Publications by authors named "Humbel S"

The phosphinito-phosphinous acid ligand (PAP) is a singular bidentate-like self-assembled ligand exhibiting dissymmetric but interchangeable electronic properties. This unusual structure has been used for the generation of active palladium hydride through alcohol oxidation. In this paper, we report the first theoretical highlight of the adaptative modulation ability of this ligand within a direct H-abstraction path for Pd and Pt catalyzed alcohol oxidation.

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Enantioselective construction of small molecules displaying a configurationally stable helical shape built on a fused-tetracyclic core is a daunting synthetic challenge even more pronounced when five-membered rings are incorporated in the structure. The resulting higher configurational lability strongly hampers their access, and therefore the development of new efficient methodologies is timely and highly desirable. In this context, we describe a padlocking approach the enantioselective organocatalytic domino furannulation of appropriately designed achiral fused-tricyclic precursors resulting in the synthesis of configurationally locked helically chiral tetracyclic scaffolds featuring one or two five-membered rings with the simultaneous control of central and helical chiralities.

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Wave function methods are employed to analyze the ground and low-lying excited states of bipyramid trigonal copper(II) superoxido complexes, up to their characteristic ligand to metal charge transfer band. Several multireference methods have been combined to provide new insights into the interpretation of their experimental absorption spectra. We show that the intraligand transition on the dioxygen leads to a dark state.

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The concept of atropisomeric N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-metal complexes was extended to NHCs possessing a -symmetry and implemented to prepare palladium-based complexes. An in-depth study of the NHC precursors and the screening of various NHC ligands enabled us to circumvent the issue associated with the formation of complexes. A set of 8 atropisomeric NHC-palladium complexes were prepared and then obtained with high enantiopurities, thanks to an efficient resolution by chiral HPLC at the preparative scale.

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A set of 16 chiral ruthenium complexes containing atropisomerically stable N-Heterocyclic Carbene (NHC) ligands was synthesized from prochiral NHC precursors. After a rapid screening in asymmetric ring-opening-cross metathesis (AROCM), the most effective chiral BIAN-NHC Ru-catalyst (up to 97 : 3 er) was then converted to a Z-selective catechodithiolate complex. The latter proved to be highly efficient in Z-selective AROCM of exo-norbornenes affording valuable trans-cyclopentanes with excellent Z-selectivity (>98 %) and high enantioselectivity (up to 96.

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Accurate singlet-triplet energy differences for cobalt and rhodium complexes were calculated by using several wave function methods, such as MRCISD, CASPT2, CCSD(T) and BCCD(T). Relaxed energy differences were obtained by considering the singlet and triplet complexes, each at the minimum of their potential energy surfaces. Active spaces for multireference calculations were carefully checked to provide accurate results.

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Background: Renal tubular acidosis (RTA) is an extremely rare cause of metabolic acidosis (10 in 100,000). RTA has been linked neither to pregnancy nor to severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The purpose of this study was to analyze the prevalence and clinical course of normal anion gap metabolic acidosis in critically ill pregnant COVID-19 patients and to compare them to an age-matched nonpregnant female patient cohort.

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Valence bond (VB) wave functions are studied from the density point of view. The density is plotted as a difference with the quasi-state built on the same orbitals. The densities of the components of the VB wave function are also shown.

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Article Synopsis
  • A new microplate method has been developed to measure nickel (Ni) ions in natural water samples using a specially synthesized fluorescent sensor that shows a specific reduction in fluorescence when interacting with Ni.
  • Theoretical calculations confirmed that a complex forms between nickel and the sensor, resulting in noticeable changes in the fluorescence properties.
  • This fast and efficient procedure allows for quantifying nickel concentrations from 1.6 to 40 µg/L, achieving a detection limit of 5.4 µg/L, making it effective for analyzing natural water without needing lengthy sample preparation.
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  • The study involves creating chiral transition metal complexes using achiral imidazolinium salts and various metals like palladium and gold, which leads to a unique axial chirality in these compounds.
  • These complexes are stabilized by metal-carbene bonds, allowing for the effective separation of enantiomers through high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), achieving over 99% enantiopurity.
  • The research also indicates that while the stability of these complexes varies based on their structure and the metal used, it does not directly determine their effectiveness in inducing enantioselectivity in certain chemical reactions.
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An expedient synthesis of a new family of configurationally stable dioxa[6]helicenes was established using a sequential helicoselective organocatalyzed heteroannulation/eliminative aromatization via enantioenriched fused 2-nitro dihydrofurans featuring both central and helical chiralities. Starting from simple achiral precursors, a broad range of these previously unknown chiral heterocyclic scaffolds were obtained with good efficiency, and their aromatization proceeded with very high enantiopurity retention in most cases.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers developed optically pure transition metal complexes using symmetric N-heterocyclic carbene ligands from prochiral precursors.
  • The complexes exhibited stable chirality, achieving high optical purity (up to 99.5% ee) through a specialized purification process.
  • The study highlighted a novel mechanism of carbene transfer between metals while maintaining stereochemistry, demonstrating the complexes’ effectiveness in asymmetric catalysis with up to 98% ee.
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The A ground and the first B excited states of the methylenecyclopropene (triafulvene) are described by localized wave functions, based on 20 structures valence bond structures. The results are compared to CASSCF(4,4) calculations for both the energetics and the dipole moment. Additional calculations with partial electronic delocalization are presented, and it is shown that the dipole moment modification does not correspond to a situation where the antiaromatic situation prevails (with 4n electrons in the cycle).

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A method is proposed to obtain coefficients and weights of valence bond (VB) determinants from multi configurational wave functions. This reading of the wave functions can apply to ground states as well as excited states. The method is based on projection operators.

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Carbocations can appear as transient species, for instance, in elimination reactions and various rearrangements. Hyperconjugation (or conjugation) can then stabilize the cationic character and form a partial π bond. The effect of the electronic delocalization from strained substituents to a carbocation part was calculated.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study analyzes the geometry of ethyl cation and evaluates hyperconjugation effects in carbocations using advanced quantum chemistry methods (B3LYP/6-311G(d)).
  • Hyperconjugation is described as the energy gained from delocalizing electrons onto a positively charged carbon atom, compared between standard and localized calculations.
  • The research assesses hyperconjugation for 18 different carbocations, exploring their stabilization effects, and finds that in some instances, hyperconjugation can contribute energy levels comparable to conjugation effects.
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A sample pretreatment was evaluated to enable the production of intact cationic species of synthetic polymers holding a labile end-group using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry. More specifically, polymers obtained by nitroxide-mediated polymerization involving the MAMA-SG1 alkoxyamine were stirred for a few hours in trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) to induce the substitution of a tert-butyl group on the nitrogen of nitroxide end-group by a hydrogen atom. Nuclear magnetic resonance, electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry, and theoretical calculations were combined to scrutinize this sample pretreatment from both mechanistic and energetic points of view.

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Interactions of gold(I) catalysts with alkenes and alkynes are analyzed. Neutral chlorido, and cationic phosphine and N-heterocyclic carbene complexes are studied. High-level ab initio calculations are performed to benchmark the accuracy of popular DFT methods.

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Ammonium adducts of trimethylsilyl-terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) (CH(3)-PDMS) produced by electrospray ionization were submitted to collision induced dissociation and revealed a particular MS/MS behavior: the same three main product ions at m/z 221, 295, and 369 were always generated in very similar relative abundances regardless of the size of the precursor ion. Combining accurate mass measurements and ab initio calculation allowed very stable cyclic geometries to be obtained for these ionic species. Dissociation mechanisms were proposed to account for the three targeted ions to be readily generated in a two-step or a three-step reaction from any CH(3)-PDMS ammonium adducts.

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Article Synopsis
  • The text discusses a study on the two-dimensional polymerization of 1,4-benzene diboronic acid molecules on the Ag(111) surface, resulting in a covalent organic framework.
  • The study evaluates the free enthalpy, considering the constraints from molecular adsorption on the surface, and uses DFT calculations to derive thermodynamic functions like enthalpies, entropies, and free enthalpies.
  • The effects of entropy from the surface are highlighted as significant for the polymerization free energy, and a germination threshold for the process has been identified.
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Lewis super-acids, like Sn(OTf)(4) or In(OTf)(3), OTf = CF(3)SO(3)(-), are efficient catalysts for cycloisomerization reactions. We report here a study on the coordination of ligands (or of solvent molecules) around such catalysts at density functional theory level. Using the Sn-based compound as an example, we consider the interaction with several molecules, usually nearby in reaction conditions.

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A new approach to extract the coefficients and weights of Lewis structures from the Hückel wave function is designed: Hückel-Lewis projection (HL-P). The weights are obtained by projection on overlapping Lewis structures. This straightforward alternative to ab initio approaches is detailed and used on typical cases, including acrolein, allyl radical, pyrrole-like systems, and imidazolylidene.

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A recent valence bond scheme based on Lewis structures, the valence bond BOND (VBB) method (BOND: Breathing Orbitals Naturally Delocalized) method (Linares, M.; Braida, B.; Humbel, S.

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