How Ligand Geometry Affects the Reactivity of Co(II) Cyclam Complexes

Cobalt complexes are extensively studied as bioinspired models for non-heme oxygenases as they facilitate both the stabilization and characterization of metal-oxygen intermediates. As an analog to the well-known Co(cyclam) complex Co{N₄} (cyclam=1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane), the Co^II complex Co{i-N₄} with the isomeric isocyclam ligand (isocyclam=1,4,7,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane) was synthesized and characterized. Despite the identical N₄ donor set of both complexes, Co{i-N₄} enables the 2e⁻/2H⁺ reduction of O₂ with a lower overpotential (η_eff of 385 mV vs. 540 mV for Co{N₄} ), albeit with a diminished turnover frequency. Characterization of the intermediates formed upon O₂ activation of Co{i-N₄} reveals a structurally identified stable μ-peroxo Co^III dimer as the main product. A superoxo Co^III species is also formed as a minor product, as indicated by EPR spectroscopy. In further reactivity studies, the electrophilicity of these in situ generated Co−O₂ species was demonstrated by the oxidation of the O−H bond of TEMPO−H (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-ol) via a H atom abstraction process. Unlike the known Co(cyclam), Co{i-N₄} can be employed in oxygen atom transfer reactions oxidizing triphenylphosphine to the corresponding phosphine oxide highlighting the impact of geometrical modifications of the ligand while preserving the ring size and donor atom set on the reactivity of biomimetic oxygen activating complexes.     

How Doping Affects the Activity of the Aluminum Oxide Support

The performance of heteronuclear clusters [AlXO₃]⁺ (X=Al, AlO₄, AlMg₂O₂, AlZnO, AlAu₂, Mg, Y, VO, NbO, TaO) in activating methane has been explored by a combination of high–level quantum calculations with reported and supplementary gas-phase experiments. With different dopants in [AlXO₃]⁺, the mechanism, reactivity and selectivity towards methane activation varies accordingly. The classic HAT competes with PCET, depending on the composition of intramolecular interactions. Although the existence of terminal oxygen radical is beneficial for classic HAT, the Al_t−C interaction in the [AlXO₃]⁺ clusters as enhanced by the strongly electronegative doping groups (X=Al, AlZnO, Mg, Zn, VO, NbO, TaO) favors the PCET process, facilitating C−H bond breaking. In addition, with different dopants, the destiny of the split methyl group varies accordingly. While strong interaction between Al_t and CH₃ results in the formation of the Al_t−C bond, dopants with variable valance may promote the formation of deep-oxidation products like formaldehyde. It has been discussed in detail how to regulate the activity and selectivity of the active center of the catalyst via rational doping.     

Ring-polymer Molecular Dynamics Simulation for the Adsorption of H2 on Ice Clusters (H2O)n (n=8, 10, and 12)

In the interstellar medium, the H₂ adsorption and desorption on the solid water ice are crucial for chemical and physical processes. We have recently investigated the probabilities of H₂ sticking on the (H₂O)₈ ice, which has quadrilateral surfaces. We have extended the previous work using classical MD and ring-polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD) simulations to the larger ice clusters, (H₂O)₁₀ and (H₂O)₁₂, which have pentagonal and hexagonal surfaces, respectively. The H₂ sticking probabilities decreased as the temperature increased for both cluster cases, whereas the cluster-size-independent profiles were observed. It is thought that the size independence of the probabilities is qualitatively understood from the similar binding energies for all the three cluster systems. Furthermore, the RPMD sticking probabilities are smaller than the classical ones because of the reduction in the binding energies owing to nuclear quantum effects, such as vibrational quantization.     

Explicit finite difference simulations for accelerating cross diffusion flow over a perpendicular shield with parabolic motion

The heat transfer phenomenon subject to thermos-diffusion effects convey important applications in the heating processes, extrusion systems, chemical processes and various engineering systems. The objective of current work is to observe the contribution of Soret and Dufour effects in oscillating shield for cross diffusion flow. The perpendicular shield with oscillating motion induced the flow. The magnitude of oscillations is assumed to be small so that laminar flow due to oscillating shield has been resulted. The motivations for addressing the thermos-diffusion phenomenon due to oscillating of shield are due to applications in oscillatory pumps, moving surface, metal detectors, power systems etc. The dimensionless problem is obtained via introducing the appropriate set of variables. The numerical outcomes are suggested by using the most interesting explicit finite difference scheme. The physical illustration for flow parameters is presented. Moreover, the aspect of physical quantities involving the flow are graphically reported.     

Overreact,an in silico lab: Automative quantum chemical microkinetic simulations for complex chemical reactions

Today's demand for precisely predicting chemical reactions from first principles requires research to go beyond Gibbs' free energy diagrams and consider other effects such as concentrations and quantum tunneling. The present work introduces overreact, a novel Python package for propagating chemical reactions over time using data from computational chemistry only. The overreact code infers all differential equations and parameters from a simple input that consists of a set of chemical equations and quantum chemistry package outputs for each chemical species. We evaluate some applications from the literature: gas-phase eclipsed-staggered isomerization of ethane, gas-phase umbrella inversion of ammonia, gas-phase degradation of methane by chlorine radical, and three solvation-phase reactions. Furthermore, we comment on a simple solvation-phase acid–base equilibrium. We show how it is possible to achieve reaction profiles and information matching experiments.     

Large scale synthesis of red emissive carbon dots powder by solid state reaction for fingerprint identification

Red emissive carbon dots(CDs) powder was synthesized on a large scale from phloroglucinol and boric acid by a novel solid state reaction with yield up to 75%. This method is safe and convenient, for it needs neither high pressure reactors nor complicated post-treatment procedures. The as-prepared carbon dots powder exhibited strong red fluorescence with excitation-independent behavior. XPS measurement and PL spectra suggest that such red fluorescence arise from boron-doped structures in CDs, which increases along with the boron concentration on CDs surface but decreases when the concentration quenching effect takes place. To overcome the aggregation induced fluorescence quenching of the solid CDs powder,the conventional methods are dispersing CDs into a large amount of inert substrates. But our present work provides a new strategy to realize strong red fluorescence of CDs in solid state. As a result, such carbon dots powder works well for latent fingerprint identification on various material surfaces.     

过渡态理论在化学体系中的2个应用实例*

在大学本科一二年级的物理化学教学中,化学动力学章节的学习涉及到对不同时间尺度的认识。本文利用过渡态理论得到的速率常数表达公式,以乙烷分子碳/碳单键旋转和水分子氢键交换的动力学过程为例,对这2个应用实例的动力学过程所发生的时间尺度做出估算。这些时间尺度的估算对于学生理解不同动力学过程的物理图像至关重要,同时也有助于加强学生对重要公式的理解并能够将这些公式在化学体系中灵活运用。     

无溶剂法大量制备高效红光碳点及其在白光器件中的应用

以邻苯二胺、 2,5-二氨基苯磺酸和三氯化铝为原料, 通过无溶剂法大量制备了高效的红色荧光碳点 (R-CDs). 制得的碳点尺寸大约为2.4 nm, 含有13%的氮元素, 主要由高度石墨化的碳核及覆盖在其表面的大量官能团构成. 在不同的波长光激发下, 碳点在乙醇溶液中表现出不依赖于激发的红光发射, 其荧光峰位于 704 nm, 最大量子产率达到22%. 由于R-CDs具有优异的光学性质, 利用其构筑了紫外光激发的碳基白色发光二极管, 其色坐标为(0.33, 0.33), 非常接近自然光. 该研究为高效红色荧光碳点的大量制备提供了一种新路径, 同时拓宽了其在白光器件中的应用.     

纳米Pd和Au催化CO2还原粒径效应的密度泛函理论计算研究

以可再生能源为能量来源,在水溶液中进行的光(电)催化CO₂还原生成高附加值化学品和燃料是解决能源危机与环境污染的有效途径之一.CO是一种简单却很重要的CO₂还原产物,它可以作为水煤气变换反应与费托合成的重要原料.具有较高CO选择性的贵金属纳米颗粒催化剂(如Au和Pd)一直受到研究者的广泛关注.一般来说,金属颗粒催化剂的催化性能与粒径大小密切相关,即所谓的粒径效应.然而在实际的理论计算研究中,由于受到计算能力的限制,催化剂模型都仅局限于简单的周期性模型或小的金属团簇模型,无法准确描述真实颗粒上复杂的反应位点的性质,导致了对催化行为的误解.因此,建立更加真实的颗粒模型对探究纳米颗粒催化剂上活性位点的性质,解释其粒径效应至关重要.本文旨在阐述Au与Pd纳米颗粒催化剂不同活性位点上CO₂还原反应与产H2副反应的竞争机制,并解释Au与Pd纳米颗粒催化剂在CO₂电还原中表现出不同粒径效应的原因.本文基于密度泛函理论,采用VASP软件,BEEF-vdW泛函进行计算.分别建立了原子数为55,147,309和561的颗粒模型和高CO^*覆盖度模型,避免了传统周期性模型的局限性,探究了金属颗粒催化剂不同反应位点上的CO选择性.结果表明,对于颗粒模型来说,(100)位点对CO的选择性优于边缘位点;但对于周期性模型来说,Au(211)对CO的选择性则优于Au(100).产生这种反差的主要原因在于Au颗粒的边缘位点对H*的吸附过强.通过对比,我们直观地展现了颗粒模型上平面位点和Edge位点与相对应的周期性模型上CO选择性的区别,突出了模型选择对揭示活性位点性质的重要性.在此基础上,通过计算理论CO法拉第效率,发现Au颗粒随着粒径的减小,CO选择性降低,与实验的趋势一致.对于Pd催化剂来说,低覆盖度模型无法正确预测活性位点的性质;而高CO覆盖度的情况下,Pd颗粒的边缘位点对COOH^*吸附能更强,这是导致边缘位点上CO选择性更高的主要原因.同样通过计算理论CO法拉第效率,发现随着粒径的减小,Pd颗粒上CO选择性升高.本文不仅成功揭示了Au与Pd颗粒催化剂上活性位点的性质,对粒径效应做出了合理解释,也强调了合理的计算模型是理论研究的基础.     

Optimization of Vacuum-Microwave-Assisted Extraction of Natural Polyphenols and Flavonoids from Raw Solid Waste of the Orange Juice Producing Industry at Industrial Scale

Orange pomace (OP) is a solid waste produced in bulk as a byproduct of the orange juice industry and accounts for approximately 50% of the quantity of the fruits processed into juice. In numerous literature references there is information about diverse uses of orange pomace for the production of high-added-value products including production of natural antioxidant and antimicrobial extracts rich in polyphenols and flavonoids which can substitute the hazardous chemical antioxidants/antimicrobials used in agro-food and cosmetics sectors. In this work and for the first time, according to our knowledge, the eco-friendly aqueous vacuum microwave assisted extraction of orange pomace was investigated and optimized at real industrial scale in order to produce aqueous antioxidant/antimicrobial extracts. A Response Surface Optimization methodology with a multipoint historical data experimental design was employed to obtain the optimal values of the process parameters in order to achieve the maximum rates of extraction of OP total polyphenols and/or total flavonoids for economically optimum production at industrial scale. The three factors used for the optimization were: (a) microwave power (b) water to raw pomace ratio and (c) extraction time. Moreover, the effectiveness and statistical soundness of the derived cubic polynomial predictive models were verified by ANOVA.