Publications by authors named "Alessandro Bencini"

CO2 adsorption on synthetic zeolites has become a consolidated approach for biogas upgrading to biomethane. As an alternative to synthetic zeolites, tuff waste from building industry was investigated in this study: indeed, this material is available at a low price and contains a high fraction of natural zeolites. A selective adsorption of CO2 and H2S towards CH4 was confirmed, allowing to obtain a high-purity biomethane (CO2 <2 g m(-3), i.

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Density functional calculations have been performed on a [Gd(iii)Cu(ii)] complex [L(1)CuGd(O(2)CCF(3))(3)(C(2)H(5)OH)(2)] () (where L(1) is N,N'-bis(3-ethoxy-salicylidene)-1,2-diamino-2-methylpropanato) with an aim of assessing a suitable functional within the DFT formalism to understand the mechanism of magnetic coupling and also to develop magneto-structural correlations. Encouraging results have been obtained in our studies where the application of B3LYP on the crystal structure of yields a ferromagnetic J value of -5.8 cm(-1) which is in excellent agreement with the experimental value of -4.

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Dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D) calculations, Electron Spin Resonance spectroscopy (EPR), and variable temperature magnetic moment measurements were used to investigate the structure and the electronic/magnetic properties of bispyrazolato-copper(II) coordination polymer and of its hydration product. The Cu(II) ions are antiferromagnetically coupled through the sigma system of the pyrazolate rings in both compounds. Theoretical electron density maps reveal that water molecules interact simultaneously and to a comparable extent with two Cu(II) centers (through the electronegative O end) and two pyrazolate rings (through the partly positively charged H atoms), which is compatible with the observed internuclear distances.

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First principle calculations of the magnetic structure of high nuclearity clusters appears challenging in order to validate fits of magnetic experiments. Density Functional Theory (DFT)-Broken Symmetry approach pair became, in the past few years, the most widely applied computational tool to investigating the chemical-physical properties of complex systems, in particular magnetic molecular compounds. However, the application of the Broken Symmetry formalism requires the knowledge of the energies of 2(N)/2 single Slater determinants, and this task can easily become difficult for large N.

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Lanthanide-organic coordination polymeric networks of [Ln(III)2(suc)3(H2O)2].0.5H2O [suc = succinate dianion, Ln = Pr (1), Nd (2), Sm (3), Eu (4), Gd (5), and Dy (6)] have been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses.

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[Co(Me(4)cyclam)(tropolonate)](PF(6)) was synthesised and structurally characterised. Its electronic and W-band EPR spectra have been analysed by means of the angular overlap calculation of the Spin Hamiltonian parameters that provided also a satisfactory reproduction of the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility. The present results can be interpreted assuming a pseudo-octahedral character for the Co(II) center.

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W-Band EPR spectra of [[HC(CMeNAr)(2)]Mn](2) (Ar = 2,6-(i)Pr(2)C(6)H(3)) have been measured at different temperatures. The spectra show a behavior which is typical for an antiferromagnetically coupled dimer with excited states populating upon increasing temperature. By following the intensity variation of the different features of the spectra with temperature, we attributed different groups of resonances to the S = 1, 2, and 3 states of the dimer.

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This paper reports on the synthesis, X-ray structure, magnetic properties, and DFT calculations of [[HC(CMeNAr)2]Mn]2 (Ar = 2,6-iPr2C6H3) (2), the first complex with three-coordinate manganese(I). Reduction of the iodide [[HC(CMeNAr)2]Mn(mu-I)]2 (1) with Na/K in toluene afforded 2 as dark-red crystals. The molecule of 2 contains a Mn2(2+) core with a Mn-Mn bond.

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The spectroscopic and magnetic properties of dioxolene complexes of zinc, copper and nickel were studied by DFT calculations on model complexes of formulas [(NH(3))(4)M(II)(SQ)](+) (M=Zn, Ni; SQ=semiquinonato) and [(NH(3))(2)Cu(II)(SQ)](+). Standard approaches such as time-dependent DFT (TDDFT), the Slater transition state (STS), and broken symmetry (BS) were found to be unable to completely account for the physical properties of the systems, and complete active space-configuration interaction (CAS-CI) calculations based on the Kohn-Sham (KS) orbitals was applied. The CAS-CI energies, properly corrected with multireference perturbation theory (MR-PT), were found to be in good agreement with experimental data.

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The compound bis(di-micro-ethoxo-bis(3,5-di-tert-butylsemiquinonato)dicopper(II)) has been synthesized and its structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The compound crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group C2/c, with a = 37.736(8) A, b = 9.

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The catalytic mechanism of intra and extra catechol cleaving dioxygenases is still a matter of debate, because the intermediate transient oxygen adduct has never been isolated in these enzymes. The complex [(triphos)Ir(dtbc)](+) (triphos=MeC(CH(2)PPh(2))(3), DBTC(2-)=3,5-di-tert-butylcatecholate), reacts with molecular oxygen and exhibits a ring-cleaving catalytic activity, and a stable oxygen intermediate appears; this stimulates an opportunity for obtaining information that can be transferable to the above-mentioned enzymatic catalytic centers, therefore, giving a breakthrough into the strategy of oxygen activation in these natural systems. Here, we present the results of our computational approach, based on density functional theory, focusing on the following aspects: to explain the interaction with molecular oxygen and how to avoid the existing spin problem, to understand the formation of the bridging moiety, to clarify, if any, the possible influence on the structure of the formed adduct of the bidentate versus monodentate binding of the catechol ligand, and to disclose, eventually, the nature of final decomposition products with the aim to rationalize the intra versus extra cleavage of the catechol molecule itself.

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Density functional theory (DFT) was applied to describe the magnetic and electron-transfer properties of dinuclear systems containing the [MnO2Mn]n+ core, with n=0,1,2,3,4. The calculation of the potential energy surfaces (PESs) of the mixed-valence species (n=1,3) allowed the classification of these systems according to the extent of valence localization as Class II compounds, in the Robin-Day classification scheme. The fundamental frequencies corresponding to the asymmetric breathing vibration were also computed.

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The ground state electronic structure of the mixed-valence systems [Ni(2)(napy)(4)X(2)](BPh(4)) (napy=1,8-naphthyridine; X=Cl, Br, I) was studied with combined experimental (X-ray diffraction, temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility, and high-field EPR spectroscopy) and theoretical (DFT) methods. The zero-field splitting (zfs) ground S=3/2 spin state is axial with /D/ approximately 3 cm(-1). The iodide derivative was found to be isostructural with the previously reported bromide complex, but not isomorphous.

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The magnetic exchange interactions in copper(II) &mgr;(2)-azido bridged complexes have been studied using several density functionals and both GTO and STO basis sets. From a methodological point of view, we have taken into proper account nonorthogonality effects in the framework of the broken symmetry approach. A remarkable agreement with experimental data has been obtained using the crystallographic geometry and the new MPW1PW functional.

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The electronic structures of Ti(CatNSQ)(2) and Sn(CatNSQ)(2), where CatNSQ(2)(-) is the tridentate radical ligand (3,5-di-tert-butyl-1,2-semiquinonato 1(2-hydroxy-3,5-di-tert-butyl-phenyl)immine), were investigated with density functional (DF) calculations, using the local approximation for the exchange-correlation functional. The crystal structure of Sn(CatNSQ)(2) was solved. The complex crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group, C222(1), with Z = 8 in a unit cell of the following dimensions: a = 19.

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Solutions containing Zn(II) and Cu(II) complexes with [15]aneN(3)O(2) rapidly adsorb atmospheric CO(2) to give {[ZnL](3)(&mgr;(3)-CO(3))}.(ClO(4))(4) (2) and {[CuL](3)(&mgr;(3)-CO(3))}.(ClO(4))(4) (4) complexes.

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