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We explore a connection between the static molecular polarizability and the molecular conductance that arises naturally in the description of electrified molecular interfaces and that has recently been explored experimentally. We have tested this idea by using measured conductance of few different experimental design motifs for molecular junctions and relating them to the molecular polarizability. Our results show that for a family of structurally connected molecules the conductance decreases as the molecular polarizability increases. Within the limitations of our model, this striking result is consistent with the physically intuitive picture that a molecule in a junction behaves as a dielectric that is polarized by the applied bias, hence creating an interfacial barrier that hinders tunneling. The use of the polarizability as a descriptor of molecular conductance offers significant conceptual and practical advantages over a picture based on molecular orbitals. To further illustrate the plausibility of th...

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.

Here we report the electrocatalytic reduction of protons to hydrogen by a novel S2P2 coordinated nickel complex, [Ni(bdt)(dppf)] (bdt = 1,2-benzenedithiolate, dppf = 1,1'-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene). The catalysis is fast and efficient with a turnover frequency of 1240 s(-1) and an overpotential of only 265 mV for half activity at low acid concentrations. Furthermore, catalysis is possible using a weak acid, and the complex is stable for at least 4 h in acidic solution. Calculations of the system carried out at the density functional level of theory (DFT) are consistent with a mechanism for catalysis in which both protonations take place at the nickel center.

Two pentacoordinate mononuclear iron carbonyls of the form (bdt)Fe(CO)P2 [bdt = benzene-1,2-dithiolate; P2 = 1,1'-diphenylphosphinoferrocene (1) or methyl-2-{bis(diphenylphosphinomethyl)amino}acetate (2)] were prepared as functional, biomimetic models for the distal iron (Fe(d)) of the active site of [FeFe]-hydrogenase. X-ray crystal structures of the complexes reveal that, despite similar ν(CO) stretching band frequencies, the two complexes have different coordination geometries. In X-ray crystal structures, the iron center of 1 is in a distorted trigonal bipyramidal arrangement, and that of 2 is in a distorted square pyramidal geometry. Electrochemical investigation shows that both complexes catalyze electrochemical proton reduction from acetic acid at mild overpotential, 0.17 and 0.38 V for 1 and 2, respectively. Although coordinatively unsaturated, the complexes display only weak, reversible binding affinity toward CO (1 bar). However, ligand centered protonation by the strong acid, HBF4·OEt2, triggers quantitative CO uptake by 1 to form a dicarbonyl analogue [1(H)-CO](+) that can be reversibly converted back to 1 by deprotonation using NEt3. Both crystallographically determined distances within the bdt ligand and density functional theory calculations suggest that the iron centers in both 1 and 2 are partially reduced at the expense of partial oxidation of the bdt ligand. Ligand protonation interrupts this extensive electronic delocalization between the Fe and bdt making 1(H)(+) susceptible to external CO binding.

Models of enthalpy relaxations of glasses are the basis for understanding physical aging, scanning calorimetry, and other phenomena that involve non-equilibrium and non-linear dynamics. We compare models in terms of the nature of the relaxation dynamics, heterogeneous versus homogeneous, with focus on the Kovacs-Aklonis-Hutchinson-Ramos (KAHR) and the Tool-Narayanaswamy-Moynihan (TNM) approaches. Of particular interest is identifying the situations for which experimental data are capable of discriminating the heterogeneous from the homogeneous scenario. The ad hoc assumption of a single fictive temperature, T(f), is common to many models, including KAHR and TNM. It is shown that only for such single-T(f) models, enthalpy relaxation of a glass is a two-point correlation function in reduced time, implying that experimental results are not decisive regarding the underlying nature of the dynamics of enthalpy relaxation. We also find that the restriction of the common TNM model to a Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts type relaxation pattern limits the applicability of this approach, as the particular choice regarding the distribution of relaxation times is a more critical factor compared with isothermal relaxation experiments. As a result, significant improvements in fitting calorimetry data can be achieved with subtle adjustments in the underlying relaxation time distribution.

Hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) are relatively weak and result from non- covalent interactions. Despite their relatively low strength compared to other bonds of biochemical relevance, they play a vital role in determining the structure and function of biological molecules owing to their directionality and cooperativeness. This has led to an intense effort in harnessing the properties of these hydrogen bonds in developing organic electronic devices. Though a large number of theoretical investigations have devoted their attention to the structural andenergeticcharacteristicsofhydrogenbonds,therearerelativelyfewstudieson theelectronictransportcharacteristicsofhydrogenbonds.Inthisworkweevaluate the electrical conductance of a few model systems exhibiting the biologically important hydrogen bonds (N-H O, O-H O and N-H N). We find that the calculated conductance can be correlated to the magnitude of the polarisabilities of the atoms involved in the formation of the hydrogen bonds. The implications of the current work in understanding electron transfer in biological systems is highlighted.Wealsoaddresstheutilityofourworkinthedesignanddevelopment of novel sensors and electronic devices based on the formation of weak hydrogen bonds.