Oxygen, sulfur, selenium, tellurium and polonium

Abstract

This Chapter reviews the 2011 literature regarding the Group 16 elements, with an emphasis on new structures, synthesis, reactivity, new chalcogenide materials and their properties. HighlightsHighlights include the oxygen isotopic distribution of the Sun, dithiolene ligands, the mechanism of phase transition of Sb 2 Te 3 -GeTe, the phase changes of elemental Po, hydrogen evolution photo-catalysed by (Z-MeC 5 H 4 )Mo 3 S 4 clusters on silicon. Elemental chalcogens and chalcogenidesElements Isotopic measurements of captured solar wind revealed that, compared to Earth, the Sun is highly enriched in 16 O. 1 The F À affinity of O 2 was estimated (CCSD(T)/CBS) to be 1.6 kcal mol À1 . 2 Elemental sulfur was used as a new medium to synthesise gold nanoparticles, which enhances the mechanical properties of the dispersion. 3 A combination of grazing incidence inelastic X-ray scattering and calculations (ab initio/semiempirical) provided a structural model of the top 5 nm of amorphous selenium in which a high concentration of coordination defects at the surface explains the differences in vibrational dynamics with the bulk. 4 DFT calculations predict a transition of Po from the cubic structure to a mixture of two trigonal phases near 2 GPa. 5 Large-scale atomic calculations for the electronic factor F and specific mass shift M SMS successfully reproduced in-source resonant ionisation spectroscopic measurements for the polonium isotopes from 192 Po to 218 Po. 6 OxidesOxygen deficiency in RbO 2 enables order-disorder transitions based on the orientation of the anions; in RbO 1.72 , the changes result in short-range ferromagnetic ordering below 50 K. 7 Computational studies (B3LYP/6-311++G and MP2/6-311++G