title: Theoretical studies on structures, 13C NMR chemical shifts, aromaticity, and chemical reactivity of finite-length open-ended armchair single-walled carbon nanotubes.
abstract: The geometries, chemical shifts, aromaticity, and reactivity of finite-length open-ended armchair single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have been studied within density functional theory. The widely used model of capping hydrogen atoms at the open ends of a SWCNT changes the chemical activity of the SWCNT and destabilizes the frontier molecular orbitals. The edge pi-orbital of the open ends enhances both pi- and sigma-aromaticity of the first belt of hexagons of carbon atoms at the open ends. The effect of the open ends on the structure and chemical reactivity of the SWCNT reaches only the first several layers of the hexagons of carbon atoms. Additions of carbene and dichlorocarbene to the nanotube reveal that the open ends have higher reactivities than the inner regions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada.
authors.forename: Lei Vincent
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wei Quan
authors.initials: WQ
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Ya Kun
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yu Adam
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yan Alexander
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000737:chemistry; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D011789:Quantum Theory
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon