Theoretical Study of the Si/C Mixed Benzenes and Their Major Valence Isomers

Theoretical Study of Si/C Equally Mixed Dodecahedrane Analogues

To gain insight into the effect of Si/C arrangement on the molecular framework of strained polyhedral compounds, dodecahedrane analogues containing equal numbers of carbon and silicon (Si/C equally mixed dodecahedrane analogues) were investigated using the ab initio molecular orbital method. There are 1648 isomers for which the Si/C arrangement on the molecular framework is different. Based on the geometry optimization of all the isomers as well as the carbon and silicon analogues, the characteristics of the structure, relative energy, and strain energy of the Si/C equally mixed compounds are presented. Then, important factors controlling the relative energy, such as strain energy, are proposed through regression analysis. Also discussed is the correlation between the relative energy and the indices of Si/C dispersion, such as the number of skeletal C-Si single bonds and condensed five-membered rings constituting the polyhedral structure.

Revival of Hückel Aromatic (Poly)benzenoid Subunits in Triplet State Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Silicon Substitution

By employing density functional theory (DFT) calculations we show that mono- and disilicon substitution in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, having two to four benzene units, quenches their triplet state antiaromaticity by creating Hückel aromatic (poly)benzenoid subunit(s) and weakly antiaromatic, or almost nonaromatic silacycle. Therefore, such systems are predicted to be globally aromatic in both the ground state and the first excited triplet state. Putting the silicon atom(s) into various positions of a hydrocarbon provides an opportunity to tune the singlet-triplet energy gaps. They depend on the global aromaticity degree which, in turn, depends on the type of aromatic carbocyclic subunit(s) and the extent of their aromaticity. On the basis of the set of studied compounds, some preliminary rules on how to regulate the extent of global, semiglobal and local aromaticity are proposed. The results of this work extend the importance of Hückel aromaticity concept to excited triplet states which are usually characterized by the Baird type of (anti)aromaticity.

Comparison of group 14 elements in sp3 and sp2 environment by fragment structure energy analysis

To explore the characteristics of group 14 elements in sp³ and sp² hybrid environments systematically, the concept of fragment structure energy (FSE) was proposed through ab initio molecular orbital method. A fragment in this study means a building block of molecular structure and the energy of each kind of fragments (FSE) is obtained from the total electronic energy of different size of model compounds by just a simple algebraic method. The model compounds are the hydrogen-terminated diamond and graphene analogs as the typical compounds in the ideal sp³ - and sp² -environment, respectively. As a result, the sp³ environment was found to be more stable than the sp² for all the group 14 elements (C-Pb) in the ideal hybrid environment. Furthermore, a mixing effect of carbon and heavier group 14 elements (E = Si, Ge, Sn, and Pb) was investigated by comparing the E/C-alternately mixed- and the pure FSEs.