ReaxFF Force Field Development and Application for Toluene Adsorption on MnMOx (M = Cu, Fe, Ni) Catalysts.

In numerous studies, the application of the molecular dynamics scheme based on the reactive force field (ReaxFF) method has been proven effective in modeling the catalytic behavior of metal-organic compounds. Recently, this method has been successfully applied for MxOy (M = Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni) transition-metal oxides. Yet, bimetallic metal oxides of the type MnMOx (M = Cu, Fe, Ni) were also present in the experimental system but could not be modeled since not all of the force field parameters were available at the time. To bridge this gap, the force field for modeling bimetallic metal oxides had to be developed. Here, we establish the needed force field parameter sets (namely, Cu/Mn/O, Fe/Mn/O, and Ni/Mn/O) and apply them to the problem of toluene adsorption on bimetallic oxide catalyst surfaces to verify their validity. Each training set consisted of at least 10 crystal structures containing at least Cu-Mn-O, Fe-Mn-O, or Ni-Mn-O atoms in contact obtained from the available structure databases. The parameter training has been done using the in-home-compiled version of the ReaxFF code. After training the force fields for geometry reproduction, the parameters were refined using the optimization by atom charges, comparing the ReaxFF values to those obtained for the respective structures using periodic crystal density functional theory (DFT) codes. The as-developed force fields were then applied to the process of toluene adsorption/degradation on MnMOx catalysts. Results obtained show agreement with previous experimental expectations, although some remarks are given since the initially presumed crystal structure of bimetallic oxide Mn1-xMxOy crystallites may still have an impact on theoretical predictions. The presented are, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the first applications of the ReaxFF approach to the Mn-(Cu|Fe|Ni)-O-C-H interaction.

Fluxionality of hydrogen ligands in Fe(H)2(H2)(PEtPh2)3.

Extensive computational investigations along with additional quasielastic neutron scattering data were used to obtain a consistent picture of the extensive fluxionality of hydride and dihydrogen ligands in Fe(H)(2)(H(2))(PEtPh(2))(3) over a wide range of temperatures from 1.5 to 320 K. We were able to identify three different regimes in the dynamical processes based on activation energies obtained from line spectral broadening. The rotational tunneling lines (coherent exchange of the two hydrogens of the H(2) ligand) are broadened with increasing temperature by incoherent exchange up to about 80 K at which point they merge into a quasielastic spectrum from 100 K to about 225 K. The effective activation energies for the two regions are 0.14 and 0.1 kcal mol(-1), respectively. A third dynamical process with a higher activation energy of 0.44 kcal mol(-1) dominates above 225 K, which we attribute to a quantum dynamical exchange of dihydrogen and hydride ligands. Our detailed density functional theory (DFT) structural calculations involving the three functionals (B3LYP, TPSS, and wB97XD) provide a good account of the experimental structure and rotational barriers when only the hydrogen ligands are relaxed. Full relaxation of the "gas-phase" molecule, however, appears to occur to a greater degree than what is possible in the crystal structure. The classical dihydrogen-hydride exchange path involves a cis-dihydrogen and tetrahydride structure with energies of 6.49 and 7.38 kcal mol(-1), respectively. Experimental observation of this process with much lower energies would seem to suggest involvement of translational tunneling in addition to the rotational tunneling. Dynamics of this type may be presumed to be important in hydrogen spillover from metal particles, and therefore need to be elucidated in an effort to utilize this phenomenon.

Structure Prediction of Bis(amino acidato)copper(II) Complexes with a New Force Field for Molecular Modeling.

This article presents a new force field whose parameterization was based on experimental crystal data and quantum chemically obtained vacuum structures of a series of copper(II) complexes with aliphatic α-amino acids and their N-alkyl derivatives, along with the SPC/E water model. The ability of the new force field to reproduce and predict the structural properties of the copper(II) complexes in the gas phase, in simulated crystalline surroundings, and solvated in water is examined. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with the new force field yielded time-average structural coordinates of bis(glycinato)copper(II) [the only one of 25 modeled bis(amino acidato)copper(II) systems with published experimental structural data in aqueous solution at room temperature] within the experimental error values. The study of the cis-trans isomerization of bis(glycinato)copper(II) in aqueous medium at 300 K using the quantum chemical polarized continuum model revealed a small energy difference (5 kJ mol(-1)) between the solvated cis and trans minima, in line with the MD energy estimations. The new force field proved promising in predicting the association of the complexes in aqueous solution and formation of a nucleus of crystallization.

A new cytosine-copper paramagnetic complex spectroscopic study.

Two different copper complexes with cytosine molecules are formed in the process of crystal growth from the aqueous solution with traces of copper. One of them is diamagnetic, turning into paramagnetic upon ionizing irradiation (complex I). The other, the subject of the present study, is paramagnetic (complex II) as prepared. For complex II, EPR spectra demonstrate that the copper ion is coordinated with one nitrogen atom and three oxygen atoms. On the basis of the detailed EPR spectroscopic analysis and quantum-chemical calculations (in the DFT approach) the model of the complex has been proposed. Both experimental data and the theoretical results support the model with the copper atom, located between the two cytosine ribbons, ligated to a nitrogen and an oxygen atom from two opposing cytosine molecules and two oxygen atoms from water molecules. For complex II the Raman spectra demonstrated concerted restructuring of the hydrogen bonding in the cytosine crystal matrix upon insertion of copper ions.

EPR study of a copper impurity center in a single crystal of 2-thiothymine.

EPR spectroscopy was used to study the complex formed in crystals of 5-methyl-2-thiouracil (2-thiothymine) containing traces of copper. The copper impurities, originally present as Cu(I)-complex of 2-thiothymine in the lattice of 2-thiothymine, are transformed into paramagnetic Cu(II)-complex by ionizing radiation. It was found that the complex is planar, the plane being defined by two pairs of S and N atoms, from two adjacent 2-thiothymine molecules. The structure of the complex suggests that a pair of hydrogen bonds between two neighboring molecules is replaced by a stronger Cu-coordination bonding, with two sulfur and two nitrogen atoms as ligands. The spectroscopic parameters (g-tensor, A(63Cu) and A(14N) tensors) are essentially similar to those earlier observed for copper planar centers in other systems.