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Gupta, Ankur K.

Publications and source records attributed to Gupta, Ankur K..

Tris(carbene)borates; alternatives to cyclopentadienyls in organolanthanide chemistry

The chemistry of the tris-carbene anion phenyltris(3-alkyl-imidazoline-2-yliden-1-yl)borate, [C3 Me ] - ligand, is initiated for f-block metal cations. Neutral, molecular complexes of the form Ln(C3) 2 I are formed for cerium(III), while a separated ion pair [Ln(C3) 2 ]I forms for ytterbium(III). DFT/QTAIM computational analyses of the complexes and related tridentate tris(pyrazolyl)borate (Tp) – supported analogs demonstrates the anticipated strength of the σ donation and confirms greater covalency in the metal–carbon bonds of the [C3 Me ] - complexes in comparison with those in the Tp Me,Me complexes. The DFT calculations demonstrate the crucial role of THF solvent in accurately reproducing the contrasting molecular and ion-pair geometries observed experimentally for the Ce and Yb complexes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Interaction–Deletion: A Composite Energy Method for the Optimization of Molecular Systems Selectively Removing Specific Nonbonded Interactions

The complex interactions between different portions of a large molecule can be challenging to analyze through traditional electronic structure calculations. Moreover, standard methods cannot easily quantify the physical consequences of individual pairwise interactions inside a molecule. By creating a set of molecular fragments, we propose a composite energy method to explore changes in a molecule caused by removing selected nonbonded interactions between different molecular portions. Energies and forces are easily obtained with this composite approach, allowing geometry optimizations that lead to chemically meaningful structures that describe how the omitted interactions contribute to changes in the local geometrical minima. We illustrate the application of our new hybrid scheme by computing the influence of intramolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions in two small molecules: 1,6-(tG + G + TG + G + g – )-hexanediol and a cyclic analogue, cis-1,4-cyclohexanediol. The resulting structural and energetic changes are interpreted to yield key physical insights and quantify concepts such as “preparation energy” or “reorganization energy”. We demonstrate that the composite method can be extended to larger molecular systems by showing its application on a Si(100) surface model containing interactions between dissociated ammonia molecules on adjacent surface dimers. The scheme’s efficacy is also tested by applying it to systems having multiple intramolecular interactions, viz., 310-polyglycine and H+GPGG. Furthermore, the cooperative nature of intramolecular hydrogen bonds is explored by using interaction–deletion in 2-nitrobenzene-1,3-diol.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

The striking influence of oxophilicity differences in heterometallic Mo–Mn oxide cluster reactions with water

Mixed-metal oxides have proven to be effective catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction, often outperforming either of the binary metal oxides. The reactivity of Mn x MoO y - (x = 1, 2; y = 3, 4) clusters toward H 2 O was investigated via time-of-flight mass spectrometry with clear evidence of cluster oxidation and corresponding H 2 production, specifically for Mn x MoO 3 - (x = 1, 2) clusters. Unlike previously studied MoxOy- clusters, which assumed a broad distribution of stoichiometries (typically x ≤ y ≤ 3x), both MnMoOy- and Mn 2 MoO y - preferentially formed y = 3 and 4 compositions in significant quantities under our source conditions. The electronic and molecular structures of the Mn x MoO y (x = 1, 2; y = 3, 4) anion and neutral clusters were probed with anion photoelectron spectroscopy and analyzed with supporting density functional theory calculations. Our studies suggest that both metal centers are involved in initial cluster–water complex formation, while Mo is the center that undergoes oxidation; hence, reactivity terminates when Mo is saturated in its highest oxidation state of +6. Across these four clusters, Mn remains relatively reduced and is stable in a high-spin electronic configuration. The preferential reactivity of water molecules toward the Mo center rather than Mn is rationalized by the much lower relative oxophilicity of Mn.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗