Theoretical study of the adsorption of benzene on coinage metals.

The adsorption of benzene on the M(111), M(100) and M(110) surfaces of the coinage metals copper (M = Cu), silver (M = Ag) and gold (M = Au) is studied on the basis of density functional theory (DFT) calculations with an empirical dispersion correction (D3). Variants of the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof functionals (PBE, RPBE and RevPBE) in combination with different versions of the dispersion correction (D3 and D3(BJ)) are compared. PBE-D3, PBE-D3(BJ) and RPBE-D3 give similar results which exhibit a good agreement with experimental data. RevPBE-D3 and RevPBE-D3(BJ) tend to overestimate adsorption energies. The inclusion of three-center terms (PBE-D3(ABC)) leads to a slightly better agreement with the experiment in most cases. Vertical adsorbate-substrate distances are calculated and compared to previous theoretical results. The observed trends for the surfaces and metals are consistent with the calculated adsorption energies.

Substitution effect and effect of axle's flexibility at (pseudo-)rotaxanes.

This study investigates the effect of substitution with different functional groups and of molecular flexibility by changing within the axle from a single C-C bond to a double C=C bond. Therefore, we present static quantum chemical calculations at the dispersion-corrected density functional level (DFT-D3) for several Leigh-type rotaxanes. The calculated crystal structure is in close agreement with the experimental X-ray data. Compared to a stiffer axle, a more flexible one results in a stronger binding by 1-3 kcal/mol. Alterations of the binding energy in the range of 5 kcal/mol could be achieved by substitution with different functional groups. The hydrogen bond geometry between the isophtalic unit and the carbonyl oxygen atoms of the axle exhibited distances in the range of 2.1 to 2.4 Å for six contact points, which shows that not solely but to a large amount the circumstances in the investigated rotaxanes are governed by hydrogen bonding. Moreover, the complex with the more flexible axle is usually more unsymmetrical than the one with the stiff axle. The opposite is observed for the experimentally investigated axle with the four phenyl stoppers. Furthermore, we considered an implicit continuum solvation model and found that the complex binding is weakened by approximately 10 kcal/mol, and hydrogen bonds are slightly shortened (by up to 0.2 Å).

Implementation of empirical dispersion corrections to density functional theory for periodic systems.

A recently developed empirical dispersion correction (Grimme et al., J. Chem. Phys. 2010, 132, 154104) to standard density functional theory (DFT-D3) is implemented in the plane-wave program package VASP. The DFT-D3 implementation is compared with an implementation of the earlier DFT-D2 version (Grimme, J. Comput. Chem. 2004, 25, 1463; Grimme, J. Comput. Chem. 2006, 27, 1787). Summation of empirical pair potential terms is performed over all atom pairs in the reference cell and over atoms in shells of neighboring cells until convergence of the dispersion energy is obtained. For DFT-D3, the definition of coordination numbers has to be modified with respect to the molecular version to ensure convergence. The effect of three-center terms as implemented in the original molecular DFT-D3 version is investigated. The empirical parameters are taken from the original DFT-D3 version where they had been optimized for a reference set of small molecules. As the coordination numbers of atoms in bulk and surfaces are much larger than in the reference compounds, this effect has to be discussed. The results of test calculations for bulk properties of metals, metal oxides, benzene, and graphite indicate that the original parameters are also suitable for solid-state systems. In particular, the interlayer distance in bulk graphite and lattice constants of molecular crystals is considerably improved over standard functionals. With the molecular standard parameters (Grimme et al., J. Chem. Phys. 2010, 132, 154104; Grimme, J. Comput. Chem. 2006, 27, 1787) a slight overbinding is observed for ionic oxides where dispersion should not contribute to the bond. For simple adsorbate systems, such as Xe atoms and benzene on Ag(111), the DFT-D implementations reproduce experimental results with a similar accuracy as more sophisticated approaches based on perturbation theory (Rohlfing and Bredow, Phys. Rev. Lett. 2008, 101, 266106).

System-dependent dispersion coefficients for the DFT-D3 treatment of adsorption processes on ionic surfaces.

Dispersion-corrected density functional theory calculations (DFT-D3) were performed for the adsorption of CO on MgO and C(2) H(2) on NaCl surfaces. An extension of our non-empirical scheme for the computation of atom-in-molecules dispersion coefficients is proposed. It is based on electrostatically embedded M(4)X(4) (M=Na, Mg) clusters that are used in TDDFT calculations of dynamic dipole polarizabilities. We find that the C(MM)(6) dispersion coefficients for bulk NaCl and MgO are reduced by factors of about 100 and 35 for Na and Mg, respectively, compared to the values of the free atoms. These are used in periodic DFT calculations with the revPBE semi-local density functional. As demonstrated by calculations of adsorption potential energy curves, the new C(6) coefficients lead to much more accurate energies (E(ads)) and molecule-surface distances than with previous DFT-D schemes. For NaCl/C(2) H(2) we obtained at the revPBE-D3(BJ) level a value of E(ads) =-7.4 kcal mol(-1) in good agreement with experimental data (-5.7 to -7.1 kcal mol(-1)). Dispersion-uncorrected DFT yields an unbound surface state. For the MgO/CO system, the computed revPBE-D3(BJ) value of E(ads) =-4.1 kcal mol(-1) is also in reasonable agreement with experimental results (-3.0 kcal mol(-1)) when thermal corrections are taken into account. Our new dispersion correction also improves computed lattice constants of the bulk systems significantly compared to plain DFT or previous DFT-D results. The extended DFT-D3 scheme also provides accurate non-covalent interactions for ionic systems without empirical adjustments and is suggested as a general tool in surface science.

Uncovering individual hydrogen bonds in rotaxanes by frequency shifts.

We present a theoretical investigation of amide pseudorotaxane IR spectra in the harmonic approximation. In particular, we focus on the effect of axle substitution on the hydrogen bonds that are formed between axle and wheel. Two types of pseudorotaxanes are studied: one with the substituent affecting mostly the axle's carbonyl group and one with the effect influencing primarily the amide NH group. Sizeable red shifts are predicted for the carbonyl stretching frequencies, and large red shifts for the NH stretching frequencies. For the wheel amide groups involved in hydrogen bonding merely with their NH hydrogens, a small shift is observed for the carbonyl stretch mode. A clear relation is observed between the NH stretch shifts and individual hydrogen bond energies. This is confirmed by correlations of the shared electron number with the NH stretch shift showing that this quantity can be taken as an indicator for individual hydrogen bond energies. Axle substitution influences the strengths of the individual hydrogen bonds which is again reflected in the NH stretch frequency shifts. A linear relationship of Hammett's substituent parameters with the NH frequency shifts can be established.

Dendrimer disassembly in the gas phase: a cascade fragmentation reaction of Fréchet dendrons.

The mass spectrometric characterization of Fréchet-type dendrons is reported. In order to provide the charges necessary for electrospray ionization, dendrons bearing an OH group at the focal point can be deprotonated and observed in the negative ion mode. Alternatively, the corresponding bromides can be converted to quaternary ammonium ions that can easily be detected in the positive mode. If the latter ions are subjected to collision-induced dissociation experiments, a fragmentation cascade begins with the dissociation of the focal amine. The focal benzyl cation quickly decomposes in a fragmentation cascade from the focal point to the periphery until the peripheral benzyl (or naphthylmethyl) cations are formed. Five different mechanisms are discussed in detail, three of which can be excluded based on experimental evidence. The cascade fragmentation is reminiscent of self-immolative dendrimers.

Towards allosteric receptors: adjustment of the rotation barrier of 2,2'-bipyridine derivatives.

What a difference! The energy differences between anti and syn conformers as well as the energy barrier for the rotation around the aryl-aryl bond of a number of 2,2'-bipyridine molecules were examined by quantum-chemical methods. The energy differences were found to be governed by the substituents directly attached to the bipyridine and their ability to form intramolecular hydrogen bonds.Quantum-chemical calculations at the BP86/TZVP level of theory were performed to determine the energy differences between the syn and the anti conformers, as well as the energy barrier for the rotation of the aryl-aryl bond of 2,2'-bipyridine molecules and a number of disubstituted derivatives. Substitutents with hydrogen-bond donor (or electron acceptor) functions or hydrogen-bond acceptors (or electron donors) are generally found to have large effects on the difference and the barrier. Substitution with a hydrogen-bond donor (or an electron acceptor) at position 6 and 6' leads to a decrease owing to a charge transfer from the pyridine nitrogen lone pair to the donor, which is caused by the formation of weak intramolecular hydrogen bonds and/or dipolar interactions, respectively. Conversely, substitution at position 4 and 4' causes an increase in the energy barrier. Substitution with a hydrogen-bond acceptor (or an electron donor) shows the opposite behavior, which can be explained by the weak intramolecular interactions. Interestingly, even very weak CH hydrogen-bond donors (electron acceptors) such as methyl groups have a significant influence. This indicates the importance of such weak interactions for the structure and energetics of supramolecular systems. The energy differences are mainly governed by the substituents directly attached to the bipyridine core as the introduction of sterically demanding groups in the periphery hardly influences the barriers or energy differences of the conformers. These findings are important for the design of heterotropic positive cooperative allosteric receptors with 2,2'-bipyridines as the allosteric centre.

Frequency analysis of amide-linked rotaxane mimetics.

A vibrational analysis of 2-fold hydrogen bonds between an isophthalic amide donor and different acceptors is presented. These systems can be considered as mimetics for the hydrogen-binding situation of numerous supramolecular compounds such as rotaxanes, catenanes, knotanes, and anion receptors. We calculated pronounced red-shifts up to 65 cm(-1) for the stretching modes of the acceptor carbonyl as well as for the donor NH2 groups, whereas we observe a blue shift for the NH2 bending modes and an additional weak hydrogen bond between the acceptor and the middle C-H group of the donor. The red and blue shifts observed for different modes in various complexes have been correlated with the binding energy of the complexes, independently. In comparison with comparable single hydrogen bonds, we find for the 2-fold hydrogen bonds smaller red shifts for the N-H stretch modes of the donor but larger red shifts for the C=O stretch mode of the acceptor. Furthermore, our results indicate that the pronounced blue shift of the C-H stretch mode is basically caused by the fact that the acceptor is fixed directly above this group due to the 2-fold hydrogen bond.

Theory and experiment in concert: templated synthesis of amide rotaxanes, catenanes, and knots.

The synthesis of amide rotaxanes, amide catenanes, and trefoil amide knots is based on template effects mediated by hydrogen bonds. While a large body of experimental data is available, in-depth theoretical studies of these template syntheses are virtually unavailable, although they would provide a more profound insight into the exact details of the hydrogen-bonding patterns involved in the formation of these mechanically interlocked species. In this article we present a density functional study of the conformational properties of tetralactam macrocycles and the threading mechanism that produces the immediate precursor for rotaxane and catenane formation. Predictions of the geometries and relative energies made on the basis of semi-empirical AM1 calculations are compared with these results in order to judge the reliability of the simpler approach. Since these calculations yield good agreement with the structural features, they have been used to extend the calculations in order to understand the mechanism of formation of a trefoil dodecaamide knot that has recently been synthesized. The inherent topological chirality of the knot is reflected in the intermediates generated during its formation; these involve helical loops. These loops parallel the rotaxane and catenane wheels with respect to the arrangement of the functional groups that mediate the template effect and may well serve as wheel analogues through which one of the precursor molecules can be threaded. This threading step finally results in the knotted structure. Good agreement between the results of the calculations presented here and experimental findings is achieved.