No abstract

Two newly halogenated chalcones, derivatives of C15H10ClFO (CH-ClF) and C15H10F2O (CH-FF), were synthesized using the Claisen–Schmidt condensation method. Both compounds were crystallized using a slow evaporation method, forming a monoclinic crystal system with a space group of P21 and P21/c, respectively. The compounds were further analyzed using spectroscopic techniques such as Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and Ultraviolet–Visible (UV–vis) analyses. The single crystal X-ray diffraction method revealed the existence of C−H⋯O and C−H⋯F intermolecular interactions in CH-FF. Hirshfeld surface analysis was performed to confirm the existence of intermolecular interactions in the compounds. The molecular geometries obtained from the X-ray structure determination were further used to optimize the structures using density functional theory (DFT), with the B3LYP/6-311G++(d,p) basis set in the ground state. The TD-DFT/B3LYP method was used to obtain the electronic properties and the HOMO–LUMO energy gap. Both compounds exhibited A-π-A architecture with different halogen substituents in which the CH-FF, containing -fluoro substituents, possessed good electron injection ability due to its electronegative properties. This increased the flow of the charge transfer for the dye regeneration process and enhanced the efficiency of the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC).

No abstract

Two organometallic compounds known as ( E )-1-ferrocenyl-(3-fluorophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one ( Fc1 ) and ( E )-1-ferrocenyl-(3-fluoro-4-methoxyphenyl)prop-2-en-1-one ( Fc2 ) are designed and synthesized for application in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) based on a donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A) architecture. By strategically introducing a methoxy group into the acceptor side of the compound, Fc2 which has adopted a D-π-A-AD structure are compared with the basic D-π-A structure of Fc1 . Both compounds were characterized by utilizing the IR, NMR and UV-Vis methods. Target compounds were further investigated by X-ray analysis and studied computationally using Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Time-Dependent DFT (TD-DFT) approaches to explore their potential performances in DSSCs. An additional methoxy group has been proven in enhancing intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) by improving the planarity of Fc2 backbone. This good electronic communication leads to higher HOMO energy level, larger dipole moment and better short-circuit current density (J sc ) values. Eventually, the presence of methoxy group in Fc2 has improved the conversion efficiency as in comparison to Fc1 under the same conditions.

No abstract

This article presents both experimental and computational study of a new Ni(II) complex, namely, bis{2-(2-trifluoromethylbenzylidene)hydrazine-1-carbothioamido-κ2N2, S}nickel(II) (abbreviate as NiL2). The complex was synthesized and well characterized using various spectroscopic methods. The single X-ray crystallographic study revealed a distorted square planar geometry around Ni(II) metal ion centre in which the angles deviated from ideal 90° with a maximum value of 6.57° occupied by nitrogen and sulphur donor atoms. The theoretical bond lengths and angles for the NiL2 complex were obtained by using the B3LYP level of density function theory (DFT) with LANL2DZ/6-311G (d, p) basis sets. These results showed very good agreement with the experimental X-ray values. The electrophilicity index (ω = 50.233 eV) shows that the NiL2 complex is a very strong electrophile. In addition, strong F⋯H/H⋯F interactions with 28.5% of the total Hirshfeld surface analyses in NiL2 were obtained indicating that the complex could bind with protein effectively. Furthermore, the new NiL2 complex was docked with plasma retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) (PDB id: 5NU7), which implied that the NiL2 complex bound to Tyrosine 133 and Aspartate 102 amino acids via N-H intermolecular hydrogen bonds.

In the title compound, C18H12O3S2, synthesized by the Claisen–Schmidt condensation method, the essentially planar chalcone unit adopts an s-cis configuration with respect to the carbonyl group within the ethylenic bridge. In the crystal, weak C—H...π interactions connect the molecules into zigzag chains along the b-axis direction. The molecular structure was optimized geometrically using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP/6–311 G++(d,p) basis set level and compared with the experimental values. Molecular orbital calculations providing electron-density plots of HOMO and LUMO molecular orbitals and molecular electrostatic potentials (MEP) were also computed both with the DFT/B3LYP/6–311 G++(d,p) basis set. The experimental energy gap is 3.18 eV, whereas the theoretical HOMO–LUMO energy gap value is 2.73 eV. Hirshfeld surface analysis was used to further investigate the weak interactions present.

No abstract