Muonium-substituted organic free radicals in liquids. Isomer distribution and end-of-track radiolytical processes determined from studies of cyclohexadienyl radicals derived from substituted benzenes

Muonium-substituted free radicals are observed by muon spin rotation when positive muons are stopped in liquid substituted benzenes. From muon precession frequencies in high external magnetic fields the isotropic muon-electron hyperfine coupling constants A_μ are determined. 66 radicals are assigned to ortho-, meta- and para-substituted cyclohexadienyl-type radicals. Formally they are produced by addition of the light hydrogen isotope muonium to 24 mono-substituted benzenes. The distribution of muons between radicals and diamagnetic molecules is suggested to be governed by radiolytical processes near the end-of-track of the thermalizing muon.     

Selective Photoelectrochemical Reduction of Aqueous CO2 to CO by Solvated Electrons

Reduction of CO₂ by direct one‐electron activation is extraordinarily difficult because of the ?1.9 V reduction potential of CO₂. Demonstrated herein is reduction of aqueous CO₂ to CO with greater than 90 % product selectivity by direct one‐electron reduction to CO₂^.? by solvated electrons. Illumination of inexpensive diamond substrates with UV light leads to the emission of electrons directly into water, where they form solvated electrons and induce reduction of CO₂ to CO₂^.?. Studies using diamond were supported by studies using aqueous iodide ion (I^?), a chemical source of solvated electrons. Both sources produced CO with high selectivity and minimal formation of H₂. The ability to initiate reduction reactions by emitting electrons directly into solution without surface adsorption enables new pathways which are not accessible using conventional electrochemical or photochemical processes.     

Sensory properties of oxide films with high concentrations of conduction electrons

The dependence of a sensor’s response to hydrogen on the temperature and hydrogen pressure in an indium oxide nanostructured film is measured. A theory of sensor’s response to reducing gases in nanostructured semiconducting oxides with high concentrations of electrons in the conduction band is developed (using the example of In₂O₃). It is shown that the capture of conduction electrons by adsorbed oxygen redistributes the electrons in nanoparticles and reduces the surface electron density and the conductivity of a system; the conductivity is proportional to the electron density in nanoparticle contacts, i.e., to the surface electron density. It is found that atomic oxygen ions react with reducing gases (H₂, CO) during adsorption of the latter: electrons are released and enter the volumes of nanoparticles; the conductivity of the system grows, creating the sensory effect. Using a model developed earlier to describe the distribution of conduction electrons in a semiconductor nanoparticle, a kinetic scheme corresponding to the above scenario is built and corresponding equations are solved. As a result, a theoretical dependence of a sensor’s sensitivity to temperature is found that describes the experimental data well.

     

Stochastic continuum to bound transitions of the negative muon in the nuclear coulomb field

Cross sections for radiative Coulomb capture of muons in hydrogen are shown to be enhanced by two orders of magnitude for muon energies in the neighbourhood of 2.8 keV. This effect has not been recognised earlier and has important consequences for negative muon physics as shown.     

Muonium atom addition to 1,1-dimethylallene

Exposure of 1,1-dimethylallene to a beam of spin-polarised, positive muons resulted in the effective addition of muonium atoms to the central carbon atom, giving the muonated 1,1-dimethylallyl radical, Me₂CCMu-⋯H₂, and to the methylene carbon atom, giving the vinyl radical, Me₂C⋯CH₂Mu. The muon—electron hyperfine coupling constants in these radicals, and their temperature dependences, are compared with ESR data for related protic radicals.     

Observation of Confinement-Free Neutral Group Three Transition Metal Carbonyls Sc(CO)7 and TM(CO)8 (TM=Y,La)

Spectroscopic characterization of neutral highly-coordinated compounds is essential in fundamental and applied research, but has been proven to be a challenging experimental target because of the difficulty in mass selection. Here, we report the preparation and size-specific infrared-vacuum ultraviolet (IR-VUV) spectroscopic identification of group-3 transition metal carbonyls Sc(CO)₇ and TM(CO)₈ (TM=Y, La) in the gas phase, which are the first confinement-free neutral heptacarbonyl and octacarbonyl complexes. The results indicate that Sc(CO)₇ has a C_2v structure and TM(CO)₈ (TM=Y, La) have a D_4h structure. Theoretical calculations predict that the formation of Sc(CO)₇ and TM(CO)₈ (TM=Y, La) is both thermodynamically exothermic and kinetically facile in the gas phase. These highly-coordinated carbonyls are 17-electron complexes when only those valence electrons that occupy metal−CO bonding orbitals are considered, in which the ligand-only 4b_1u molecular orbital is ignored. This work opens new avenues toward the design and chemical control of a large variety of compounds with unique structures and properties.     

The muonium bond

Muonium is a light isotope of hydrogen, so light that in strong hydrogen bonds its zero-point energy is close to or above the energy barrier; this favours the formation of symmetrical muonium bonds. In water, muons will exist as Mu(H₂O)₆⁺ in contrast to H(H₂O)₄⁺; the stability of this species will slow the exchange of Mu and H. With alkenes and alkynes, muons will preferentially form non-classical complexes because of their lower zero-point energy in weak bonds: in liquids, a muon will attach two molecules via a symmetrical muonium bond.     

Strain boosts CO oxidation on Ni single-atom-catalyst supported by defective graphene

In order to realize the sulfur and water resistance and facilitate the CO oxidation reactions,the effects of strain on the adsorption of CO,O₂,SO₂ and H₂O molecules on Ni single-atom-catalyst supported by single-carbon-vacancy graphene(Ni-SG) have been studied based on first principles calculations.It shows that the compressive strain increases the adsorption energies of all above mentioned molecules on Ni-SG,where SO₂ is adsorbed more strongly on Ni-S...     

Synergistic Interplay of Dual-Active-Sites on Metallic Ni-MOFs Loaded with Pt for Thermal-Photocatalytic Conversion of Atmospheric CO2 under Infrared Light Irradiation

Infrared light driven photocatalytic reduction of atmospheric CO₂ is challenging due to the ultralow concentration of CO₂ (0.04 %) and the low energy of infrared light. Herein, we develop a metallic nickel-based metal–organic framework loaded with Pt (Pt/Ni-MOF), which shows excellent activity for thermal-photocatalytic conversion of atmospheric CO₂ with H₂ even under infrared light irradiation. The open Ni sites are beneficial to capture and activate atmospheric CO₂, while the photogenerated electrons dominate H₂ dissociation on the Pt sites. Simultaneously, thermal energy results in spilling of the dissociated H₂ to Ni sites, where the adsorbed CO₂ is thermally reduced to CO and CH₄. The synergistic interplay of dual-active-sites renders Pt/Ni-MOF a record efficiency of 9.57 % at 940 nm for converting atmospheric CO₂, enables the procurement of CO₂ to be independent of the emission sources, and improves the energy efficiency for trace CO₂ conversion by eliminating the capture media regeneration and molecular CO₂ release.     

Positive muons in condensed phase ammonia

The chemical behavior of positive muons in condensed phase ammonia has been investigated in order to elucidate the phase and temperature effects on the chemical and physical behavior of the muon and muonium formation in a simple binary compound. Diamagnetic muon yield (P_D) was constant at 0.67±0.01 in both solid and liquid above 125 K. Muonium formation in solids were observed above 100 K with slow muonium spin relaxation. In liquids, the muonium yield and its spin relaxation rate showed temperature dependence. Addition of metallic sodium increased P_D in liquids.     

Dipole oscillator strength distributions,sums, and dispersion energy coefficients for CO and CO2

Globally reliable dipole oscillator strength distributions (DOSDs) have been constructed for ground state CO and CO₂ molecules; the DOSD for CO corresponds to photon energies greater than the electronic absorption threshold while that for CO₂ includes the infrared part of the spectra as well. The recommended DOSDs are used to evaluate the isotropic dipole—dipole dispersion energies for the COCO, COCO2 and CO2CO2 interactions as well as the molar refractivities, as a function of wavelength, and the dipole sums, S_k, k = 2(?1) -4, -6, -8, -10, for the two molecules. Pseudo-DOSD representations of the recommended DOSDs are provided which allow the efficient accurate evaluation of the dispersion energy coefficients C₆ for the interaction of CO or CO₂ with a variety of other atoms and molecules. Previous results for C₆ are found to be in disagreement with our recommended results for interactions involving CO₂. The results of this paper are used to give a reasonably general discussion of the difficulties associated with obtaining reliable results for C₆ by using Padé approximant bounding methods.     

HALIDE EXCHANGE REACTIONS BETWEEN CpW(CO)3 − AND CpMo(CO)3X

Abstract

Halogen atom transfer from CpMo(CO)₃X (X = Cl, Br and I) to CpW(CO)₃ ^? forming CpMo(CO)₃ ^? and CpW(CO)₃X occurs with a first-order dependence on the oxidant and the reductant. The rate constants show a very small dependence on the identity of X, suggesting a mechanism involving nucleophilic attack by CpW(CO)₃ ^? on a carbonyl of CpMo(CO)₃X.     

Dependence of muonic x-ray intensity spectra and bond ionicities

It is shown that the muonicK /K intensity ratios in oxygen of oxides of third-row elements are correlated to the bond ionicities. A similar correlation is found in chlorine of corresponding compounds. These correlations confirm the dominant role played by the outer electrons of the bond partners in the coulomb capture mechanism of negative muons.     

Dielectric properties of water clusters containing CO and NO molecules. Computational experiment

The absorption of CO and NO molecules by (H₂O)₂₀ clusters was studied by the method of molecular dynamics. In general, the clusters containing CO molecules are more stable mechanically, while the clusters with NO molecules are more stable against heating. The mobility of NO molecules in such clusters is higher than that of CO molecules. The total dipole moment, the static dielectric permeability, the number of active electrons in the clusters, and the specific number of hydrogen bonds between water molecules possess peak values when the number of doping molecules i = 6. IR absorption spectra mostly acquire a smooth shape at i > 6. Capture of CO and NO molecules by water cluster operates as anti-greenhouse effect.     

CO2 Capture,Separation and Reduction on Boron-Doped MoS2, MoSe2 and Heterostructures with Different Doping Densities: A Theoretical Study

Designing high-performance materials for CO₂ capture and conversion is of great significance to reduce the greenhouse effect and alleviate the energy crisis. The strategy of doping is widely used to improve activity and selectivity of the materials. However, it is unclear how the doping densities influence the materials’ properties. Herein, we investigated the mechanism of CO₂ capture, separation and conversion on MoS₂, MoSe₂ and Janus MoSSe monolayers with different boron doping levels using density functional theory (DFT) simulations. The results indicate that CO₂, H₂ and CH₄ bind weakly to the monolayers without and with single-atom boron doping, rendering these materials unsuitable for CO₂ capture from gas mixtures. In contrast, CO₂ binds strongly to monolayers doped with diatomic boron, whereas H₂ and CH₄ can only form weak interactions with these surfaces. Thus, the monolayers doped with diatomic boron can efficiently capture and separate CO₂ from such gas mixtures. The electronic structure analysis demonstrates that monolayers doped with diatomic doped are more prone to donating electrons to CO₂ than those with single-atom boron doped, leading to activation of CO₂. The results further indicate that CO₂ can be converted to CH₄ on diatomic boron doped catalysts, and MoSSe is the most efficient of the surfaces studied for CO₂ capture, separation and conversion. In summary, the study provides evidence for the doping density is vital to design materials with particular functions.     

Octacarbonyl Anion Complexes of the Late Lanthanides Ln(CO)8− (Ln=Tm,Yb, Lu) and the 32-Electron Rule

The lanthanide octacarbonyl anion complexes Ln(CO)₈⁻ (Ln=Tm, Yb, Lu) were produced in the gas phase and detected by mass-selected infrared photodissociation spectroscopy in the carbonyl stretching-frequency region. By comparison of the experimental CO-stretching frequencies with calculated data, which are strongly red-shifted with respect to free CO, the Yb(CO)₈⁻ and Lu(CO)₈⁻ complexes were determined to possess octahedral (O_h) symmetry and a doublet X²A_2u (Yb) and singlet X¹A_1g (Lu) electronic ground state, whereas Tm(CO)₈⁻ exhibits a D_4h equilibrium geometry and a triplet X³B_1g ground state. The analysis of the electronic structures revealed that the metal-CO attractive forces come mainly from covalent orbital interactions, which are dominated by [Ln(d)]→(CO)₈ π backdonation and [Ln(d)]←(CO)₈ σ donation (contributes ≈77 and 16 % to covalent bonding, respectively). The metal f orbitals play a very minor role in the bonding. The electronic structure of all three lanthanide complexes obeys the 32-electron rule if only those electrons that occupy the valence orbitals of the metal are considered.     

Activation energy of thermal decomposition of SmC2O4Cl to SmOCl,CO and CO2

An activation energy of E_a=213.73 kJ mol^–1 has been determined for the thermal decomposition of SmC₂O₄Cl to SmOCl, CO and CO₂. The result is predictable on the basis of the Kahwa-Mulokozi expression + for the activation energy and its extended interpretation.

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Zusammenfassung Für den thermischen Zerfall von SmC₂O₄Cl in SmOCl, CO und CO₂ wurde eine Aktivierungsenergie vonE _a=213.73 kJ.mol^–1 ermittelt. Dieses Ergebnis kann auf der Basis der Kahwa-Mulokozi-Beziehung für die Aktivierungsenergie und ihrer erweiterten Interpretation vorhergesagt werden.

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On study leave from the university of sokoto, Nigeria.     

Octahedral metal carbonyls LXXII. Volumes of activation for solvent displacement in (solvent)M(CO)5 transients (M = Cr,Mo, W) generated from M(CO)6 via pulsed laser flash photolysis

Pulsed laser flash photolysis of M(CO)₆ (M = Cr, Mo, W) in aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon solutions (solvent = n-C₇H₁₆ and C₆H₅X (X = F, Cl, H, CH₃)) produces (solvent)M(CO)₅ transients, which then react with Lewis bases (L; 1-hexene, piperidine, 2-picoline, pyridine) to afford LM(CO)₅ products. The solvent-displacement process has been studied at variable pressures to 150 MPa, and volumes of activation for this process have been determined. These volumes of activation are sensitive to the identity of the coordinated solvent and suggest that bonding of chlorobenzene to Cr takes place via a lone pair of electrons on Cl, but through an isolated olefinic linkage for benzene, fluorobenzene and toluene. Observed volumes of activation also are consistent with the accessibility of an interchange mechanism for solvent displacement of n-heptane and with a dissociative solvent displacement mechanism for the arenes and support an increasing contribution from the solvent interchange process vs. reversible solvent dissociation in the order of the increasing size of the metal atom, Cr<Mo ⋍ W. The observed ability of “[M(CO)₅]” to discriminate among various nucleophiles arises in part from the accessibility of these two competitive mechanisms.     

A Carbon-Negative Hydrogen Production Strategy: CO2 Selective Capture with H2 Production

We reported a strategy of carbon-negative H₂ production in which CO₂ capture was coupled with H₂ evolution at ambient temperature and pressure. For this purpose, carbonate-type Cu_xMg_yFe_z layered double hydroxide (LDH) was preciously constructed, and then a photocatalysis reaction of interlayer CO₃²⁻ reduction with glycerol oxidation was performed as driving force to induce the electron storage on LDH layers. With the participation of pre-stored electrons, CO₂ was captured to recover interlayer CO₃²⁻ in presence of H₂O, accompanied with equivalent H₂ production. During photocatalysis reaction, Cu_0.6Mg_1.4Fe₁ exhibited a decent CO evolution amount of 1.63 mmol g⁻¹ and dihydroxyacetone yield of 3.81 mmol g⁻¹. In carbon-negative H₂ production process, it showed an exciting CO₂ capture quantity of 1.61 mmol g⁻¹ and H₂ yield of 1.44 mmol g⁻¹. Besides, this system possessed stable operation capability under simulated flu gas condition with negligible performance loss, exhibiting application prospect.     

Selective Production of CO from Organic Pollutants by Coupling Piezocatalysis and Advanced Oxidation Processes

To date, the chemical conversion of organic pollutants into value-added chemical feedstocks rather than CO₂ remains a major challenge. Herein, we successfully developed a coupled piezocatalytic and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) system for achieving the conversion of various organic pollutants to CO. The CO product stems from the specific process in which organics are first oxidized to carbonate through peroxymonosulfate (PMS)-based AOPs, and then the as-obtained carbonate is converted into CO by piezoelectric reduction under ultrasonic (US) vibration by using a Co₃S₄/MoS₂ catalyst. Experiments and DFT calculations show that the introduction of Co₃S₄ not only effectively promotes the transfer and utilization of piezoelectric electrons but also realizes highly selective conversion from carbonate to CO. The Co₃S₄/MoS₂/PMS system has achieved selective generation of CO in actual complex wastewater treatment for the first time, indicating its potential practical applicability.