The application of high pressure (hundreds of gigapascals) to materials, besides modifying their properties, changes dramatically their reactivity. Consequently, new compounds are formed, which violate the chemical paradigms known to date. In fact, it was recently discovered (Zhang et al., Science, 2013) that sodium subchlorides (NaxCl, x > 1) become stable at high pressure. In this work, we ca...

I summarize some of the consequences for the optical and very-near-infrared spectra of T dwarfs (in particular) and brown dwarfs (in general) of their possible dominance by the neutral alkali metal lines. As a byproduct of this study, I estimate the true optical color of “brown” dwarfs.

Alkali metal amides typically aggregate in solution and the solid phase, and even in the gas phase. In addition, even in the few known monomeric structures, the coordination number of the alkali metal is raised by binding of Lewis-basic solvent molecules, with concomitant changes in structure. In contrast, the simplest lithium amide LiNH(2) has never been made in a monomeric form, even though i...

The new fadts contained in this paper relate either to the chemical properties of this double fait, or to its ufe as a purgative. It appears that M. Lavoifier united the acid of phofphorus with the foffil alkali, but without having fucceeded in obtaining cryftals from the combination. This compound, he fays, was gummy, gluey, and of the confidence of turpentine, &c. M. Fourcroy confirmed the re...

We show that alkali metals function as effective modifiers of calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) crystallization wherein alkali-oxalate ion parings reduce the rate of crystal growth by as much as 60%. Our findings reveal a distinct trend in alkali metal efficacy that cannot be explained by colloidal theories or simple descriptors, such as ion size, but is consistent with a theoretical model that...

The title salt, [K(C18H36N2O6)][Co(CO)4], is an example of a classical carbonyl-metalate. The asymmetric unit contains one cation and one tetrahedral anion, both in general positions. Based on comparison of the four carbonyl C-O bond lengths and C-Co-C angles, the anion is unperturbed by the cation, which is normal for an alkali metal fully encased by a cryptand cage.

A combined linear-response-frozen electron-density model has been implemented in a molecular-dynamics scheme derived from an extended Lagrangian formalism. This approach is based on a partition of the electronic charge distribution into a frozen region described by Kim-Gordon theory [J. Chem. Phys. 56, 3122 (1972); J. Chem. Phys. 60, 1842 (1974)] and a response contribution determined by the in...

New salicylaldimine nickel complexes, comprising only earth-abundant elements, have been developed for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution in aqueous media. The second-sphere ether functionalities on the periphery of the complexes enhance the electrocatalytic activity in the presence of alkali metal cations. The electrocatalysts demonstrate improved performances especially in the economical and...