Acta Chimica Slovaca (ACS) publishes papers on fundamental and applied aspects of chemistry, biochemistry, chemical technology, chemical engineering and process control, biotechnology and food technology. Welcome are also topics which include chemical aspects of materials, physical chemistry and chemical physics, analytical chemistry, macromolecular chemistry and biomedical engineering.

Dimethyl sulfoxide as a strongly coordinating solvent: 3´,4´-dihydroxyflavone-Cu(II)-DMSO system case study

Miriama Šimunková *, Michal Malček

Institute of Physical Chemistry and Chemical Physics, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Radlinského 9, SK-812 37 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

E-mail: * miriama.simunkova@stuba.sk

Abstract: Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is an aprotic organic solvent widely used in laboratory practice due to its ability to dissolve both polar and nonpolar compounds. However, DMSO is also commonly known as a strongly coordinating solvent, especially towards transition metal containing complexes. In this study, estimation of the coordination ability of DMSO towards the Cu(II) ion was attempted, employing a model system composed of 3´,4´-dihydroxyflavone-Cu(II) complex in the presence of explicit DMSO molecules, using the density functional theory (DFT). Nature of the Cu-DMSO chemical interaction (i.e. Cu-O bonding) was studied within the framework of quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM). Impact of DMSO coordination on the charge and spin distribution at Cu(II) ion was inspected using Mulliken population and QTAIM analysis.

Keywords: coordination chemistry, density Functional Theory, DMSO, QTAIM analysis, solvent effect

Acta Chimica Slovaca, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2020, pp. 38—48, DOI: 10.2478/acs-2020-0022