Recent computational studies of C-H bond activation at late transition metal systems are discussed and processes where lone pair assistance via heteroatom co-ligands or carboxylates are highlighted as a particularly promising means of cleaving C-H bonds. The term 'ambiphilic metal ligand activation' (AMLA) is introduced to describe such reactions.

A salt-elimination reaction between the neodymium monoiodide [Nd(L')(N'')(I)](2) [L' = Bu(t)NCH(2)CH(2){C(NCSiMe(3)CHNBu(t))}; N'' = N(SiMe(3))(2)] and K[FeCp(CO)(2)] affords the first complex with an unsupported 4f-3d metal-metal bond that is sufficiently stable to be isolated; the bond is identified as principally ionic in nature by DFT calculations.

A variety of homonuclear and heteronuclear transition metal carbonyl clusters have been analyzed by ultraviolet laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The spectra were recorded in negative and positive ion modes, using both linear and reflective techniques. A range of different clusters based on different nuclearities, geometries, and ligand types, which include hydrides,...

We report on the strong field ionization of small transition metal clusters (nickel, Ni(n) n=1-36) within the quasistatic regime at an infrared wavelength of 1.5 microm and at intensities up to 2 x 10(14) W/cm(2). From ion yields in a constant axial intensity beam, we obtained saturation intensities for the individual Ni(n) clusters. As compared to quasistatic, single active electron calculatio...

In the last few years, transition metal-mediated reactions have joined the toolbox of chemists working in the field of fluorination for Life-Science oriented research. The successful execution of transition metal-catalyzed carbon-fluorine bond formation has become a landmark achievement in fluorine chemistry. This rapidly growing research field has been the subject of some excellent reviews. Ou...

A new thiacalix[4]arene-cinnamaldehyde derivative 3, which undergoes red shift in the fluorescence spectrum in the presence of Ag(+) ions, has been synthesized. This emission shift is attributed to the intramolecular charge transfer process in the presence of Ag(+) ions with a detection limit in the nanomolar range.

The charge density wave (CDW) is usually associated with Fermi surfaces nesting. We here report a new CDW mechanism discovered in a 2H-structured transition metal dichalcogenide, where the two essential ingredients of the CDW are realized in very anomalous ways due to the strong-coupling nature of the electronic structure. Namely, the CDW gap is only partially open, and charge density wave vect...

In complexes of the transition metals containing clusters of metal atoms the cobalt-cobalt bond lengths are almost always within 1 pm of the single-bond value 246 pm given by the enneacovalent radius of cobalt, whereas most of the observed iron-iron bond lengths are significantly larger than the single-bond value 248 pm, the mean being 264 pm, which corresponds to a half-bond. A simple discussi...

Theoretically, it has been known that breaking spin degeneracy and effectively realizing spinless fermions is a promising path to topological superconductors. Yet, topological superconductors are rare to date. Here we propose to realize spinless fermions by splitting the spin degeneracy in momentum space. Specifically, we identify monolayer hole-doped transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD)s as c...

Copper(i) N-heterocyclic carbene (CuNHC) complexes are more catalytically active than traditional transition metal salts for the cyclopropenation of internal alkynylsilanes and diazoacetate compounds. A series of 1,2,3-trisubstituted and 1,2,3,3-tetrasubstituted cyclopropenylsilane compounds were isolated in good overall yields. An interesting regioselective and chemodivergent reaction pathway ...