Highly dispersed palladium nanoclusters incorporated in amino‐functionalized silica spheres for the selective hydrogenation of succinic acid to γ‐butyrolactone

Highly dispersed palladium nanoclusters incorporated on amino‐functionalized silica sphere surfaces (Pd/SiO₂‐NH₂) were fabricated by a simple one‐pot synthesis utilizing 3‐(2‐aminoethylamino)propyltrimethoxysilane (AAPTS) as coordinating agent. Uniform palladium nanoclusters with an average size of 1.1 nm can be obtained during the co‐condensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate and AAPTS owing to the strong interaction between palladium species and amino groups in AAPTS. The palladium particle size can be controlled by addition of AAPTS and plays a significant role in the catalytic performance. The Pd/SiO₂‐NH₂ catalyst exhibits high catalytic activity for succinic acid hydrogenation with 100% conversion and 94% selectivity towards γ‐butyrolactone using 1,4‐dioxane as solvent at 240°C and 60 bar for 4 h. Moreover, the Pd/SiO₂‐NH₂ catalyst is robust and readily reusable without loss of its catalytic activity. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What is the form of muscimol from fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria) in water? An insight from NMR experiment supported by molecular modeling

The biologically active alkaloid muscimol is present in fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria), and its structure and action is related to human neurotransmitter _γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The current study reports on determination of muscimol form present in water solution using multinuclear ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments supported by density functional theory molecular modeling. The structures of three forms of free muscimol molecule both in the gas phase and in the presence of water solvent, modeled by polarized continuous model, and nuclear magnetic isotropic shieldings, the corresponding chemical shifts, and indirect spin–spin coupling constants were calculated. Several J-couplings observed in proton and carbon NMR spectra, not available before, are reported. The obtained experimental spectra, supported by theoretical calculations, favor the zwitterion form of muscimol in water. This structure differs from NH isomer, previously determined in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solution. In addition, positions of signals C3 and C5 are reversed in both solvents.     

Dual-band isotropic metamaterial absorber based on near-field interaction in the Ku band

We numerically and experimentally investigate single-band and dual-band isotropic metamaterial absorbers (IMAs) based on metallic disks. By optimizing the diameter of the metallic disks and the thickness of the dielectric substrate, the single-band IMA is observed at 16.2 GHz with absorptivity of 97%. When adding one disk-pair to the structure, the dual-band IMA is obtained at 12.8 and 15.5 GHz due to the symmetry breaking. The physical mechanics is explained by near-field coupling effect and equivalent LC circuit model. The measurement results performed in the range 12–18 GHz show a good agreement with simulation and theoretical analysis. Our findings demonstrate a new approach to achieve dual-band and multi-band IMAs.     

Dynamic Variation of Excitonic Coupling in Excited Bilayer Graphene Quantum Dots?

The intermolecular interaction determines the photophysical properties of the organic aggregates, which are critical to the performance of organic photovoltaics. Here, excitonic coupling, an important intermolecular interaction in organic aggregates, between the π-stacking graphene quantum dots is studied by using transient absorption spectroscopy. We find that the spectral evolution of the ground state bleach arises from the dynamic variation of the excitonic coupling in the excited π-stacks. According to the spectral simulations, we demonstrate that the kinetics of the vibronic peak can be exploited as a probe to measure the dynamics of excitonic coupling in the excited π-stacks.     

Nb(iPrNPMe2)3Fe–PMe3: A potential high reactivity heterobimetallic catalyst for acetylene cycloadditions

Alkynes cycloaddition reactions are powerful tools for constructing cyclic molecules with optimal atom efficiency, but these reactions cannot proceed at ambient temperature without transition-metal catalysts. In this work, a heterobimetallic complex featuring an Nb–Fe triple bond, Nb(ⁱPrNPMe₂)₃Fe–PMe₃, has been evaluated as the potential catalyst for acetylene cycloaddition, using density functional theory. The calculated results show that the singlet-state (i.e. ground-state) Nb(ⁱPrNPMe₂)₃Fe–PMe₃ can be applied to benzene synthesis, but is not suitable for cyclobutadiene. Benzene can be obtained easily at room temperature and is the unique product on the singlet potential surface. The irradiation of infrared-red light can drive the excitation of singlet Nb(ⁱPrNPMe₂)₃Fe–PMe₃ to its triplet state. Both benzene and cyclobutadiene can be formed on the triplet reaction potential surface due to their low energy barriers. Therefore, Nb(ⁱPrNPMe₂)₃Fe–PMe₃ is a potential high reactivity heterobimetallic catalyst for the cyclotrimerization of alkynes. In the reaction process, the catalytic active site of Nb(ⁱPrNPMe₂)₃Fe–PMe₃ moves from niobium to iron.     

Measurement of Residual Dipolar Couplings of Organic Molecules in Multiple Solvent Systems Using a Liquid-Crystalline-Based Medium

Residual dipolar coupling (RDC), a robust anisotropic NMR parameter for structural elucidation of organic molecules, is only accessible in an anisotropic environment. Herein, we introduce a novel alignment medium based on the molecular self-assembly of oligopeptide amphiphile (OPA). This medium is compatible with different intermediate and polar solvent systems, such as CD₃OD, [D₆]DMSO, and D₂O. The preparation of the OPA-based medium is simple and rapid, while only very weak background signals were observed from OPAs. Furthermore, we show that the purity of OPA has only a minor influence on the quality of the RDC data. These advantages allow RDC measurements of organic molecules with different polarities and solubilities with high efficiency and accuracy.     

聚硅烷研究进展 (1)聚硅烷的合成及应用

聚硅烷的合成及应用因可溶性聚硅烷的发现而成为聚合物研究的又一热点。本文综述了聚硅烷合成与应用的近期发展。     

自旋-轨道耦合系统中的自旋流定义

通常的自旋流定义在描述自旋-轨道耦合系统中的自旋输运是不完整的与非物理的。文章作者提出在这类系统中自旋流的恰当定义。新定义的自旋流克服了通常定义下的本质缺点，可通过实验直接观测。     

氦原子与非对称替代氢分子碰撞(E=0.3eV)角分布计算

用密耦方法计算了非对称同位素替代分子与氦原子碰撞(He-HD,HT,DT)转动激发,当入射能量E=0.3 eV时,得到了上述碰撞体系的微分散射截面或角分布.基于上述理论计算,讨论了原子与双原子分子碰撞的同位素效应.     

CsNiCl3晶体的光谱精细结构、零场分裂参量及Jahn-Teller效应

应用不可约张量理论构造了三角对称晶场中3d²/3d⁸态离子的45阶可完全对角化的微扰哈密顿矩阵，研究了CsNiCl₃晶体的光谱精细结构、晶体结构、零场分裂参量、Jahn-Telller效应以及自旋单重态对Ni²⁺离子基态能级的影响，理论与实验相符合.在此基础上，进一步研究了以前工作中被忽略的自旋-自旋耦合作用和Trees修正对CsNiCl₃晶体的光谱精细结构和零场分裂参量的影响，发现有四种机理会影响零场分裂参量：1)自旋-轨道耦合机理，2)自旋-自旋耦合机理；3)自旋-轨道与自旋-自旋联合耦合机理；4)自旋-轨道与Trees修正联合耦合机理，其中自旋-轨道耦合机理是最主要的，其他三种机理也是不可忽略的. 关键词： 基态能级 精细结构 零场分裂 自旋-自旋耦合