Computational exploration of Cu(II)-en chelate-catalyzed hydrolysis of O-isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate.

CONTEXT: In contrast to un-catalyzed hydrolysis of organophosphorus (OP) compounds, metal ions or/and their complexes with chelating ligands show catalytic effects in several ways depending upon the nature of the metal, ligand, substrate, and medium. It is known that Cu(II)-en chelate containing copper complexes accelerate the hydrolysis of OP compounds. However, the mechanism for this rate enhancement in the Cu(II)-en chelate catalytic hydrolysis reaction of sarin remains unexplored. We have examined possible mechanisms involving a Cu(II)-en with hydroxide nucleophile for the reaction pathway of the hydrolysis of O-isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate (sarin) computationally. The density functional (B3LYP) employed in this study has reproduced the experimental Gibb's free energy of activation value 15.5 kcal/mol for alkaline hydrolysis of sarin. Earlier proposal of push-pull mechanism for metal ion chelate-catalyzed hydrolysis of OP compounds has been found to be unfavorable in the present study. The role of water molecules in catalyzing the hydrolysis of sarin with Cu(II)-en chelate is crucial. The catalytic process involving Cu(II)-en chelate with one water molecule is the more plausible pathway to achieve the hydrolysis of sarin with Cu(II)-en chelate complexes. METHODS: The most popular B3LYP method was used for optimization of given geometries. Except LANL2DZ for Cu atom, all the atoms are described using the 6-31 + G(d) basis set. The stability test has been performed for the wave functions as we are dealing with the open-shell molecules in order to ensure stable electronic configuration form, and the stable wavefunction is used as the initial configuration for the subsequent optimization. Harmonic frequency calculations and thermodynamic corrections were performed at the same level of theory. PCM method has been used for solvation effects. In order to ensure that each saddle point is linked to a minimum, IRC calculations were performed in forward and reverse directions to ensure the eigenvectors associated with the unique negative eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix. All energies discussed are solvated Gibbs free energies corrected to 298.15 K for the relative stability of the chemical structure. All calculations were performed using the Gaussian 09 code.

A DFT approach towards understanding the thermal stability of TKX-50 and their key precursors through band gaps and MESP.

TKX-50 (dihydroxylammonium 5,5'-bistetrazolate-1,1'-dioxide) is a recent time invention by Klapotke et. al. in the field of high energy materials, and it outperforms all the existing materials by means of performance parameters. It is rising as potential energetic material due to favorable thermal insensitivity, low toxicity and safe handling. The decomposition temperature (Tmax) values of precursors such as glyoxime (I), 1,2-dichloroglyoxime (II), 1,2-diazidoglyoxime (III), and bistetrazoledihydroxide (IV) and ending products TKX-50 (V) and ABTOX (VI) have been attempted to correlate with the results obtained from molecular electrostatic potentials and band gaps calculated from the difference of ionization potential and electron affinity. The molecular electrostatic potential values of azido attached -NO group of III are much less than that of hydro/chloro attached -NO group of I/II and that of tetrazole groups IV, V, and VI. The band gaps calculated from stability trend in the increasing order of III < II < I < IV < V < VI are well corroborated with stability trend drawn from experimentally determined decomposition temperatures. Further, employing conceptual density functional theory (DFT) molecular descriptors, band gap values were calculated via the difference of ionization potential and electron affinity to understand the thermal stability of TKX-50, ABTOX, and its precursors.

Polymer based graphene/titanium dioxide nanocomposite (GTNC): an emerging and efficient thermoelectric material.

An ecofriendly procedure for the synthesis of graphene-titanium dioxide nanocomposites (GTNC) has been developed by dispersing nano-titanium dioxide (TiO2) and graphene nanosheets (GNSs) in ethanol via ultrasonication followed by microwave irradiation. Such nanohybrids were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. We have also demonstrated the synthesis of highly conductive composites like poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)polystyrene sulphonate ( PEDOT: PSS)-GTNC, polyvinyl acetate (PVAc)-GTNC, PEDOT:PSS-graphene, and PVAc-graphene by ultrasonication followed by hot compaction towards their thermoelectric application. The filler (graphene, GTNC) concentration and polymer matrix were judiciously varied and optimized for the sake of high electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient which leads to a higher power factor (PF). The PVAc based composite with a composition of PVAc (20%) and GTNC (80%) was found to be the most promising material with an electrical conductivity of 2.6 × 10(4) S m(-1) and a Seebeck coefficient of -42 µV K(-1) at room temperature (RT). As a result, the PF reaches 47 µW m(-1) K(-2) at RT which is approximately 37 times, 5 times and 3 times higher than that for the PVAc-graphene based composite, the PEDOT: PSS-GTNC based composite and the PEDOT: PSS-graphene based composite respectively. The origin of the thermoelectric performance of the GTNC composite seems to be from the synergistic effect of graphene nanosheets and TiO2 nanoparticles. The composite shows a large power factor value without using any conducting polymer.

Assessing the reactivation efficacy of hydroxylamine anion towards VX-inhibited AChE: a computational study.

Oximate anions are used as potential reactivating agents for OP-inhibited AChE because of they possess enhanced nucleophilic reactivity due to the α-effect. We have demonstrated the process of reactivating the VX-AChE adduct with formoximate and hydroxylamine anions by applying the DFT approach at the B3LYP/6-311 G(d,p) level of theory. The calculated results suggest that the hydroxylamine anion is more efficient than the formoximate anion at reactivating VX-inhibited AChE. The reaction of formoximate anion and the VX-AChE adduct is a three-step process, while the reaction of hydroxylamine anion with the VX-AChE adduct seems to be a two-step process. The rate-determining step in the process is the initial attack on the VX of the VX-AChE adduct by the nucleophile. The subsequent steps are exergonic in nature. The potential energy surface (PES) for the reaction of the VX-AChE adduct with hydroxylamine anion reveals that the reactivation process is facilitated by the lower free energy of activation (by a factor of 1.7 kcal mol(-1)) than that of the formoximate anion at the B3LYP/6-311 G(d,p) level of theory. The higher free energy of activation for the reverse reactivation reaction between hydroxylamine anion and the VX-serine adduct further suggests that the hydroxylamine anion is a very good antidote agent for the reactivation process. The activation barriers calculated in solvent using the polarizable continuum model (PCM) for the reactivation of the VX-AChE adduct with hydroxylamine anion were also found to be low. The calculated results suggest that V-series compounds can be more toxic than G-series compounds, which is in accord with earlier experimental observations.

Probing the reactivation process of sarin-inhibited acetylcholinesterase with α-nucleophiles: hydroxylamine anion is predicted to be a better antidote with DFT calculations.

Inactivation of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) due to inhibition by organophosphorus (OP) compounds is a major threat to human since AChE is a key enzyme in neurotransmission process. Oximes are used as potential reactivators of OP-inhibited AChE due to their α-effect nucleophilic reactivity. In search of more effective reactivating agents, model studies have shown that α-effect is not so important for dephosphylation reactions. We report the importance of α-effect of nucleophilic reactivity towards the reactivation of OP-inhibited AChE with hydroxylamine anion. We have demonstrated with DFT [B3LYP/6-311G(d,p)] calculations that the reactivation process of sarin-serine adduct 2 with hydroxylamine anion is more efficient than the other nucleophiles reported. The superiority of hydroxylamine anion to reactivate the sarin-inhibited AChE with sarin-serine adducts 3 and 4 compared to formoximate anion was observed in the presence and absence of hydrogen bonding interactions of Gly121 and Gly122. The calculated results show that the rates of reactivation process of adduct 4 with hydroxylamine anion are 261 and 223 times faster than the formoximate anion in the absence and presence of such hydrogen bonding interactions. The DFT calculated results shed light on the importance of the adjacent carbonyl group of Glu202 for the reactivation of sarin-serine adduct, in particular with formoximate anion. The reverse reactivation reaction between hydroxylamine anion and sarin-serine adduct was found to be higher in energy compared to the other nucleophiles, which suggests that this α-nucleophile can be a good antidote agent for the reactivation process.

Solvolysis of chemical warfare agent VX is more efficient with hydroxylamine anion: a computational study.

The reaction of the chemical warfare agent VX with hydroxylamine anion (NH(2)O(-)) has been studied using a combination of correlated molecular orbital and density functional theory. It has been found that the hydroxylamine anion leads to predominant formation of non-toxic products for solvolysis of VX. The calculated activation barrier for the rate determining step of hydroxylamine anion with VX was found to be lower than that of hydroperoxidolysis and suggesting a more facile solvolysis with the former alpha-nucleophile. The conformational search was performed for VX using Monte Carlo search method with Merck Molecular force fields (MMFFs), which lead to a more stable conformation than reported. The anomeric effect operates in the lowest energy conformation of VX and contributes towards its stabilization. The reactivity of the alpha-nucleophiles towards VX was correlated well with the corresponding charges on nucleophilic oxygen atoms.