Raluca Craciun

Zeolite-supported organorhodium fragments: essentially molecular surface chemistry elucidated with spectroscopy and theory.

Structures of zeolite-anchored organorhodium complexes undergoing conversions with gas-phase reactants were characterized by infrared spectra bolstered by calculations with density functional theory and analysis of the gas-phase products. Structurally well-defined zeolite-supported rhodium diethylene complexes were synthesized by chemisorption of Rh(C(2)H(4))(2)(acac) (acac = CH(3)COCHCOCH(3)) on dealuminated Y zeolite, being anchored by two Rh-O bonds, as shown by extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. In contrast to the nonuniformity of metal complexes anchored to metal oxides, the near uniformity of the zeolite-supported species allowed precise determination of their chemistry, including the role of the support as a ligand. The anchored rhodium diethylene complex underwent facile, reversible ligand exchange with deuterated ethylene at 298 K, and ethylene ligands were hydrogenated by reverse spillover of hydrogen from support hydroxyl groups. The supported complexes reacted with CO to form rhodium gem-dicarbonyls, which, in the presence of ethylene, gave rhodium monocarbonyls. The facile removal of ethylene ligands from the complex in H(2)-N(2) mixtures created coordinatively unsaturated rhodium complexes; the coordinative unsaturation was stabilized by the site isolation of the complexes, allowing reaction with N(2) to form rhodium complexes with one and with two N(2) ligands. The results also provide evidence of a new rhodium monohydride species incorporating a C(2)H(4) ligand.

Electron Affinities, Fluoride Affinities, and Heats of Formation of the Second Row Transition Metal Hexafluorides: MF6 (M = Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag)

High-level electronic structure calculations were used to evaluate reliable, self-consistent thermochemical data sets for the second row transition metal hexafluorides. The electron affinities, heats of formation, first (MF(6) --> MF(5) + F) and average M-F bond dissociation energies, and fluoride affinities of MF(6) (MF(6) + F(-) --> MF(7)(-)) and MF(5) (MF(5) + F(-) --> MF(6)(-)) were calculated. The electron affinities are higher than those of the corresponding third row hexafluorides, making them stronger one-electron oxidizers. The calculated electron affinities, in good agreement with the available experimental values, are 4.23 eV for MoF(6), 5.89 eV for TcF(6), 7.01 eV for RuF(6), 6.80 eV for RhF(6), 7.95 eV for PdF(6), and 8.89 eV for AgF(6). The corresponding pentafluorides are also very strong Lewis acids, although their acidities on the pF(-) scale are about one unit lower than those of the third row pentafluorides. The performance of a wide range of DFT exchange-correlation functionals was benchmarked by comparing them to our more accurate CCSD(T) results.

Prediction of Vibrational Frequencies of UO22+ at the CCSD(T) Level

Electronic structure calculations at the coupled cluster (CCSD(T)) and density functional theory levels with relativistic effective core potentials and large basis sets were used to predict the isolated uranyl ion frequencies. The effects of anharmonicity and spin-orbit corrections on the harmonic frequencies were calculated. The anharmonic effects are larger than the spin-orbit corrections, but both are small. The anharmonic effects decreased all the frequencies, whereas the spin-orbit corrections increased the stretches and decreased the bend. Overall, these two corrections decreased the harmonic asymmetric stretch frequency by 6 cm-1, the symmetric stretch by 3 cm-1, and the bend by 3 cm-1. The best calculated values for UO22+ for the asymmetric stretch, symmetric stretch, and bend were 1113, 1032, and 174 cm-1, respectively. The separation between the asymmetric and the symmetric stretch band origins was predicted to be 81 cm-1, which is consistent with experimental trends for substituted uranyls in solution and in the solid state. The anharmonic vibrational frequencies of the isoelectronic ThO2 molecule also were calculated and compared to experiment to calibrate the UO22+ results.

Prediction of reliable metal-PH3 bond energies for Ni, Pd, and Pt in the 0 and +2 oxidation states.

Phosphine-based catalysts play an important role in many metal-catalyzed carbon-carbon bond formation reactions yet reliable values of their bond energies are not available. We have been studying homogeneous catalysts consisting of a phosphine bonded to a Pt, Pd, or Ni. High level electronic structure calculations at the CCSD(T)/complete basis set level were used to predict the M-PH(3) bond energy (BE) for the 0 and +2 oxidation states for M = Ni, Pd, and Pt. The calculated bond energies can then be used, for example, in the design of new catalyst systems. A wide range of exchange-correlation functionals were also evaluated to assess the performance of density functional theory (DFT) for these important bond energies. None of the DFT functionals were able to predict all of the M-PH(3) bond energies to within 5 kcal/mol, and the best functionals were generalized gradient approximation functionals in contrast to the usual hybrid functionals often employed for main group thermochemistry.

Ligand bond energies in cis- and trans-[L-Pd(PH3)2Cl]+ complexes from coupled cluster theory (CCSD(T)) and density functional theory.

The Pd-L ligand bond dissociation energies (BDEs) of cis- and trans-[L-Pd(PH(3))(2)Cl](+) were predicted using coupled cluster CCSD(T) theory and a variety of density functional theory (DFT) functionals at the B3LYP optimized geometries. trans-[L-Pd(PH(3))(2)Cl](+) is the more stable isomer when Pd forms a donor-acceptor bond with a C atom of the ligand, including the π-bond in norbornene; for the remaining complexes, the cis-[L-Pd(PH(3))(2)Cl](+) isomer is substantially lower in energy. For cis-[L-Pd (PH(3))(2)Cl](+) complexes, the Pd-L bond energies are 28 kcal/mol for CO; ∼40 kcal/mol for AH(3) (A = N, P, As, and Sb), norbornene, and CH(3)CN; and ∼53 kcal/mol for CH(3)NC, pyrazole, pyridine, and tetrahydrothiophene at the CCSD(T) level. When Pd forms a donor-acceptor bond with the C atom in the ligand (i.e., CO, CH(3)NC, and the π-bond in norbornene), the Pd-L bond energies for trans-[L-Pd(PH(3))(2)Cl](+) are generally ∼10 kcal/mol greater than those for cis-[L-Pd(PH(3))(2)Cl](+) with the same L; for the remaining ligands, the ligand bond energy increases are ∼3-5 kcal/mol from the cis-isomer to the trans-isomer. The benchmarks show that the dispersion-corrected hybrid, generalized gradient approximation, DFT functional ω-B97X-D is the best one to use for this system. Use of the ω-B97X-D/aD functional gives predicted BDEs within 1 kcal/mol of the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ BDEs for cis-[L-Pd(PH(3))(2)Cl](+) and 1.5 kcal/mol for trans-[L-Pd(PH(3))(2)Cl](+).