The Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) hard X-ray transient monitor provides near real-time coverage of the X-ray sky in the energy range 15-50 keV. The BAT observes 88% of the sky each day with a detection sensitivity of 5.3 mCrab for a full-day observation and a time resolution as fine as 64 s. The three main purposes of the monitor are (1) the discovery of new transient X-ray sources, (2) the detection of outbursts or other changes in the flux of known X-ray sources, and (3) the generation of light curves of more than 900 sources spanning over eight years. The primary interface for the BAT transient monitor is a public Web site. Between 2005 February 12 and 2013 April 30, 245 sources have been detected in the monitor, 146 of them persistent and 99 detected only in outburst. Among these sources, 17 were previously unknown and were discovered in the transient monitor. In this paper, we discuss the methodology and the data processing and filtering for the BAT transient monitor and review its sensitivity and exposure. We provide a summary of the source detections and classify them according to the variability of their light curves. Finally, we review all new BAT monitor discoveries. For the new sources that are previously unpublished, we present basic data analysis and interpretations.

In order to elucidate the influence of the bridging chalcogen atoms in hydrogenase model complexes, diiron dithiolato, diselenolato, and ditellurolato complexes have been prepared and characterized. Treatment of Fe3(CO)12 with 3,3-bis(thiocyanatomethyl)oxetane (1) or a mixture of 2-oxa-6,7-dithiaspiro[3.4]octane (2a) and 2-oxa-6,7,8-trithiaspiro[3.5]nonane (2b) in toluene at reflux afforded the model compound Fe2(μ-S2C5H8O)(CO)6 (3). The analogous diselenolato and ditellurolato complexes, Fe2(μ-Se2C5H8O)(CO)6 (4) and Fe2(μ-Te2C5H8O)(CO)6 (5), were obtained from the reaction of Fe3(CO)12 with 2-oxa-6,7-diselenaspiro[3.4]octane (6) and 2-oxa-6,7-ditelluraspiro[3.4]octane (7), respectively. Compounds 3−5 were characterized by spectroscopic techniques (NMR, IR, photoelectron spectroscopy), mass spectrometry, single-crystal X-ray analysis, and computational modeling. The electrochemical properties for the new compounds have been studied to assess their ability to catalyze electrochemical reduction of protons to give dihydrogen, and the catalytic rate is found to decrease on going from the sulfur to selenium to tellurium compounds. In the series 3−5 the reorganization energy on going to the corresponding cation decreased from 3 to 4 to 5. Spectroscopic and computational analysis suggests that the increasing size of the chalcogen atoms from S to Se to Te increases the Fe−Fe distance and decreases the ability of the complex to form the structure with a rotated Fe(CO)3 group that has a bridging carbonyl ligand and a vacant coordination site for protonation. This effect is mirrored on reduction of 3−5 in that the rotated structure with a bridging carbonyl, which creates a vacant coordination site for protonation, is disfavored on going from the S to Se to Te complexes.

A hypothesis concerning asymmetric induction by chiral catalysts is posited, tested, and found to be valid. The hypothesis states that chiral catalysts that are efficient at inducing asymmetry will have their region of maximum stereoinduction spatially congruent with the site of chemistry but inefficient catalysts will not. A simple mapping strategy (stereocartography) is used to assess where the region of maximum stereoinduction is located around a given catalyst. The protocol compares interaction energies between mirror image probes at each point in space around the catalyst being considered. The probes are models of the actual transition states of the reaction being catalyzed by a particular catalyst. The hypothesis was tested on three Diels-Alder reactions. Seventeen of the eighteen catalysts conform to the hypothesis. The idea of using this as a catalyst design tool is presented.

Se{ 1 H} NMR, IR, and photoelectron spectroscopic techniques along with structure determination with single-crystal X-ray diffraction, electrochemical measurements, and DFT calculations. He I photoelectron spectra and DFT computa-

The redox characteristics of (μ-SMe) 2 Fe 2 (CO) 6 from the 1+ to 2− charge states are reported. This [2Fe-2S] compound is related to the active sites of [FeFe]-hydrogenases but notably without a linker between the sulfur atoms. The 1+ charge state was studied both by ionization in the gas phase by photoelectron spectroscopy and by oxidation in the solution phase by cyclic voltammetry. The adiabatic ionization is to a cation whose structure features a semibridging carbonyl, similar to the structure of the active site of [FeFe]-hydrogenases in the same oxidation state. The reduction of the compound by cyclic voltammetry gives an electrochemically irreversible cathodic peak, which often suggests disproportionation or other irreversible chemical processes in this class of molecules. However, the return scan through electrochemically irreversible oxidation peaks that occur at potentials around 1 V more positive than the reduction led to the recovery of the initial neutral compound. The dependence of the CVs on scan rate, IR spectroelectrochemistry of reduction and oxidation cycles, chronocoulometry, and DFT computations indicate a mechanism in which stabilization of the dianion plays a key role. Initial one-electron reduction of the compound is accompanied in the same cathodic peak with a second slower electron reduction to the dianion. Geometric reorganization and solvation stabilize the [2Fe-2S] 2− dianion such that the potential for addition of the second electron is slightly less negative than that of the first (potential inversion). The return oxidation peaks at more positive potentials follow from rapid pairing of the dianion with another neutral molecule in solution (termed homoassociation) to form a stabilized [4Fe-4S] 2− dianion. Two one-electron oxidations of this [4Fe-4S] 2− dianion result in regeneration of the initial neutral compound. The implications of this homoassociation for the [FeFe]-hydrogenase enzyme, in which the H-cluster active site features a [2Fe-2S] site associated with a [4Fe-4S] cubane cluster via a thiolate bridge, are discussed.