Electronic Excitation in a Saturated Chain: An MS-CASPT2 Treatment of the Anti Conformer of n-Tetrasilane

Electronic transitions in conformationally controlled tetrasilanes with a wide range of SiSiSiSi dihedral angles

Unlike π-electron chromophores, the peralkylated n-tetrasilane σ-electron chromophore resembles a chameleon in that its electronic spectrum changes dramatically as its silicon backbone is twisted almost effortlessly from the syn to the anti conformation (changing the SiSiSiSi dihedral angle ω from 0 to 180°). A combination of UV absorption, magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), and linear dichroism (LD) spectroscopy on conformationally controlled tetrasilanes 1-9, which cover fairly evenly the full range of angles ω, permitted a construction of an experimental correlation diagram for three to four lowest valence electronic states. The free chain tetrasilane n-Si4 Me10 (10), normally present as a mixture of three enantiomeric conformer pairs of widely different angles ω, has also been included in our study. The spectral trends are interpreted in terms of avoided crossings of 1B with 2B and 2A with 3A states, in agreement with SAC-CI calculations on the excited states of 1-7 and conformers of 10.

Interpretation of the electronic spectra of four disilanes

Time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT/B3LYP(AC)/cc-pVTZ/cc-pVTZ/6-311G//MP2/cc-pVTZ/cc-pVTZ/6-31G**) has been used to compute vertical excitation energies and oscillator strengths of the six low-lying excited states of four peralkylated disilanes, hexamethyldisilane (1), hexa-tert-butyldisilane (2), 1,6-disila[4.4.4]propellane (3), and 1,7-disila[5.5.5]propellane (4). The results provide an accurate interpretation of the reported UV absorption spectra of 1-4 in solution, and for 1 also in the gas phase up to 62,000 cm(-1). The excellent agreement of the calculated with the available experimental energies and oscillator strengths, and with magnetic circular (MCD) and linear (LD) dichroism, gives us confidence that the method will be useful for dependable interpretation of the electronic spectra of longer oligosilanes. Although the disilane chromophore finds itself in quite different environments in 1-4, its fundamental characteristics remain the same, with one important exception. In all four compounds, the first valence excited state is due to an electron promotion from the sigma(1) HOMO to the pi(1)* orbital, and the second valence excited state to a promotion from the sigma(1) HOMO to the sigma(1)* orbital. Surprisingly, however, it is only in 2, which has an extraordinarily long SiSi bond, that the terminating sigma(1)* orbital is the sigma*(SiSi) antibond, as anticipated, and the sigma sigma* transition has the expected very high oscillator strength. In 1, 3, and 4, the sigma*(SiSi) antibonding orbital is high in energy and does not play any role in low-energy excitations. Instead, the terminating orbital of the sigma(1)sigma(1)* excitation is represented by Si-alkyl antibonds, combined symmetrically with respect to rotation around the SiSi axis and antisymmetrically with respect to operations that interchange the two Si atoms. The common assumption that the characteristic intense sigma sigma* transitions of longer peralkylated oligosilanes extrapolate to the lowest sigma sigma* transition in common peralkylated disilanes is incorrect, and only the weak sigma pi* transitions extrapolate simply.

Electronic excitations of 1,4-disilyl-substituted 1,4-disilabicycloalkanes: a MS-CASPT2 study of the influence of cage size

We present a multistate complete active space second-order perturbation theory computational study aimed to predict the low-lying electronic excitations of four compounds that can be viewed as two disilane units connected through alkane bridges in a bicyclic cage. The analysis has focused on 1,4-disilyl-1,4-disilabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane (1a), 1,4-bis(trimethylsilyl)-1,4-disilabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane (1b), 1,4-disilyl-1,4-disilabicyclo[2.1.1]hexane (2a), and 1,4-bis(trimethylsilyl)-1,4-disilabicyclo[2.1.1]hexane (2b). The aim has been to find out the nature of the lowest excitations with significant oscillator strengths and to investigate how the cage size affects the excitation energies and the strengths of the transitions. Two different substituents on the terminal silicon atoms (H and CH3) were used in order to investigate the end group effects. The calculations show that the lowest allowed excitations are of the same character as that found in disilanes but now red-shifted. As the cage size is reduced from a 1,4-disilabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane to a 1,4-disilabicyclo[2.1.1]hexane, the Si...Si through-space distance decreases from approximately 2.70 to 2.50 A and the lowest allowed transitions are red-shifted by up to 0.9 eV, indicating increased interaction between the two Si-Si bonds. The first ionization potential, which corresponds to ionization from the Si-Si sigma orbitals, is lower in 1b and 2b than in Si2Me6 by approximately 0.9 and 1.2 eV, respectively. Moreover, 1b and 2b, which have methyl substituents at the terminal Si atoms, have slightly lower excitation energies than the analogous species 1a and 2a.

Time-dependent density functional theory treatment of the first UV absorption band in all-transoid permethyloligosilanes SinMe2n + 2 (n = 2-8, 10)

The TD B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) method slightly overestimates the excitation energies of the first UV absorption band of the all-transoid conformers of SinMe2n + 2 (n = 2-8, 10), deduced from temperature-dependent measurements on conformer mixtures in hydrocarbon solvents, by a nearly constant amount (approximately 2000 cm-1). The TD B3LYP/6-31G(d) results are less satisfactory. The first band is calculated to be due to a sigma pi * excitation in Si2Me6 and to a superposition of overlapping sigma sigma * and sigma pi * excitations in the longer oligosilanes. The sigma pi * excitation is calculated to lie a little below the sigma sigma * excitation up to Si4Me10, the two transitions are nearly degenerate in Si5Me12, and the sigma sigma * excitation drops increasingly below the sigma pi * as the chain length is extended. The dipole strength of the sigma sigma * excitation grows by 4.8 D2 (D = debye) per added SiSi bond (more slowly up to n = 5) and the calculation overestimates it by a factor of about three. The sigma pi * excitation is computed to carry no or almost no oscillator strength, but as noted earlier by others, its presence is critical for the interpretation of the observed thermochromism. Upon cooling below room temperature, the first absorption maximum is blue-shifted in short chains and red-shifted in long chains. Unlike the prior investigators, we attribute the blue shift to the disappearance of hot bands built on the sigma pi * origin using intensity borrowing sigma-pi mixing vibrations (b1 in Si3Me8). As usual, the red shift is attributed to the disappearance of twisted conformers, which have higher calculated sigma sigma * excitation energies.

Synthesis, structure, and electronic properties of monomeric and dimeric trispyrazolylborate platinum(II) hydride complexes

Tp'PtMe(H)2 (2) [Tp' = hydridotris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)borate] has been prepared from Tp'PtMe(CO) (1) via reaction with water in a basic acetone/water mixture. Protonation of 2 at one of the pyrazole nitrogen atoms induces methane elimination, and the resulting platinum(II) monohydride solvent intermediate (3) can be trapped by added ligand. Two chiral cationic platinum(II) monohydride complexes of the type [kappa(2)-((Hpz)BHpz2)Pt(H)(L)][BAr'4] [L = MeCN (4), CH2=CH2 (5); pz = 3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl, BAr'4 = tetrakis(3,5-trifluoromethylphenyl)borate] have been isolated. If 2 is protonated in the absence of trapping ligand, a deep red hydride-bridged dinuclear complex, [kappa(2)-((Hpz)BHpz2)Pt(mu-H)]2[BAr'4]2 (6), forms. DFT calculations supplement intuitive expectations regarding 3-center-2-electron bridging orbital descriptions for the electronic structure of this complex. X-ray structure determinations for the monomeric acetonitrile adduct 4 and the dicationic dimer 6 are reported.