Thermodynamic Properties of Molecular Borane Phosphines, Alane Amines, and Phosphine Alanes and the [BH4-][PH4+], [AlH4-][NH4+], and [AlH4-][PH4+] Salts for Chemical Hydrogen Storage Systems from ab Initio Electronic Structure Theory

[NH4+][BxH3x+1-] (x = 1-5): Role of Polynuclear Superhalogens in High-Capacity Hydrogen Storage

Superhalogen anions are characterized by a higher vertical detachment energy (VDE) than those of halides. Ammonium borohydride, [NH4+][BH4-], is a potential candidate for high-capacity hydrogen storage but is not practically used due to its instability against dissociation to ammonia borane. Interestingly, BH4- is a superhalogen anion, and therefore, we use polynuclear BxH3x+1- superhalogen anions and study [NH4+][BxH3x+1-] complexes for x = 2-5 using density functional theory. The gravimetric hydrogen density of these complexes is smaller than that of [NH4+][BH4-] only slightly. We calculate the dehydrogenation energy and the Gibbs free energy of [NH4+][BxH3x+1-] complexes through ammonia borane. We notice that these complexes are more stable than [NH4+][BH4-], whose stability increases with an increase in x. The enhanced stability of [NH4+][BxH3x+1-] complexes appears as a consequence of the increase in the VDE of polynuclear BxH3x+1- superhalogen anions. We believe that these findings might attract experimentalists to synthesize these complexes.

Aluminium and Gallium Silylimides as Nitride Sources

Terminal aluminium and gallium imides of the type K[(NON)M(NR)], bearing heteroatom substituents at R, have been synthesised via reactions of anionic aluminium(I) and gallium(I) reagents with silyl and boryl azides (NON=4,5-bis(2,6-diisopropyl-anilido)-2,7-di-tert-butyl-9,9-dimethyl-xanthene). These systems vary significantly in their lability in solution: the N(Sii Pr3 ) and N(Boryl) complexes are very labile, on account of the high basicity at nitrogen. Phenylsilylimido derivatives provide greater stabilization through the π-acceptor capabilities of the SiR3 group. K[(NON)AlN(Sit BuPh2 )] offers a workable compromise between stability and solubility, and has been completely characterized by spectroscopic, analytical and crystallographic methods. The silylimide species examined feature minimal π-bonding between the imide ligand and aluminium/gallium, with the HOMO and HOMO-1 orbitals effectively comprising orthogonal lone pairs centred at N. Reactivity-wise, both aluminium and gallium silylimides can act as viable sources of nitride, [N]3- , with systems derived from either metal reacting with CO to afford cyanide complexes. By contrast, only the gallium system K[(NON)Ga{N(SiPh3 )}] is capable of effecting a similar transformation with N2 O to yield azide, N3 - , via formal oxide/nitride metathesis. The aluminium systems instead generate RN3 via transfer of the imide fragment [RN]2- .

Ligand-stabilized heteronuclear diatomics of group 13 and 15

A theoretical investigation of ligand-stabilized MX diatomics (M = group 13, X = group 15 element) with N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands has been carried out to assess bonding and electronic structure. Binding of two ligands in the form L-MX-L is generally preferred over binding of a single ligand as L-MX or MX-L. Binding of carbene donor ligands is predicted to be thermodynamically favorable for all the systems, and is very favorable for the lighter group 15 systems (nitrogen and phosphorus). Detailed analysis of the bonding in these complexes has been carried out with energy decomposition analysis (EDA). In all cases, the carbene to boron and carbene to nitrogen bonding is described as an electron-sharing double bond with both σ and π bonding interactions. For the heavier elements, bonding to C (except for PC interactions) is best described as a donor-acceptor σ single bond.

Heavier group 13/15 multiple bond systems: synthesis, structure and chemical bond activation

Heavier group 13/15 multiple bonds have been under investigation since the late 80s and to date, several examples have been published, which shows the obsoleteness of the so-called double bond rule. Especially in the last few years, more and more group 13/15 multiple bonds became synthetically feasible and their application in terms of small molecule activation has been demonstrated. Our group has recently shown that the combination of the pnictinidene precursor ^DipTer-Pn(PMe₃) (Pn = P, As) in combination with Al(I) synthons afforded the first examples of phospha- and arsaalumenes as isolable and thermally robust compounds. This feature article is intended to show the recent developments in the field, to outline early synthetic approaches and to discuss strategies to unlock the synthetic potential of these elusive chemical bonds.

A Monomeric Aluminum Imide (Iminoalane) with Al-N Triple-Bonding: Bonding Analysis and Dispersion Energy Stabilization

The reaction of :AlAriPr8 (AriPr8 = C6H-2,6-(C6H2-2,4,6-iPr3)2-3,5-iPr2) with ArMe6N3 (ArMe6 = C6H3-2,6-(C6H2-2,4,6-Me3)2) in hexanes at ambient temperature gave the aluminum imide AriPr8AlNArMe6 (1). Its crystal structure displayed short Al-N distances of 1.625(4) and 1.628(3) Å with linear (C-Al-N-C = 180°) or almost linear (C-Al-N = 172.4(2)°; Al-N-C = 172.5(3)°) geometries. DFT calculations confirm linear geometry with an Al-N distance of 1.635 Å. According to energy decomposition analysis, the Al-N bond has three orbital components totaling -1350 kJ mol-1 and instantaneous interaction energy of -551 kJ mol-1 with respect to :AlAriPr8 and ArMe6N̈:. Dispersion accounts for -89 kJ mol-1, which is similar in strength to one Al-N π-interaction. The electronic spectrum has an intense transition at 290 nm which tails into the visible region. In the IR spectrum, the Al-N stretching band is calculated to appear at ca. 1100 cm-1. In contrast, reaction of :AlAriPr8 with 1-AdN3 or Me3SiN3 gave transient imides that immediately reacted with a second equivalent of the azide to give AriPr8Al[(NAd)2N2] (2) or AriPr8Al(N3){N(SiMe3)2} (3).

Radiative lifetimes of vibrational levels and transition probabilities of spontaneous emissions of the six lowest-lying triplet states of AlN radical

The potential energy curves of 23 states of AlN radical are calculated to accurately determine the first several lowest-lying singlet and triplet states. The calculations are done using the CASSCF method, which is followed by the valence internally contracted MRCI approach. The rotationless radiative lifetimes of the vibrational levels are approximately 10^-7-10^-8 s for the C³Π, D³Π, and E³Δ states, 10¹-10^-4 s for the A³Σ^- state, and 10^-4-10^-5 s for the B³Σ⁺ state. The origins of the vibronic bands and the radiative lifetimes agree well with the available experimental and other theoretical results. The Einstein coefficients of many vibronic emissions are large for the C³Π-X³Π, C³Π-A³Σ^-, D³Π-X³Π, D³Π-A³Σ^-, and E³Δ-X³Π transitions and therefore, these transitions are strong. The emissions of the E³Δ-D³Π system are so weak that it is difficult to measure them through spectroscopy. The spectral distribution of the vibronic emissions is evaluated for the transitions of 12 pairs of states. In terms of the radiative lifetimes and transition probabilities obtained here, several spectroscopic routines for observing these states via spectroscopy are proposed.

Triple-Bonded Boron≡Phosphorus Molecule: Is That Possible?

The effect of substitution on the potential energy surfaces of RB≡PR (R = H, F, OH, SiH3, and CH3) is studied using density functional theories (M06-2X/Def2-TZVP, B3PW91/Def2-TZVP, and B3LYP/LANL2DZ+dp). There is significant theoretical evidence that RB≡PR compounds with smaller substituents are fleeting intermediates, so they would be difficult to be detected experimentally. These theoretical studies using the M06-2X/Def2-TZVP method demonstrate that only the triply bonded R'B≡PR' molecules bearing sterically bulky groups (R' = Tbt (=C6H2-2,4,6-{CH(SiMe3)2}3), SiMe(SitBu3)2, Ar* (=C6H3-2,6-(C6H2-2,4,6-i-Pr3)2), and SiiPrDis2) are significantly stabilized and can be isolated experimentally. Using the simple valence-electron bonding model and some sophisticated theories, the bonding character of R'B≡PR' should be viewed as R'BI PR'. The present theoretical observations indicate that both the electronic and the steric effect of bulkier substituent ligands play a key role in making triply bonded R'B≡PR' species synthetically accessible and isolable in a stable form.

A theoretical analysis of substituent electronic effects on phosphine-borane bonds

Phosphine-borane adducts are a well-known moiety in synthetic and coordination chemistry. These complexes form a dative bond in which the Lewis basic phosphorus atom donates electron density into an empty p-orbital of the Lewis acidic boron atom. However, donation of the phosphorus lone pair is not the only stabilizing interaction, as hyperconjugation and electrostatic interaction also play important roles in bonding. This paper describes a detailed density functional theory level (B3LYP) study completed to determine the impact electron-donating and withdrawing substituents have on phosphine-borane bonds through the investigation of a series of para-substituted PAr₃-BH₃ and PH₃-BAr₃ phosphine-borane adducts. Natural bond orbital (NBO) partitioning was used to calculate the distribution of electron density between the phosphine and borane fragments. Extended transition state and natural orbitals for chemical valence (ETS-NOCV) analysis was used to isolate contributions to the overall electronic interaction of the phosphine-borane adducts. Molecular orbital composition and charge donation was calculated using AOMix. The resulting data was correlated with Hammett σ constants.

Characterizing the B-P stretching vibration in phosphorus-substituted phosphine boranes

The experimental Raman spectra of three phosphorus-substituted phosphine boranes with bulky hydrocarbon substituents are presented and compared to the results of electronic structure computations by using the M06-2X method and the 6-311G(2df, 2pd) basis set. Total-energy distributions (TEDs) are calculated to describe the degree of mixing of the dative-bond stretching vibration with other simple internal coordinates. This level of theory is found to accurately reproduce the B-P stretching frequency in all three crystalline solids. The Raman spectra of five smaller B-P-containing molecules, including BH(3) PH(3), are also simulated at this level of theory and compared to previous experimental results.

Unexpected acidity enhancement triggered by AlH3 association to phosphines

The complexes formed by the interaction between a series of phosphines R-PH(2) (R = H, CH(3), c-C(3)H(5), C(6)H(5)) and AlH(3) have been investigated through the use of high-level G4 ab initio calculations. These very stable complexes behave as much stronger acids than the isolated phosphines. This dramatic acidity enhancement, which can be as high as 174 kJ mol(-1), results from a much greater stabilization of the anionic deprotonated species with respect to the neutral one, upon AlH(3) association. This effect depends quantitatively on the nature of the substituent R and is smaller for R = C(6)H(5) because of the conjugation of the P lone pair with the aromatic system. More unexpectedly, however, the phosphine-alane complexes, RPH(2):AlH(3), are more acidic than the corresponding phosphine-borane RPH(2):BH(3) analogues. This unexpected result is due to the enhanced stability of the anionic deprotonated species for complexes involving AlH(3), because the delocalization of the newly created P lone pair with the P-Al bonding density is more favorable when the Lewis acid is aluminum trihydride than when it is borane.

Thermochemistry of Alane Complexes for Hydrogen Storage: A Theoretical and Experimental Investigation

Knowledge of the relative stabilities of alane (AlH(3)) complexes with electron donors is essential for identifying hydrogen storage materials for vehicular applications that can be regenerated by off-board methods; however, almost no thermodynamic data are available to make this assessment. To fill this gap, we employed the G4(MP2) method to determine heats of formation, entropies, and Gibbs free energies of formation for 38 alane complexes with NH(3-n)R(n) (R = Me, Et; n = 0-3), pyridine, pyrazine, triethylenediamine (TEDA), quinuclidine, OH(2-n)R(n) (R = Me, Et; n = 0-2), dioxane, and tetrahydrofuran (THF). Monomer, bis, and selected dimer complex geometries were considered. Using these data, we computed the thermodynamics of the key formation and dehydrogenation reactions that would occur during hydrogen delivery and alane regeneration, from which trends in complex stability were identified. These predictions were tested by synthesizing six amine-alane complexes involving trimethylamine, triethylamine, dimethylethylamine, TEDA, quinuclidine, and hexamine and obtaining upper limits of ΔG° for their formation from metallic aluminum. Combining these computational and experimental results, we establish a criterion for complex stability relevant to hydrogen storage that can be used to assess potential ligands prior to attempting synthesis of the alane complex. On the basis of this, we conclude that only a subset of the tertiary amine complexes considered and none of the ether complexes can be successfully formed by direct reaction with aluminum and regenerated in an alane-based hydrogen storage system.

Lewis acidities and hydride, fluoride, and X- affinities of the BH(3-n)Xn compounds for (X = F, Cl, Br, I, NH2, OH, and SH) from coupled cluster theory

Atomization energies at 0 K and enthalpies of formation at 0 and 298 K are predicted for the BH(4-n)X(n)(-) and the BH(3-n)X(n)F(-) compounds for (X = F, Cl, Br, I, NH(2), OH, and SH) from coupled cluster theory (CCSD(T)) calculations with correlation-consistent basis sets and with an effective core potential on I. To achieve near chemical accuracy (+/-1.0 kcal/mol), additional corrections were added to the complete basis set binding energies. The hydride, fluoride, and X(-) affinities of the BH(3-n)X(n) compounds were predicted. Although the hydride and fluoride affinities differ somewhat in their magnitudes, they show very similar trends and are both suitable for judging the Lewis acidities of compounds. The only significant differences in their acidity strength orders are found for the boranes substituted with the strongly electron withdrawing and back-donating fluorine and hydroxyl ligands. The highest H(-) and F(-) affinities are found for BI(3) and the lowest ones for B(NH(2))(3). Within the boron trihalide series, the Lewis acidity increases monotonically with increasing atomic weight of the halogen, that is, BI(3) is a considerably stronger Lewis acid than BF(3). For the X(-) affinities in the BX(3), HBX(2), and H(2)BX series, the fluorides show the highest values, whereas the amino and mercapto compounds show the lowest ones. Hydride and fluoride affinities of the BH(3-n)X(n) compounds exhibit linear correlations with the proton affinity of X(-) for most X ligands. Reasons for the correlation are discussed. A detailed analysis of the individual contributions to the Lewis acidities of these substituted boranes shows that the dominant effect in the magnitude of the acidity is the strength of the BX(3)(-)-F bond. The main contributor to the relative differences in the Lewis acidities of BX(3) for X, a halogen, is the electron affinity of BX(3) with a secondary contribution from the distortion energy from planar to pyramidal BX(3). The B-F bond dissociation energy of X(3)B-F(-) and the distortion energy from pyramidal to tetrahedral BX(3)(-) are of less importance in determining the relative acidities. Because the electron affinity of BX(3) is strongly influenced by the charge density in the empty p(z) lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of boron, the amount of pi-back-donation from the halogen to boron is crucial and explains why the Lewis acidity of BF(3) is significantly lower than those of BX(3) with X = Cl, Br, and I.

Covalent and ionic nature of the dative bond and account of accurate ammonia borane binding enthalpies

The inherent difficulty in modeling the energetic character of the B-N dative bond has been investigated utilizing density functional theory and ab initio methods. The underlying influence of basis set size and functions, thermal corrections, and basis set superposition error (BSSE) on the predicted binding enthalpy of ammonia borane (H3B-NH3) and four methyl-substituted ammonia trimethylboranes ((CH3)3B-N(CH3)nH3-n; n = 0-3) has been evaluated and compared with experiment. HF, B3LYP, MPW1K, MP2, QCISD, and QCISD(T) have been utilized with a wide range of Pople and correlation-consistent basis sets, totaling 336 levels of theory. MPW1K, B3LYP, and HF result in less BSSE and converge to binding enthalpies with fewer basis functions than post-SCF techniques; however, the methods fail to model experimental binding enthalpies and trends accurately, producing mean absolute deviations (MADs) of 5.1, 10.8, and 16.3 kcal/mol, respectively. Despite slow convergence, MP2, QCISD, and QCISD(T) using the 6-311++G(3df,2p) basis set reproduce the experimental binding enthalpy trend and result in lower MADs of 2.2, 2.6, and 0.5 kcal/mol, respectively, when corrected for BSSE and a residual convergence error of ca. 1.3-1.6 kcal/mol. Accuracy of the predicted binding enthalpy is linked to correct determination of the bond's dative character given by charge-transfer frustration, QCTF = -(Delta QN + Delta QB). Frustration gauges the incompleteness of charge transfer between the donor and the acceptor. The binding enthalpy across ammonia borane and methylated complexes is correlated to its dative character (R2 = 0.91), where a more dative bond (less charge-transfer frustration) results in a weaker binding enthalpy. However, a balance of electronic and steric factors must be considered to explain trends in experimentally reported binding enthalpies. Dative bond descriptors, such as bond ionicity and covalency are important in the accurate characterization of the dative bond. The B-N dative bond in ammonia borane is 65% ionic, moderately strong (-27.5 +/- 0.5 kcal/mol), and structurally flexible on the donor side to relieve steric congestion.

Ab initio study of the electronic structure and bonding of aluminum nitride

For the diatomic aluminum nitride (AlN), we have constructed potential energy curves for 45 states employing multi-reference variational methods and quantitative basis sets. Thirty-six states are relatively strongly bound, five present local minima, and four are of repulsive nature. Almost all states are of intense multi-reference character rendering their calculation and interpretation quite problematic. Our tentative assignment of the ground state is 3Pi, while a 3Sigma- state is above by less than 1 kcal/mol. Our best estimate for the binding energy of the X3Pi state is D0 = 56.0 +/- 0.5 kcal/mol at re = 1.783 A, in good agreement with the experimental values of D = 66 +/- 9 kcal/mol and re = 1.7864 A. The binding energy of the A3Sigma- state is very similar to the X state because they both correlate to the ground-state atoms, but the bond distance of the former is 0.13 A longer. The first seven states can be tagged as follows: X3Pi, A3Sigma-, a1Sigma+, b1Pi, c1Delta, B3Sigma+, and d1Sigma+, a rather definitive order with the exception of X and A states.

The heats of formation of diazene, hydrazine, N2H3+, N2H5+, N2H, and N2H3 and the Methyl Derivatives CH3NNH, CH3NNCH3, and CH3HNNHCH3

The heats of formation of N(2)H, diazene (cis- and trans-N(2)H(2)), N(2)H(3), and hydrazine (N(2)H(4)), as well as their protonated species (diazenium, N(2)H(3)(+), and hydrazinium, N(2)H(5)(+)), have been calculated by using high level electronic structure theory. Energies were calculated by using coupled cluster theory with a perturbative treatment of the triple excitations (CCSD(T)) and employing augmented correlation consistent basis sets (aug-cc-pVnZ) up to quintuple-zeta, to perform a complete basis set extrapolation for the energy. Geometries were optimized at the CCSD(T) level with the aug-cc-pVDZ and aug-cc-pVTZ basis sets. Core-valence and scalar relativistic corrections were included, as well as scaled zero point energies. We find the following heats of formation (kcal/mol) at 0 (298) K: DeltaH(f)(N(2)H) = 60.8 (60.1); DeltaH(f)(cis-N(2)H(2)) = 54.9 (53.2); DeltaH(f)(trans-N(2)H(2)) = 49.9 (48.1) versus >/=48.8 +/- 0.5 (exptl, 0 K); DeltaH(f)(N(2)H(4)) = 26.6 (23.1) versus 22.8 +/- 0.2 (exptl, 298 K); DeltaH(f)(N(2)H(3)) = 56.2 (53.6); DeltaH(f)(N(2)H(3)(+)) = 231.6 (228.9); and DeltaH(f)(N(2)H(5)(+)) = 187.1 (182.7). In addition, we calculated the heats of formation of CH(3)NH(2), CH(3)NNH, and CH(3)HNNHCH(3) by using isodesmic reactions and at the G3(MP2) level. The calculated results for the hydrogenation reaction RNNR + H(2) --> RHNNHR show that substitution of an organic substituent for H improved the energetics, suggesting that these types of compounds may be possible to use in a chemical hydrogen storage system.