Activation and diffusion of ammonia borane hydrogen on gold tetramers

One of the most serious candidates for safe storage of high hydrogen densities is ammonia borane, AB. Likewise, one of the most versatile catalysts known is gold in the form of atomic clusters. Taking these elements into account, in this work a density functional theory ‐based study about initial activation, detachment, and diffusion of ammonia borane hydrogen on gold tetramer, as a catalyst model, is developed. It was found that the total process is exergonic and that the hydrogen diffusion occurs with very low energy barriers. The process has a hydrogen detachment energy barrier lower than the one of the uncatalyzed AB, and that is easily overcome by the energy expelled in the previous stage of formation of the initial activated species. Additionally, all the process is assisted by the fluxionality of the gold cluster, and occurs via a unique catalytically activated initial species, which contains a three‐center simultaneous interaction at the catalytically activated zone.     

Direct,high-yielding,one-step synthesis of vic-diols from aryl alkynes

An unprecedented, high yielding, direct, one-step synthesis of vic-diols from alkynes has been developed via metal-free, open-to-air dihydroboration with ammonia borane. The electronics of the alkyne and the reaction stoichiometry are critical for obtaining optimal yields of the 1,2-diol.     

A Continuously Regenerable Chiral Ammonia Borane for Asymmetric Transfer Hydrogenations

A novel chiral ammonia borane was designed and developed through the dehydrogenation of ammonia borane with a chiral phosphoric acid, which was highly effective for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of imines and β‐enamino esters to afford high levels of reactivities and enantioselectivities. Significantly, this chiral ammonia borane can be continuously regenerated during the transfer hydrogenation with the assistance of water and ammonia borane, which made it possible to obtain satisfactory results using only 0.1 mol % of the chiral phosphoric acid. Notably, the role of chiral phosphoric acid is to produce the chiral ammonia borane.     

Accessing Frustrated Lewis Pair Chemistry from a Spectroscopically Stable and Classical Lewis Acid‐Base Adduct

B(C₆F₅)₃ and P(MeNCH₂CH₂)₃N form a classical Lewis adduct, (C₆F₅)₃BP(MeNCH₂CH₂)₃N. Although (C₆F₅)₃BP(MeNCH₂CH₂)₃N does not exhibit spectroscopic evidence of dissociation into its constituent acid and base, products of frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) addition reactions are seen with PhNCO, PhCH₂N₃, PhNSO, and CO₂. Computational studies show that thermal access to the dissociated acid and base permits FLP reactivity to proceed. These results demonstrate that FLP reactivity extends across the entire continuum of equilibria governing Lewis acid‐base adducts.     

2-(Trimethylsilyl)ethanesulfonyl amide as a new ammonia equivalent for palladium-catalyzed amination of aryl halides

2-(Trimethylsilyl)ethanesulfonyl amide (SES-NH₂) is an ammonia equivalent for the palladium-catalyzed amination of aryl bromides and aryl chlorides. Using these amine derivatives, it has been observed that anilines and anilines with sensitive functional groups can be readily prepared.     

Tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane: a mild and efficient catalyst for the chemoselective tritylation of alcohols

An efficient acid-catalyzed protection of alcohols as trityl ethers is described using triphenylmethanol in the presence of tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (3 mol %) in dichloromethane at room temperature. The chemoselectivity of this protocol is demonstrated by studying the tritylation of a primary alcohol in the presence of a secondary alcohol and also the mildness of this catalyst was studied with substrates containing acid labile protecting groups.     

Towards N‐Alkylimidazole Borane‐based Hypergolic Fuels

Over the past few decades, toxic and highly volatile hydrazine derivatives have been the main fuel choices for liquid bipropellants, especially in traditional hypergolic rocket engines. The search for new hypergolic fuels as replacements for hydrazine derivatives is of great interest to researchers. In this study, a series of N‐alkylimidazole borane compounds has been synthesized and characterized. Interestingly, these compounds display promising applications as potential hypergolic fuels owing to their excellent physiochemical properties including low melting points, high thermal stability, low viscosities, and unique hypergolic reactivity. Compared with popular hypergolic ionic liquids, the cost‐effective and scaling‐up advantages of these materials highlight their promising potential as high‐performance fuels in liquid bipropellant formulations.     

基于聚苯胺-镍酞菁多孔渗透薄膜的氨气传感器

利用磺化镍酞菁(NiTSPc)对苯胺(PANI)聚合的催化作用,通过简单的电聚合方法在叉指金电极(IAE)表面合成了PANI/NiTSPc多孔渗透膜.利用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、原子力显微镜(AFM)、能量色散图谱(EDS)和拉曼光谱对PANI/NiTSPc多孔膜进行表征.在室温下,采用基于PANI/NiTSPc多孔膜制备的传感器对不同浓度(3.8~1900 mg/m~3)的NH_3进行了检测.结果表明,对于76 mg/m~3的NH_3,传感器的灵敏度为2.75,响应时间为10 s,且该传感器具有恢复时间短、重复性及稳定性良好等优点.所制备的PANI/NiTSPc薄膜传感器在NH3检测及电子鼻的应用中具有巨大潜力.     

磷酸对二氧化铈催化剂氨选择性催化还原氮氧化物反应的促进作用(英文)

氮氧化物NO_x(NO和NO_2)对大气的污染日益严重,主要表现为形成酸雨、导致光化学烟雾和产生温室效应等,严重危害人类健康.氨气选择性催化还原(NH_3-SCR)NO_x是目前最有效的固定源NO_x消除技术.工业中常用的催化剂主要是V_2O_5-WO_3/TiO_2,但其活性组分V_2O_5有毒,且存在氧化能力较强和操作温度窗口过窄等缺点.开发新型环境友好的非钒基NH_3-SCR催化剂体系己成为NO_x催化净化领域的研究热点.CeO_2在稀土市场中占有很大比重且相对廉价,同时还具有优异的氧化-还原及储氧性能,因此开发Ce基SCR脱硝催化剂具有非常好的发展前景.对于NH_3-SCR反应,催化剂必须同时具有酸性位和氧化还原中心.酸性位有利于还原剂NH_3的吸附与活化,而氧化还原中心可以促使氧化剂和还原剂之间发生反应.对于低温SCR催化剂,表面酸性适中即可,氧化还原性能起决定作用;而对于中高温SCR催化剂,不仅要提高其表面酸性以保证足够的NH_3吸附量,同时还要控制其表面氧化性不宜太强,否则在高温段NH_3氧化,N_2选择性下降,NO转化率降低.CeO_2具有一定碱性以及优异的氧化还原性能,因此在高温阶段CeO_2催化剂上易发生NH_3深度氧化,高温NH_3-SCR活性差,温度窗口窄.为了拓宽CeO_2基催化剂的温度窗口,改善其催化性能,有必要调整CeO_2的氧化还原性能和酸碱性能.过渡金属磷酸盐或焦磷酸盐具有特殊的表面酸性和氧化还原性,被广泛应用于多种催化反应.考虑到过渡金属磷酸盐或焦磷酸盐表面同时具有酸性位和氧化还原中心,因而可用于NH_3-SCR反应.最近本课题组通过水热法制备了一种环境友好的Ce-P-O催化剂,该催化剂在较宽的温度范围(300-550℃)内表现出较高的催化NO转化能力,同时具有较强的抗碱和耐硫能力,显示出很好的应用前景.此外,硫酸盐和镍盐修饰能有效改善铈锆固溶体催化剂的NH_3-SCR性能:镍修饰增强了铈锆固溶体的Lewis酸性,有利于提高催化剂的低温活性,而硫酸盐改性提高了催化剂的Bronsted酸性,因此有利于催化剂高温下吸附NH_3,抑制了NH_3的过度氧化.另外,磷酸盐修饰能提高铈锆固溶体催化剂NH_3-SCR反应活性.然而,有关催化剂结构系统表征鲜见报道,催化剂的构效关系阐述不够详细.本文采用浸渍法将不同量的H_3PO_4负载于CeO_2上制备了H_3PO_4修饰的CeO_2催化剂,发现H_3PO_4修饰能显著改善CeO_2催化剂的NH_3-SCR性能.本文对催化剂结构进行了系统表征,详细探讨了H_3PO_4促进作用的原因.NH_3-SCR活性测试显示,H_3PO_4修饰后,催化剂活性显著提高,部分抑制了高温时CeO_2催化剂上NH_3的直接氧化,提高了SCR反应的选择性,从而拓宽了温度窗口.X射线衍射、红外光谱和拉曼光谱表征结果发现,随着H_3PO_4负载量增加,样品中CeO_2相逐渐减少,而新相如CeP_2O_7和Ce(PO_3)_4等逐渐增多,多磷酸根阴离子可能是表面酸性增强的关键因素.NH_3程序升温脱附和吸附吡啶红外光谱结果表明,随着H_3PO_4修饰量的增加,样品的酸强度逐渐增大,Lewis酸性逐渐减弱至消失,而Bronsted酸性逐渐增强.增强的Bronsted酸性可能归因于H_3PO_4修饰后样品表面不断增加的P-OH基团.相对于Lewis酸,Bronsted酸性位氧化能力更弱,可以抑制高温下NH_2(ads)继续脱氢,避免了NH_3深度氧化.程序升温还原测试结果表明,H_3PO_4修饰后,各还原峰向高温偏移,偏移量随H_3PO_4负载量增加而增加.这说明H_3PO_4修饰后CeO_2的氧化还原能力降低,抑制了高温下NH_3的过度氧化.因此,H_3PO_4的修饰使得CeO_2催化剂高温NH_3-SCR活性和N_2选择性大幅提高.综上所述,H_3PO_4-CeO_2样品优异的脱硝催化活性可能归因于H_3PO_4修饰后催化剂酸性,尤其是Bronsted酸性的增强以及氧化还原性的降低.     

Skeletal Ni Catalysts Prepared from Amorphous Ni–Zr Alloys: Enhanced Catalytic Performance for Hydrogen Generation from Ammonia Borane

Skeletal Ni catalysts were prepared from Ni–Zr alloys, which possess different chemical composition and atomic arrangements, by a combination of thermal treatment and treatment with aqueous HF. Hydrogen generation from ammonia borane over the skeletal Ni catalysts proceeded efficiently, whereas the amorphous Ni–Zr alloy was inactive. Skeletal Ni prepared from amorphous Ni₃₀Zr₇₀ alloy had a higher catalytic activity than that prepared from amorphous Ni₄₀Zr₆₀ and Ni₅₀Zr₅₀ alloys. The atomic arrangement of the Ni–Zr alloy also strongly affected the surface structure and catalytic activities. Thermal treatment of the amorphous Ni–Zr alloys at a temperature slightly lower than the crystallization temperature led to an increase of the number of surface‐exposed Ni atoms and an enhancement of the catalytic activities for hydrogen generation from ammonia borane. The skeletal Ni catalysts also showed excellent durability and recyclability.