Bromine Pentafluoride BrF5 , the Formation of [BrF6 ]- Salts, and the Stereochemical (In)activity of the Bromine Lone Pairs.

BrF5 can be prepared by treating BrF3 with fluorine under UV light in the region of 300 to 400 nm at room temperature. It was analyzed by UV-Vis, NMR, IR and Raman spectroscopy. Its crystal structure was redetermined by X-ray diffraction, and its space group was corrected to Pnma. Quantum-chemical calculations were performed for the band assignment of the vibrational spectra. A monoclinic polymorph of BrF5 was quantum chemically predicted and then observed as its low-temperature modification in space group P21 /c by single crystal X-ray diffraction. BrF5 reacts with the alkali metal fluorides AF (A=K, Rb) to form alkali metal hexafluoridobromates(V), A[BrF6 ] the crystal structures of which have been determined. Both compounds crystallize in the K[AsF6 ] structure type (R 3 ‾ ${\bar 3}$ , no. 148, hR24). For the species [BrF6 ]+ , BrF5 , [BrF6 ]- , and [IF6 ]- , the chemical bonds and lone pairs on the heavy atoms were investigated by means of intrinsic bond orbital analysis.

Structural Properties and Magnetic Ground States of 100 Binary d-Metal Oxides Studied by Hybrid Density Functional Methods.

d-metal oxides play a crucial role in numerous technological applications and show a great variety of magnetic properties. We have systematically investigated the structural properties, magnetic ground states, and fundamental electronic properties of 100 binary d-metal oxides using hybrid density functional methods and localized basis sets composed of Gaussian-type functions. The calculated properties are compared with experimental information in all cases where experimental data are available. The used PBE0 hybrid density functional method describes the structural properties of the studied d-metal oxides well, except in the case of molecular oxides with weak intermolecular forces between the molecular units. Empirical D3 dispersion correction does not improve the structural description of the molecular oxides. We provide a database of optimized geometries and magnetic ground states to facilitate future studies on the more complex properties of the binary d-metal oxides.

Syntheses and Characterization of the Mixed-Valent Manganese(II/III) Fluorides Mn2F5 and Mn3F8.

We obtained single crystals of the binary mixed-valent fluorides Mn2F5 and Mn3F8 using a high-pressure/high-temperature approach. Mn2F5 crystallizes isotypic to CaCrF5 in the monoclinic space group C2/c (No. 15), with a = 8.7078(8) Å, b = 6.1473(6) Å, c = 7.7817(7) Å, ß = 117.41(1)°, V = 369.80(6) Å3, Z = 4, and mC28 at T = 173 K. Mn3F8 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21 (No. 4) with a = 5.5253(2) Å, b = 4.8786(2) Å, c = 9.9124(4) Å, ß = 92.608(2)°, V = 266.92(2) Å3, Z = 2, and mP22 at T = 183 K and presents a new structure type. Crystal-chemical reasoning, CHARDI calculations, and quantum-chemical calculations allowed for the assignment of the oxidation states of the Mn atoms. In both bulk compounds, MnF2 was present as an impurity, as evidenced by powder X-ray diffraction and IR and Raman spectroscopy.

Evolutionary Algorithm-based Crystal Structure Prediction for Gold(I) Fluoride.

Solid gold(I) fluoride remains as an unsynthesized and uncharacterized compound. We have performed a search for potential gold(I) fluoride crystal structures using USPEX evolutionary algorithm and dispersion-corrected hybrid density functional methods. Over 4000 AuF crystal structures have been investigated. Behavior of the AuF crystal structures under pressure was studied up to 25 GPa, and we also evaluated the thermodynamic stability of the hypothetical AuF crystal structures with respect to AuF3 , AuF5 , and Au3 F8 . Mixed-valence compound Au3 [AuF4 ] with Au atoms in various formal oxidation states emerged as the thermodynamically most stable AuF species.

Chemical Bonding and Crystal Structure Schemes in Atomic/Molecular Layer Deposited Fe-Terephthalate Thin Films.

Advanced deposition routes are vital for the growth of functional metal-organic thin films. The gas-phase atomic/molecular layer deposition (ALD/MLD) technique provides solvent-free and uniform nanoscale thin films with unprecedented thickness control and allows straightforward device integration. Most excitingly, the ALD/MLD technique can enable the in situ growth of novel crystalline metal-organic materials. An exquisite example is iron-terephthalate (Fe-BDC), which is one of the most appealing metal-organic framework (MOF) type materials and thus widely studied in bulk form owing to its attractive potential in photocatalysis, biomedicine, and beyond. Resolving the chemistry and structural features of new thin film materials requires an extended selection of characterization and modeling techniques. Here we demonstrate how the unique features of the ALD/MLD grown in situ crystalline Fe-BDC thin films, different from the bulk Fe-BDC MOFs, can be resolved through techniques such as synchrotron grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), Mössbauer spectroscopy, and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) and crystal structure predictions. The investigations of the Fe-BDC thin films, containing both trivalent and divalent iron, converge toward a novel crystalline Fe(III)-BDC monoclinic phase with space group C2/c and an amorphous Fe(II)-BDC phase. Finally, we demonstrate the excellent thermal stability of our Fe-BDC thin films.

Effect of the Dopant Configuration on the Electronic Transport Properties of Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotubes.

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs) show promise in several applications related to catalysis and electrochemistry. In particular, N-CNTs with a single nitrogen dopant in the unit cell have been extensively studied computationally, but the structure-property correlations between the relative positions of several nitrogen dopants and the electronic transport properties of N-CNTs have not been systematically investigated with accurate hybrid density functional methods. We use hybrid density functional theory and semiclassical Boltzmann transport theory to systematically investigate the effect of different substitutional nitrogen doping configurations on the electrical conductivity of N-CNTs. Our results indicate significant variation in the electrical conductivity and the relative energies of the different dopant configurations. The findings can be utilized in the optimization of electrical transport properties of N-CNTs.