Dicarbollylamine ligand as a tunable template for sigma,sigma- and pi,sigma-bonding modes: syntheses, structures, and theoretical studies of eta5:eta1-coordinated constrained-geometry group 13 metal complexes

A series of group 13 main group complexes with pi,sigma-type bonding interaction of the formula [{(eta (5)-RC 2B 9H 9)(CH 2)(eta (1)-NMe 2)}MMe] (M = Al, R = H 5, Me 6; Ga, R = H 7, Me 8; In, R = H 9, Me 10) was produced by the reaction of group 13 metal alkyls (MMe 3; M = Al, Ga, In) with the dicarbollylamine ligands, nido-8-R-7,8-C 2B 9H 10-7-(CH 2)NHMe 2 (R = H 1, Me 2). The reactions of 1 and 2 with AlMe 3 in toluene initially afforded tetra-coordinated aluminum complexes with sigma,sigma-type bonding interaction, [{(eta (1)-RC 2B 9H 10)(CH 2)(eta (1)-NMe 2)}AlMe 2] (R = H 3, Me 4), which readily underwent further methane elimination to yield the corresponding constrained geometry complexes (CGCs, 5 and 6) of aluminum with pi,sigma-bonding interaction. However, the reactions between 1 and 2 and MMe 3 (M = Ga, In) in toluene produced gallium and indium pi,sigma-CGCs of 7 and 10 directly, not proceeding through sigma,sigma-intermediates. The structures of group 13 metal CGCs were established by X-ray diffraction studies of 5, 6, and 8, which authenticated a characteristic eta (5):eta (1)-coordination mode of the dicarbollylamino ligand to the group 13 metals. A similar pi,sigma-bonding interaction was also established in ethylene-bridged dicarbollylethylamine series. Thus, aluminum pi,sigma-CGCs of dicarbollylethylamine, [{(eta (5)-RC 2B 9H 9)(CH 2) 2(eta (1)-NBz 2)}AlMe] (R = H 17, Me 18), were prepared by the trans-metalation of the [{(eta (5)-RC 2B 9H 9)(CH 2) 2(eta (1)-NBz 2)}Ti(NMe 2) 2] (R = H 15, Me 16) with AlMe 3. However, only sigma,sigma-bonded complexes of the formula [{(eta (1)-RC 2B 9H 9)(CH 2) 2(eta (1)-NBz 2)}AlMe 2] (R = H 13, Me 14) were isolated by the reaction between [ nido-7-8-R-7,8-C 2B 9H 10-(CH 2) 2HNBz 2] (R = H 11, Me 12) and AlMe 3. When methane-elimination reactions between metal alkyls and dicarbollylamines were carried out with either the gallium atom or monobenzyl aminoethyl tethered ligands, [ nido-7-H 2NBz(CH 2) 2-8-R-7,8-C 2B 9H 10] (R = H 21, Me 22), desired pi,sigma-CGCs, [{(eta (5)-RC 2B 9H 9)(CH 2) 2(eta (1)-NBz 2)}GaMe] (R = H 19, Me 20) or [{(eta (5)-RC 2B 9H 9)(CH 2) 2(eta (1)-NHBz)}AlMe] (R = H 23, Me 24), were generated, respectively. DFT calculation on 5 provides evidence of existence of pi,sigma-bonding of dicarbollylamine ligand to the aluminum atom: pi-bonding interaction of a dicarbollyl unit becomes intensified in the presence of a weak sigma-bonding amine-tethered group. Furthermore, preference for the formation of pi,sigma-bonding was predicted by optimizing a reaction profile including sigma,sigma- and pi,sigma-structures as well as transition state structures for each methylene- and ethylene-spaced ligand system, 3-5 and 14- 18, to reveal that pi,sigma-bonding interaction is more favorable in the case of a methylene-tethered ligand system.     

Catalysis of 3-pyrrolidinecarboxylic acid and related pyrrolidine derivatives in enantioselective anti-Mannich-type reactions: importance of the 3-acid group on pyrrolidine for stereocontrol

The development of enantioselective anti-selective Mannich-type reactions of aldehydes and ketones with imines catalyzed by 3-pyrrolidinecarboxylic acid and related pyrrolidine derivatives is reported in detail. Both (3R,5R)-5-methyl-3-pyrrolidinecarboxylic acid and (R)-3-pyrrolidinecarboxylic acid efficiently catalyzed the reactions of aldehydes with alpha-imino esters under mild conditions and afforded anti-Mannich products with high diastereo- and enantioselectivities (anti/syn up to 99:1, up to >99% ee). For the reactions of ketones with alpha-imino esters, (R)-3-pyrrolidinecarboxylic acid was an efficient catalyst (anti/syn up to >99:1, up to 99% ee). Evaluation of a series of pyrrolidine-based catalysts indicated that the acid group at the beta-position of the pyrrolidine ring of the catalyst played an important role in forwarding the carbon-carbon bond formation and in directing anti-selectivity and enantioselectivity.     

Ultrathin Fe‐N‐C Nanosheets Coordinated Fe‐Doped CoNi Alloy Nanoparticles for Electrochemical Water Splitting

The development of highly active and cost‐effective catalyst materials toward electrochemical water splitting is of great importance for converting and storing the intermittent solar energy in the form of hydrogen. Herein, for the first time, an ultrathin Fe and N‐co‐doped carbon nanosheet encapsulated Fe‐doped CoNi alloy nanoparticle (FeCoNi@FeNC) composite is obtained and applied as a bifunctional catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). This catalyst exhibits prominent catalytic performances for both HER and OER, which only requires overpotentials of 102 and 330 mV, respectively, to reach a current density of 10 mA cm^?2 in alkaline media. The high catalytic activity is intrinsically associated with the presence of Fe in both nanosheets and nanoparticles, which has triggered the occurrence of coordinative effects between Fe‐N‐C and FeCoNi that are beneficial for HER and OER, as revealed by electrochemical techniques. In an overall water splitting electrolyzer, FeCoNi@FeNC is employed as both the cathode and anode catalysts, achieving 12 mA cm^?2 at 1.63 V for a duration of more than 12 h.     

Mid-infrared heterodyne phase-sensitive dispersion spectroscopy in flame measurements

We present the first demonstration of heterodyne phase-sensitive dispersion spectroscopy (HPSDS) for in situ, non-intrusive and quantitative CO₂ concentration measurements in flames. Dispersion spectroscopy retrieves gas properties by measuring the refractive index in the vicinity of a molecular resonance. The HPSDS scheme features a significant diagnostic advantage of the intrinsic immunity to laser power fluctuations caused by beam steering, thermal radiation and soot scattering in combustion environments, and thus no extra calibration process is required. In this work, we described the spectroscopic fundamentals for measuring heterodyne phase signals in flames. As a proof of principle, we used a mid-infrared interband cascade laser (ICL) near 4183?nm to exploit the strong CO₂ transitions in the R-branch of the v₃ fundamental band. The HPSDS signals of four CO₂ lines, R(76), R(78), R(80) and R(82), were measured in CH₄/air flames to obtain CO₂ concentrations at different equivalence ratios (Φ?=?0.8–1.2), yielding a good agreement with the simultaneous laser absorption measurements using the same ICL. With its immunity to laser power fluctuations verified experimentally, the HPSDS sensor was successfully implemented to measure CO₂ concentrations in C₂H₄/air sooting flames (Φ?=?1.78–2.38). Laser dispersion spectroscopy proves to be a promising and alternative diagnostic tool for combustion measurements.     

Effects of substrate temperature and Zn addition on the properties of Al-doped ZnO films prepared by magnetron sputtering

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films prepared at different substrate temperature and AZO films with intentional Zn addition (ZAZO) during deposition at elevated substrate temperature were fabricated by radio frequency magnetron sputtering on glass substrate, and the resulting structural, electrical, optical properties together with the etching characteristics and annealing behavior were comparatively examined. AZO films deposited at 150 °C showed the optimum electrical properties and the largest grain size. XPS analysis revealed that AZO films deposited at elevated temperature of 450 °C contained large amount of Al content due to Zn deficiency, and that intentional Zn addition during deposition could compensate the deficiency of Zn to some extent. It was shown that the electrical, optical and structural properties of ZAZO films were almost comparable to those of AZO film deposited at 150 °C, and that ZAZO films had much smaller etching rate together with better stability in severe annealing conditions than AZO films due possibly to formation of dense structure.     

Preparation of an open-tubular capillary column with a monolithic layer of S-ketoprofen imprinted and 4-styrenesulfonic acid incorporated polymer and its enhanced chiral separation performance in capillary electrochromatography

Enhanced chiral separation performance has been observed for ketoprofen enantiomers in capillary electrochromatography (CEC) with an open-tubular (OT) column prepared with a specific molecule imprinted polymer (MIP) on the innerwall of 50mum ID capillary. The column was prepared by in situ thermal polymerization inside the pretreated and silanized fused silica capillary. A specific diluted monomer mixture composed of S-ketoprofen, methacrylic acid (MAA, functional monomer), ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA, cross-linker), and 4-styrenesulfonic acid (4-SSA) dissolved in 9/1 (v/v) acetonitrile/2-propanol was used to fabricate the OT-MIP layer. 4-SSA was added to form a MIP layer capable of stable and strong electro-osmotic flow (EOF) over the pH range of this study securing CEC elution of ketoprofen having partial negative charge near the optimized pH. Various parameters such as buffer pH, organic modifier composition, salt concentration, and applied potential have been optimized for CEC chiral separation of ketoprofen enantiomers. Very good separation selectivity and efficiency were observed, thus the chromatographic resolution of ketoprofen enantiomers was as high as 10.5, and the number of theoretical plates of R-ketoprofen, 156,000/m (40,000/m for S-ketoprofen), which proves that the OT-MIP-CEC type approach is a promising strategy in MIP study.     

Open tubular layer of S‐ofloxacin imprinted polymer fabricated in silica capillary for chiral CEC separation

An open tubular molecule imprinted polymer (OT‐MIP) capillary column has been prepared for chiral separation of ofloxacin enantiomers in CEC. The S‐ofloxacin imprinted OT column was fabricated by thermally initiated non‐covalent polymerization procedure inside a pretreated and silanized fused silica capillary. The template molecule was incorporated with methacrylic acid (MAA), ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) and 4‐styrenesulfonic acid (4‐SSA) and dissolved in a porogen mixture of ACN/2‐propanol (9:1). The separation efficiency of the 4‐SSA MIP column was found quite better than that of the MIP column without 4‐SSA. It has been demonstrated that our OT‐MIP column can separate ofloxacin enantiomers with excellent chiral separation efficiency after tuning the various chromatographic conditions. The optimized chromatographic eluent was 85:15, v/v%, ACN/60 mM sodium acetate at pH 7. The separation efficiency and selectivity of chiral separation of this study were far better than those obtained by previous methods for chiral separation of R‐ and S‐ofloxacin.     

Pressurized hot water extraction of bioactive or marker compounds in botanicals and medicinal plant materials

To reduce the use of organic solvent, pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE) has been shown to be a feasible option for the extraction of bioactive and marker compounds in botanicals and medicinal plants. The parameters that may affect the extraction efficiencies in PHWE include temperature, extraction time and addition of small percentage of organic solvent or surfactants. Currently, applications of PHWE for the extraction of thermally labile compounds in botanicals are still rather limited. PHWE with and without the additional of a small percentage of organic solvent such as ethanol is highly suited for the chemical standardization and quality control of medicinal plants. At the same time, it can be applied at the pilot scale as a manufacturing process for medicinal plants. Surfactant assisted PHWE was found to enhance the extraction of thermally labile and more hydrophobic species in medicinal plants at a lower temperature. The addition of small amount of surfactants in PHWE is highly suited for the determination of bioactive or marker compounds in medicinal plants. With proper optimization, PHWE was observed to have good extraction efficiency and precision when compared to other reference methods of extraction.