Biocatalytic Photosynthesis with Water as an Electron Donor

Efficient harvesting of unlimited solar energy and its conversion into valuable chemicals is one of the ultimate goals of scientists. With the ever‐increasing concerns about sustainable growth and environmental issues, numerous efforts have been made to develop artificial photosynthetic process for the production of fuels and fine chemicals, thus mimicking natural photosynthesis. Despite the research progress made over the decades, the technology is still in its infancy because of the difficulties in kinetic coupling of whole photocatalytic cycles. Herein, we report a new type of artificial photosynthesis system that can avoid such problems by integrally coupling biocatalytic redox reactions with photocatalytic water splitting. We found that photocatalytic water splitting can be efficiently coupled with biocatalytic redox reactions by using tetracobalt polyoxometalate and Rh‐based organometallic compound as hole and electron scavengers, respectively, for photoexcited [Ru(bpy)₃]²⁺. Based on these results, we could successfully photosynthesize a model chiral compound (L ‐glutamate) using a model redox enzyme (glutamate dehydrogenase) upon in situ photoregeneration of cofactors.     

Supramolecular Water Oxidation with Ru–bda‐Based Catalysts

Extremely slow and extremely fast new water oxidation catalysts based on the Ru–bda (bda=2,2′‐bipyridine‐6,6′‐dicarboxylate) systems are reported with turnover frequencies in the range of 1 and 900 cycles s^?1, respectively. Detailed analyses of the main factors involved in the water oxidation reaction have been carried out and are based on a combination of reactivity tests, electrochemical experiments, and DFT calculations. These analyses give a convergent interpretation that generates a solid understanding of the main factors involved in the water oxidation reaction, which in turn allows the design of catalysts with very low energy barriers in all the steps involved in the water oxidation catalytic cycle. We show that for this type of system π‐stacking interactions are the key factors that influence reactivity and by adequately controlling them we can generate exceptionally fast water oxidation catalysts.     

Direct Enantioselective Three‐Component Synthesis of Optically Active Propargylamines in Water

An enantioselective three‐component reaction of aldehydes, amines, and alkynes in water by using a bis(imidazoline)–Cu^I catalysts having a hydrophobic substituent and sodium dodecyl sulfate as a surfactant was developed. The reaction was applied to a broad range of aldehydes and alkynes to give optically active propargylamines with excellent yields (up to 99 %) and enantiomeric excesses (up to 99 % ee).     

Is Electrostatics Sufficient to Describe Hydrogen‐Bonding Interactions?

The stability and geometry of a hydrogen‐bonded dimer is traditionally attributed mainly to the central moiety A?H???B, and is often discussed only in terms of electrostatic interactions. The influence of substituents and of interactions other than electrostatic ones on the stability and geometry of hydrogen‐bonded complexes has seldom been addressed. An analysis of the interaction energy in the water dimer and several alcohol dimers—performed in the present work by using symmetry‐adapted perturbation theory—shows that the size and shape of substituents strongly influence the stabilization of hydrogen‐bonded complexes. The larger and bulkier the substituents are, the more important the attractive dispersion interaction is, which eventually becomes of the same magnitude as the total stabilization energy. Electrostatics alone are a poor predictor of the hydrogen‐bond stability trends in the sequence of dimers investigated, and in fact, dispersion interactions predict these trends better.     

Urea‐Based Porous Organic Frameworks: Effective Supports for Catalysis in Neat Water

Two urea‐based porous organic frameworks, UOF‐1 and UOF‐2, were synthesized through a urea‐forming condensation of 1,3,5‐benzenetriisocyanate with 1,4‐diaminobenzene and benzidine, respectively. UOF‐1 and UOF‐2 possess good hydrophilic properties and high scavenging ability for palladium. Their palladium polymers, Pd^II/UOF‐1 and Pd^II/UOF‐2, exhibit high catalytic activity and selectivity for Suzuki–Miyaura cross‐coupling reactions and selective reduction of nitroarenes in water. The catalytic reactions can be efficiently performed at room temperature. Palladium nanoparticles with narrow size distribution were formed after the catalytic reaction and were well dispersed in UOF‐1 and UOF‐2. XPS analysis confirmed the coordination of the urea oxygen atom with palladium. SEM and TEM images showed that the original network morphology of UOF‐1 and UOF‐2 was maintained after palladium loading and catalytic reactions.     

Versatile Iridicycle Catalysts for Highly Efficient and Chemoselective Transfer Hydrogenation of Carbonyl Compounds in Water

Cyclometalated iridium complexes are shown to be highly efficient and chemoselective catalysts for the transfer hydrogenation of a wide range of carbonyl groups with formic acid in water. Examples include α‐substituted ketones (α‐ether, α‐halo, α‐hydroxy, α‐amino, α‐nitrile or α‐ester), α‐keto esters, β‐keto esters and α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes. The reduction was carried out at substrate/catalyst ratios of up to 50 000 at pH 4.5 and required no organic solvent. The protocol provides a practical, easy and efficient way for the synthesis of β‐functionalised secondary alcohols, such as β‐hydroxyethers, β‐hydroxyamines and β‐hydroxyhalo compounds, which are valuable intermediates in pharmaceutical, fine chemical, perfume and agrochemical synthesis.     

Spectroscopic Monitoring of the Acidity of Water Films on Ru(0001): Orientation‐Specific Acidity of Adsorbed Water

We examined the acid–base properties of water films adsorbed onto a Ru(0001) substrate by using surface spectroscopic methods in vacuum environments. Ammonia adsorption experiments combined with low‐energy sputtering (LES), reactive ion scattering (RIS), reflection–absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS) and temperature‐programmed desorption (TPD) measurements showed that the adsorbed water is acidic enough to transfer protons to ammonia. Only the water molecules in an intact water monolayer and water clusters larger than the hexamer exhibit such acidity, whereas small clusters, a thick ice film or a partially dissociated water monolayer that contains OH, H₂O and H species are not acidic. The observations indicate the orientation‐specific acidity of adsorbed water. The acidity stems from water molecules with H‐down adsorption geometry present in the monolayer. However, the dissociation of water into H and OH on the surface does not promote but rather suppresses the proton transfer to ammonia.     

BixTiOy-TiO2复合膜电极光电催化去除模拟压载水中细菌

溶剂热-聚乙烯醇粘附法制备了钛网负载BixTiOy-TiO2复合膜电极。利用X射线衍射、紫外-可见漫反射、光致发光(PL)、扫描电子显微镜和能谱(EDS)等测试技术对合成的纳米材料和膜电极进行了表征。利用三电极系统对模拟压载水的灭菌效果进行实验研究。考察了外加电压、光源和膜电极的使用次数对光电催化灭菌效果的影响。UV-Vis实验表明,BixTiOy-TiO2复合材料比纯TiO2有好的可见光吸收;PL实验证明,复合材料比纯TiO2有更高光量子效率。对细菌浓度为106CFU/mL的模拟压载水的光电催化灭菌实验结果表明,外加电压为9 V,电极与溶液接触面积为140 cm2时,20 W紫外杀菌灯照射下反应2 min即可完全去除压载水中的细菌;聚乙烯醇粘附法制备的电极重复使用20次,灭菌效果不变。     

ICS–2100型离子色谱仪工作性能检验分析

对淮河流域水环境监测中心新购置的ISC–2100型离子色谱仪进行了工作性能检验。保留时间重现性为0.664%~1.501%(n=10),4种阴离子(F–,Cl–,SO42–,NO3––N)标准曲线的线性相关系数大于0.999。对硝酸盐氮标准物质进行测定,测定结果的相对标准偏差为0.23%(n=8),加标回收率为91.8%~95.9%。实验结果表明,该离子色谱仪仪器性能稳定,各项检验结果满足实际监测工作的要求。     

Highly Active Electrocatalysis of the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction by Cobalt Phosphide Nanoparticles

Nanoparticles of cobalt phosphide, CoP, have been prepared and evaluated as electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) under strongly acidic conditions (0.50 M H₂SO₄, pH 0.3). Uniform, multi‐faceted CoP nanoparticles were synthesized by reacting Co nanoparticles with trioctylphosphine. Electrodes comprised of CoP nanoparticles on a Ti support (2 mg cm^?2 mass loading) produced a cathodic current density of 20 mA cm^?2 at an overpotential of ?85 mV. The CoP/Ti electrodes were stable over 24 h of sustained hydrogen production in 0.50 M H₂SO₄. The activity was essentially unchanged after 400 cyclic voltammetric sweeps, suggesting long‐term viability under operating conditions. CoP is therefore amongst the most active, acid‐stable, earth‐abundant HER electrocatalysts reported to date.