The structure and thermal motion of phosphorylethanolamine at 122 K from neutron diffraction

Hydrogen atoms in supramolecular chemistry: a structural perspective. Where are they, and why does it matter?

Hydrogen bonding interactions are ubiquitous across the biochemical and chemical sciences, and are of particular interest to supramolecular chemists. They have been used to assemble hydrogen bonded polymers, cages and frameworks, and are the functional motif in many host-guest systems. Single crystal X-ray diffraction studies are often used as a key support for proposed structures, although this presents challenges as hydrogen atoms interact only weakly with X-rays. In this Tutorial Review, we discuss the information that can be gleaned about hydrogen bonding interactions through crystallographic experiments, key limitations of the data, and emerging techniques to overcome these limitations.

Accurate determination of chemical shift tensor orientations of single-crystals by solid-state magic angle spinning NMR

An improved implementation of single-crystal magic-angle-spinning (MAS) NMR is presented which gives access to chemical shift tensors both in orientation (relative to the crystal axis system) and principal axis values. For mounting arbitrary crystals inside ordinary MAS rotors, a mounting tool is described which allows to relate the crystal orientation determined by diffraction techniques to the rotor coordinate system. The crystal is finally mounted into a MAS rotor equipped with a special insert which allows a defined reorientation of the single-crystal by 90°. The approach is based on the idea that the dispersive spectra, which are obtained when applying read-pulses at specific rotor-phases, not only yield the size of the eigenvalues but also encode the orientation of the different chemical shift (rank-2) tensors. For this purpose two 2D-data sets with orthogonal crystal orientation are fitted simultaneously. The presented analysis for chemical shift tensors is supported by an analytical formula which allows fast calculation of phase and amplitude of individual spinning side-bands and by a protocol which solves the problem of finding the correct reference phase of the spectrum. Different rotor-synchronized pulse-sequences are introduced for the same reason. Experiments are performed on L-alanine and O-phosphorylethanolamine and the observed errors are analyzed in detail. The experimental data are opposed to DFT-computed chemical shift tensors which have been obtained by the extended embedded ion method.

Approaches to Alkaline Earth Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition Precursors. Synthesis and Characterization of Barium Fluoro-beta-ketoiminate Complexes Having Appended Polyether "Lariats"

The synthesis and characterization of a family of beta-ketoimines derived from 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedione (hfa) and the corresponding volatile barium beta-ketoiminate-polyether complexes having the general formula Ba[CF(3)COCHC(NR)CF(3)](2) where R = (CH(2)CH(2)O)(2)CH(3), (CH(2)CH(2)O)(2)CH(2)CH(3), and (CH(2)CH(2)O)(3)CH(2)CH(3) is reported. These complexes can be transported in the vapor phase at 160 degrees C/0.05 Torr without decomposition. The beta-ketoiminate ligands are synthesized by condensation of the appropriate amine-terminated poly(ethylene oxide)s with the trimethylsilyl enol ether derivative of hfa and converted to barium beta-ketoiminate-polyether complexes by reaction with BaH(2). The poly(ethylene oxide) amines are in turn synthesized by triphenylphosphine-mediated reduction of the corresponding poly(ethylene oxide) azides (synthesized via the tosylates) to afford the amines in good yields and analytical purity. The amines, beta-ketoimines, and barium complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, (1)H, (19)F, and (13)C NMR spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The eight- and ten-coordinate Ba(2+) complexes having the formula Ba[CF(3)COCHC(NR)CF(3)](2) where R = (CH(2)CH(2)O)(2)CH(2)CH(3) [C(22)H(28)N(2)F(12)O(6)Ba; space group = monoclinic, P2(1); a = 12.1175(2) Å, b = 14.9238(2) Å, c = 16.9767(3) Å, alpha = gamma = 90 degrees, beta = 90.0840(10) degrees, Z = 4] and R = (CH(2)CH(2)O)(3)CH(2)CH(3) [C(26)H(36)N(2)F(12)O(8)Ba; space group = triclinic, P&onemacr; (#2); a = 10.971(2) Å, b = 12.134(2) Å, c = 15.280(4) Å, alpha = 89.94(2) degrees, beta = 110.00(2) degrees, gamma = 116.75(2) degrees, Z = 2] were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Both analyses reveal monomeric structures with the beta-ketoiminate ligands coordinated to the Ba(2+) center through all available oxygen and nitrogen atoms. These complexes are substantially more volatile than Ba(2,2,6,6,-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionate)(2) but less so than the most volatile Ba(1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedionate)(2).polyether complexes.

The electrostatic potential for the phosphodiester group determined from X-ray diffraction

The charge density distribution in the crystal structure of ammonium dimethylphosphate at 123 K has been determined from x-ray diffraction data (MoK alpha) using 8437 reflections with sin theta/lambda less than 1.33 A-1 [NH4+.(CH3)2PO4-, M(r) = 143.08, monoclinic, P2(1)/c, a = 10.007(1), b = 6.926(1), c = 9.599(2) A, beta = 105.40(1) degrees, V = 641.4(3) A3, Z = 4, F000 = 304, Dx = 1.4815 g.cm-3, mu = 3.726 cm-1]. Least-squares structure refinement assuming Stewart's rigid pseudoatom model (variables including Slater-type radial exponents and electron populations for multipole terms extending to octapoles for C, N, O, and P, and dipoles for H) gave R(F2) = 0.039 for all reflections. The dimethylphosphate anion is in the gauche-gauche conformation and has approximate twofold symmetry. One phosphoryl O atom forms three hydrogen bonds and the other forms one. Neither of the ester O atoms is hydrogen bonded. For the dimethylphosphate anion isolated from the crystal structure, a map of the electrostatic potential obtained using the pseudoatom charge parameters shows that the phosphoryl O atoms are considerably more electronegative than the ester O atoms. The electrostatic potential distribution obtained in this way has been fitted by least squares to a system of atom-centered point charges. The potential calculated from these point charges agrees with the experimental result. It also agrees reasonably well with potentials obtained from three other systems of point charges that are widely used as part of the semiempirical force field for molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics calculations involving nucleic acids.