Identificador: TDX:847
Autors: López Fernández, Xavier
Resum:
The thesis titled 'Theoretical Study of the Basicity and the Redox Properties of Heteropolyanions' offers complementary information to the scientific community concerned to coordination chemistry with transition metals in general, and particularly to experts in high-nuclearity metal oxide compounds. They are the so-called polyoxometalates (POMs). POM species can encapsulate selectively some ionic species as well as catalyse many organic reactions. They are also environmentally-friendly wood pulp bleaching agents, they work as membranes, sensors, etc. In the close future, they could be successfully applied to medicine since they were tested as antiviral agents. The full list of possible applications is endless. Be that as it may, many groups are working with the aim of exploiting the properties of these metal oxides. Thus, an accurate knowledge of their fundamental properties is necessary if experimentalists are to develop new POM-related technologies.<br/>The great majority of the results presented in the thesis were obtained by means of high-performance quantum-mechanics computational methods. The most amply utilised tool in this study was the method derived from the density function theory. This tool, only recently utilised routinely, has arisen as the preferred one for computing molecular systems of large size as POMs are. The main topics studied in this work are related to the electronic structure of some heteropolyanions (HPAs). They are characterised by possessing two structural types of atoms, a part from oxo ligands: the central and the peripheral atoms. Within this subset of POMs, the two most common structures were studied: the Keggin (XM12O40n) and the WellsDawson (X2M18O62m) anions, and some of their derivatives, as well. Large series of compounds with varying peripheral atoms (also known as addenda), central metals (heteroatoms), isomers and frameworks, so that we traced valuable conclusions, extrapolable to other systems not studied here. This class of POMs features a particular molecular orbitals sequence. Their frontier orbitals were carefully analysed for a wide set of compounds. We especially stressed the connection between the metal orbitals (normally empty) and the redox properties of HPAs. One of the successes of the work was to explain unequivocally and in a general way the trends in the reduction potentials depending on the chemical composition of a given species, as well as the behaviour of metal electrons―(de)localisation. It is worth noting that, in virtually all cases, we found a fair accordance of our results with experimental data.<br/>The second great topic studied in the thesis is the basicity of HPAs. In a compound like XxMmOyn there exist different oxo positions which are not always chemically equivalent. Their basicity might be, then, different. The study carried out for a series of mixed-addenda molecules gives relative basicity scales, estimated from the electrostatic potential function and from protonation energies. It has been showed that the oxo ligands coordinated to two metals are more basic than terminal position, which in general are the least basic. The dimerisation processes in Keggin anions take place, normally, in acidic media. They occur after protonation of the monomers and were investigated for two cases. The goal was to show possible reaction mechanisms for the process.<br/>The theoretical treatment of POMs is still in its initial steps, probably due to the intrinsic difficulties associated to the calculation of such species. They are, from a computational point of view, large molecules. In addition, because they are transition-metal oxides, they are highly charged anions that, sometimes, display open-shell electronic states. The compilation of results of the thesis is a proof that the DFT have been skilfully applpied to the study of POMs.
Repositori URV