CO2-mineralization and carbonation reactor rig: Design and validation for in situ neutron scattering experiments-Engineering and lessons learned.

CO2 mineralization via aqueous Mg/Ca/Na-carbonate (MgCO3/CaCO3/Na2CO3) formation represents a huge opportunity for the utilization of captured CO2. However, large-scale mineralization is hindered by slow kinetics due to the highly hydrated character of the cations in aqueous solutions (Mg2+ in particular). Reaction conditions can be optimized to accelerate carbonation kinetics, for example, by the inclusion of additives that promote competitive dehydration of Mg2+ and subsequent agglomeration, nucleation, and crystallization. For tracking mineralization and these reaction steps, neutron scattering presents unprecedented advantages over traditional techniques for time-resolved in situ measurements. However, a setup providing continuous solution circulation to ensure reactant system homogeneity for industrially relevant CO2-mineralization is currently not available for use on neutron beamlines. We, therefore, undertook the design, construction, testing and implementation of such a self-contained reactor rig for use on selected neutron beamlines at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source (Harwell, UK). The design ensured robust attachment via suspension from the covering Tomkinson flange to stabilize the reactor assembly and all fittings (~25 kg), as well as facilitating precise alignment of the entire reactor and sample (test) cell with respect to beam dimension and direction. The assembly successfully accomplished the principal tasks of providing a continuous flow of the reaction mixture (~500 mL) for homogeneity, quantitative control of CO2 flux into the mixture, and temperature and pressure regulation throughout the reaction and measurements. The design is discussed, with emphasis placed on the reactor, including its geometry, components, and all technical specifications. Descriptions of the off-beamline bench tests, safety, and functionality, as well as the installation on beamlines and trial experimental procedure, are provided, together with representative raw neutron scattering results.

Bioactivity of the cannabigerol cannabinoid and its analogues - the role of 3-dimensional conformation.

Cannabinoids are naturally occurring bioactive compounds with the potential to help treat chronic illnesses including epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, dementia and multiple sclerosis. Their general structures and efficient syntheses are well documented in the literature, yet their quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs), particularly 3-dimensional (3-D) conformation-specific bioactivities, are not fully resolved. Cannabigerol (CBG), an antibacterial precursor molecule for the most abundant phytocannabinoids, was characterised herein using density functional theory (DFT), together with selected analogues, to ascertain the influence of the 3D structure on their activity and stability. Results showed that the CBG family's geranyl chains tend to coil around the central phenol ring while its alkyl side-chains form H-bonds with the para-substituted hydroxyl groups as well as CH⋯π interactions with the aromatic density of the ring itself, among other interactions. Although weakly polar, these interactions are structurally and dynamically influential, effectively 'stapling' the ends of the chains to the central ring structure. Molecular docking of the differing 3-D poses of CBG to cytochrome P450 3A4 resulted in lowered inhibitory action by the coiled conformers, relative to their fully-extended counterparts, helping explain the trends in the inhibition of the metabolic activity of the CYP450 3A4. The approach detailed herein represents an effective method for the characterisation of other bioactive molecules, towards improved understanding of their QSARs and in guiding the rational design and synthesis of related compounds.

Aluminium catalysed oligomerisation in cement-forming silicate systems.

Alumino-silicates form the backbone of structural materials including cements and the concrete they form. However, the nanoscale aspects of the oligomerisation mechanisms elongating the (alumino-)silicate chains is not fully clarified; the role of aluminium in particular. Herein, we explore and contrast the growth of silicate and alumino-silicate oligomers by both neutral and anionic mechanisms, with focus on the influence of Al on oligomer structure and stability. Further, the spontaneity of chain lengthening in the absence and presence of Al of differing coordination (Al-IV, V, VI) was characterised. Result trends showed Al-IV facilitating oligomerisation in neutral conditions, with respect to Si only systems, effectively promoting longer chain formation and stabilisation. The anionic pathway similarly showed Al reducing the overall energetic barriers to oligomerisation. In both conditions, Al's coordinative and structural flexibility, at O-Al-O hinge points in particular, was responsible for the lowering of the energetic expense for oligomerisation. The results and implications resolved herein are informative for chain formation and stability for bulk material properties of alumino-silicate materials such as cements, where the aluminosilicate systems are dominated by short chains of 2-5 units in length.

Kinetic study of the reaction of [Rh(6)(CO)(16)] with NO(2)(-): insertion of the nitrogen atom into a Rh(6) cluster core.

The cluster [Rh(6)(CO)(16)] reacts with (PPN)NO(2) [PPN = N(PPh(3))(2)] in dichloromethane to form the known cluster [Rh(6)N(CO)(15)](-) in which the nitrogen atom is encapsulated within a trigonal prismatic Rh(6) cluster. A kinetic study shows that the reactions proceed in six kinetically distinguishable steps followed by another four steps that are kinetically unidentifiable but that can nevertheless be identified speculatively on the basis of analogies to other reactions of carbonyl clusters. Stopped-flow studies show that the initial step involves bimolecular nucleophilic attack on a carbon atom of a CO ligand by an oxygen atom in the NO(2)(-) ion. This is followed by CO loss (via a [CO]-dependent and a [CO]-independent path) with formation of [Rh(6)(CO)(14)(OC[combining low line]ON[combining low line]O)](-). Activation parameters have been obtained for all three steps. [Rh(6)(CO)(14)(OC[combining low line]ON[combining low line]O)](-) has been characterized spectroscopically and has the C and N atoms coordinated to one Rh atom. Reaction of this cluster with CO leads to the fairly rapid establishment of an equilibrium with the adduct [Rh(6)(CO)(n)(OC[combining low line]ON[combining low line]O)](-), where n is most probably 15. Both participants in this equilibrium react more slowly with loss of CO(2), and these reactions show negligible dependence on temperature and are therefore largely entropy controlled. The overall reaction is very solvent dependent and numerous side reactions can be identified if the conditions of reaction are not closely controlled.

Tris-2-(3-methylindolyl)phosphine as an anion receptor.

A C3-symmetric phosphine with indolyl substituents has been synthesized that demonstrates the capability to bind anions through the indole NH sites and coordinate metal centres through the phosphorus centre.

Identification of 1,3-dialkylimidazolium salt supramolecular aggregates in solution.

The nature of the interactions between 1,3-dialkylimidazolium cations and noncoordinating anions such as tetrafluoroborate, hexafluorophosphate, and tetraphenylborate has been studied in the solid state by X-ray diffraction analysis and in solution by (1)H NMR spectroscopy, conductivity, and microcalorimetry. In the solid state, these compounds show an extended network of hydrogen-bonded cations and anions in which one cation is surrounded by at least three anions and one anion is surrounded by at least three imidazolium cations. In the pure form, imidazolium salts are better described as polymeric supramolecules of the type {[(DAI)(3)(X)](2+)[(DAI)(X)(3)](2-)}(n) (where DAI is the dialkylimidazolium cation and X is the anion) formed through hydrogen bonds of the imidazolium cation with the anion. In solution, this supramolecular structural organization is maintained to a great extent, at least in solvents of low dielectric constant, indicating that mixtures of imidazolium ionic liquids with other molecules can be considered as nanostructured materials. This model is very useful for the rationalization of the majority of the unusual behavior of the ionic liquids.

Kinetic studies of some substituted hexarhodium carbonyl clusters.

Reactions of the halides X- (X- = chloride, bromide or iodide) with the substituted cluster Rh6(CO)15(PPh3) in oxygen-free chloroform lead to [Rh5(CO)14(PPh3)]-, Rh(CO)2(PPh3)2X and [Rh(CO)2X2]- in the molar ratios 2:1: approximately 13. Oxidation by the solvent is assumed to lead to most of the Rh(I) product, and the stoichiometry for reactions with I- can be defined as 4Rh6(CO)15(PPh3) + 27I- + 12CHCl3 --> 2[Rh5(CO)14(PPh3)]- + Rh(CO)2(PPh3)2I + 13[Rh(CO)2I2]- + 6C2H2Cl4 + 4CO + 12Cl-. This can be rationalized quite simply with the aid of a few generally justifiable assumptions. Rate constants for reactions with bromide increase to a limiting value with increasing [Br-] in a way that shows that breaking of one Rh-Rh bond, with an unusual closo to nido structural change, is rate determining. This opening of the cluster might be spontaneous or solvent induced. To complete the reaction, the bromide has to compete with the reverse nido to closo change. The same closo to nido change is also a major rate determining step for reactions with P(OPh)3 in oxygen-free solutions, and for reactions with bromide in oxygenated solutions in the presence of trifluoroacetic and some other acids. The limiting rates increase slightly with increasing basicity of the ligands P(p-XC6H4)3 along the series X = F3C, Cl, F, H and MeO. Activation parameters for these reactions are reported.

Reactions of 2-indolylphosphines with Ru3(CO)12: cluster capping with mu 3,eta 2-indolylphosphine as an anionic six-electron P,N-donor ligand.

Stepwise bidentate coordination of the novel indolylphosphine ligands HL (1, HL = P(C(6)H(5))(2)(C(9)H(8)N)(diphenyl-2-(3-methylindolyl)phosphine); 2, HL = P(C(6)H(5))(C(9)H(8)N)(2)(phenyldi-2-(3-methylindolyl)phosphine); and 3, HL = P(C(6)H(5))(C(17)H(12)N(2))(di(1H-3-indolyl)methane-(2,12)-phenylphosphine)) to the ruthenium cluster Ru(3)(CO)(12) is demonstrated. Reactions of 1-3 with Ru(3)(CO)(12) led to the formation of Ru(3)(CO)(11)(HL) (4-6), in which HL is mono-coordinated through the phosphorus atom. The X-ray structures of 4-6 show that the phosphorus atom is equatorially coordinated to the triruthenium core. In all cases, gentle heating of Ru(3)(CO)(11)(HL) resulted in the formation of Ru(3)(CO)(9)(mu-H)(mu(3),eta(2)-L)(7-9) in which the NH proton of the indolyl substituent had migrated to the ruthenium core to form a bridging hydride ligand. The X-ray structure of Ru(3)(CO)(9)(mu-H)[mu(3),eta(2)-P(C(6)H(5))(2)(C(9)H(7)N)] (7) shows the deprotonated nitrogen atom of the indolyl moiety bridging over the face of the triruthenium core, bonding to the two ruthenium metal centers to which the phosphorus atom is not bound. The phosphorus atom is forced to adopt an axial bonding mode due to the geometry of the indolylphosphine ligand. Cluster electron counting and X-ray data suggest that the indolylphosphine behaves as a six-electron ligand in this mode of coordination. Compounds 4-9 have been characterized by IR, (1)H, (13)C and (31)P NMR spectroscopy.

Trans-dichloro(dimethyl sulfide-kappa S)(pyridine-kappa N)platinum(II).

The structure of the title compound, [PtCl(2)(C(5)H(5)N)(C(2)H(6)S)], consists of discrete molecules in which the Pt-atom coordination is slightly distorted square planar. The Cl atoms are trans to each other, with a Cl-Pt-Cl angle of 176.60 (7) degrees. The pyridine ligand is rotated 64.5 (2) degrees from the Pt square plane and one of the Pt-Cl bonds essentially bisects the C-S-C angle of the dimethyl sulfide ligand. In the crystal structure, there are extensive weak C-H...Cl interactions, the shortest of which connects molecules into centrosymmetric dimers. A comparison of the structural trans influence on Pt-S and Pt-N distances for PtS(CH(3))(2) and Pt(pyridine) fragments, respectively, in square-planar Pt(II) complexes is presented.

Tripyrrolylphosphine as a unique bridging ligand in the Rh6CO14(mu2-P(NC4H4)3) cluster: structure, bonding, fluxionality, thermodynamics, and kinetics studies.

Tripyrrolylphosphine reacts with the cluster Rh6CO15(NCMe) to afford the disubstituted Rh6CO14(mu2)-P(NC4H4)3) derivative (2) via the Rh6CO15P(NC4H4)3 intermediate (1) with eta(1)-P coordination. In the solid state, 2 has the phosphine occupying a bridging position where it is bonded to two neighboring Rh atoms in the Rh(6) octahedron through the P-atom and an approximately tetrahedral alpha-carbon atom of one of the pyrrolyl rings. This can be described by the interaction of an electron pair, associated with a negative charge on one of the canonical forms of the NC(4)H(4) ring, with the adjacent Rh center. (1)H NMR spectra show that the solid-state structure is retained in solution, but the phosphine is not rigid, and three distinctive dynamic processes are observed. Each of these represents independent hindered rotation of inequivalent pyrrolyl rings about P-N bonds, the ring involved in the interaction with the Rh(6) skeleton displaying the highest activation barrier with deltaH = 15.8 +/- 0.1 kcal mol(-1) and deltaS = 1.4 +/- 0.3 cal K(-1) mol(-1). The assignment has been confirmed by 1H TOCSY and EXSY experiments, and a mechanism is proposed. The formation of 2 from 1 is reversible in the presence of CO, which is highly unusual for bridged clusters. The kinetics of the forward and reverse reactions have been studied, and the values of DeltaH degrees and DeltaS degrees for formation of 2 (+1.3 +/- 0.5 kcal mol(-1) and -9 +/- 2 cal K(-1) mol (-1), respectively) show that the Rh-C bond in the bridge is comparable in strength with the Rh-CO bond it replaces. The intrinsic entropy of 2 is exceptionally unfavorable, overcoming the favorable entropy caused by CO release, and this allows the reversibility of bridge formation. The reactions proceed via a reactive intermediate that may involve agostic bonding of the ring. The reverse reaction has an exceedingly unfavorable activation entropy that emphasizes the unique nature of 2.