C3H4: density functional (DFT) study of structures and stabilities of isomers

Activation Mechanism of Fe2+ in Pyrrhotite Flotation: Microflotation and DFT Calculations

In industrial manufacturing, pyrrhotite(Fe1-xS), once depressed, is commonly activated for flotation. However, the replacement of CuSO4 is necessary due to the need for exact control over the dosage during the activation of pyrrhotite, which can pose challenges in industrial settings. This research introduces the use of FeSO4 for the first time to efficiently activate pyrrhotite. The impact of two different activators on pyrrhotite was examined through microflotation experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Microflotation experiments confirmed that as the CuSO4 dosage increased from 0 to 8 × 10-4 mol/L, the recovery of pyrrhotite initially increased slightly from 71.27% to 87.65% but then sharply decreased to 16.47%. Conversely, when the FeSO4 dosage was increased from 0 to 8 × 10-4 mol/L, pyrrhotite's recovery rose from 71.27% to 82.37%. These results indicate a higher sensitivity of CuSO4 to dosage variations, suggesting that minor alterations in dosage can significantly impact its efficacy under certain experimental conditions. In contrast, FeSO4 might demonstrate reduced sensitivity to changes in dosage, leading to more consistent performance. Fe ions can chemically adsorb onto the surface of pyrrhotite (001), creating a stable chemical bond, thereby markedly activating pyrrhotite. The addition of butyl xanthate (BX), coupled with the action of Fe2+ on activated pyrrhotite, results in the formation of four Fe-S bonds on Fe2+. The proximity of their atomic distances contributes to the development of a stable double-chelate structure. The S 3p orbital on BX hybridizes with the Fe 3d orbital on pyrrhotite, but the hybrid effect of Fe2+ activation is stronger than that of nonactivation. In addition, the Fe-S bond formed by the addition of activated Fe2+ has a higher Mulliken population, more charge overlap, and stronger covalent bonds. Therefore, Fe2+ is an excellent, efficient, and stable pyrrhotite activator.

Gas-Phase Synthesis of the Elusive Trisilicontetrahydride Species (Si3H4)

The bimolecular gas-phase reaction of ground-state atomic silicon (Si; ³P) with disilane (Si₂H₆; ¹A_1g) was explored under single-collision conditions in a crossed molecular beam machine at a collision energy of 21 kJ mol^-1. Combined with electronic structure calculations, the results suggest the formation of Si₃H₄ isomer(s) along with molecular hydrogen via indirect scattering dynamics through Si₃H₆ collision complex(es) and intersystem crossing from the triplet to the singlet surface. The nonadiabatic reaction dynamics can synthesize the energetically accessible singlet Si₃H₄ isomers in overall exoergic reaction(s) (-93 ± 21 kJ mol^-1). All reasonable reaction products are either cyclic or hydrogen-bridged suggesting extensive isomerization processes from the reactants via the initially formed collision complex(es) to the fragmenting singlet intermediate(s). The underlying chemical dynamics of the silicon-disilane reaction are quite distinct from the isovalent carbon-ethane system that does not depict any reactivity at all, and open the door for an unconventional gas phase synthesis of hitherto elusive organosilicon molecules under single-collision conditions.

DFT study of sulfur derivatives of cumulenes and their protonated forms of interstellar interest and calculations of dissociation energies of protonated forms (SC(CH)C(n-2)S)(+) (n = 3-8)

A theoretical study of the sulfur cumulenes SCnS (n = 3-8), CnS ( n = 1-8) and of their protonated forms (SCnS)H(+) and (CnS)H(+) that might exist in the interstellar environment, has been carried out by means of the standard B3LYP/6-311G** method. The geometries and relative energies of singlet and triplet states according to the number of carbons have been computed. Like neutral species, we have found that the ground state of the most stable protonated forms (SC(CH)Cn-2S)(+) and ((HC)Cn-1S)(+), alternates between a triplet state for the even series and a singlet state for the odd series. We provided the data needed to simulate infrared and microwave spectra (vibration frequencies, dipole moments, and rotational constants) for each protonated species (SCnS)H(+) and (CnS)H(+) and for each neutral CnS species. The computing of dissociation energies of the most stable protonated forms (SC(CH)Cn-2S)(+) (n = 3-8) has shown that the lowest values are obtained for the dissociation of compounds with an even number of carbons, in their triplet state, which produce the observed fragments CS and C3S. The dissociation of even protonated forms requires less energy than for the odd protonated forms.

Density functional study of the conformations and intramolecular proton transfer in thiohydroxamic acids

The conformational preferences of thiohydroxamic acids (N-hydroxythioamides) are investigated by the density functional B3LYP/6-311++G(3df,3pd)//B3LYP/6-31G(d) method in this work. Unlike hydroxamic acids, the thione and thiol forms are found to be equally stable in the gas phase, and the reaction pathways for the interconversion between the thione and thiol forms have been deduced to involve rotation about the C[double bond, length as m-dash]N bond of the thiol tautomer in the rate-determining step. The effect of aqueous solvation on the reactions has also been investigated. It is found that inclusion of a few explicit water molecules in an implicit solvent calculation is necessary in order to accurately account for hydrogen bonding effects. Thiohydroxamic acids, like their hydroxamic acid analogues, are found to be N-acids, both in the gas phase and in aqueous solution.