A polarizable ellipsoidal force field for halogen bonds

The anisotropic effects and short‐range quantum effects are essential characters in the formation of halogen bonds. Since there are an array of applications of halogen bonds and much difficulty in modeling them in classical force fields, the current research reports solely the polarizable ellipsoidal force field (PEff) for halogen bonds. The anisotropic charge distribution was represented with the combination of a negative charged sphere and a positively charged ellipsoid. The polarization energy was incorporated by the induced dipole model. The resulting force field is “physically motivated,” which includes separate, explicit terms to account for the electrostatic, repulsion/dispersion, and polarization interaction. Furthermore, it is largely compatible with existing, standard simulation packages. The fitted parameters are transferable and compatible with the general AMBER force field. This PEff model could correctly reproduces the potential energy surface of halogen bonds at MP2 level. Finally, the prediction of the halogen bond properties of human Cathepsin L (hcatL) has been found to be in excellent qualitative agreement with the cocrystal structures. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Novel redox-active ionic thermotropic liquid crystalline complexes of polyelectrolyte and ferrocenyl surfactants

Redox-active polyelectrolyte-surfactant complexes(PSC) were prepared via the ionic self-assembly of sodium poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSS) and ferrocenyl surfactant,(11-ferrocenylundecyl)trimethylammonium bromide(FTMA) in aqueous solution. The PSS-FTMA complex exhibited an ordered interdigitated monolayer mesomorphous structure with the long period of d = 3.13 nm,and was in the ionic thermotropic liquid crystal SmA state at room temperature.Interestingly,in the solid complex, the ferrocenyl moieties formed H-aggregation showing an increase in theπ-π~* energy transfer of cyclopentadienes in the ferrocene moieties as known from the blue-shift in the UV spectrum.The complexes showed higher thermal stability compared with their components due to the ionic interaction.The PSS-FTMA film had a good redox reversibility,which promised to be used in electrochemical sensors.     

Computational Insights into Different Mechanisms for Ag-, Cu-, and Pd-Catalyzed Cyclopropanation of Alkenes and Sulfonyl Hydrazones

The [2+1] cycloaddition reaction of a metal carbene with an alkene can produce important cyclopropane products for synthetic intermediates, materials, and pharmaceutical applications. However, this reaction is often accompanied by side reactions, such as coupling and self-coupling, so that the yield of the cyclopropanation product of non-silver transition-metal carbenes and hindered alkenes is generally lower than 50 %. To solve this problem, the addition of a low concentration of diazo compound (decomposition of sulfonyl hydrazones) to alkenes catalyzed by either CuOAc or PdCl₂ was studied, but side reactions could still not be avoided. Interestingly, however, the yield of cyclopropanation products for such hindered alkenes were as high as 99 % with AgOTf as a catalyst. To explain this unexpected phenomenon, reaction pathways have been computed for four different catalysts by using DFT. By combining the results of these calculations with those obtained experimentally, it can be concluded that the efficiency of the silver catalyst is due to the barrierless concerted cycloaddition step and the kinetic inhibition of side reactions by a high concentration of alkene.     

凹形树突状PtCu纳米催化剂的合成及对甲醇电催化的研究

以邻苯二胺为表面活性剂,通过水热釜法一步制备凹形树突状PtCu双金属纳米催化剂(PtCu NCDs)。PtCu NCDs在电催化甲醇氧化(MOR)的应用中表现出非常高的活性和很强的抗有毒中间体作用。PtCu NCDs对于甲醇氧化的质量活性为(0.53 A·mg^-1 Pt)是商业Pt/C(0.26 A·mg^-1 Pt)的2.04倍。从比活性的CV曲线图对比发现PtCu NCDs(1.07 mA·cm^-2)是商业Pt/C(0.55 mA·cm^-2)的1.95倍。而且,PtCu NCDs(2.76)比商业Pt/C催化剂(1.02)表现出更高的I_f/I_b比值。这些优异的电催化活性可能归功于PtCu NCDs特殊的凹形树突状形貌。