Substituent effect on electronic structures of halonitrobenzenes

Reduction pathway and mechanism of chloronitrobenzenes synergistically catalyzed by bioPd and Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 assisted by calculation

Although microbial synthesized palladium nanoparticles (bioPd) have been demonstrated to exhibit a great activity toward dechlorination of several chlorinated pollutants, there is no systematic investigation into the substituent effect on dechlorination. Chloronitrobenzenes are widely used for manufacturing and known as persistent pollutants with recalcitrance of biodegradation for nitro groups. In this work, bioPd was synthesized by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. The dechlorination of 2-chloronitrobenzene, 4-chloronitrobenzene and 2,4-dichloronitrobenzene catalyzed by bioPd were investigated. Simultaneous dechlorination and nitro reduction were observed by synergistic catalysis of bioPd and S. oneidensis MR-1. Pd concentration was optimized for the reduction. Producing profiles of intermediates changed with the ratio of Pd to cell, supporting a size- or shape-controlled catalytic activity of bioPd. The removal of chloro atoms at para-position was easier than that at ortho-position in 2,4-DCNB, suggesting a position effect on the reduction, which was further supported by the frontier molecular orbital and frontier electron density of 2,4-DCNB according to density functional theory.

Separation performance of dithienyl benzothiadiazole-based stationary phases for capillary gas chromatography

Two new TBT-based stationary phases (TBT-AA, TBT-AC12) exhibited high-resolution performance for aliphatic and aromatic isomers.

Reactivity of polychlorinated biphenyls in nucleophilic and electrophilic substitutions

To explain the chemical reactivity of polychlorinated biphenyls in nucleophilic (S(N)) and electrophilic (S(E)) substitutions, quantum chemical calculations were carried out at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of the Density Functional Theory in gas phase. Carbon atomic charges in biphenyl structure were calculated by the Atoms-in-Molecules method. Chemical hardness and global electrophilicity index parameters were determined for congeners. A comparison of calculated descriptors and experimental data for congener reactivity in the S(N) and S(E) reactions was made. It is shown that interactions in the S(N) mechanism are reactions of the hard acid-hard base type, these are the most effective in case of highly chlorinated substrates. To explain the congener reactivity in the SE reactions, correct descriptors were not established. The obtained results can be used to carry out chemical transformations of the polychlorinated biphenyls in order to prepare them for microbiological destruction or preservation.

Experimental and computational thermodynamic study of three monofluoronitrobenzene isomers

The present work reports the thermodynamic study performed on three monofluorinated nitrobenzene derivatives by a combination of experimental techniques and computational approaches. The standard (p degrees = 0.1 MPa) molar enthalpies of formation in the liquid phase of the three isomers of fluoronitrobenzene were derived from the standard molar energies of combustion, in oxygen, at T = 298.15 K, measured by rotating bomb combustion calorimetry. The vapor pressure study of the referred compounds was done by a static method and, from the obtained results, the phase diagrams were elaborated, and the respective triple point coordinates, as well as the standard molar enthalpies of vaporization, sublimation and fusion, at T = 298.15 K, were determined. The combination of some of the referred thermodynamic parameters yielded the standard (p degrees = 0.1 MPa) molar enthalpies of formation in the gaseous phase, at T = 298.15 K, of the studied compounds: Delta(f)H(m)(o) (2-fluoronitrobenzene, g) = -(102.4 +/- 1.5) kJ x mol(-1), Delta(f)H(m)(o) (3-fluoronitrobenzene, g) = -(128.0 +/- 1.7) kJ x mol(-1), and Delta(f)H(m)(o) (4-fluoronitrobenzene, g) = -(133.9 +/- 1.4) kJ x mol(-1). Using the empirical scheme developed by Cox, values of standard molar enthalpies of formation in the gaseous phase were estimated and afterwards compared with the ones obtained experimentally, and both were interpreted in terms of the molecular structure of the compounds. The theoretically estimated gas-phase enthalpies of formation were calculated from high-level ab initio molecular orbital calculations at the G3(MP2)//B3LYP level of theory. The computed values compare very well with the experimental results obtained in this work and show that 4-fluoronitrobenzene is the most stable isomer from the thermodynamic point of view. Furthermore, this composite approach was also used to obtain information about the gas-phase basicities, proton and electron affinities and, finally, adiabatic ionization enthalpies.