A study of strong halogen bonding within three series of halogen-bonded complexes, derived from seven para-substituted pyridine derivatives and three N-halosuccinimides (iodo, bromo and chloro), has been undertaken with the aid of single-crystal diffraction, solution complexation and computational methods. The halogen bond was compared with the hydrogen bond in an equivalent series based on succinimide. The halogen-bond energies are in the range -60 to -20 kJ mol and change regularly with pyridine basicity and the Lewis acidity of the halogen. The halogen-bond energies correlate linearly with the product of charges on the contact atoms, which indicates a predominantly electrostatic interaction. The binding enthalpies in solution are around 19 kJ mol less negative due to solvation effects. The optimised geometries of the complexes in the gas phase are comparable to those of the solid-state structures, and the effects of the supramolecular surroundings in the latter are discussed. The bond energies for the hydrogen-bonded series are intermediate between the halogen-bond energies of iodine and bromine, although there are specific differences in the geometries of the halogen- and hydrogen-bonded complexes.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of FTIR-ATR spectroscopy coupled with the multivariate numerical methodology for qualitative and quantitative analysis of binary and ternary edible oil mixtures. Four pure oils (extra virgin olive oil, high oleic sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, and sunflower oil), as well as their 54 binary and 108 ternary mixtures, were analyzed using FTIR-ATR spectroscopy in combination with principal component and discriminant analysis, partial least-squares, and principal component regression. It was found that the composition of all 166 samples can be excellently represented using only the first three principal components describing 98.29% of total variance in the selected spectral range (3035-2989, 1170-1140, 1120-1100, 1093-1047, and 930-890 cm(-1)). Factor scores in 3D space spanned by these three principal components form a tetrahedral-like arrangement: pure oils being at the vertices, binary mixtures at the edges, and ternary mixtures on the faces of a tetrahedron. To confirm the validity of results, we applied several cross-validation methods. Quantitative analysis was performed by minimization of root-mean-square error of cross-validation values regarding the spectral range, derivative order, and choice of method (partial least-squares or principal component regression), which resulted in excellent predictions for test sets (R(2) > 0.99 in all cases). Additionally, experimentally more demanding gas chromatography analysis of fatty acid content was carried out for all specimens, confirming the results obtained by FTIR-ATR coupled with principal component analysis. However, FTIR-ATR provided a considerably better model for prediction of mixture composition than gas chromatography, especially for high oleic sunflower oil.

Local coupled cluster methods were applied for the automated generation of accurate multidimensional potential energy surfaces for a set of test molecules ranging from six to nine atoms. Based on these surfaces anharmonic fundamental frequencies were computed using vibrational self-consistent field and configuration interaction methods. The computed vibrational frequencies are compared to those obtained from similar calculations using conventional coupled cluster methods and to experimental values. The results from local and conventional methods are found to be of similar accuracy and in close agreement with experimental values. In addition, an efficient parallelization of the fully automated surface generation code is presented.

Harmonic vibrational frequencies are computed using second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) with and without local (LMP2) and density fitting (DF) approximations. Results for a test set of 17 small and medium size molecules (366 normal modes) are presented, and frequency scaling factors for LMP2 in combination with two different basis sets are determined. Comparison of the MP2 and LMP2 frequencies with experimental data reveals that the introduction of local approximations leads to a slightly better agreement with experiment. This is attributed to the reduction of basis set superposition errors in local calculations. Introduction of DF approximations within the LMP2 formalism leads to negligible deviations but significantly reduces the computational cost. These facts extend the applicability of the method to larger systems with large basis sets. As an example, the method is applied to a full DF-LMP2/cc-pVTZ frequency calculation for testosterone (49 atoms).

Vibrational angular momentum terms within the Watson Hamiltonian are often considered negligible or are approximated by the zeroth order term of an expansion of the inverse of the effective moment of inertia tensor. A multimode expansion of this tensor up to second order has been used to study the impact of first and second order terms on the vibrational transitions of N(2)H(2) and HBeH(2)BeH. Comparison with experimental data is provided. The expansion of the tensor can be exploited to introduce efficient prescreening techniques.

The calix[4]arene secondary-amide derivative L was synthesized, and its complexation with alkali-metal cations in acetonitrile (MeCN) was studied by means of spectrophotometric, NMR, conductometric, and microcalorimetric titrations at 25 °C. The stability constants of the 1:1 (metal/ligand) complexes determined by different methods were in excellent agreement. For the complexation of M(+) (M = Li, Na, K) with L, both enthalpic and entropic contributions were favorable, with their values and mutual relations being quite strongly dependent on the cation. The enthalpic and overall stability was the largest in the case of the sodium complex. Molecular and crystal structures of free L, its methanol and MeCN solvates, the sodium complex, and its MeCN solvate were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The inclusion of a MeCN molecule in the calixarene hydrophobic cavity was observed both in solution and in the solid state. This specific interaction was found to be stronger in the case of metal complexes compared to the free ligand because of the better preorganization of the hydrophobic cone to accept the solvent molecule. Density functional theory calculations showed that the flattened cone conformation (C(2) point group) of L was generally more favorable than the square cone conformation (C(4) point group). In the complex with Na(+), L was in square cone conformation, whereas in its adduct with MeCN, the conformation was slightly distorted from the full symmetry. These conformations were in agreement with those observed in the solid state. The classical molecular dynamics simulations indicated that the MeCN molecule enters the L hydrophobic cavity of both the free ligand and its alkali-metal complexes. The inclusion of MeCN in the cone of free L was accompanied by the conformational change from C(2) to C(4) symmetry. As in solution studies, in the case of ML(+) complexes, an allosteric effect was observed: the ligand was already in the appropriate square cone conformation to bind the solvent molecule, allowing it to more easily and faster enter the calixarene cavity.

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