[(B3O3H3)(n)M]+ (n = 1, 2;M = Cu, Ag, Au): a new class of metal-cation complexes.

A density functional theory (DFT) investigation into the structures and bonding characteristics of [(B3O3H3)nM](+)(n = 1, 2;M = Cu, Ag, Au) complexes was performed. DFT calculations and natural bond orbital (NBO) analyses indicate that the ΙB metal complexes of boroxine exhibit intriguing bonding characteristics, different from the typical cation-π interactions between ΙB metal-cations and benzene. The complexes of [B3O3H3M](+) and [(B3O3H3)2 M](+) (M = Cu, Ag, and Au) favor the conformation of perfectly planar structures with the C2v and D2h symmetry along one of the threefold molecular axes of boroxine, respectively. Detailed natural resonance theory (NRT) and canonical molecular orbitals (CMOs) analyses show that interaction between the metal cation and the boroxine in [B3O3H3M](+) (M = Cu, Ag, and Au) is mainly ionic, while the ΙB metal-cations←π donation effect is responsible for the binding site. In these complexes, boroxine serves as terminals η(1)-B3O3H3 with one O atom of the B3O3 ring. The infra-red (IR) spectra of [B3O3H3M](+) were simulated to facilitate their future experimental characterization. The complexes all give two IR active modes at about 1,300 and 2,700 cm(-1), which are inactive in pure boroxine. Simultaneously, the B-H stretching modes of the complexes are red-shifted due to the interaction between the metal-cation and boroxine. To explore the possibility of the structural pattern developed in this work forming mesoporous materials, complexes [(B3O3H3M)6](6+) (M = Cu, Ag, and Au) were also studied, which appear to be unique and particular interesting: they are all true minima with D6h symmetries and pore sizes ranging from 12.04 Å to 13.65 Å.

The adsorption and dissociation of O2 on Cu low-index surfaces.

The extended LEPS of O(2)-Cu single crystal plane systems is constructed by means of 5-MP (the 5-parameter Morse potential). Both the adsorption and dissociation of O(2) on Cu low-index surfaces are investigated with extended LEPS in detail. All critical characteristics of the system that we obtain, such as adsorption geometry, binding energy, eigenvalues for vibration, etc., are in good agreement with the experimental results. Our calculated results suggest there are many differences between O(2)-Cu (110) and O(2)-Pd (110) systems. On a Cu (110) surface, O(2) adsorbs in a tilted configuration and there are two lowest energy dissociation channels along the [001] and [10] directions, respectively. We speculate that the adsorption geometry of O(2) on the metal surfaces relates to the lattice constant of metal. Meanwhile, We use the concepts of the molecular dissociation limit and the surface dissociation distance to analyze again the dissociation mechanism of the O(2) on the low-index surfaces.

Adsorption, vibration, and diffusion of O atoms on Rh low-index and (711) stepped defective surfaces.

The adsorption, vibration, and diffusion of O atoms on Rh(100), Rh(111), Rh(110), and Rh(711) surfaces were studied using the 5-parameter Morse potential (5-MP) of interaction between an adatom and a metal surface cluster. Our theoretical calculations provide information about adsorption sites, adsorption geometry, binding energy, and eigenvibration. Our results agreed very well with experimental results. Four major results follow. First, the theoretical calculation showed that on the Rh(100) surface the 4-fold hollow site is the only adsorption site. Second, on the O-Rh(111) system, the 3-fold hollow site is the stable adsorption site. Third, on the Rh(110) surface at low coverage, the O atom is adsorbed preferably on the pseudo-3-fold site, while with increasing coverage, the O atom is adsorbed not only on the pseudo-3-fold site but also on the long bridge site. Last, as for the Rh(711) stepped surface, the 3-fold site on the (111) step is metastable, whereas the 4-fold sites on the (100) terrace are stable, which enables the O atoms to diffuse easily from the 3-fold to the 4-fold site at low coverage. Therefore, the O atoms are adsorbed preferrably on the stable 4-fold sites of the (100) terrace and then later as coverage increases on the metastable 3-fold site of the (110) step.