Spin forbidden chemical reactions of transition metal compounds. New ideas and new computational challenges.
International audience; Many reactions of transition metal compounds involve a change in spin. These reactions may proceed faster, slower—or at the same rate as—otherwise equivalent processes in which spin is conserved. For example, ligand substitution in [CpMo(Cl)2(PR3)2] is faster than expected, whereas addition of dinitrogen to [Cp*Mo(Cl)(PMe3)2] is slow. Spin-forbidden oxidative addition of ethylene to [Cp*Ir(PMe3)] occurs competitively with ligand association. To explain these observations, we discuss the shape of the different potential energy surfaces (PESs) involved, and the energy of the minimum energy crossing points (MECPs) between them. This computational approach is of great he…
Computational study of the spin-forbidden H 2 oxidative addition to 16-electron Fe(0) complexes
International audience; The spin-forbidden oxidative addition of H2 to Fe(CO)4, Fe(PH3)4, Fe(dpe)2 and Fe(dmpe)2 [dpe = H2PCH2CH2PH2, dmpe = (CH3)2PCH2CH2P(CH3)2] has been investigated by density functional theory using a modified B3PW91 functional. All 16-electron fragments are found to adopt a spin triplet ground state. The H2 addition involves a spin crossover in the reagents region of configurational space, at a significantly higher energy relative to the triplet dissociation asymptote and, for the case of Fe(CO)4·H2, even higher than the singlet dissociation asymptote. After crossing to the singlet surface, the addition proceeds directly to the classical cis-dihydride product. Only for…
Understanding the reactivity of transition metal complexes involving multiple spin states
International audience; In coordination chemistry, many reactions involve several electronic states, in particular states of different spin. This phenomenon of ‘Multiple-State Reactivity’ has been recognized for some time, both for gas-phase reactions of ‘bare’ metal ions, and for transition metal complexes in solution. Until recently, however, much of the discussion of these systems has remained qualitative, because standard computational methods do not allow the location of the critical points for these processes, the Minimum Energy Crossing Points (MECPs) between states of different spin. Increased computational resources and new algorithms now enable MECPs to be located for large, reali…
A Computational Study of Ethylene C−H Bond Activation by [Cp*Ir(PR3)]
It has previously been demonstrated that both [(C5Me5)Ir(PMe3)(CH=CH2)H] and [(C5Me5)Ir(PMe3)(H2C=CH2)] are formed when [(C5Me5)Ir(PMe3)] is thermolytically generated in the presence of ethylene. At higher temperatures, the vinyl hydride is converted to the eta2-ethylene adduct. Density functional theory has now been used to investigate this reaction, using the B3LYP functional, two types of basis sets (LanL2DZ and TZV*), and two models of the [(C5R5)Ir(PR3)] species (R=H and CH3). The study consists of full optimizations of local minima, first-order saddle points, and minimum energy crossing points (MECP). The experimental results are best accounted for by considering both singlet and trip…
O2(a1Δg) + Mg, Fe, and Ca: experimental kinetics and formulation of a weak collision, multiwell master equation with spin-hopping
The first excited electronic state of molecular oxygen, O(2)(a(1)Δ(g)), is formed in the upper atmosphere by the photolysis of O(3). Its lifetime is over 70 min above 75 km, so that during the day its concentration is about 30 times greater than that of O(3). In order to explore its potential reactivity with atmospheric constituents produced by meteoric ablation, the reactions of Mg, Fe, and Ca with O(2)(a) were studied in a fast flow tube, where the metal atoms were produced either by thermal evaporation (Ca and Mg) or by pulsed laser ablation of a metal target (Fe), and detected by laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy. O(2)(a) was produced by bubbling a flow of Cl(2) through chilled al…
Ligand dissociation accelerated by spin state change: locating the minimum energy crossing point for phosphine exchange in CpMoCl2(PR3)2 complexes
International audience; The minimum energy crossing point between the doublet and quartet potential energy surfaces of CpMoCl2(PH3)2 is calculated to lie 4.8 kcal mol−1 lower in energy than the doublet dissociative intermediate CpMoCl2(PH3). Implications for the influence of spin state changes on the rates of organometallic reactions are discussed.
Unraveling the role of protein dynamics in dihydrofolate reductase catalysis
Protein dynamics have controversially been proposed to be at the heart of enzyme catalysis, but identification and analysis of dynamical effects in enzyme-catalyzed reactions have proved very challenging. Here, we tackle this question by comparing an enzyme with its heavy ((15)N, (13)C, (2)H substituted) counterpart, providing a subtle probe of dynamics. The crucial hydride transfer step of the reaction (the chemical step) occurs more slowly in the heavy enzyme. A combination of experimental results, quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics simulations, and theoretical analyses identify the origins of the observed differences in reactivity. The generally slightly slower reaction in the heavy e…
Theoretical investigation of the spin crossover transition states of the addition of methane to a series of Group 6 metallocenes using minimum energy crossing points
International audience; Density functional calculations are reported on the addition of methane to Group 6 metallocenes, M(η-C5H5)2 (M), M(CH2(η-C5H4)2) (a-M) and M(η-C5Me5)2 (M*) where M = Mo and W. Full geometry optimisations were carried out on the singlet and triplet 16 electron complexes, 1[M] and 3[M], the η2-methane complexes, 1[M(η2-CH4)], and the hydridomethyl adducts, 1[M(CH3)(H)]. The triplet state for [M] was found to be more stable for all six metallocenes, the difference being least in the case of the ansa-bridged system. Formation of the hydridomethyl complexes was exoenergetic for all tungsten systems and for a-Mo, the other two Mo systems being endoenergetic. Minumum energy…