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Joop H van Lenthe

Publications and source records attributed to Joop H van Lenthe.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Hydrogen storage in magnesium clusters: quantum chemical study.

Magnesium hydride is cheap and contains 7.7 wt % hydrogen, making it one of the most attractive hydrogen storage materials. However, thermodynamics dictate that hydrogen desorption from bulk magnesium hydride only takes place at or above 300 degrees C, which is a major impediment for practical application. A few results in the literature, related to disordered materials and very thin layers, indicate that lower desorption temperatures are possible. We systematically investigated the effect of crystal grain size on the thermodynamic stability of magnesium and magnesium hydride, using ab initio Hartree-Fock and density functional theory calculations. Also, the stepwise desorption of hydrogen was followed in detail. As expected, both magnesium and magnesium hydride become less stable with decreasing cluster size, notably for clusters smaller than 20 magnesium atoms. However, magnesium hydride destabilizes more strongly than magnesium. As a result, the hydrogen desorption energy decreases significantly when the crystal grain size becomes smaller than approximately 1.3 nm. For instance, an MgH2 crystallite size of 0.9 nm corresponds to a desorption temperature of only 200 degrees C. This predicted decrease of the hydrogen desorption temperature is an important step toward the application of Mg as a hydrogen storage material.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Ab initio calculation of the NH(3sigma-)-NH(3sigma-) interaction potentials in the quintet, triplet, and singlet states.

We present the ab initio potential-energy surfaces of the NH-NH complex that correlate with two NH molecules in their 3sigma- electronic ground state. Three distinct potential-energy surfaces, split by exchange interactions, correspond to the coupling of the S(A) = 1 and S(B) = 1 electronic spins of the monomers to dimer states with S = 0, 1, and 2. Exploratory calculations on the quintet (S = 2), triplet (S = 1), and singlet (S = 0) states and their exchange splittings were performed with the valence bond self-consistent-field method that explicitly accounts for the nonorthogonality of the orbitals on different monomers. The potential surface of the quintet state, which can be described by a single Slater determinant reference function, was calculated at the coupled cluster level with single and double excitations and noniterative treatment of the triples. The triplet and singlet states require multiconfiguration reference wave functions and the exchange splittings between the three potential surfaces were calculated with the complete active space self-consistent-field method supplemented with perturbative configuration interaction calculations of second and third orders. Full potential-energy surfaces were computed as a function of the four intermolecular Jacobi coordinates, with an aug-cc-pVTZ basis on the N and H atoms and bond functions at the midpoint of the intermolecular vector R. An analytical representation of these potentials was given by expanding their dependence on the molecular orientations in coupled spherical harmonics, and representing the dependence of the expansion coefficients on the intermolecular distance R by the reproducing kernel Hilbert space method. The quintet surface has a van der Waals minimum of depth D(e) = 675 cm(-1) at R(e) = 6.6a0 for a linear geometry with the two NH electric dipoles aligned. The singlet and triplet surfaces show similar, slightly deeper, van der Waals wells, but when R is decreased the weakly bound NH dimer with S = 0 and S = 1 converts into the chemically bound N2H2 diimide (also called diazene) molecule with only a small energy barrier to overcome.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

The electronic structure of inorganic benzenes: valence bond and ring-current descriptions.

Valence bond (VB) theory and ring-current maps have been used to study the electronic structure of inorganic benzene analogues X(6)H(6) (X = C (1), Si (2)), X(6) (X = N (3), P (4)), X(3)Y(3)H(6) (X,Y = B,N (5), B,P (6), Al,N (7), Al,P (8)), and B(3)Y(3)H(3) (Y = O (9), S (10)). It is shown that the homonuclear compounds possess benzene-like character, with resonance between two Kekulé-like structures and induced diatropic ring currents. Heteronuclear compounds typically show localization of the lone pairs on the electronegative atoms; Kekulé-like structures do not contribute. Of the heteronuclear compounds, only B(3)P(3)H(6) (6) has some benzene-like features with a significant contribution of two Kekulé-like structures to its VB wave function, an appreciable resonance energy, and a discernible diatropic ring current in planar geometry. However, relaxation of 6 to the optimal nonplanar chair conformation is accompanied by the onset of localization of the ring current.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed2005

An ab initio valence bond study on cyclopenta-fused naphthalenes and fluoranthenes.

To probe the effect of external cyclopenta-fusion on a naphthalene core, ab initio valence bond (VB) calculations have been performed, using strictly atomic benzene p-orbitals and p-orbitals that are allowed to delocalize, on naphthalene (1), acenaphthylene (2), pyracylene (3), cyclopenta[b,c]acenaphthylene (4), fluoranthene (5), and cyclopenta[c,d]fluoranthene (6). For the related compounds 1-4 and 5,6 the total resonance energies (according to Pauling's definition) are similar. Partitioning of the total resonance energy in contributions from the possible 4n + 2 and 4n pi-electron conjugated circuits shows that only the 6pi-electron conjugated circuits (benzene-like) contribute to the resonance energy. The results show that cyclopenta-fusion does not extend the pi system in the ground state; the five-membered rings act as peri-substituents. As a consequence, the differences in (total) resonance energy do not coincide with the differences in thermodynamic stability. Notwithstanding, the relative energies of the Kekule structures can be estimated using Randic's conjugated circuits model.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

A unified orbital model of delocalised and localised currents in monocycles, from annulenes to azabora-heterocycles.

Why are some (4n+2)pi systems aromatic, and some not? The ipsocentric approach to the calculation of the current density induced in a molecule by an external magnetic field predicts a four-electron diatropic (aromatic) ring current for (4n+2)pi carbocycles and a two-electron paratropic (antiaromatic) current for (4n)pi carbocycles. With the inclusion of an electronegativity parameter, an ipsocentric frontier-orbital model also predicts the transition from delocalised currents in carbocycles to nitrogen-localised currents in alternating azabora-heterocycles, which rationalises the differences in (magnetic) aromaticity between these isoelectronic pi-conjugated systems. Ab initio valence-bond calculations confirm the localisation predicted by the naive model, and coupled-Hartree-Fock calculations give current-density maps that exhibit the predicted delocalised-to-localised/carbocycle-heterocycle transition.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

SYNOPSIS: SYNthesize and OPtimize System in Silico.

We present a de novo design program called SYNOPSIS, that includes a synthesis route for each generated molecule. SYNOPSIS designs novel molecules by starting from a database of available molecules and simulating organic synthesis steps. This way of generating molecules imposes synthetic accessibility on the molecules. In addition to a starting database, a fitness function is needed that calculates the value of a desired property for an arbitrary molecule. The values obtained from this function guide the design process in optimizing the molecules toward an optimal value of the calculated property. Two applications are described. The first uses an electric dipole moment calculation to generate molecules possessing a strong dipole moment. The second makes use of the three-dimensional structure of a viral enzyme in order to generate high affinity ligands. Twenty eight compounds designed with the program resulted in 18 synthesized and tested compounds, 10 of which showed HIV inhibitory activity in vitro.

Anti-HIV Agents↗
PubMed2003

1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoroalkyl-functionalization of Ni(II), Pd(II), and Pt(II) mono- and diphosphine complexes: minimizing the electronic consequences for the metal center.

A series of fluorous derivatives of group 10 complexes MCl(2)(dppe) and [M(dppe)(2)](BF(4))(2) (M = Ni, Pd or Pt; dppe = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane) and cis-PtCl(2)(PPh(3))(2) was synthesized. The influence of para-(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoroalkyl)dimethylsilyl-functionalization of the phosphine phenyl groups of these complexes, as studied by NMR spectroscopy, cyclovoltammetry (CV), XPS analyses, as well as DFT calculations, points to a weak steric and no significant inductive electronic effect. The steric effect is most pronounced for M = Ni and leads in the case of NiCl(2)(1c) (3c) and [Ni(1c)(2)](BF(4))(2) (7c) (1c = [CH(2)P[C(6)H(4)(SiMe(2)CH(2)CH(2)C(6)F(13))-4](2)](2)) to a tetrahedral distortion from the expected square planar geometry. The solubility behavior of NiCl(2)[CH(2)P[C(6)H(4)(SiMe(3-b)(CH(2)CH(2)C(x)F(2x+1)b)-4](2)](2) (3: b = 1-3; x = 6, 8) in THF, toluene, and c-C(6)F(11)CF(3) was found to follow the same trends as those observed for the free fluorous ligands 1. A similar correlation between the partition coefficient (P) of complexes 3 and free 1 was observed in fluorous biphasic solvent systems, with a maximum value obtained for 3f (b = 3, x = 6, P = 23 in favor of the fluorous phase).

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Magnetic properties and aromaticity of o-, m-, and p-benzyne.

The relative aromaticities of the three singlet benzyne isomers, 1,2-, 1,3-, and 1,4-didehydrobenzenes have been evaluated with a series of aromaticity indicators, including magnetic susceptibility anisotropies and exaltations, nucleus-independent chemical shifts (NICS), and aromatic stabilization energies (all evaluated at the DFT level), as well as valence-bond Pauling resonance energies. Most of the criteria point to the o-benzyne<m-benzyne<p-benzyne aromaticity order, whereas the relative aromaticity of each isomer with respect to benzene depends on the aromaticity criterion. An additional aromaticity evaluation involved the transition state of the Bergman cyclization of (Z)-hexa-1,5-diyn-3-ene which yields p-benzyne. Dissected NICS calculations reveal an aromatic transition state with a larger total NICS but a smaller NICS(pi) component and thus lower aromaticity than benzene.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Stability and aromaticity of the cyclopenta-fused pyrene congeners.

The aromaticity of all possible cyclopenta-fused pyrene congeners has been investigated at various levels of theory. On the basis of the calculated resonance energies and magnetic properties (delta(1)H data, magnetic susceptibility anisotropies, and NICS values), the overall aromaticity of these compounds is found to decrease gradually with increasing number of externally fused five-membered rings. The relatively small differences (<5 kcal/mol) in thermodynamic stability of the isomeric dicyclopentapyrenes (E(tot): dicyclopenta[cd,fg]- > dicyclopenta[cd,jk]- > dicyclopenta[cd,mn]pyrene), which differs from the aromaticity order based on the magnetic criteria (dicyclopenta[cd,mn]- > dicyclopenta[cd,fg]- > dicyclopenta[cd,jk]pyrene), is shown by model calculations to be dominated by sigma-strain imposed on the pyrene skeleton by sequential cyclopenta-fusion. This is supported by the computed homodesmotic reaction energies and aromatic stabilization energy (ASE(isom)) from isodesmic aromatic-nonaromatic isomerization, and by the model calculations on "distorted" cyclopenta[cd]pyrenes. The elusive tetracyclopenta[cd,fg,jk,mn]pyrene is computed to be bowl-shaped; its corresponding planar geometry is the transition state for bowl-bowl interconversion.

Journal Article↗