained properties of ceramide, such as the increase in membrane permeability, and the induction of transmembrane (flip-flop) lipid motion.

We analyze the Coulomb hole of Ne from highly-accurate CISD wave functions obtained from optimized even-tempered basis sets. Using a two-fold extrapolation procedure we obtain highly accurate results that recover 97\% of the correlation energy. We confirm the existence of a shoulder in the short-range region of the Coulomb hole of the Ne atom, which is due to an internal reorganization of the $K$-shell caused by electron correlation of the core electrons. The feature is very sensitive to the quality of the basis set in the core region and it is not exclusive to Ne, being also present in most of second-row atoms, thus confirming that it is due to $K$-shell correlation effects., 7 pages, 6 figures, 1 table

Palladium phosphine sulfonate complexes constitute an efficient family of catalysts for both homopolymerization of ethylene and copolymerization of ethylene with a number of polar monomers. Their catalytic mechanisms have been extensively studied but not fully understood at the electronic structure level. The energy decomposition analysis, complemented with the inspection of the natural orbitals for chemical valence, reveals that their catalytic activity can be rationalized in terms of the so-called trans effect. Furthermore, our analysis shows that the competition for the σ donation of the two ligands PMe3 and L, of the palladium phosphine sulfonate complexes, to the same orbital of Pd in the trans isomer and to different orbitals in the cis isomer is the origin of the trans effect. Although the dominance of the phosphine group prevents an efficient interaction of the ligand L with the Pd atom, the large stabilization gained by the phosphine group renders a very stable trans complex.

This work presents the mechanism of the photoinduced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by paramagnetic copper porphyrins in aqueous solution. Electronic structure calculations within the framework of the (time-dependent) density functional theory, (TD)DFT, reveal the details regarding the development of the atomistic and electronic structures of the copper porphyrin in solution along the set of chemical reactions accessible upon photoactivation. This study identifies the key parameters controlling the feasibility of the various reaction pathways that drive the formation of specific reactive oxygen species, ROS, i.e. superoxide, peroxyl and hydroxyl radicals. An important outcome of our results is the rationalization of how the water solvent molecules play a crucial role in most steps of the overall reaction. The present study is illustrated by focusing on one specific copper porphyrin for which precise experimental data have recently been measured, and can readily be generalized to the whole family of paramagnetic porphyrins. The conclusions of this work shed light on the rational design of metalloporphyrins as photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy.

Correction for ‘The aromaticity of dicupra[10]annulenes’ by Rafael Grande-Aztatzi et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2017, 19, 9669–9675.

An extensive theoretical investigation of the electronic structure of a tested fair model dicupra[10]annulene compound, based on the analysis of atom-pair delocalization indices, Bader's molecular graph, the inspection of the canonical molecular orbitals, the z components of their Nuclear Independent Chemical Shifts, NICS(0)zz, and the normalized Giambiagi multicenter delocalization indices, concludes that the perimeter aromaticity of the dicupra[10]annulene ring is consistent with both 10 and 14 π-electron Huckel aromatic 10-membered rings. In either case, the 10-membered ring encloses two 6 π-electron aromatic inner rings, hinged at the Cu-Cu bond. This work demonstrates that the aromaticity of dicupra[10]annulenes closely resembles that of naphthalene. Hence, they are best regarded as metalla-polyacenes, which could make the building blocks of extended structures such as metalated nanotubes.

We present a novel strategy to generate accurate 3D models of Al()-Aβ complexes, which circumvents first principles simulations of metal binding to peptides of Aβ. Senile plaques are extracellular deposits found in patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and are mainly formed by insoluble fibrils of β-amyloid (Aβ) peptides. The mechanistic details about how AD develops are not fully understood yet, but metals such as Cu, Zn, or Fe are proposed to have a non-innocent role. Many studies have also linked the non biological metal aluminum with AD, a species whose concentration in the environment and food has been constantly increasing since the industrial revolution. Gaining a molecular picture of how Al() interacts with an Aβ peptide is of fundamental interest to improve understanding of the many variables in the evolution of AD. So far, no consensus has been reached on how this metal interacts with Aβ, partially due to the experimental complexity of detecting and quantifying the resulting Al()-Aβ complexes. Computational chemistry arises as a powerful alternative to investigate how Al() can interact with Aβ peptides, as suitable strategies could shed light on the metal-peptide description at the molecular level. However, the absence of any reliable template that could be used for the modeling of the metallopeptide structure makes computational insight extremely difficult. Here, we present a novel strategy to generate accurate 3D models of the Al()-Aβ complexes, which still circumvents first principles simulations of metal binding to peptides of Aβ. The key to this approach lies in the identification of experimental structures of the isolated peptide that are favourably pre-organized for the binding of a given metal in configurations of the first coordination sphere that were previously identified as the most stable with amino acid models. This approach solves the problem of the absence of clear structural templates for novel metallopeptide constructs. The posterior refinement of the structures via QM/MM and MD calculations allows us to provide, for the first time, physically sound models for Al()-Aβ complexes with a 1 : 1 stoichiometry, where up to three carboxylic groups are involved in the metal binding, with a clear preference towards Glu3, Asp7, and Glu11.

Palladium phosphine sulfonate catalysts mediate the homopolymerization of ethylene and copolymerization with polar monomers very efficiently. Due to their great potential, a number of theoretical studies have complemented earlier experimental work in the quest of rationally improving their performance. In particular, structural features and reaction conditions are observed to tune the outcome of the polymerization reaction. In this work, we aim at understanding the contribution of factors such as the temperature, the structure of the catalyst, and the concentration of reactants toward production of polyethylene. The influence of each of these factors is studied separately, and trends in the reactivity that explain the experimental results are found. By pursuing a more realistic representation of the system, we traced back the length of the polymer chain obtained to the influence the temperature, the reactants’ concentration, and the catalyst structure have on the β-hydride elimination reaction that termin...

The global minima of the cluster anions with the generic chemical formula (XAl₁₂)²⁻, where X = Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, and Zn, are determined by an extensive search of their potential energy surfaces using the Gradient Embedded Genetic Algorithm (GEGA). All the characterized global minima have an icosahedral-like structure, resembling that of the Al₁₃⁻ cluster. These cages comprise closed-shell electronic configurations with 40 electrons, therefore, in accordance to the jellium model, they are predicted to be highly stable and amenable to experimental detection. The two preferred sites for the dopant species, at the center and at surface of the icosahedral cage, are stabilized depending on the atomic radius of X. Thus, while the small dopants (X = Be, Zn) sit preferably at the center of the cage, the preferred site for X = Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba is at the surface. Since these dianions are not stable towards electron detachment, one Li cation is added in order to yield stable systems. Our computations show that in the global minimum form of Li(XAl₁₂)⁻, the lithium cation, ionically bonded to the Al atoms, does not change the structure of the (XAl12)²⁻ core.

Herein we elucidate the mechanism of photoreduction of the Pt(IV) complex cis,cis,trans-[Pt(NH3)2(Cl)2(O2CCH2CH2CO2H)2] (1) into Pt(II) species (among which is cisplatin) by quantum dots (QDs), a process which holds potential for photodynamic therapy. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) methodologies, integrated by selected experiments, were employed to study the interaction and the light-induced electron transfer (ET) process occurring between two QD models and 1. Direct adsorption of the complex on the nanomaterial surface results in large electronic coupling between the LUMO (lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) of the excited QD* and the LUMO+1 of 1, providing the driving force to the light-induced release of the succinate ligands from the Pt derivative. As confirmed by photolysis experiments performed a posteriori, DFT highlights that QD photoactivation of 1 can favor the formation of preferred Pt(II) photoproducts, paving the way for the design of nov...