Iodine-PEG as a unique combination for the metal-free synthesis of flavonoids through iodonium-triiodide ion-pair complexation.

An efficient metal-free single-step protocol has been developed for the direct synthesis of flavones from 2-hydroxyacetophenone and substituted benzaldehydes. This chemical transformation is exclusively promoted by the iodonium-triiodide ion couple formed through iodine and PEG-400 complexation. The triiodide anion not only helps in the abstraction of a proton from the acetophenone but also promotes the cyclization of intermediate chalcone to the corresponding flavones. The flavones were obtained in very high yields without using any toxic metal catalysts or harsh reaction conditions. The reaction mechanism was established through a series of test reactions and entrapping of reaction intermediates. The developed protocol provides direct access to flavones in high yields under milder reaction conditions with great substrate compatibility, including hydroxylated derivatives.

Pd/C-Catalyzed Carbonylative Amidation for the Synthesis of 2-Carboxamidocyclohexane-1,3-diones.

Herein, a first-ever heterogeneous Pd/C-catalyzed single-step tandem approach for the synthesis of 2-carboxamidocyclohexane-1,3-diones via direct carbonylative C-H amidation of cyclohexane-1,3-diones is reported. The reaction progressed under base-, oxidant-, and ligand-free conditions employing oxalic acid as a CO surrogate and sodium azide as a nitrogen precursor in a double-layer vial system.

Correction to: 'Effect of arsenate substitution on phosphate repository of cell: a computational study'.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181565.].

Effect of arsenate substitution on phosphate repository of cell: a computational study.

The structural analogy with phosphate derives arsenate into various metabolic processes associated with phosphate inside the organisms. But it is difficult to evaluate the effect of arsenate substitution on the stability of individual biological phosphate species, which span from a simpler monoester form like pyrophosphate to a more complex phosphodiester variant like DNA. In this study, we have classified the physiological phosphate esters into three different classes on the basis of their structural differences. This classification has helped us to present a concise theoretical study on the kinetic stability of phosphate analogue species of arsenate against hydrolysis. All the calculations have been carried out using QM/MM methods of our Own N-layer Integrated molecular Orbital molecular Mechanics (ONIOM). For quantum mechanical region, we have used M06-2X density functional with 6-31+G(2d,2p) basis set and for molecular mechanics we have used the AMBER force field. The calculated rate constants for hydrolysis show that none of the phosphate analogue species of arsenate has a reasonable stability against hydrolysis.

Studies on the interactions of 5-R-3-(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazines with arynes: inverse demand aza-Diels-Alder reaction versus aryne-mediated domino process.

The interactions between substituted 5-R-3-(pyridyl-2)-1,2,4-triazines with in situ generated substituted aryne intermediates have been studied. The reaction afforded either inverse demand (ID) aza-Diels-Alder products or 1,2,4-triazine ring rearrangement (domino) products as major ones depending on the nature of both the substituents at the C5 position of the 1,2,4-triazine core or in the aryne moiety. The structures of the key products were confirmed based on X-ray data. Based on the density functional theoretical (DFT) studies of the Diels-Alder transition state geometries, the influence of the nature of arynes on the direction of the 1,2,4-triazine transformation has been proposed.

Collision-induced dissociation in (He, H2(+)(v = 0-2; j = 0-3)) system: a time-dependent quantum mechanical investigation.

The collision-induced process He + H(2)(+)(v = 0-2; j = 0-3) → He + H + H(+) has been investigated using a time-dependent quantum mechanical wave packet approach, within the centrifugal sudden approximation. The exchange reaction He + H(2)(+) → HeH(+) + H, which has a lower threshold, dominates over the dissociation process over the entire energy range considered in this study. The reaction cross section for both the exchange and dissociation channels and the branching ratio between the two channels have been computed on the McLaughlin-Thompson-Joseph-Sathyamurthy potential-energy surface and compared with the available experimental and quasiclassical trajectory results.

A full-dimensional coupled-surface study of the photodissociation dynamics of ammonia using the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree method.

Full-dimensional quantum mechanical computations are carried out to investigate the photodissociation dynamics of à state NH(3) and ND(3) using the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) method with recently developed coupled ab initio potential energy surfaces (PESs) [Z. H. Li, R. Valero, and D. G. Truhlar, Theor. Chim. Acc. 118, 9 (2007)]. To use the MCTDH method efficiently the PESs are represented as based on the high-dimensional model representation. The à ← X̃ absorption spectra for both isotopomers were calculated for the zeroth vibrational state of the ground electronic state. With a view to treating larger systems, Jacobi coordinates are used. Computations on the coupled PES are carried out for two-, three-, five-, and six-dimensional model systems to understand the validity of reduced-dimensional calculations. In addition to the fully coupled calculations, the effect of nonadiabatic coupling on absorption spectra is shown by propagating the initial wavepacket only in the à electronic state. The calculated absorption spectra are shown to be in good agreement with available theoretical and experimental observations. Comparisons with calculations using Radau and valence coordinates show the effect of including the symmetry of the system explicitly. Finally, branching ratios for loss of a hydrogen atom via the two available channels are calculated. These predict that the nonadiabatic product increases with the dimension of the calculations and confirm the importance of the full-dimensional calculations.

Dissociative double ionization of CO2: dynamics, energy levels, and lifetime.

In a kinematically complete experiment on the dissociative double ionization of CO2 by electron impact, spontaneous and metastable decay have been observed via the channel CO2(2+) --> CO+ + O+. The metastable decay shows a lifetime of 5.8 +/- 1.5 micros. The measured kinetic energy release spectrum of the dissociation shows one broad peak. To understand the observed features, ab initio potential energy surface (PES) for the ground electronic state of CO2(2+) was computed using a multireference configuration interaction method and a correlation-consistent polarized-valence quadruple-zeta basis set, for a range of internuclear distances and O-C-O bond angles, and an analytic fit of the PES was obtained. The computed PES clearly indicates the metastability of the dication and yields a barrier height and an asymptotic limit in fair agreement with the reported data. A time-dependent quantum mechanical approach was used to compute the ground vibrational state wave function of CO2 in its ground electronic state. Assuming a Franck-Condon transition, the same function was taken to be the initial wave function at time t = 0 for the time evolution on the fitted PES for the ground electronic state of CO2(2+). The autocorrelation function was computed and Fourier transformed to obtain the excitation spectrum. Upon convolution with the instrument resolution function, the kinetic energy release spectrum was obtained, in good agreement with the experimental results, particularly at lower energies. The discrepancies at higher energies are attributed to the noninclusion of the excited states of CO2(2+) in the dynamical study.

Influence of reagent rotation on (H-, D2) and (D-, H2) collisions: a quantum mechanical study.

Time-independent quantum mechanical (TIQM) approach (helicity basis truncated at k = 2) has been used for computing differential and integral cross sections for the exchange reaction H- + D2 (v = 0, j = 0-4) --> HD + D- and D- + H2 (v = 0, j = 0-3) --> HD + H- in three dimensions on an accurate ab initio potential energy surface. It is shown that the j-weighted differential reaction cross section values are in good agreement with the experimental results reported by Zimmer and Linder at four different relative translational energies (Etrans = 0.55, 0.93, 1.16 and 1.48 eV) for (H-, D2) and at one relative translational energy (Etrans = 0.6 eV) by Haufler et al. for both (H-, D2) and (D-, H2) collisions. The j-weighted integral reaction cross section values are in good agreement with the crossed beam measurements by Zimmer and Linder in the Etrans range 0.5-1.5 eV and close to the guided ion beam results by Haufler et al. for (H-, D2) in the range 0.8-1.2 eV. Time-dependent quantum mechanical (TDQM) results obtained using centrifugal sudden approximation are reported in the form of integral reaction cross section values as a function of Etrans in the range 0.3-3.0 eV for both reactions in three dimensions on the same potential energy surface. The TDQM reaction cross section values decline more sharply than the TIQM results with increase in the initial rotational quantum number (j) for the D2 molecules in their ground vibrational state (v = 0) for (H-, D2) collisions. The computed j-weighted reaction cross section values are in good agreement with the experimental results reported by Zimmer and Linder for (H-, D2) collisions and guided ion beam results by Haufler et al. for both (H-, D2) and (D-, H2) collisions for energies below the threshold for electron detachment channel.

Ground and excited states of the monomer and dimer of certain carboxylic acids.

The ground-state properties of the monomer and the dimer of formic acid, acetic acid, and benzoic acid have been investigated using Hartree-Fock (HF) and density functional theory (DFT) methods using the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. Some of the low-lying excited states have been studied using the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) with LDA and B3LYP functionals and also employing complete-active-space-self-consistent-field (CASSCF) and multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) methodologies. DFT calculations predict the ground-state geometries in quantitative agreement with the available experimental results. The computed binding energies for the three carboxylic acid dimers are also in accord with the known thermodynamic data. The TDDFT predicted wavelengths corresponding to the lowest energy n-pi* transition in formic acid (214 nm) and acetic acid (214 nm) and the pi-pi* transition in benzoic acid (255 nm) are comparable to the experimentally observed absorption maxima. In addition, TDDFT calculations predict qualitatively correctly the blue shift (4-5 nm) in the excitation energy for the pi-pi* transition in going from the monomer to the dimer of formic acid and acetic acid and the red shift (approximately 19 nm) in pi-pi* transition in going from benzoic acid monomer to dimer. This also indicates that the electronic interaction arising from the hydrogen bonds between the monomers is marginal in all three carboxylic acids investigated.

Three dimensional quantum dynamics of (H-, H2) and its isotopic variants.

We present the results of a time-dependent quantum mechanical investigation using centrifugal sudden approximation in the form of reaction probability as a function of collision energy (E(trans)) in the range 0.3-3.0 eV for a range of total angular momentum (J) values and the excitation function sigma(E(trans)) for the exchange reaction H(-) + H(2) (v = 0, j = 0) --> H(2) + H(-) and its isotopic variants in three dimensions on an accurate ab initio potential energy surface published recently (J. Chem. Phys. 2004, 121, 9343). The excitation function results are shown to be in excellent agreement with those obtained from crossed beam measurements by Zimmer and Linder for H(-) + D(2) collisions for energies below the threshold for electron detachment channel and somewhat larger than the most recent results of Haufler et al. for (H(-), D(2)) and (D(-), H(2)) collisions.