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1. The 9‐Borataphenanthrene Anion

   https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202002125  

   Bartholome, Tyler A.; Kaur, Aishvaryadeep; Wilson, David J. D.; Dutton, Jason L.; Martin, Caleb D. (May 2020, Angewandte Chemie International Edition)

   Abstract The 9‐borataphenanthrene anion is easily accessed by deprotonation of a 9,10‐dihydro‐9‐boraphenanthrene and its diverse reactivity is investigated. Alkylation occurs at the carbon atom adjacent to boron, and room temperature hydroboration occurs across the B=C bond. The π‐manifold of the central BC₅ring coordinates to chromium in an η⁶fashion while only the B=C unit binds η²to gold, indicating versatility of the 9‐borataphenanthrene anion as a ligand. Supporting calculations rationalize the reactivity and aromaticity is corroborated by nucleus‐independent chemical shift (NICS) indices. 

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2. Resonance-assisted intramolecular triel bonds

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CP01244H  

   Liu, Na; Li, Qingzhong; Scheiner, Steve; Xie, Xiaoying (June 2022, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics)

   The possibility that the intramolecular Tr⋯S triel bond is strengthened by resonance is examined by quantum chemical calculations within the planar five-membered ring of TrH 2 –CRCR–CRS (Tr = Al, Ga, In; R = NO 2 , CH 3 ). This internal bond is found to be rather short (2.4–2.7 Å) with a large bond energy between 12 and 21 kcal mol −1 . The pattern of bond length alternation and atomic charges within the ring is consistent with resonance involving the conjugated double bonds. This resonance enhances the triel bond strength by some 25%. The electron-withdrawing NO 2 group weakens the bond, but it is strengthened by the electron-donating CH 3 substituent. NICS analysis suggests the presence of a certain degree of aromaticity within the ring. 

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3. The location of the chemical bond. Application of long covalent bond theory to the structure of silica

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2023.1123322  

   Miller, Stephen A. (February 2023, Frontiers in Chemistry)

   Oxygen is the most abundant terrestrial element and is found in a variety of materials, but still wanting is a universal theory for the stability and structural organization it confers. Herein, a computational molecular orbital analysis elucidates the structure, stability, and cooperative bonding of α-quartz silica (SiO 2 ). Despite geminal oxygen-oxygen distances of 2.61–2.64 Å, silica model complexes exhibit anomalously large O-O bond orders (Mulliken, Wiberg, Mayer) that increase with increasing cluster size—as the silicon-oxygen bond orders decrease. The average O-O bond order in bulk silica computes to 0.47 while that for Si-O computes to 0.64. Thereby, for each silicate tetrahedron, the six O-O bonds employ 52% (5.61 electrons) of the valence electrons, while the four Si-O bonds employ 48% (5.12 electrons), rendering the O-O bond the most abundant bond in the Earth’s crust. The isodesmic deconstruction of silica clusters reveals cooperative O-O bonding with an O-O bond dissociation energy of 4.4 kcal/mol. These unorthodox, long covalent bonds are rationalized by an excess of O 2 p –O 2 p bonding versus anti-bonding interactions within the valence molecular orbitals of the SiO 4 unit (48 vs. 24) and the Si 6 O 6 ring (90 vs. 18). Within quartz silica, oxygen 2 p orbitals contort and organize to avoid molecular orbital nodes, inducing the chirality of silica and resulting in Möbius aromatic Si 6 O 6 rings, the most prevalent form of aromaticity on Earth. This long covalent bond theory (LCBT) relocates one-third of Earth’s valence electrons and indicates that non-canonical O-O bonds play a subtle, but crucial role in the structure and stability of Earth’s most abundant material. 

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4. Aromaticity versus regioisomeric effect of β-substituents in porphyrinoids

   https://doi.org/10.1039/C9CP01177C  

   Yao, Yuhang; Rao, Yu; Liu, Yiwei; Jiang, Liang; Xiong, Jin; Fan, Ying-Jie; Shen, Zhen; Sessler, Jonathan L.; Zhang, Jun-Long (May 2019, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics)

   The photophysical properties of naturally occurring chlorophylls depend on the regioisomeric nature of the β-pyrrolic substituents. Such systems are the “gold standard” by which such effects are judged. However, simple extrapolations from what has been learned with chlorophylls may not be appropriate for other partially reduced porphyrinoids. Here we report the synthesis of a series of cis / trans -porphodilactones ( cis / trans -1) and related derivatives ( cis / trans 2–5) designed to probe the effect of regioisomeric substitution in porphyrinoids that incorporate degrees of unsaturation through the β-pyrrolic periphery that exceed those of chlorophyll. These test systems were obtained through β-pyrrolic modifications of the tetrapyrrolic core, which included reduction of β-diazalone to the corresponding dilactol moieties and 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions. In the case of cis - vs. trans -3 bearing two pyrrolidine-fused β-rings we found an unprecedented Δ Q L up to ca. 71 nm (2086 cm −1 ), where Δ Q L ( Q L means the lowest energy transfer band, also the S 0 → S 1 transition band, which is often assigned as Q y (0,0) band) refers to the transition energy difference between the corresponding cis / trans -isomers. The Δ Q L values for these and other systems reported here were found to depend on the differences in the HOMO–LUMO energy gap and to be tied to the degeneracy and energy level splitting of the FMOs, as inferred from a combination of MCD spectral studies and DFT calculations. The aromaticity, estimated from the chemical shifts of the N–H protons and supported by theoretical calculations ( e.g. , AICD plots and NICS(1) values), was found to correlate with the extent of porphyrin periphery saturation resulting from the specific β-modifications. The aromaticity proved inversely proportional to the degree to which the regioisomerism affected the photophysical properties as noted from plots of Δ Q L s in cm −1 vs. the average NICS(1) values for 1–5. Such a finding is not something that can be easily interpolated from prior work and thus reveals how aromaticity may be used to fine-tune photophysical effects in reduced porphyrinoids. 

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5. Anions Formed by Perchlorofluorobenzenes C ₆ Cl _n F _6–n ( n = 0–6)

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.4c04359  

   Sommerfeld, Thomas (September 2024, The Journal of Physical Chemistry A)

   Anions formed by the perhalobenzene series C$$_6$$Cl$$_{n}$$F$$_{6-n}$$ ($n=0-6$) are studied computationally. All members of the series form both stable valence and stable non-valence anions. At the geometry of the neutral parents, only non-valence anions are bound, and the respective vertical electron affinities show values in the $20$ to $60$meV range. Valence anions show distorted non-planar structures, and one can distinguish two types of conformers. A-type conformers show puckered-ring structures and excess electrons delocalized over several C-Cl bonds [in case of C$$_6$$F$$_6^-$$, C-F bonds], while B-type conformers possess excess electrons essentially localized in a single C-Cl bond, which is accordingly strongly stretched and bent out-of-plane. For a specific anion, all conformers are close in energy (relative energies of less than $10$kJ/mol) and are connected by low-lying transition states. Accordingly, A-type and B-type conformers possess similar adiabatic electron affinities, however, their vertical detachment energies exhibit drastically different values, which should ease conformer distinction in photoelectron spectroscopy. 

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