Insights on the Reactivity of Terminal Phosphanido Metal Complexes toward Activated Alkynes from Theoretical Computations.

Herein we present a theoretical study on the reaction of [Re(PPh2) (CO)3(phen)] (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) and [Re(PPh2) (CO)3(bipy)] (bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine) toward methyl propiolate. In agreement with experimental results for the phen ligand, the coupling of the substituted acetylenic carbon with the nonsubstituted ortho carbon of the phen ligand is the preferred route from both kinetic and thermodynamic viewpoints with a Gibbs energy barrier of 18.8 kcal/mol and an exoergicity of 11.1 kcal/mol. There are other two routes, the insertion of the acetylenic fragment into the P-Re bond and the coupling between the substituted acetylenic carbon and a carbonyl ligand in cis disposition, which are kinetically less favorable than the preferred route (by 2.8 and 1.9 kcal/mol, respectively). Compared with phen, the bipy ligand shows less electrophilic character and also less π electron delocalization due to the absence of the fused ring between the two pyridine rings. As a consequence, the route involving the coupling with a carbonyl ligand starts to be kinetically competitive, whereas the product of the attack to bipy is still the most stable and would be the one mainly obtained after spending enough time to reach thermal equilibrium.

Understanding the hydrolysis mechanism of ethyl acetate catalyzed by an aqueous molybdocene: a computational chemistry investigation.

A thoroughly mechanistic investigation on the [Cp2Mo(OH)(OH2)](+)-catalyzed hydrolysis of ethyl acetate has been performed using density functional theory methodology together with continuum and discrete-continuum solvation models. The use of explicit water molecules in the PCM-B3LYP/aug-cc-pVTZ (aug-cc-pVTZ-PP for Mo)//PCM-B3LYP/aug-cc-pVDZ (aug-cc-pVDZ-PP for Mo) computations is crucial to show that the intramolecular hydroxo ligand attack is the preferred mechanism in agreement with experimental suggestions. Besides, the most stable intermediate located along this mechanism is analogous to that experimentally reported for the norbornenyl acetate hydrolysis catalyzed by molybdocenes. The three most relevant steps are the formation and cleavage of the tetrahedral intermediate immediately formed after the hydroxo ligand attack and the acetic acid formation, with the second one being the rate-determining step with a Gibbs energy barrier of 36.7 kcal/mol. Among several functionals checked, B3LYP-D3 and M06 give the best agreement with experiment as the rate-determining Gibbs energy barrier obtained only differs 0.2 and 0.7 kcal/mol, respectively, from that derived from the experimental kinetic constant measured at 296.15 K. In both cases, the acetic acid elimination becomes now the rate-determining step of the overall process as it is 0.4 kcal/mol less stable than the tetrahedral intermediate cleavage. Apart from clarifying the identity of the cyclic intermediate and discarding the tetrahedral intermediate formation as the rate-determining step for the mechanism of the acetyl acetate hydrolysis catalyzed by molybdocenes, the small difference in the Gibbs energy barrier found between the acetic acid formation and the tetrahedral intermediate cleavage also uncovers that the rate-determining step could change when studying the reactivity of carboxylic esters other than ethyl acetate substrate specific toward molybdocenes or other transition metal complexes. Therefore, in general, the information reported here could be of interest in designing new catalysts and understanding the reaction mechanism of these and other metal-catalyzed hydrolysis reactions.

Theoretical study on the electronic excitations of a porphyrin-polypyridyl ruthenium(II) photosensitizer.

In this work, we investigated the UV-vis spectra of the [Ru(bipy)(2)(MPyTPP)Cl](+) (MPyTPP = 5-pyridyl-15,20,25-triphenylporphyrin) complex and its related species [Ru(bipy)(2)(py)Cl](+) and MPyTPP, by using time-dependent density functional theory and a set of functionals (B3LYP, M05, MPWB1K, and PBE0) in chloroform with the basis set 6-31++G(d,p) for nonmetal atoms and the pseudopotential LANL2DZ for Ru. Practically no geometrical changes are observed in the Ru environment when py ligand is replaced by MPyTPP. This replacement favors the electronic redistribution from bipy ligands to Ru, and from the metal to MPyTPP ligand, as indicated by NBO analysis. We found that M05 functional predicts very well the UV-vis spectra, as it shows a low deviation with respect to the experimental data, with a maximum error of 0.19 eV (11 nm). M05 theoretical electronic spectrum of [Ru(bipy)(2)(MPyTPP)Cl](+) complex indicates that the presence of the Ru complex does not alter Q porphyrin bands, while charge transfer bands from Ru to bipy and porphyrin ligands mixes up in the region close to the porphyrin Soret band. Theoretical analysis allows the decomposition of this broad experimental band into specific ones identifying the Soret band and new metal to ligand charge transfers toward porphyrin at 425 and 478 nm, which were not possible in none of the moieties MPyTPP and [Ru(bipy)(2)(Py)Cl](+) complex. In the UV region, the most intense intraligand band of bipy ligands becomes slightly blue-shifted both in the experimental and in the theoretical spectrum of [Ru(bipy)(2)(MPyTPP)Cl](+) complex compared to that in [Ru(bipy)(2)(py)Cl](+) complex. Some of the bands of [Ru(bipy)(2)(MPyTPP)Cl](+) showed in this theoretical study may have practical applications. That is the case for the band at 478 nm, with potential use in PDT, and those more energetic at 348 and 329 nm, which could help in the cleavage mechanism of DNA performed by this ruthenium complex.

Effect of chlorin structure on theoretical electronic absorption spectra and on the energy released by porphyrin-based photosensitizers.

In this work eight porphyrins (p) and eight chlorins (c) are theoretically characterized [BLYP/6-31G(d)] in their singlet and triplet states. Nine of them (1p, 1c, 2p, 3p, 4p, 5p, 6c, 7c, and 8c) have already been synthesized and are in trial use in photodynamic therapy (PDT). The seven remaining were built up as chlorins analogous to porphyrins 2p-5p and porphyrins analogous to chlorins 6c-8c. The aim is to investigate the effect of the chlorin structure on the Q-band of electronic spectra at BLYP/6-31G(d) (gas phase, methanol solution) and at BHANDHLYP/6-31+G(d) (methanol solution), and on the triplet --> singlet energy emission, as these two factors determine the quality of a good photosensitizer. It is found that meso substituents lead to greater geometry distortions than beta-substituents in both porphyrins and chlorins and in both singlet and triplet states. In methanol solution, chlorin-like structures with beta substitution present significantly red-shifted Q-bands in comparison with their porphyrin analogues, so they would be better photosensitizers than porphyrins. Concerning to the triplet --> singlet energy emission calculated in methanol solution, three porphyrins (4p, 6p, and 8p) and all the studied substituted chlorins could be useful to generate active (1)O2. 4c would be the best photosensitizer, as it absorbs the largest wavelength in the therapeutic window (approximately 690 nm) and releases the amount of energy closest to the required one (1.22 eV).

A three-layer ONIOM model for the outside binding of cationic porphyrins and nucleotide pair DNA.

In this work we investigated the outside binding mode between a cationic porphyrin and a nucleotide pair of DNA, adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine, in a supramolecular assembly. We used two structural models (semi-extended, extended) that differ in the size of porphyrin, two kinds of theoretical methods: a three layer ONIOM (B3LYP/6-31G(d)/PM3/UFF), and DFT B3LYP/6-31G(d,p), and three cationic porphyrins. ONIOM method was first tested on the semi-extended model that was calculated in four environments: gas phase, solution phase using an explicit solvent model (H(2)O), in the presence of a sodium cation (Na(+)) and in both (H(2)O + Na(+)). From interaction energy results, we found that the affinity of the cationic substituent by the adenine nucleotide is favored upon the thymine nucleotide. The extended model that considers the whole porphyrin was applied in the gas phase to the four nucleotides. All the cationic porphyrins showed affinity by the nucleotides in the order adenine > guanine > thymine > cytosine. The interaction energy values for outside binding showed a strong porphyrin-nucleotide interaction (≈-90 kcal mol(-1)), that slightly varies between the nucleotides suggesting that this kind of cationic porphyrin has a little selectivity for some of them. We also found that the effect of the nature of the cationic substituent (chain length) in the porphyrin on the outside binding is small (≈2-13 kcal mol(-1)). Coherence between the results showed that ONIOM is a useful tool to get a reasonable molecular geometry to be used as a starting point in calculations of density functional theory.

Assessment of the photosensitization properties of cationic porphyrins in interaction with DNA nucleotide pairs.

We present a theoretical assessment of the photosensitization properties of meso-mono(N-methylpyridyl) triphenylporphyrin (1, MmPyP(+)), which interacts with DNA nucleotide pairs [adenine (A)-thymine (T); guanine (G)-cytosine (C)] via an external binding mode. The photosensitization properties of the arrangements 1A, 1T, 1G and 1C were investigated. A set of density functionals (B3LYP, PBE0, CAM-B3LYP, M06-2X, B97D) with the 6-31G(d) basis set was used to calculate the electronic absorption spectra in solution (water) following TD-DFT methodology. In all the arrangements, with the exception of 1C, the functional PBE0 produced the lowest deviation of the Soret band (0.1-0.2 eV). Using this functional, we show that the porphyrin-nucleotide interaction is stabilized, as reflected by a larger HOMO-LUMO gap than free porphyrin. A more important effect of the interaction corresponds to the red-shift of the Soret band of MmPyP(+), which is in agreement with experimental results. This behavior could be explained by the higher symmetry found in arrangements with a lower dipole moment, and by the more symmetrical distribution of electronic density along the molecular orbitals, which provokes electronic transitions of lower energy. The structural model allowed us to show that MmPyP(+) improves the characteristics as a photosensitizer when it interacts with nucleotide pairs due to the longer wavelength required for the Soret band. Results obtained for porphyrins with larger monocationic substituents (2, MmAP+; 3, MONPP+) do not lead to the same behavior. Although the structural model is insufficient to describe porphyrin photosensitization, it suggests that improvements in this property are produced by the inclusion of a cationic charge in the pyridyl ring and a smaller size of the substituent leading to a better communication in the porphyrin-nucleotide pair.

Theoretical and spectroscopic study of nickel(II) porphyrin derivatives.

A set of substituted (sulfonate, amino) nickel porphyrin derivatives such as phthalocyanine and phenylporphyrin was studied by spectroscopic (UV-vis, FTIR, XPS) and quantum-chemical methods. The Q and Soret bands were identified in the UV-vis spectra of aquo solutions of the tetrasulfo-substituted complexes and in DMF and ACN solutions of the amino-substituted phenylporphyrin and phthalocyanine Ni(II) complexes, respectively. In all the complexes the frontier molecular orbitals predict that the oxidation and reduction sites are localized on the ligand rather than in the metal atom. A natural bonding orbital (NBO) analysis of all the complexes showed that a two-center bond NBO between the pyrrolic nitrogens (Npyrr) and the nickel atom does not exist, the Npyrr...Ni interaction occurring instead by a delocalization from one lone pair of each Npyrr toward one lone pair of the nickel atom, as estimated by second-order perturbation theory. The calculated values of electronic transitions between the frontier molecular orbitals are in good agreeement with the UV-vis data. At the theoretical level, we found that while the ligand effect is more important in the Q-band (approximately 16 kcal/mol), the substituent effect is more significant in the Soret band (approximately 9 kcal/mol). A good agreement was also found between the experimental and calculated infrared spectra, which allowed the assignment of many experimental bands. The XPS results indicate that the Ni(II) present in the phenylporphyrin structure is not affected by a change of the substituent (sulfonate or amino).

Theoretical modeling of the oxidation of hydrazine by iron(II) phthalocyanine in the gas phase. Influence of the metal character.

The hydrazine oxidation by iron(II) phthalocyanine (Fe(II)Pc) has been studied using an energy profile framework through quantum chemistry theoretical models calculated in the gas phase at the density functional theory B3LYP/LACVP(d) level. We applied two models of charge-transfer mechanisms previously reported (J. Phys. Chem. A 2005, 109, 1196) for the hydrazine oxidation mediated by Co(II)Pc. Model 1 consists of an alternated loss of one electron and one proton, involving anionic and neutral species. Model 2 considers an alternated loss of two electrons and two protons and includes anionic, neutral, and cationic species. Both applied models describe how the charge-transfer process occurs. In contrast with the obtained results for Co(II)Pc, we found that the hydrazine oxidation mediated by Fe(II)Pc is a fully through-bond charge-transfer mechanism. On the other hand, the use of different charge-transfer descriptors (spin density, electronic population, condensed Fukui function) showed a major contribution of the iron atom in comparison with the cobalt atom in the above-mentioned process. These results could explain the higher catalytic activity observed experimentally for Fe(II)Pc in comparison with Co(II)Pc. The applied theoretical models are a good starting point to rationalize the charge-transfer process of hydrazine oxidation mediated by Fe(II)Pc.

Synthesis of beta-lactams by Ag+-induced ring expansion of 1-hydroxycyclopropylamines: a theoretical analysis.

A theoretical analysis of the silver-induced ring expansion of N-chloro-N-methyl-1-hydroxycyclopropylamine to form N-methyl-2-azetidinone, and of the Cl(-) elimination from this substrate without Ag(+) assistance, was performed using the B3LYP method and the 6-31+G(d) basis set for C, N, O, H, and Cl atoms and the relativistic effective core pseudopotential LANL2DZ complemented with one set of f polarization functions (zeta(f) = 0.473) for the Ag atom. The partial Ag(+)-assisted extrusion of Cl(-) at the rate-determining transition state provokes an important change in the nodal properties of the frontier molecular orbitals of the H(3)CClNCOHAg(+) fragment, thus making very stabilizing HOMO-LUMO interactions between this fragment and the C(2)H(4) moiety possible. This interaction leads to the ring opening and release of most of the strain energy, giving rise to a low energy barrier for the process. Also, by assisting the Cl(-) extrusion, Ag(+) avoids the elimination of the hydroxyl hydrogen atom, which would provoke the fragmentation of the system instead of the formation of the beta-lactam.