New Set of Multicomponent Crystals as Efficient Heterogeneous Catalysts for the Synthesis of Cyclic Carbonates.

Three new multicomponent crystals 1a-1c of Zn(II), Mn(II), and Co(II), respectively, were synthesized by the reaction of 2,6-bis(hydroxymethyl)pyridine, the respective metal salts, and sodium benzoate in a 1:1:2 ratio. One component of these multicomponent crystals 1a-1c is the dicationic 2,6-bis(hydroxymethyl)pyridine metal complex and the other component is the dianionic tetrabenzoate complex of the same metal. The complexes were fully characterized by single-crystal X-ray structure determination. The X-ray structure of these compounds 1a-1c reveals the formation of 1D supramolecular chain parallel to the crystallographic b axis via H-bonding interactions between the dicationic and dianionic parts of the respective compound. The Mn(II) (1b) and Co(II) (1c) complexes show antiferromagnetic coupling between the two associated metal centers via the H-bonding interaction pathway. All the three compounds 1a-1c were tested as heterogeneous catalytic systems for the successful conversion of epoxides to cyclic carbonates in solvent-free condition under approximately 10 bar of pressure of CO2 and temperature ranging between 60 and 80 °C along with tetrabutyl ammonium bromide acting as a cocatalyst. All the three compounds 1a-1c were found to have turnover number more than 1000 for the respective epoxides except for the conversion of cyclohexene oxide to cyclohexene carbonate.

Ligand-induced symmetry breaking and concomitant blueshift in the emission wavelength of an octahedral chromium complex.

The resulting distortion of the octahedral symmetry of the complex [CrIII(NH3)6]3+ upon replacing the axial ligands with halides (i.e., weaker ligands) affects the stability of the doublet state with respect to that of the quartet ground state. This substitution affects the doublet-to-quartet transition responsible for phosphorescence. The position of the halide with respect to ammonia in the spectrochemical series is a major influence on the emission wavelength of the complex. The close proximity of fluorine and ammonia in the spectrochemical series leads to a blueshift in the emission wavelength when fluoride ions are introduced into the complex, thus providing a rational approach to the design of blue-phosphorescent materials, which are desirable for OLEDs used in full-color displays. Graphical abstract Shifts in the phosphorescence emission wavelength of an octahedral Cr(III) complex caused by axial ligand substitution. Replacing the axial ligands leads to a change in the relative positions of the axial and equatorial ligands in the spectrochemical series, which in turn induces a redshift or a blueshift in the emission wavelength.

Strategic design of thiophene-fused nickel dithiolene derivatives for efficient NLO response.

The NLO properties of two synthesized aryl extended thiophene fused nickel dithiolenes have been studied theoretically. Based on these two systems, a systematic modification has been made by substituting neutral and zwitterionic donor-acceptor groups at the aryl (phenyl and thenyl) ring to enlarge their NLO responses. Among the four designed systems, the zwitterionic donor-acceptor group significantly reduces the HOMO-LUMO energy gap, resulting in an enormous increase in the first hyperpolarizability (ß) values. To judge their high NLO response, transition dipole moment (TDM) density values have been plotted and it has been found that electron dissipation occurs from one donor part to the acceptor part with a high Δr index value. It should be noted that the high Δr index values are a quantitative measurement to understand the type of transitions, and we noticed that a charge transfer transition occurs in the case of zwitterionic systems. Hence, a relationship between the first hyperpolarizability and TDM has been established. In order to highlight the NLO active segment in a molecule, a density analysis has also been done. We anticipate that as our designed systems possess high ß values, they should have significance in optical uses.

Coarse-graining scheme for simulating uniaxial stress-strain response of glassy polymers through molecular dynamics.

Simulation of the deformation of polymers below their glass transition through molecular dynamics provides an useful route to correlate their molecular architecture to deformation behavior. However, present computational capabilities severely restrict the time and length scales that can be simulated when detailed models of these macromolecules are used. Coarse-graining techniques for macromolecular structures intend to make bigger and longer simulations possible by grouping atoms into superatoms and devising ways of determining reasonable force fields for the superatoms in a manner that retains essential macromolecular features relevant to the process under study but jettisons unnecessary details. In this work we systematically develop a coarse-graining scheme aimed at simulating uniaxial stress-strain behavior of polymers below their glass transition. The scheme involves a two step process of obtaining the coarse grained force field parameters above glass transition. This seems to be enough to obtain "faithful" stress-strain responses after quenching to below the glass transition temperature. We apply the scheme developed to a commercially important polymer polystyrene, derive its complete force field parameters and thus demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique.