Orbital phase control of the preferential branching of chain molecules

Protobranching as repulsion-induced attraction: a prototype for geminal stabilization

Noncovalent interactions are traditionally defined within the context of their attractive components, such as electrostatics and dispersion. Sources of molecular strain are derived through the destabilization of Coulombic and exchange repulsion. Due to this binary designation, the underlying origin of geminal stability with respect to alkanes (referred to as protobranching) has been an active subject for debate between these competing perspectives. We recast this stabilization as a complementary (Gestalt) interaction between dispersion and exchange repulsion, each impacting the other. We use triplet hydrogen and argon dimer as foundational van der Waals adducts to develop a procedure for the visualization and quantification of both exchange repulsion, Δρ_SCF, and medium-range correlation, ΔΔρ, as perturbations in electron density. We use the framework of the DFT-D3 correction to reproduce the shape of the dispersion potential at medium range and successfully model the trend in stability for the eighteen isomers of octane with a diverse series of functionals: BLYP, B3LYP, BP86, PBE, and PBE0. Collectively, our findings show that protobranching is a manifestation of steric repulsion-reduction in vibrational enthalpy and medium-range electron correlation.

Orbital phase design of diradicals

Over the last three decades the rational design of diradicals has been a challenging issue because of their special features and activities in organic reactions and biological processes. The orbital phase theory has been developed for understanding the properties of diradicals and designing new candidates for synthesis. The orbital phase is an important factor in promoting the cyclic orbital interaction. When all of the conditions: (1) the electron-donating orbitals are out of phase; (2) the accepting orbitals are in phase; and (3) the donating and accepting orbitals are in phase, are simultaneously satisfied, the system is stabilized by the effective delocalization and polarization. Otherwise, the system is less stable. According to the orbital phase continuity requirement, we can predict the spin preference of π-conjugated diradicals and relative stabilities of constitutional isomers. Effects of the intramolecular interaction of bonds and unpaired electrons on the spin preference, thermodynamic and kinetic stabilities of the singlet and triplet states of localized 1,3-diradicals were also investigated by orbital phase theory. Taking advantage of the ring strains, several monocyclic and bicyclic systems were designed with appreciable singlet preference and kinetic stabilities. Substitution effects on the ground state spin and relative stabilities of diradicals were rationalized by orbital interactions without loss of generality. Orbital phase predictions were supported by available experimental observations and sophisticated calculation results. In comparison with other topological models, the orbital phase theory has some advantages. Orbital phase theory can provide a general model for both π-conjugated and localized diradicals. The relative stabilities and spin preference of all kinds of diradicals can be uniformly rationalized by the orbital phase property. The orbital phase theory is applied to the conformations of diradicals and the geometry-dependent behaviors. The insights gained from the orbital phase theory are useful in a rational design of stable 1,3-diradicals.

Group 14 inorganic hydrocarbon analogues

This Review article deals with the synthesis and properties of inorganic hydrocarbon analogues: binary chemical species that contain heavier Group 14 elements (Si, Ge, Sn or Pb) and hydrogen as components. Rapid advances in our general knowledge of these species have enabled the development of industrially relevant processes such as the hydrosilylation of unsaturated substrates and the chemical vapor deposition of semi-conducting films.

HYPERCONJUGATION EFFECT ON THE STRUCTURAL STABILITY OF A TERT-BUTYL AND ITS DERIVED C4Hn(n = 4–10) ISOMERS

The hyperconjugation effect on molecular structural stability is studied by performing first-principles calculations on the tert-butyl and its derived C 4 H n(n = 4–10) isomer structures. Four of the isomer structures with n = 7–10 were found to show hyperconjugation similar to that in the tert-butyl, with hyperconjugation orbital energies decreasing with the increase of the number of hydrogen atoms participating in the hyperconjugation (PIH). The distribution of charge carried by the PIH hydrogen atoms is uniform, which reveals a delocalization character in the electronic structures; and the PIH hydrogen atoms are found responsible for the main IR spectrum peak relating to C-H stretching vibration.

Structure, Strain, and Degenerate Rearrangement of Tricyclo[2.1.0.0]pentasilane and Related Molecules

We theoretically investigate a highly strained tricyclic silane (tricyclo[2.1.0.0 1,3]pentasilane (4b), an isomer of pentasila[1.1.1]propellane (3b)) composed of three fused three-membered rings. The central ring is distorted. One of the fusion bonds in the central ring is shorter than the normal Si-Si single bond (2.350 A) whereas the other is as long as the fusion bonds in bicyclo[1.1.0]tetrasilane (2b) (2.860 A) and 3b (2.778 A). The tricyclic silane is less strained than the carbon congener and more strained than the isomer 3b. The electron delocalization between one of the fusion bonds and the geminal Si-Si ring bonds elongates the fusion bond and stabilizes the molecules to reduce the strain. The silanes composed of the fused three-membered rings are less strained than the carbon congener. A degenerate rearrangement of a three-membered ring is predicted. The enthalpy of activation of the rearrangement of the distorted central ring is low (7.2 kcal/mol) for 4b, but appreciable (22.3 kcal/mol) for the germanium congener, tricyclo[2.1.0.0(1,3)]pentagermane (4c). We investigate the effects of the substituents on the distortion of the central three-membered ring and the degenerate rearrangement.

Pentagon stability: cyclic delocalization of lone pairs through sigma conjugation and design of polycyclophosphanes

The orbital-phase theory was applied to propose pentagon stability in a well-defined manner. Cyclic delocalization of the lone pair electrons on the five-membered ring atoms through the vicinal sigma bonds was shown to be favored by the orbital-phase properties. The pentagon stability was found to be outstanding in saturated phosphorus five-membered rings in the puckered conformation, and was substantiated by the negative strain energy of cyclopentaphosphane, P(5)H(5) (3). The relative increments of the remarkable increase in the strain energies of protonation on the different atoms in the most stable conformers supported the significance of the cyclic delocalization of the lone pairs. Pentagon stability led to the design of three novel polycyclic phosphanes, P(12)H(4) (18), P(13)H(3) (19), and P(14)H(2) (20), with low strain energies due to many puckered pentagon units in them. The low stability of the dodecahedron P(20) (22) was suggested by the high strain energy due to its planar pentagon units. The pentagon stability is less significant in the saturated nitrogen ring molecules due to the greater energy gap between the n and sigma orbitals.