skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Attention:

The NSF Public Access Repository (PAR) system and access will be unavailable from 11:00 PM ET on Friday, July 11 until 2:00 AM ET on Saturday, July 12 due to maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Getahun, Addis"

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. Free, publicly-accessible full text available January 13, 2026
  2. Phosphine oxides and arsine oxides feature highly polarized pnictoryl groups (Pn + –O − /Pn = O; Pn = P, As) and react as Brønsted bases through O-centered lone pairs. We recently reported the first example of a monomeric stibine oxide, Dipp 3 SbO (Dipp = diisopropylphenyl), allowing periodic trends in pnictoryl bonding to be extended to antimony for the first time. Computational studies suggest that, as the pnictogen atom becomes heavier, delocalization of electron density from the O-centered lone pairs to the Pn–C σ* orbitals is attenuated, destabilizing the lone pairs and increasing the donor capacity of the pnictine oxide. Herein, we assess the Brønsted basicity of a series of monomeric pnictine oxides (Dipp 3 PnO; Pn = P, As, and Sb). Stoichiometric reactivity between Dipp 3 PnO and a series of acids demonstrates the greatly enhanced ability of Dipp 3 SbO to accept protons relative to the lighter congeners, consistent with theoretical isodesmic reaction enthalpies and proton affinities. 1 H NMR spectrometric titrations allow for the p K aH,MeCN determination of Dipp 3 AsO and Dipp 3 SbO, revealing a 10 6 -fold increase in Brønsted basicity from Dipp 3 AsO to Dipp 3 SbO. The increased basicity can be exploited in catalysis; Dipp 3 SbO exhibits dramatically increased catalytic efficiency in the Brønsted base-catalyzed transesterification between p -nitrophenyl acetate and 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol. Our results unambiguously confirm the drastic increase in Brønsted basicity from Dipp 3 PO < Dipp 3 AsO < Dipp 3 SbO, a direct consequence of the variation in the electronic structure of the pnictoryl bond as the pnictogen atom increases in atomic number. 
    more » « less