Real Time Infrared Spectroscopic Probe of the Reactions of Fe(CO)3 and Fe(CO)4 with N2 in the Gas Phase

Filling a Gap: The Coordinatively Saturated Group 4 Carbonyl Complexes TM(CO)8 (TM=Zr, Hf) and Ti(CO)7

Homoleptic Group 4 metal carbonyl cation and neutral complexes were prepared in the gas phase and/or in solid neon matrix. Infrared spectroscopy studies reveal that both zirconium and hafnium form eight-coordinate carbonyl neutral and cation complexes. In contrast, titanium forms only the six-coordinate Ti(CO)6 + and seven-coordinate Ti(CO)7 . Titanium octacarbonyl Ti(CO)8 is unstable as a result of steric repulsion between the CO ligands. The 20-electron Zr(CO)8 and Hf(CO)8 complexes represent the first experimentally observed homoleptic octacarbonyl neutral complexes of transition metals. The molecules still fulfill the 18-electron rule, because one doubly occupied valence orbital does not mix with any of the metal valence atomic orbitals. Zr(CO)8 and Hf(CO)8 are stable against the loss of one CO because the CO ligands encounter less steric repulsion than Zr(CO)7 and Hf(CO)7 . The heptacarbonyl complexes have shorter metal-CO bonds than that of the octacarbonyl complexes due to stronger electrostatic and covalent bonding, but the significantly smaller repulsive Pauli term makes the octacarbonyl complexes stable.

Direct Measurement of the Visible to UV Photodissociation Processes for the PhotoCORM TryptoCORM

PhotoCORMs are light-triggered compounds that release CO for medical applications. Here, we apply laser spectroscopy in the gas phase to TryptoCORM, a known photoCORM that has been shown to destroy Escherichia coli upon visible-light activation. Our experiments allow us to map TryptoCORM's photochemistry across a wide wavelength range by using novel laser-interfaced mass spectrometry (LIMS). LIMS provides the intrinsic absorption spectrum of the photoCORM along with the production spectra of all of its ionic photoproducts for the first time. Importantly, the photoproduct spectra directly reveal the optimum wavelengths for maximizing CO ejection, and the extent to which CO ejection is compromised at redder wavelengths. A series of comparative studies were performed on TryptoCORM-CH3 CN which exists in dynamic equilibrium with TryptoCORM in solution. Our measurements allow us to conclude that the presence of the labile CH3 CN facilitates CO release over a wider wavelength range. This work demonstrates the potential of LIMS as a new methodology for assessing active agent release (e.g. CO, NO, H2 S) from light-activated prodrugs.

Understanding the kinetics of spin-forbidden chemical reactions

Many chemical reactions involve a change in spin-state and are formally forbidden. This article summarises a number of previously published applications showing that a form of Transition State Theory (TST) can account for the kinetics of these reactions. New calculations for the emblematic spin-forbidden reaction HC + N(2) are also reported. The observed reactivity is determined by two factors. The first is the critical energy required for reaction to occur, which in spin-forbidden reactions is often defined by the relative energy of the Minimum Energy Crossing Point (MECP) between potential energy surfaces corresponding to the different spin states. The second factor is the probability of hopping from one surface to the other in the vicinity of the crossing region, which is largely defined by the spin-orbit coupling matrix element between the two electronic wavefunctions. The spin-forbidden transition state theory takes both factors into account and gives good results. The shortcomings of the theory, which are largely analogous to those of standard TST, are discussed. Finally, it is shown that in cases where the surface-hopping probability is low, the kinetics of spin-forbidden reactions will be characterised by unusually unfavourable entropies of activation. As a consequence, reactions involving a spin-state change can be expected to compete poorly with spin-allowed reactions at high temperatures (or energies).

Computational study of the energetics of3Fe(CO)4,1Fe(CO)4and1Fe(CO)4(L), L = Xe, CH4, H2and CO

Large basis CCSD(T) calculations are used to calculate the energetics of 3Fe(CO)4, 1Fe(CO)4 and 1Fe(CO)4(L), L = Xe, CH4, H2 and CO. . The relative energy of the excited singlet state of Fe(CO)4 with respect to the ground triplet state is not known experimentally, and various lower levels of theory predict very different results. Upon extrapolating to the infinite basis set limit, and including corrections for core-core and core-valence correlation, scalar relativity, and multi-reference character of the wavefunction, the best CCSD(T) estimate for the spin-state splitting in iron tetracarbonyl is 2 kcal mol(-1). Calculation of the dissociation energy of 1Fe(CO)4(L) into singlet fragments, taken together with known experimental behaviour of triplet Fe(CO)4, provides independent evidence for the fact that the spin-state splitting is smaller than 3 kcal mol(-1). These calculations highlight some of the challenges involved in benchmark calculations on transition metal containing systems.

Performance of diffusion Monte Carlo for the first dissociation energies of transition metal carbonyls

Fixed node diffusion Monte Carlo (FNDMC) calculations are carried out for the first ligand dissociation energies of the prototype transition metal carbonyls Cr(CO)6, Fe(CO)5, Ni(CO)4, and Fe(CO)4N2. Since Hartree-Fock theory performs particularly badly for these type of compounds they are difficult to treat with conventional ab initio methods. We find that a Kohn-Sham determinant from a standard density functional provides a balanced description of the fermionic nodal hyper surfaces of all compounds involved in the dissociation reaction. With one exception, the experimental dissociation enthalpies are reproduced by FNDMC within the statistical accuracy of the method.