Yoong-Kee Choe

Synthesis, structure, and reactivity of hydridoiridium complexes bearing a pincer-type PSiP ligand.

A series of iridium tetrahydride complexes [Ir(H)(4)(PSiP-R)] bearing a tridentate pincer-type bis(phosphino)silyl ligand ([{2-(R(2)P)C(6)H(4)}(2)MeSi](-), PSiP-R, R=Cy, iPr, or tBu) were synthesized by the reduction of [IrCl(H)(PSiP-R)] with Me(4)N·BH(4) under argon. The same reaction under a nitrogen atmosphere afforded a rare example of thermally stable iridium(III)-dinitrogen complexes, [Ir(H)(2)(N(2))(PSiP-R)]. Two isomeric dinitrogen complexes were produced, in which the PSiP ligand coordinated to the iridium center in meridional and facial orientations, respectively. Attempted substitution of the dinitrogen ligand in [Ir(H)(2)(N(2))(PSiP-Cy)] with PMe(3) required heating at 150 °C to give the expected [Ir(H)(2)(PMe(3))(PSiP-Cy)] and a trigonal bipyramidal iridium(I)-dinitrogen complex, [Ir(N(2))(PMe(3))(PSiP-Cy)]. The reaction of [Ir(H)(4)(PSiP-Cy)] with three equivalents of 2-norbornene (nbe) in benzene afforded [Ir(I)(nbe)(PSiP-Cy)] in a high yield, while a similar reaction of [Ir(H)(4)(PSiP-R)] with an excess of 3,3-dimethylbutene (tbe) in benzene gave the C-H bond activation product, [Ir(III)(H)(Ph)(PSiP-R)], in high yield. The oxidative addition of benzene is reversible; heating [Ir(III)(H)(Ph)(PSiP-Cy)] in the presence of PPh(3) in benzene resulted in reductive elimination of benzene, coordination of PPh(3), and activation of the C-H bond of one aromatic ring in PPh(3). [Ir(III)(H)(Ph)(PSiP-R)] catalyzed a direct borylation reaction of the benzene C-H bond with bis(pinacolato)diboron. Molecular structures of most of the new complexes in this study were determined by a single-crystal X-ray analysis.

First-principles molecular dynamics study on aqueous sulfuric acid solutions

The properties of aqueous sulfuric acid have been studied employing density functional theory-based molecular dynamics simulations in conjunction with norm-conserving pseudopotentials. The simulations were carried out for two different concentrations whose molar concentrations were fixed at 0.84 and 10.2 mol/l. The structural features of aqueous sulfuric acid solutions show a strong dependency on the concentration. The Grötthuss-type proton transfer mechanism is not effectively operative at the higher concentration because of the broken hydrogen bond network of water induced by ions generated by the dissociation of sulfuric acid. In addition, to evaluate electrical properties, we carried out a simulation that takes an electric field into account. Results are compared with those of the simulation undertaken with no external electric field.

Nature of water transport and electro-osmosis in nafion: insights from first-principles molecular dynamics simulations under an electric field.

The effects of water content on water transport and electro-osmosis in a representative polymer electrolyte membrane, Nafion, are investigated in detail by means of first-principles molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in the presence of a homogeneous electric field. We have directly evaluated electro-osmotic drag coefficients (the number of water molecules cotransported with proton conduction) from the trajectories of the first-principles MD simulations and also explicitly evaluated factors that contribute to the electro-osmotic drag coefficients. In agreement with previously reported experiments, our calculations show virtually constant values ( approximately 1) of the electro-osmotic drag coefficients for both low and high water content states. Detailed comparisons of each factor contributing to the drag coefficient reveal that an increase in water content increases the occurrence of the Grotthuss-like effective proton transport process, whose contribution results in a decrease in the electro-osmotic drag coefficient. At the same time, an environment that is favorable for the Grotthuss-like effective proton transport process is also favorable for the transport of water arising from water transport occurring beyond the hydration shell around the protons, whose contribution results in an increase in the electro-osmotic drag coefficient. Conversely, an environment that is not favorable for proton conduction is also not favorable for water transport. As a result, the electro-osmotic drag coefficient shows virtually identical values with respect to change in the water content.

Multinuclear palladium compounds containing palladium centers ligated by five silicon atoms

Palladium (Pd) generally prefers low oxidation states. So far, no stable Pd compound with a +5 oxidation state is known. Here, we report two multinuclear Pd compounds containing Pd centers ligated by five silicon (Si) atoms. A thermal condensation reaction of [{1,2-C6H4(SiMe2)(SiH2)}PdII(Me2PCH2CH2PMe2)] (Me = methyl) afforded two stereoisomers of dinuclear PdII compounds and a trinuclear Pd compound as major products and a tetranuclear Pd compound as a minor product. The structures of the four Pd compounds were confirmed by single-crystal x-ray structure analysis. The dinuclear Pd compounds have a dimeric structure of [{1,2-C6H4(SiMe2)(SiH)}PdII(Me2PCH2CH2PMe2)] connected through a Si–Si single bond formed by dehydrogenation of two molecules of the starting compound. The trinuclear and tetranuclear Pd compounds proved to have Pd centers bonded to five Si atoms with normal Pd–Si single-bond distances. Theoretical calculations of the trinuclear and tetranuclear Pd compounds accurately reproduced their x-ray structures and suggested that all of the Pd–Si bonds of the central Pd atoms have a relatively high single-bond character.

An Ab Initio Modeling Study on a Modeled Hydrated Polymer Electrolyte Membrane, Sulfonated Polyethersulfone (SPES)

The nature of proton dynamics as well as a pendant side chains ability for proton dissociation and capture in low-hydration sulfonated polyethersulfone (SPES) (lambda = 2, 4) have been studied theoretically by means of quantum chemical calculations and first-principles molecular dynamics simulations. A detailed comparison of results on SPES with those on Nafion has been made. It is found that the sulfonic groups of Nafion tend to dissociate protons more easily than do those of SPES. Hydration by four water molecules allows the dissociation of a proton from the sulfonic groups in both SPES and Nafion. The results of the first-principles MD simulations on SPES show that the nature of proton transfer kinetics for both hydration levels is very similar. Compared with low-hydration Nafion, however, hydration around the sulfonic groups in SPES is not sufficient to fully dissociate protons from the sulfonic groups, which results from the fact that some of the water molecules participate in hydrating SO(2) groups in SPES rather than SO(3)(-). Such a feature affects the performance of SPES under low-hydration conditions.

Theoretical study of the electronic spectra of oxidized and reduced states of lumiflavin and its derivative

Time‐dependent density functional theory has been applied to investigate the electronic absorption spectrum of oxidized and reduced lumiflavin and its derivative, 8‐NH2‐lumiflavin. The calculations allow the authors to explain the origin of the difference in spectral features between oxidized and reduced states of lumiflavin. For the reduced lumiflavin, a reasonable assignment of the experimental spectrum has been made for the first time. Furthermore, the results obtained reveal that the NH2 group plays a critical role in shaping the spectral features of 8‐NH2‐lumiflavin, and offer a reasonable explanation for the spectral changes upon substituting the NH2 group for the CH3 group of lumiflavin.

Effect of the axial cysteine ligand on the electronic structure and reactivity of high‐valent iron(IV) oxo‐porphyrins (Compound I): A theoretical study

The effect of axial ligands on the reactivity of high‐valent iron(IV) oxo‐porphyrins (Compound I) was investigated using the B3LYP hybrid density functional method. We studied alkane hydroxylation using four models: Compound I with thiolate, imidazole, phenolate, and chloride anions as axial ligands. The first three ligands were employed as models for cysteinate, histidine, and tyrosinate, respectively. Our calculations show that anionic ligands and neutral ligands favor different electronic states for stationary points in the reaction coordinate, and the calculated energy barrier and energy of several reaction intermediates show similar values. A remarkable effect of axial ligands was found in the final product release step. Our calculations show that the thiolate ligand weakens a bond between heme and an alcohol. In contrast, the imidazole ligand significantly increases the interaction between heme and an alcohol, which causes the catalytic cycle to be less efficient.

Electrical property of a sulfuric acid–water mixture from the first-principles molecular dynamics simulation

The electrical property of aqueous sulfuric acid has been studied by the first-principles molecular dynamics simulation. The calculated conductivity of aqueous sulfuric acid solution from our simulation is 0.33 S/cm, which agrees reasonably with an experimental value. This implies the applicability of the method used in this study for electrochemical systems.

First-principles molecular dynamics simulation study on electrolytes for use in redox flow battery

Results of first-principles molecular dynamics simulations carried out to investigate structural aspects of electrolytes for use in a redox flow battery are reported. The electrolytes studied here are aqueous sulfuric acid solutions where its property is of importance for dissolving redox couples in redox flow battery. The simulation results indicate that structural features of the acid solutions depend on the concentration of sulfuric acid. Such dependency arises from increase of proton dissociation from sulfuric acid.

Computational modeling study on polymer electrolyte membranes for fuel cell applications

Properties of polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) for use in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEFCs) were investigated using the first-principles molecular dynamics simulations. One important issue in PEMs is how to improve the proton conductivity of PEMs under low hydration conditions. Results of the simulation show that perfluorinated type membranes such as Nafion exhibit excellent hydrophilic/hydrophobic phase separation while a hydrocarbon membrane has a relatively poor phase separation property. We found that such a poor phase separation behavior of a hydrocarbon membrane arise from hydrophilic functional groups attached to the PEMs.