A Shell-by-Shell Approach for Synthesis of Mesoporous Multi-Shelled Hollow MOFs for Catalytic Applications

Over the past two decades, advanced materials with hollow interiors have received significant attention in materials research owing to their great application potential across a vast number of technological fields. Though with great difficulty, multi-shelled hollow metal–organic frameworks (MSHMs) have also been successfully synthesized in recent years. Herein, a rational shell-by-shell soft-templating protocol has been devised to fabricate highly uniform multi-shelled hollow cobalt-imidazole-based MOF (ZIF-67). For the first time, it has become possible to endow mesoporosity to this new type of functional material (i.e., mesoporous MOFs). When used as carrier materials in catalytic reactions, in principle, these mesoporous MSHMs with high surface area not only improve the dispersity of metal nanoparticles (NPs), but also efficiently facilitate the mass diffusion of the reactions, resulting in enhanced catalyst activity. Moreover, the obtained MSHMs/M nanocomposites serve as base-metal bifunctional catalysts for one-pot oxidation-Knoevenagel condensation cascade reaction, in which the MSHMs itself serves as a pristine active catalyst in addition to its role of catalyst support. The results demonstrate that excellent multifunctional catalysts can be achieved via preparing intrinsically microporous bulk MOFs into extrinsically mesoporous MSHMs which possess many structural merits that conventional bulk MOFs do not have.     

Synthesis of Au nanorods via autocatalytic growth of Au seeds formed by sonochemical reduction of Au(I): Relation between formation rate and characteristic of Au nanorods

The sonochemical formation of Au seeds and their autocatalytic growth to Au nanorods were investigated in a one-pot as a function of concentration of HAuCl₄, AgNO₃, and ascorbic acid (AA). The effects of ultrasonic power and irradiation time were also investigated. In addition, the formation rate of Au nanorods was analyzed by monitoring the extinction at 400 nm by UV–Vis spectroscopy and compared with the growth behavior of Au seeds to nanorods. Most of the reaction conditions affected the yield, size, and shape of Au nanorods formed. It was confirmed that the concentration balance between HAuCl₄ and AA was important to proceed the formation of Au seeds and nanorods effectively. The formation rate became faster with increasing AA concentration and dog-bone shaped nanorods were formed at high AA concentration. It was also confirmed a unique phenomenon that the shape of Au nanorods changed even after the completion of the reduction of Au(I) in the case of short-time ultrasonic irradiation for Au seed formation.     

DFT mechanistic study of the H2‐assisted chain transfer copolymerization of propylene and p‐methylstyrene catalyzed by zirconocene complex

DFT computations have been performed to investigate the mechanism of H₂‐assisted chain transfer strategy to functionalize polypropylene via Zr‐catalyzed copolymerization of propylene and p‐methylstyrene (pMS). The study unveils the following: (i) propylene prefers 1,2‐insertion over 2,1‐insertion both kinetically and thermodynamically, explaining the observed 1,2‐insertion regioselectivity for propylene insertion. (ii) The 2,1‐inserion of pMS is kinetically less favorable but thermodynamically more favorable than 1,2‐insertion. The observation of 2,1‐insertion pMS at the end of polymer chain is due to thermodynamic control and that the barrier difference between the two insertion modes become smaller as the chain length becomes longer. (iii) The pMS insertion results in much higher barriers for subsequent either propylene or pMS insertion, which causes deactivation of the catalytic system. (iv) Small H₂ can react with the deactivated [Zr]?pMS?PP_n facilely, which displace functionalized pMS?PP_n chain and regenerate [Zr]? H active catalyst to continue copolymerization. The effects of counterions are also discussed. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 576–585     

Antimicrobial Effect and Cytotoxic Evaluation of Mg-Doped Hydroxyapatite Functionalized with Au-Nano Rods

Hydroxyapatite (HA) is the main inorganic mineral that constitutes bone matrix and represents the most used biomaterial for bone regeneration. Over the years, it has been demonstrated that HA exhibits good biocompatibility, osteoconductivity, and osteoinductivity both in vitro and in vivo, and can be prepared by synthetic and natural sources via easy fabrication strategies. However, its low antibacterial property and its fragile nature restricts its usage for bone graft applications. In this study we functionalized a MgHA scaffold with gold nanorods (AuNRs) and evaluated its antibacterial effect against S. aureus and E. coli in both suspension and adhesion and its cytotoxicity over time (1 to 24 days). Results show that the AuNRs nano-functionalization improves the antibacterial activity with 100% bacterial reduction after 24 h. The toxicity study, however, indicates a 4.38-fold cell number decrease at 24 days. Although further optimization on nano-functionalization process are needed for cytotoxicity, these data indicated that Au-NRs nano-functionalization is a very promising method for improving the antibacterial properties of HA.     

Nanostructures for Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction

One of the most effective ways to cope with the problems of global warming and the energy shortage crisis is to develop renewable and clean energy sources. To achieve a carbon-neutral energy cycle, advanced carbon sequestration technologies are urgently needed, but because CO₂ is a thermodynamically stable molecule with the highest carbon valence state of +4, this process faces many challenges. In recent years, electrochemical CO₂ reduction has become a promising approach to fix and convert CO₂ into high-value-added fuels and chemical feedstock. However, the large-scale commercial use of electrochemical CO₂ reduction systems is hindered by poor electrocatalyst activity, large overpotential, low energy conversion efficiency, and product selectivity in reducing CO₂. Therefore, there is an urgent need to rationally design highly efficient, stable, and scalable electrocatalysts to alleviate these problems. This minireview also aims to classify heterogeneous nanostructured electrocatalysts for the CO₂ reduction reaction (CDRR).     

Large-Scale Synthesis of a Niche Olefin Metathesis Catalyst Bearing an Unsymmetrical N-Heterocyclic Carbene (NHC) Ligand and its Application in a Green Pharmaceutical Context

A large-scale synthesis of known Ru olefin metathesis catalyst VII featuring an unsymmetrical N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand with one 2,5-diisopropylphenyl (DIPP) and one thiophenylmethylene N-substituent is reported. The optimised procedure does not require column chromatography in any step and allows for preparation of up to 0.5 kg batches of the catalyst from simple precursors. The application profile of the obtained catalyst was studied in environmentally friendly dimethyl carbonate (DMC). Although VII exhibited low efficiency in cross-metathesis (CM) with electron-deficient partners, good to excellent results were noted for substrates featuring easy to isomerise C−C double bonds. This includes polyfunctional substrates of medicinal chemistry interest, such as analogues of psychoactive 5F-PB-22 and NM-2201 and two PDE5 inhibitors—Sildenafil and Vardenafil. Finally, a larger scale ring-closing metathesis (RCM) of a Vardenafil derivative was conducted in DMC, allowing for straightforward isolation of the expected product (23 g) in high yield and with low Ru contamination level (7.7 ppm).     

Pyridinium-functionalized metalloporphyrins as bifunctional catalysts for cycloaddition of epoxides and carbon dioxide

New pyridinium-functionalized metalloporphyrins MEtPpBr₄ (M = Zn²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺; EtPp = 5, 10, 15, 20-tetra(4-(3-(N-ethyl-4-pyridyl)pyrazolyl)phenyl)porphyrin) were synthesized as bifunctional catalysts for the cycloaddition reactions of epoxides and CO₂. The effects of catalyst loading, CO₂ pressure, reaction temperature and time on catalytic activity were investigated. ZnEtPpBr₄ ( 1 ) and CoEtPpBr₄ ( 2 ) exhibited efficient activities in the cycloaddition reactions of various epoxides with CO₂ as at 120 °C under 2 MPa of CO₂ pressure without solvent. Most of corresponding cyclic carbonates could be obtained in almost quantitative yields and > 99.9% selectivity with molar ratio of epoxide/catalyst 2222 after 8 hr of reaction.     

Highly selective hydrogenation of acetophenone over supported amorphous alloy catalyst

Alpha-phenylethanol (PE) is an essential chemical in the field of medicine and synthetic perfumery. Therefore, in this work, we used a supported Ni–B–P amorphous alloy catalyst (Ni–B–P/SiO₂) in the hydrogenation of acetophenone (AP) to α-PE, which demonstrated excellent catalytic activity and selectivity, compared with Ni–B/SiO₂ (KBH₄ reduction of nickel salt). Ni–B–P/SiO₂ exhibited a high AP hydrogenation conversion of approximately 99%, whereas the PE selectivity reached up to 94%, which is approximately 1.4-fold higher than that of Ni–B/SiO₂ (about 69%), thereby directly proving the unique inhibition of AP hydrogenation over hydrogenation of P in the Ni–B catalytic system. The doped P in Ni–B–P/SiO₂ enhances the oxidation resistance and maintains the valence stability of Ni and B. Furthermore, sufficient experimental data were collected to determine the kinetic parameters. Based on the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model, we assumed that (i) AP and H₂ compete for adsorption on Ni–B–P/SiO₂; (ii) AP has strong adsorptive capacity on Ni–B–P/SiO₂; and (iii) PE coverage on the catalyst was negligible. Then, the dynamic equation was derived, which indicated that experimental data agree well with the dynamic model. Finally, the activation energy was confirmed to be 50.73 KJ/mol. This report will open up an avenue for the industrialization of amorphous alloy catalysts.     

Bi/Bi_2O_3 nanoparticles supported on N-doped reduced graphene oxide for highly efficient CO_2 electroreduction to formate

Electrocatalytic CO_2 reduction(CO_2 ER) into formate is a desirable route to achieve efficient transformation of CO_2 to value-added chemicals,however,it still suffers from limited catalytic activity and poor selectivity.Herein,we develop a hybrid electrocatalyst composed of bismuth and bismuth oxide nanoparticles(NPs) supported on nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide(Bi/Bi_2 O_3/NrGO) nanosheets prepared by a combined hydrothermal with calcination treatment.Thanks to the combination of undercoordinated sites and strong synergistic effect between Bi and Bi_2 O_3,Bi/Bi_2 O_3/NrGO-700 hybrid displays a promoted CO2 ER catalytic performance and selectivity for formate production,as featured by a small onset potential of-0.5 V,a high current density of-18 mA/cm~2,the maximum Faradaic efficiency of85% at-0.9 V,and a low Tafel slope of 166 mV/dec.Experimental results reveal that the higher CO_2 ER performance of Bi/Bi_2 O_3/NrGO-700 than that of Bi NPs supported on NrGO(Bi/NrGO) can be due to the partial reduction of Bi_2 O_3 NPs into Bi,which significantly increases undercoordinated active sites on Bi NPs surface,thus boosting its CO_2 ER performance.Furthermore,a two-electrode device with Ir/C anode and Bi/Bi_2 O_3/NrGO-700 cathode could be integrated with two alkaline batteries or a planar solar cell to achieve highly active water splitting and CO_2 ER.     

Metal–Organic Framework (MOF)-Derived Carbon-Mediated Interfacial Reaction for the Synthesis of CeO2−MnO2 Catalysts

CeO₂-based catalysts are widely studied in catalysis fields. Developing one novel synthetic approach to increase the intimate contact between CeO₂ and secondary species is of particular importance for enhancing catalytic activities. Herein, an interfacial reaction between metal–organic framework (MOF)-derived carbon and KMnO₄ to synthesize CeO₂−MnO₂, in which carbon is derived from the pyrolysis of Ce-MOFs under an inert atmosphere, is described. The MOF-derived carbon is found to restrain the growth of CeO₂ crystallites under a high calcination temperature and, more importantly, intimate contact within CeO₂/C is conveyed to CeO₂/MnO₂ after the interfacial reaction; this is responsible for the high catalytic activity of CeO₂−MnO₂ towards CO oxidation.