Publications by authors named "Melanie Thaler"

Fish are some of the most threatened vertebrates in the world due to their often-sensitive response to environmental changes. Major land-use changes in the European Alps have direct and indirect impacts on fish communities, and these impacts are expected to increase in the future. Therefore, the identification of factors that are associated with the distribution of fish communities is of great importance to develop guidelines for management, precautions and sustainable use of running waters.

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Herein we present the first solid-state structures of tetraiododiborane(4) (B I ), which was long believed to exist in all phases as discrete molecules with planar, tricoordinate boron atoms, like the lighter tetrahalodiboranes(4) B F , B Cl , and B Br . Single-crystal X-ray diffraction, solid-state NMR, and IR measurements indicate that B I in fact exists as two different polymeric forms in the solid state, both of which feature boron atoms in tetrahedral environments. DFT calculations are used to simulate the IR spectra of the solution and solid-state structures, and these are compared with the experimental spectra.

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A series of 22 new bis(phosphine), bis(carbene), and bis(isonitrile) tetrahalodiborane adducts has been synthesized, either by direct adduct formation with highly sensitive B X precursors (X=Cl, Br, I) or by ligand exchange at stable B X (SMe ) precursors (X=Cl, Br) with labile dimethylsulfide ligands. The isolated compounds have been fully characterized using NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and, for 20 of these compounds, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, revealing an unexpected variation in the bonding motifs. In addition to the classical B X L diborane(4) bis-adducts, certain more sterically demanding carbene ligands induce a halide displacement which led to the first halide-bridged monocationic diboron species, [B X L ]A (A=BCl , Br, I).

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The lability of B=B, B-P, and B-halide bonds is combined in the syntheses of the first diiododiborenes. In a series of reactivity tests, these diiododiborenes undergo cleavage of all six of their central bonds in different ways, leading to products of B=B hydrogenation and dihalogenation as well as halide exchange.

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A family of doubly isonitrile-stabilized terphenyl borylenes could be obtained by addition of three equivalents of isonitrile to the corresponding Cr and W terminal terphenyl-borylene complexes. The mechanism of isonitrile- and carbon-monoxide-induced borylene liberation was investigated computationally and found to be significantly exergonic in both cases. Furthermore, addition of a small N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) to a terminal Cr borylene complex results in release of an NHC-stabilized borylene carbonyl species, whereas the analogous reaction with bulkier phosphines results in metal-centered substitution.

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