Description: This article discusses Abraham model correlations for solute partitioning into o-xylene, m-xylene and p-xylene from both water and the gas phase. Abstract: Experimental data have been compiled from the publisher literature on the partition coefficients of solutes and vapors into o-xylene, m-xylene and p-xylene at 298 K. The logarithms of the water-to-xylene partition coefficients, log P, and gas-to-xylene partition coefficients, log K, were correlated with the Abraham solvation parameter model. The derived mathematical expressions described the observed log P and log K data for the three xylene isomers to within average deviations of 0.14 log units or less.

Description: This article discusses the activation of water on the TiO2 (110) surface. Abstract: Using first-principles calculations the authors have studied the reactions of water over Ti adatoms on the (110) surface of rutile TiO2. The authors' results provide fundamental insights into the microscopic mechanisms that drive this reaction at the atomic level and assess the possibility of using this system to activate the water dissociation reaction. In particular, the authors show that a single water molecule dissociates exothermically with a small energy barrier of 0.17 eV. After dissociation, both H⁺ and OH⁻ ions bind strongly to the Ti adatom, which serves as an effective reactive center on the TiO2 surface. Finally, clustering of Ti adatoms does not improve the redox activity of the system and results in a slightly higher energy barrier for water dissociation.

Description: This article discusses the biological and toxicological activity of gases and vapors. Abstract: A large amount of data on the biological and toxicological activity of gases and vapors has been collected from the literature. Processes include sensory irritation thresholds, the Alarie mouse test, inhalation anasthesia, etc. It is shown that a single equation using only five descriptors (properties of the gases and vapors) plus a set of indicator variables for the given processes can correlate 643 biological and non-lethal toxicological activities of 'non-reactive' compounds with a standard deviation of 0.36 log unit. The equation is scaled to sensory irritation thresholds obtained by the procedure of Cometto-Muñiz, and Cain, and provides a general equation for the prediction of sensory irritation thresholds in man. It is suggested that differences in biological/toxicological activity arise primarily from transport from the gas phase to a receptor phase or area, except for odor detection thresholds where interaction with a receptor(s) is important.

Description: This article discusses ground states. Abstract: B3LYP, CCSD(T), and CASPT2 calculations with the 6-311+G(2df) basis set have been performed on the radical anion and radical cation of cyclobutanetetraone (1). The very similar energies computed for the 2B1g and 2A2u states of both 1·+ and 1·- indicate that the singly occupied b1g and a2u MOs in these two states of the radical cation and anion have nearly the same energies, thus supporting the previously made prediction that neutral 1 has a 3B2u ground state. Reaction of squaric acid with O.(-), followed by negative ion photoelectron spectroscopy (NIPES) on the 1.(-) thus formed, is proposed as an experimental test of the startling prediction that tetraketone (1), a molecule that would be expected to be a closed-shell singlet, actually has a triplet ground state.

Description: This article discusses a computational study on the impact of metal identity. Abstract: Metal-mediated formation of C-O bonds is an important transformation that can occur by a variety of mechanisms. Recent studies suggest that oxygen-atom insertion into metal-hydrocarbyl bonds in a reaction that resembles the Baeyer-Villiger transformation is a viable process. In an effort to identify promising new systems, this study is designed to assess the impact of metal identity on such O-atom insertions for the reaction [(bpy)ₓM(Me)(OOH)]ⁿ → [(bpy)ₓM(OMe)(OH)]ⁿ (x = 1 or 2; bpy = 2,2'-bipyridyl; n is varied to maintain the d-electron count at d⁶ or d⁸). Six d⁸-square-planar complexes (M = Ptᴵᴵ, Pdᴵᴵ, Niᴵᴵ, Irᴵ, Rhᴵ, and Coᴵ) and eight d⁶-octahedral systems (M = Irᴵᴵᴵ, Rhᴵᴵᴵ, Coᴵᴵᴵ, Feᴵᴵ, Ruᴵᴵ, Osᴵᴵ, Mnᴵ, and Tcᴵ) are studied. Using density functional theory calculations, the structures and energies of ground-state and transition-state species are elucidated. This study shows clear trends in calculated ∆G‡'s for the O-atom insertions. The organometallic Baeyer-Villiger insertions are favored by lower coordination numbers (x = 1 versus x = 2), earlier transition metals, and first-row (3d) transition metals.