David M. Benoit

The structure of the melamine–cyanuric acid co-crystal

The crystal structure of the melamine:cyanuric acid (CA.M) adduct has been redetermined and the previously reported cell is shown to be incorrect. The true unit cell has approximately twice the volume of the earlier cell. Crystal data for CA.M: monoclinic, space group I2/m, a = 14.8152(19) A, b = 9.6353(18) A, c = 7.0405(9) A, β = 93.194(11)°, V = 1003.5(3) A3, Z = 2. In contrast to the previous report, this contains an ordered array of cyanuric acid and melamine. Hydrogen bonding between the two components is described in detail and precise information about intermolecular distances reported for the first time. The structure contains hydrogen-bonded sheets stacked perpendicular to the crystallographic (101) plane. The molecular geometry of the cyanuric acid and melamine components is described in detail. Possible explanations for the difference between this structure and the previous report are described in the light of quantum chemical calculations.

Octahedral molybdenum cluster complexes with aromatic sulfonate ligands

This article describes the synthesis, structures and systematic study of the spectroscopic and redox properties of a series of octahedral molybdenum metal cluster complexes with aromatic sulfonate ligands (nBu4N)2[{Mo6X8}(OTs)6] and (nBu4N)2[{Mo6X8}(PhSO3)6] (where X- is Cl-, Br- or I-; OTs- is p-toluenesulfonate and PhSO3- is benzenesulfonate). All the complexes demonstrated photoluminescence in the red region and an ability to generate singlet oxygen. Notably, the highest quantum yields (>0.6) and narrowest emission bands were found for complexes with a {Mo6I8}4+ cluster core. Moreover, cyclic voltammetric studies revealed that (nBu4N)2[{Mo6X8}(OTs)6] and (nBu4N)2[{Mo6X8}(PhSO3)6] confer enhanced stability towards electrochemical oxidation relative to corresponding starting complexes (nBu4N)2[{Mo6X8}X6].

Towards a scalable and accurate quantum approach for describing vibrations of molecule–metal interfaces

Summary We present a theoretical framework for the computation of anharmonic vibrational frequencies for large systems, with a particular focus on determining adsorbate frequencies from first principles. We give a detailed account of our local implementation of the vibrational self-consistent field approach and its correlation corrections. We show that our approach is both robust, accurate and can be easily deployed on computational grids in order to provide an efficient computational tool. We also present results on the vibrational spectrum of hydrogen fluoride on pyrene, on the thiophene molecule in the gas phase, and on small neutral gold clusters.

Structurally optimised BODIPY derivatives for imaging of mitochondrial dysfunction in cancer and heart cells.

The structural features required for mitochondrial uptake of BODIPY-based optical imaging agents have been explored. The first derivatives of this class of dyes shown to have mitochondrial membrane potential-dependent uptake in both cancer and heart cells have been developed.

The nature and role of the gold-krypton interactions in small neutral gold clusters

We investigate the nature and role of krypton embedding in small neutral gold clusters. For some of these clusters, we observe a particular site-dependent character of the Kr binding that does not completely follow the criterion of binding at low-coordinated sites, widely accepted for interaction of a noble gas with closed-shell metal systems such as metal surfaces. We aim at understanding the effect of low dimensionality and open-shell electronic structure of the odd-numbered clusters on the noble gas-metal cluster interaction. First, we investigate the role of attractive and repulsive forces, and the frontier molecular orbitals. Second, we investigate the Au-Kr interaction in terms of reactivity and bonding character. We use a reactivity index derived from Fukui formalism, and criteria provided by the electron localization function (ELF), in order to classify the type of bonding. We carry out this study on the minimum energy structures of neutral gold clusters, as obtained using pseudo potential plane-wave density functional theory (DFT). A model is proposed that includes the effect of attractive electrostatic, van der Waals and repulsive forces, together with effects originating from orbital overlap. This satisfactorily explains minimum configurations of the noble gas-gold cluster systems, the site preference of the noble gas atoms, and changes in electronic properties.

A fragment method for systematic improvement of anharmonic adsorbate vibrational frequencies: acetylene on Cu(001).

We suggest a novel method for systematic improvement of anharmonic adsorbate frequencies based on a fragment approach. The calculations are carried out by considering the adsorbed molecule separately and computing an energy correction using high-level ab initio method in addition to a standard calculation of the whole adsorbed system using quantum mechanical techniques with periodic boundary conditions. We demonstrate its reliability for a C2H2 molecule chemisorbed on a Cu(001) surface. We also show that the accuracy of the presented approach with a suitable description of the periodic surface depends mainly on the accuracy of the high-level ab initio method used to describe the adsorbate molecule. Moreover, our technique potentially allows to predict adsorbate vibrational spectra with spectroscopic accuracy.

Assessing Spin-Component-Scaled Second-Order Møller–Plesset Theory Using Anharmonic Frequencies

Four common parametrisations of spin-component-scaled second-order Møller-Plesset (MP2) theory are benchmarked by calculating the anharmonic vibrational frequencies of a test suite consisting of eighteen diatomic and five small molecules. Of the four methods, the scaled opposite-spin MP2 (SOS-MP2), the variable-scaling opposite-spin MP2 (VOS-MP2) and the spin-component-scaled MP2 (SCS-MP2) methods perform statistically better than standard MP2 theory, while the spin-component scaled for nucleic bases MP2 (SCSN-MP2) performs worse. Vibrations of closed-shell diatomic molecules are slightly more accurately described by the SOS-MP2 method of Head-Gordon (ε(MAD) =51 cm(-1) ) than the SCS-MP2 method of Grimme (ε(MAD) =61 cm(-1)) or the size-consistent parametrisation of VOS-MP2 (ε(MAD) =54 cm(-1)). For open-shell diatomic molecules, the SOS-MP2 (ε(MAD) =83 cm(-1)) and SCS-MP2 (ε(MAD) =81 cm(-1)) methods are of similar accuracy, while VOS-MP2 is slightly better (ε(MAD) =77 cm(-1)). Since the VOS-MP2 and SOS-MP2 methods tend to have smaller deviations from experiment, and they can be made computationally more economical than the SCS-MP2 or MP2 methods, we suggest that they should be the preferred ab initio method for computing vibrational frequencies in large molecules.

The furan microsolvation blind challenge for quantum chemical methods: First steps

Herein we present the results of a blind challenge to quantum chemical methods in the calculation of dimerization preferences in the low temperature gas phase. The target of study was the first step of the microsolvation of furan, 2-methylfuran and 2,5-dimethylfuran with methanol. The dimers were investigated through IR spectroscopy of a supersonic jet expansion. From the measured bands, it was possible to identify a persistent hydrogen bonding OH-O motif in the predominant species. From the presence of another band, which can be attributed to an OH-π interaction, we were able to assert that the energy gap between the two types of dimers should be less than or close to 1 kJ/mol across the series. These values served as a first evaluation ruler for the 12 entries featured in the challenge. A tentative stricter evaluation of the challenge results is also carried out, combining theoretical and experimental results in order to define a smaller error bar. The process was carried out in a double-blind fashion, with both theory and experimental groups unaware of the results on the other side, with the exception of the 2,5-dimethylfuran system which was featured in an earlier publication.

Amine Catalysis for the Organocatalytic Diboration of Challenging Alkenes

The generation of in situ sp2 -sp3 diboron adducts has revolutionised the synthesis of organoboranes. Organocatalytic diboration reactions have represented a milestone in terms of unpredictable reactivity of these adducts. However, current methodologies have limitations in terms of substrate scope, selectivity and functional group tolerance. Here a new methodology based on the use of simple amines as catalyst is reported. This methodology provides a completely selective transformation overcoming current substrate scope and functional/protecting group limitations. Mechanistic studies have been included in this report.

The effect of the condensed-phase environment on the vibrational frequency shift of a hydrogen molecule inside clathrate hydrates

We report a theoretical study of the frequency shift (redshift) of the stretching fundamental transition of an H2 molecule confined inside the small dodecahedral cage of the structure II clathrate hydrate and its dependence on the condensed-phase environment. In order to determine how much the hydrate water molecules beyond the confining small cage contribute to the vibrational frequency shift, quantum five-dimensional (5D) calculations of the coupled translation-rotation eigenstates are performed for H2 in the v=0 and v=1 vibrational states inside spherical clathrate hydrate domains of increasing radius and a growing number of water molecules, ranging from 20 for the isolated small cage to over 1900. In these calculations, both H2 and the water domains are treated as rigid. The 5D intermolecular potential energy surface (PES) of H2 inside a hydrate domain is assumed to be pairwise additive. The H2-H2O pair interaction, represented by the 5D (rigid monomer) PES that depends on the vibrational state of H2, v=0 or v=1, is derived from the high-quality ab initio full-dimensional (9D) PES of the H2-H2O complex [P. Valiron et al., J. Chem. Phys. 129, 134306 (2008)]. The H2 vibrational frequency shift calculated for the largest clathrate domain considered, which mimics the condensed-phase environment, is about 10% larger in magnitude than that obtained by taking into account only the small cage. The calculated splittings of the translational fundamental of H2 change very little with the domain size, unlike the H2 j = 1 rotational splittings that decrease significantly as the domain size increases. The changes in both the vibrational frequency shift and the j = 1 rotational splitting due to the condensed-phase effects arise predominantly from the H2O molecules in the first three complete hydration shells around H2.