Synthesis and crystal structures of novel glycoluril carboxylic acids conglomerates

The two novel conglomerates were obtained by crystallization of racemic (2'S,3aS,6aR)/(2'R,3aR,6aS) (glycoluril-1-yl)-3-methylbutanoic acid and (2'R,3aR,6aR)/(2'S,3aS,6aS) (4,6-dimethylglycoluril-1-yl)pentanoic acid synthesized by highly diastereoselective condensation of 4,5-dihydroxy- imidazolidin-2-ones with racemic ureido acids. The differences in the molecular geometry of synthesized racemates were studied by X-ray diffraction that showed them to crystallize as conglomerates in non-centrosymmetric space groups Pna2₁ and P2₁2₁2₁, respectively     

Design of diamond-shape photonic crystal fiber polarization filter based on surface plasma resonance effect

A novel plasmonic polarization filter based on the diamond-shape photonic crystal fiber(PCF) is proposed. The resonant coupling characteristics of the PCF polarization filter are investigated by the full-vector finite-element method. By optimizing the geometric parameters of the PCF, when the fiber length is 5 mm, the polarization filter has a bandwidth of 990 nm and an extinction ratio(ER) of lower than -20 dB. Moreover, a single wavelength polarization filter can also be achieved, along with an ER of -279.78 dB at wavelength 1.55 μm. It is believed that the proposed PCF polarization filter will be very useful in laser and optical communication systems.     

Fabricating Dual-Atom Iron Catalysts for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction: A Heteroatom Modulator Approach

Understanding the thermal aggregation behavior of metal atoms is important for the synthesis of supported metal clusters. Here, derived from a metal–organic framework encapsulating a trinuclear Fe^III₂Fe^II complex (denoted as Fe₃) within the channels, a well-defined nitrogen-doped carbon layer is fabricated as an ideal support for stabilizing the generated iron nanoclusters. Atomic replacement of Fe^II by other metal(II) ions (e.g., Zn^II/Co^II) via synthesizing isostructural trinuclear-complex precursors (Fe₂Zn/Fe₂Co), namely the “heteroatom modulator approach”, is inhibiting the aggregation of Fe atoms toward nanoclusters with formation of a stable iron dimer in an optimal metal–nitrogen moiety, clearly identified by direct transmission electron microscopy and X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. The supported iron dimer, serving as cooperative metal–metal site, acts as efficient oxygen evolution catalyst. Our findings offer an atomic insight to guide the future design of ultrasmall metal clusters bearing outstanding catalytic capabilities.     

A DFT study on mechanisms of CO2 coupling with propargylic alcohols using alkali carbonates

The mechanisms of CO₂ coupling with the propargylic alcohol using alkali carbonates M₂CO₃ (M = Li, Na, K, Cs) have been investigated by means of density functional theory calculations. The calculations reveal that the target product tetronic acid (TA) is yielded through two stages: (a) the formation of the α-alkylidene cyclic carbonate (αACC) intermediate via Cs₂CO₃-mediated carboxylative cyclization of the propargylic alcohol with CO₂, and (b) the conversion of the αACC intermediate with Cs₂CO₃ to produce the cesium salt of the TA. Since the overall kinetic barriers for the two stages are comparable and affordable, the excellent chemoselectivity to the TA should be primarily originated from the high thermodynamic stability of the cesium salt of the TA. Moreover, relative to the TA, the possibility to yield the by-product acyclic carbonate can be excluded due to the both kinetics and thermodynamic inferiority. This result is different from the organic base-mediated reaction. Alternatively, our calculations predict that CsHCO₃ together generated with the cesium salt of the TA might also be an available mediating reagent for the incorporation of CO₂ with the propargylic alcohol. Compared to other alkali carbonates M₂CO₃ (M = Li, Na, K), the stronger basicity of Cs₂CO₃ and the lower ionic potential of cesium ion can raise the effective concentration of the αACC intermediate, and thus the conversion of the αACC intermediate into the cesium salt of the TA can be achieved with high yield.     

Edge-enriched graphene with boron and nitrogen co-doping for enhanced oxygen reduction reaction

Carbon-based electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), especially in anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs), have received a lot of attention because they exhibit excellent stability and are comparable to commercial Pt/C catalysts. Currently, to maximize the catalytic activity of carbon-based electrocatalysts, there are two major strategies: heteroatom doping or exposing active edge sites. However, the approach of increasing heteroatomic dopants of active edge sites has been rarely addressed. In this study, we present a simple strategy to prepare edge-enriched graphene catalysts with an increased ratio of heteroatomic dopants suitable for ORR of AEMFCs. The catalysts were prepared under harsh oxidation conditions, followed by a simple co-doping process with boron and nitrogen. The ORR activity of the catalysts was observed to be related to an increase of edge sites with heteroatomic dopants. We believe that the edge-enriched structure leads to accelerated electron transfer with enhanced oxygen adsorption.     

Mass distribution and skewness for passive scalar transport in pipes with polygonal and smooth cross sections

We extend our previous results characterizing the loading properties of a diffusing passive scalar advected by a laminar shear flow in ducts and channels to more general cross‐sectional shapes, including regular polygons and smoothed corner ducts originating from deformations of ellipses. For the case of the triangle and localized, cross‐wise uniform initial distributions, short‐time skewness is calculated exactly to be positive, while long‐time asymptotics shows it to be negative. Monte Carlo simulations confirm these predictions, and document the timescale for sign change. The equilateral triangle appears to be the only regular polygon with this property—all others possess positive skewness at all times. Alternatively, closed‐form flow solutions can be constructed for smooth deformations of ellipses, and illustrate how both nonzero short‐time skewness and the possibility of multiple sign switching in time is unrelated to domain corners. Exact conditions relating the median and the skewness to the mean are developed which guarantee when the sign for the skewness implies front (more mass to the right of the mean) or back (more mass to the left of the mean) “loading” properties of the evolving tracer distribution along the pipe. Short‐ and long‐time asymptotics confirm this condition, and Monte Carlo simulations verify this at all times. The simulations are also used to examine the role of corners and boundaries on the distribution for short‐time evolution of point source , as opposed to cross‐wise uniform, initial data.     

One-pot Synthesis,Crystal Structures and Antimicrobial Activities of Two New 1,4-Disubstituted 1,2,3-Triazole-4-Carboxylates

Two new 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles-4-carboxylates were synthesized via click reaction. Compound 1a was synthesized by the interaction of 6-nitro-tetrazolo[1.5-a]-pyridine with ethyl propynoate at room temperature in the presence of Cu(OAc)2 as a catalyst and THF as solvent. Compound 1b was also synthesized by the same manner except that tert-butyl propionate, instead of ethyl propynoate, was used. The compounds were characterized by IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Compound 1a(C10H9N5O4) crystallizes in the triclinic system, space group P1 with a = 5.0894(9), b = 8.9834(13), c = 13.089(2) ?, α= 83.041(7), β= 80.256(7), γ=87.296(8)°, V = 585.24(16)?3, Z = 2, Mr = 263.22, crystal size(mm) = 0.37 × 0.20 ×0.18,(I 2σ(I)) = 8557, 2493, 1229, Rint = 0.057. Compound 1b(C12H13N5O4) crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P21/c with a = 6.8854(5), b = 21.783(2), c = 9.3986(8) ?,β = 93.239(4)°, V = 1407.4(2)?3, Z = 4, Mr = 291.27, crystal size(mm) = 0.38 × 0.22 × 0.20,(I 2σ(I)) = 11842, 3172, 1866, Rint = 0.047. Antimicrobial assay results showed that the title compounds display excellent activities to different bacterial and fungal strains.