Synthesis of 1,4-diarylsubstituted 1,3-diynes through ligand-free copper-catalyzed oxidative decarboxylative homocoupling of aryl propiolic acids

An efficient method of ligand-free Cu-catalyzed oxidative decarboxylative homocoupling of aryl propiolic acids was developed. When CuI was employed as the catalyst and I₂ as the oxidant, the decarboxylative homocoupling reaction for C_sp–C_sp bond formation in DMSO underwent smoothly to afford the corresponding 1,4-disubstituted 1,3-dialkynes in good to excellent yields without any organic ligands. This catalytic system was applicable to aryl propiolic acids bearing different steric, electronic, and functional groups.     

A novel approach to synthesize dichlorobenzonitriles by selective ammoxidation

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Dichlorobenzonitriles are important organic intermediates for the production of many fine chemicals and are produced most economically and environment-friendly...     

Arene Ruthenium(II) Complexes Bearing the κ-P or κ-P,κ-S Ph2P(CH2)3SPh Ligand

Neutral [Ru(η⁶-arene)Cl₂{Ph₂P(CH₂)₃SPh-κP}] (arene = benzene, indane, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene: 2a, 2c and 2d) and cationic [Ru(η⁶-arene)Cl(Ph₂P(CH₂)₃SPh-κP,κS)]X complexes (arene = mesitylene, 1,4-dihydronaphthalene; X = Cl: 3b, 3e; arene = benzene, mesitylene, indane, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene, and 1,4-dihydronaphthalene; X = PF₆: 4a–4e) complexes were prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, ¹H, ¹³C and ³¹P NMR spectroscopy and also by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. The stability of the complexes has been investigated in DMSO. Complexes have been assessed for their cytotoxic activity against 518A2, 8505C, A253, MCF-7 and SW480 cell lines. Generally, complexes exhibited activity in the lower micromolar range; moreover, they are found to be more active than cisplatin. For the most active ruthenium(II) complex, 4b, bearing mesitylene as ligand, the mechanism of action against 8505C cisplatin resistant cell line was determined. Complex 4b induced apoptosis accompanied by caspase activation.     

Anomalous lattice response at the Mott transition in a quasi-2D organic conductor

Discontinuous changes of the lattice parameters at the Mott metal-insulator transition are detected by high-resolution dilatometry on deuterated crystals of the layered organic conductor kappa-(BEDT-TTF)(2)Cu[N(CN)(2)]Br. The uniaxial expansivities uncover a striking and unexpected anisotropy, notably a zero effect along the in-plane c axis along which the electronic interactions are relatively strong. A huge thermal expansion anomaly is observed near the end point of the first-order transition line enabling us to explore the critical behavior with very high sensitivity. The analysis yields critical fluctuations with an exponent alpha approximately 0.8+/-0.15 at odds with the novel criticality recently proposed for these materials [Kagawa et al., Nature (London) 436, 534 (2005)]. Our data suggest an intricate role of the lattice degrees of freedom in the Mott transition for the present materials.     

尖晶石铁氧体TixNi1-xFe2O4中阳离子分布和Ti离子磁矩的实验研究

采用固相反应法制备了系列样品Ti_xNi_1-xFe₂O₄ (x=0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4). 室温下的X射线衍射谱表明样品全部为(A)[B]₂O₄型单相立方尖晶石结构, 属于空间群Fd3m. 样品的晶格常数随Ti掺杂量的增加而增大. 样品在10 K温度下的比饱和磁化强度σ_S随着Ti掺杂量x的增加逐渐减小. 研究发现, 当Ti掺杂量x≥ 0.2时, 磁化强度σ随温度T的变化曲线出现两个转变温度T_L和T_N. 当温度低于T_N时, 磁化强度明显减小; 当温度达到T_N时, dσ/dT具有最大值. σ-T曲线的这些特征表明, 由于Ti掺杂在样品中出现了附加的反铁磁结构. 这说明样品中的Ti离子不是无磁性的+4价离子, 而是以+2和+3价态存在, 其离子磁矩的方向与Fe和Ni离子的磁矩方向相反. 利用本课题组提出的量子力学方势垒模型拟合样品在10 K温度下的磁矩, 得到了Ti, Fe和Ni三种阳离子在(A)位和[B]位的分布情况, 并发现在所有掺杂样品中, 80%的Ti离子以+2价态占据尖晶石结构的[B]位.     

Wastes from Wood Extraction Used in Composite Materials: Behavior after Accelerated Weathering

New materials were obtained by incorporating in polypropylene (PP) matrix 60% wood wastes resulting after extraction with supercritical carbon dioxide, water, and ethanol. Structural, mechanical, thermal, and rheological characterizations, as well as moisture uptake of the composites, were evaluated before and after accelerated weathering. It was found that the extraction method influenced the composite properties due to the hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance. The addition of extracted fibers results in an increase in hardness and tensile properties and a decrease of impact strength as compared to PP.     

The Origin of the Selectivity and Activity of Ruthenium‐Cluster Catalysts for Fuel‐Cell Feed‐Gas Purification: A Gas‐Phase Approach

Gas‐phase ruthenium clusters Ru_n⁺ (n=2–6) are employed as model systems to discover the origin of the outstanding performance of supported sub‐nanometer ruthenium particles in the catalytic CO methanation reaction with relevance to the hydrogen feed‐gas purification for advanced fuel‐cell applications. Using ion‐trap mass spectrometry in conjunction with first‐principles density functional theory calculations three fundamental properties of these clusters are identified which determine the selectivity and catalytic activity: high reactivity toward CO in contrast to inertness in the reaction with CO₂; promotion of cooperatively enhanced H₂ coadsorption and dissociation on pre‐formed ruthenium carbonyl clusters, that is, no CO poisoning occurs; and the presence of Ru‐atom sites with a low number of metal–metal bonds, which are particularly active for H₂ coadsorption and activation. Furthermore, comprehensive theoretical investigations provide mechanistic insight into the CO methanation reaction and discover a reaction route involving the formation of a formyl‐type intermediate.     

Photoionization and Pyrolysis of a 1,4‐Azaborinine: Retro‐Hydroboration in the Cation and Identification of Novel Organoboron Ring Systems

The photoionization and dissociative photoionization of 1,4‐di‐tert‐butyl‐1,4‐azaborinine by means of synchrotron radiation and threshold photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy is reported. The ionization energy of the compound was determined to be 7.89 eV. Several low‐lying electronically excited states in the cation were identified. The various pathways for dissociative photoionization were modeled by statistical theory, and appearance energies AE_0K were obtained. The loss of isobutene in a retro‐hydroboration reaction is the dominant pathway, which proceeds with a reverse barrier. Pyrolysis of the parent compound in a chemical reactor leads to the generation of several yet unobserved boron compounds. The ionization energies of the C₄H₆BN isomers 1,2‐ and 1,4‐dihydro‐1,4‐azaborinine and the C₃H₆BN isomer 1,2‐dihydro‐1,3‐azaborole were determined from threshold photoelectron spectra.