Conformational Landscape of Tri-n-butyl Phosphate: Matrix Isolation Infrared Spectroscopy and Systematic Computational Analysis

Exploring phosphoryl oxygen basicity in U(VI) complexation: A comparative study from trialkyl phosphate to phosphine oxide

The conventional argument that extraction efficiency depends on the "basicity of the phosphoryl oxygen" is thoroughly examined in this study. The analysis involves studying the electronic structures of various ligands, such as phosphate, phosphonate, phosphinate, and phosphine oxide, as well as variations in their alkyl chain length, and their corresponding uranium complexes. The studies revealed a significant amount of destabilizing strain and steric repulsion for ligands having longer alkyl chains upon complexation. A considerable amount of stabilizing orbital and dispersion interactions compensate for these repulsions, forming stable complexes. Dispersion interactions become more significant upon chain elongation and are mainly responsible for the preference for U(VI) metal ions by ligands with lengthy alkyl chain units. The preference of phosphine oxide ligands for U(VI) is analyzed within the context of enhanced orbital interactions resulting from the energetically close donor (ligand) and acceptor (metal nitrate) orbitals. Additionally, dispersion-based interactions also become significant, especially with larger chain lengths. The electronegative environment around the phosphorus atom, along with the existence of low-dipole moment structures, is also examined in relation to their possible role in solvent extraction and their influence on the selectivity of ligands for uranyl species.

Conformational energies of reference organic molecules: benchmarking of common efficient computational methods against coupled cluster theory

We selected 145 reference organic molecules that include model fragments used in computer-aided drug design. We calculated 158 conformational energies and barriers using force fields, with wide applicability in commercial and free softwares and extensive application on the calculation of conformational energies of organic molecules, e.g. the UFF and DREIDING force fields, the Allinger's force fields MM3-96, MM3-00, MM4-8, the MM2-91 clones MMX and MM+, the MMFF94 force field, MM4, ab initio Hartree-Fock (HF) theory with different basis sets, the standard density functional theory B3LYP, the second-order post-HF MP2 theory and the Domain-based Local Pair Natural Orbital Coupled Cluster DLPNO-CCSD(T) theory, with the latter used for accurate reference values. The data set of the organic molecules includes hydrocarbons, haloalkanes, conjugated compounds, and oxygen-, nitrogen-, phosphorus- and sulphur-containing compounds. We reviewed in detail the conformational aspects of these model organic molecules providing the current understanding of the steric and electronic factors that determine the stability of low energy conformers and the literature including previous experimental observations and calculated findings. While progress on the computer hardware allows the calculations of thousands of conformations for later use in drug design projects, this study is an update from previous classical studies that used, as reference values, experimental ones using a variety of methods and different environments. The lowest mean error against the DLPNO-CCSD(T) reference was calculated for MP2 (0.35 kcal mol-1), followed by B3LYP (0.69 kcal mol-1) and the HF theories (0.81-1.0 kcal mol-1). As regards the force fields, the lowest errors were observed for the Allinger's force fields MM3-00 (1.28 kcal mol-1), ΜΜ3-96 (1.40 kcal mol-1) and the Halgren's MMFF94 force field (1.30 kcal mol-1) and then for the MM2-91 clones MMX (1.77 kcal mol-1) and MM+ (2.01 kcal mol-1) and MM4 (2.05 kcal mol-1). The DREIDING (3.63 kcal mol-1) and UFF (3.77 kcal mol-1) force fields have the lowest performance. These model organic molecules we used are often present as fragments in drug-like molecules. The values calculated using DLPNO-CCSD(T) make up a valuable data set for further comparisons and for improved force field parameterization.

Conformational topography of tris(2-methylbutyl) phosphate and the influence of methyl branching at the non-hyperconjugative carbon on the conformational landscape: insights from matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy and DFT computations

The branching of a methyl group in a linear chain has a profound influence on the conformational morphology as it wields a strong control in reducing a large number of conformations. To unravel the effect of branching on the second non-hyperconjugative carbon atom on the conformational landscape, the conformations of tris(2-methylbutyl)phosphate (T2MBP) were studied using Density Functional Theory (DFT) computations and matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy. Experimentally, T2MBP along with N₂/Ar/Kr/Xe gases was effusively expanded and deposited at a low temperature of 12 K, which was subsequently probed using infrared spectroscopy. The computations of all the conformations were accomplished using the B3LYP level of theory with the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. A dimethyl(2-methylbutyl) phosphate (DM2MBP) prototype, a molecule containing a single 2-methylbutyl moiety, was examined for its conformations. Computations predicted 18 and 9 conformations each for the 'gauche' and 'trans' families, respectively, in which the third branched carbon completely influences the orientation of the fourth carbon, which simplifies the conformational problem of DM2MBP. Of the 18 and 9 bunches each in the 'gauche' and 'trans' families, only 7 and 3 conformations, respectively, became energetically important, which when extrapolated to T2MBP resulted in 343 and 147 conformational possibilities. The factor of degeneracy further reduced these numbers and a total of 168 conformations effectively contribute to the conformational composition of T2MBP in the gas phase. The role of stereo electronic and steric factors prevalent in the conformational clusters of T2MBP was unravelled respectively using natural bond orbital and non-covalent interaction analyses.

Conformations of diethyl ether and its interaction with pyrrole at low temperatures

Conformations of diethyl ether (DEE) were studied at low temperatures in N₂ and Ar matrixes. Computations performed at B3LYP/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory yielded three minima corresponding to tt, tg^± and g^±g^± conformers of DEE. Of the three, the tt and tg^± conformers of DEE were experimentally identified in N₂ and Ar matrixes. Furthermore, hydrogen bonded complexes of pyrrole (py) with DEE have been investigated using Density Functional Theory (DFT) and matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy. Computations performed at B3LYP level of theory using aug-cc-pVDZ basis set on pyrrole with tt and tg^± conformers of DEE gave py-DEE-tt and py-DEE-tg^± complexes, both characterized by NH⋯O interaction. Experimental evidence for the formation of py-DEE-tt and py-DEE-tg^± complexes was affirmed from the shifts in the NH stretching, NH bending regions of pyrrole and COC and CH stretching regions of DEE. NBO analysis was carried out to understand the charge-transfer delocalization interactions in the conformers of DEE and its hydrogen bonded complexes.