Self-Assembly of Hydrogen-Bonded Cage Tetramers of Phosphonic Acid

Unveiling the electronic structure peculiarities of phosphine selenides as NMR probes for non-covalent interactions: an experimental and theoretical study

In this work, R3PSe (R = Me, Et, n-Bu, t-Bu and Ph) were studied experimentally using NMR spectroscopy in solution and the solid-state in combinaton with quantum chemical methods. The study shows that the NMR parameters of these phosphine selenides, such as δP, δSe, and 1JPSe, are sensitive to subtle changes in the electronic environment of the P and Se atoms. Consequently, phosphine selenides R3PSe can serve as promising spectral probes for the detection and quantitative investigation of various non-covalent interactions. Additionally, the variations of R in phosphine selenides influence the observed NMR spectral parameters, primarily through effects such as π-backdonation and hyperconjugation, which have been observed experimentally and confirmed theoretically.

Evidence of extremely short hydrogen bond in the homoconjugated ferrocene-1,1'-diyl-bisphosphinic acid anion: sign change of the H/D isotope effect on the 31P NMR chemical shift

The structure of the two intramolecular hydrogen-bonded motifs within ferrocene-1,1'-diyl-bisphosphinic acid, a cyclic dimer and a homoconjugated anion, has been experimentally revealed by NMR spectroscopy for a solution in a low-freezing polar aprotic CDF3/CDF2Cl medium at 100 K. Structure elucidation was achieved with the help of the H/D isotope effects on the 1H, 2H and, for the first time, 31P NMR chemical shifts. The questions of bridging hydron localization and origins of opposite signs of H/D isotope effects on the 31P NMR chemical shifts in the cyclic dimer and homoconjugated anion have also been addressed by DFT calculations, including numerical solution of the Schrödinger equation for proton and deuteron vibrations in the anharmonic double well potentials.

Evolution of vibrational bands upon gradual protonation/deprotonation of arsinic acid H2As(O)OH in media of different polarity

This computational work is devoted to the investigation (MP2/def2-TZVP) of the geometry and IR parameters of arsinic acid H₂AsOOH and its hydrogen-bonded complexes under vacuum and in media with different polarity. The medium effects were accounted for in two ways: (1) implicitly, using the IEFPCM model, varying the dielectric permittivity (ε) and (2) explicitly, by considering hydrogen-bonded complexes of H₂As(O)OH with various hydrogen bond donors (41 complexes) or acceptors (38 complexes), imitating a gradual transition to the As(OH)₂⁺ or AsO₂^- moiety, respectively. It was shown that the transition from vacuum to a medium with ε > 1 causes the As(O)OH fragment to lose its flatness. The solvent polar medium introduces significant changes in the geometry and IR spectral parameters of hydrogen-bonded complexes too: as the polarity of a medium increases, weak hydrogen bonds become weaker, and strong and medium hydrogen bonds become stronger; in the case of a complex with two hydrogen bonds cooperativity effects are observed. In almost all cases the driving force of these changes appears to be preferential solvation of charge-separated structures. In the limiting case of complete deprotonation (or conversely complete protonation) the vibrational frequencies of ν_AsO and ν_As-O turn into ν_As-O(asym) and ν_As-O(sym), respectively. In the intermediate cases the distance between ν_AsO and ν_As-O is sensitive to both implicit solvation and explicit solvation and the systematic changes of this distance can be used for estimation of the degree of proton transfer within the hydrogen bond.

Simultaneous Estimation of Two Coupled Hydrogen Bond Geometries from Pairs of Entangled NMR Parameters: The Test Case of 4-Hydroxypyridine Anion

The computational method for estimating the geometry of two coupled hydrogen bonds with geometries close to linear using a pair of spectral NMR parameters was proposed. The method was developed based on the quantum-chemical investigation of 61 complexes with two hydrogen bonds formed by oxygen and nitrogen atoms of the 4-hydroxypyridine anion with OH groups of substituted methanols. The main idea of the method is as follows: from the NMR chemical shifts of nuclei of atoms forming the 4-hydroxylpyridine anion, we select such pairs, whose values can be used for simultaneous determination of the geometry of two hydrogen bonds, despite the fact that every NMR parameter is sensitive to the geometry of each of the hydrogen bonds. For these parameters, two-dimensional maps of dependencies of NMR chemical shifts on interatomic distances in two hydrogen bonds were constructed. It is shown that, in addition to chemical shifts of the nitrogen atom and quaternary carbon, which are experimentally difficult to obtain, chemical shifts of the carbons and protons of the CH groups can be used. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated computationally as well on three additional complexes with substituted alcohols. It was found that, for all considered cases, hydrogen bond geometries estimated using two-dimensional correlations differed from those directly calculated by quantum-chemical methods by not more than 0.04 Å.

A phosphonic acid anion and acid dimer dianion stabilized by proton transfer in OHN hydrogen bonds - models of structural motifs in blend polymer membranes

The structure of intermolecular hydrogen-bonded complexes formed between tert-butylphosphonic acid and trimethylpyridine molecules has been experimentally studied as the simplest model system of the structural motifs in blend proton-conducting polymer membranes based on phosphonic acid residues. The stoichiometry of the formed complexes and proton positions in OHO and OHN hydrogen bonds were established by the H/D isotope effects and temperature dependences of the signals in ¹H and ³¹P NMR spectra. Two structural motifs, namely, 1 : 2 and 2 : 2 acid-base complexes, were identified at the low temperature in a polar aprotic environment. In the 1 : 2 complex, one proton has passed through the hydrogen bond center creating a chain of two cooperatively coupled OHN bonds, while in the 2 : 2 complex both OHN bonds are zwitterionic and anti-cooperatively coupled to each other via a dianionic cyclic dimer of phosphonic acid in the middle. The dianionic cyclic dimer is metastable by itself, but under the used experimental conditions it is stabilized by complexation with two trimethylpyridinium cations. Additionally, quantum chemical calculations using the DFT method were carried out to support the experimental data.

Self-association of diphenylpnictoginic acids in solution and solid state: covalent vs. hydrogen bonding

Triphenylpnictogens were oxidized to access diphenylpnictioginic acids Ph₂XOOH (X = P, As, Sb, Bi). It was shown that oxidation with chloramine-T does not lead to the cleavage of a C-pnictogen bond. The preliminary reductive cleavage with sodium in liquid ammonia followed by the oxidation with hydrogen peroxide was successfully utilised for the synthesis of diphenylphosphinic and diphenylarsinic acids. It was shown that in solid state (by means of XRD), all diphenylpnictoginic acids form polymeric chains. Diphenylbismuthinic and diphenylantimonic acids form polymeric covalent adducts, while diphenylphosphinic and diphenylarsinic chains are associated through hydrogen bonding. Unlike diphenylphosphinic acid, diphenilarsinic acid forms two polymorphs of hydrogen-bonded infinite chains. In solution in a polar aprotic solvent diphenylarsinic acid, similarly to dimethylarsinic, forms hydrogen-bonded cyclic dimers together with a small amount of cyclic trimers.

Modeling of the Response of Hydrogen Bond Properties on an External Electric Field: Geometry, NMR Chemical Shift, Spin-Spin Scalar Coupling

The response of the geometric and NMR properties of molecular systems to an external electric field has been studied theoretically in a wide field range. It has been shown that this adduct under field approach can be used to model the geometric and spectral changes experienced by molecular systems in polar media if the system in question has one and only one bond, the polarizability of which significantly exceeds the polarizability of other bonds. If this requirement is met, then it becomes possible to model even extreme cases, for example, proton dissociation in hydrogen halides. This requirement is fulfilled for many complexes with one hydrogen bond. For such complexes, this approach can be used to facilitate a detailed analysis of spectral changes associated with geometric changes in the hydrogen bond. For example, in hydrogen-bonded complexes of isocyanide C≡¹⁵N-¹H⋯X, ¹J(¹⁵N¹H) depends exclusively on the N-H distance, while δ(¹⁵N) is also slightly influenced by the nature of X.

Actual Symmetry of Symmetric Molecular Adducts in the Gas Phase, Solution and in the Solid State

This review discusses molecular adducts, whose composition allows a symmetric structure. Such adducts are popular model systems, as they are useful for analyzing the effect of structure on the property selected for study since they allow one to reduce the number of parameters. The main objectives of this discussion are to evaluate the influence of the surroundings on the symmetry of these adducts, steric hindrances within the adducts, competition between different noncovalent interactions responsible for stabilizing the adducts, and experimental methods that can be used to study the symmetry at different time scales. This review considers the following central binding units: hydrogen (proton), halogen (anion), metal (cation), water (hydrogen peroxide).

Theoretical Study of closo-Borate Anions [BnHn]2− (n = 5–12): Bonding, Atomic Charges, and Reactivity Analysis

This study has focused on the structure, bonding, and reactivity analysis of closo-borate anions [BnHn]2− (n = 5–12). Several descriptors of B–H interactions have been calculated. It has been found that the values of electron density and total energy at bond critical point are the most useful descriptors for investigation of B–H interactions. Using results from the descriptor analysis, one may conclude that orbital interactions in [BnHn]2− increase with increasing the boron cluster size. Several approaches to estimate atomic charges have been applied. Boron atoms in apical positions have more negative values of atomic charges as compared with atoms from equatorial positions. The mean values of boron and hydrogen atomic charges tend to be more positive with the increasing of boron cluster size. Global and local reactivity descriptors using conceptual density functional theory (DFT) theory have been calculated. Based on this theory, the closo-borate anions [BnHn]2− (n = 5–9) can be considered strong and moderate electrophiles, while the closo-borate anions [BnHn]2− (n = 10–12) can be considered marginal electrophiles. Fukui functions for electrophilic attack have been calculated. Fukui functions correlate well with atomic charges of the closo-borate anions. Boron atoms in apical positions have the most positive values of Fukui functions.