title: A chiral rhenium complex with predicted high parity violation effects: synthesis, stereochemical characterization by VCD spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations.
abstract: With their rich electronic, vibrational, rotational and hyperfine structure, molecular systems have the potential to play a decisive role in precision tests of fundamental physics. For example, electroweak nuclear interactions should cause small energy differences between the two enantiomers of chiral molecules, a signature of parity symmetry breaking. Enantioenriched oxorhenium(VII) complexes S-(-)- and R-(+)-3 bearing a chiral 2-methyl-1-thio-propanol ligand have been prepared as potential candidates for probing molecular parity violation effects via high resolution laser spectroscopy of the Re=O stretching. Although the rhenium atom is not a stereogenic centre in itself, experimental vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectra revealed a surrounding chiral environment, evidenced by the Re=O bond stretching mode signal. The calculated VCD spectrum of the R enantiomer confirmed the position of the sulfur atom cis to the methyl, as observed in the solid-state X-ray crystallographic structure, and showed the presence of two conformers of comparable stability. Relativistic quantum chemistry calculations indicate that the vibrational shift between enantiomers due to parity violation is above the target sensitivity of an ultra-high resolution infrared spectroscopy experiment under active preparation.
authors.affiliation: Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes, UMR 6226 CNRS-Université de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, F-35042 Rennes Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Nidal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saleh
authors.forename: Samia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zrig
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Roisnel
authors.forename: Laure
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guy
authors.forename: Radovan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bast
authors.forename: Trond
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saue
authors.forename: Benoît
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Darquié
authors.forename: Jeanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crassous
mesh_terms: D002942:Circular Dichroism; D056831:Coordination Complexes / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D008024:Ligands; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D011789:Quantum Theory; D012211:Rhenium / Q000737:chemistry*; D013237:Stereoisomerism
chemical_list: D056831:Coordination Complexes; D008024:Ligands; D012211:Rhenium