Computational insight into asymmetric uranyl‐salophen coordinated with α, β‐unsaturated aldehydes and ketones

The study of the catalytic activity and activation mechanism of asymmetric uranyl‐salophens with α, β‐unsaturated aldehydes or α, β‐unsaturated ketones, is a research hotspot. In this paper, the complexes of the uranyl–salophen(U‐S) modified by unilateral benzene, coordinated with cyclohexenone, cyclopentenone and acrolein, were investigated using density functional theory calculations at the level of B3LYP/6‐311G(d, p) basis set. The results showed that the uranyl‐salophen(U‐S) weakened the large π bond between C = C and C = O of the α, β‐unsaturated aldehydes and ketones, making the unsaturated aldehydes and ketones activated. In addition, the molecular‐recognition selectivity of the asymmetrical uranyl‐salophen for cyclohexenone and cyclopentenone were much higher than for acrolein.     

Salt effect on molecular orientation at air/liquid methanol interface

The salt effects on molecular orientation at air/liquid methanol interface were investigated by the polarization-dependent sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy(SFG-VS). We clarified that the average tilting angle of the methyl group to be u = 308 58 at the air/pure methanol surface assuming a d-function orientational distribution. Upon the addition of 3 mol/L Na I, the methyl group tilts further away from the surface normal with a new u = 418 38. This orientational change does not explain the enhancement of the SFG-VS intensities when adding Na I, implying the number density of the methanol molecules with a net polar ordering in the surface region also changed with the Na I concentrations. These spectroscopic findings shed new light on the salt effects on the surfaces structures of the polar organic solutions. It was also shown that the accurate determination of the bulk refractive indices and Raman depolarization ratios for different salt concentrations is crucial to quantitatively interpret the SFG-VS data.     

Living anionic polymerization of (E)‐1,3‐pentadiene and (Z)‐1,3‐pentadiene isomers

The anionic polymerization of (E)‐1,3‐pentadiene (EP) and (Z)‐1,3‐pentadiene (ZP) together with mixture of the E/Z isomers are investigated, respectively. The kinetic analysis shows that the activation energy for EP (86.17 kJ/mol) is much higher than that for ZP (59.03 kJ/mol). GPC shows that it is the EP rather than the ZP isomer that undergoes anionic living polymerization affording quantitative products of the polymers with well‐controlled molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions (1.05 ≤? ≤ 1.09). In addition, THF as polar additive has proved its validity to reduce the molecular weight distribution of poly(ZP) from 1.38 to as low as 1.19. The microstructure and sequence distributions of polypentadiene are characterized by ¹H NMR and quantitative ¹³C NMR. Finally, the distinctive reaction activity of two isomers can be elucidated by two different mechanisms which involve the presence of four forms of zwitterions for EP and the typical [1,5]‐sigmatropic hydrogen‐shift phenomenon for ZP. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 2291–2301     

Metal-free phthalocyanine single crystal: Solvothermal synthesis and near-infrared electroluminescence

A metal-free purple H₂Pc single crystal was synthesized by a facile solvothermal method, and its solubility and near-infrared (NIR) optical properties were also investigated due to its potential applications as a light-emitting layer for OLEDs. The H₂Pc single crystal is insoluble in 1-chlorine naphthalene and other organic solvents. It gives a wide absorption in the range from 620 nm to 679 nm and a wide emission in near 922 nm. As an active light-emitting layer, H₂Pc was employed to fabricate electroluminescent (EL) devices with a structure of ITO/NPB (30 nm)/Alq₃:H₂Pc (30 nm)/BCP (20 nm)/Alq₃ (20 nm)/Al. The emission center is at 936 nm when the H₂Pc doping concentration is 20 wt%. The doping concentration strongly governs the emission intensity. When doping concentration decreases from 10 wt% to 1 wt%, the emission intensity remarkably fades, and simultaneously the emission center undergoes a blue shift.     

Partial Hydrolysis of Cyanide Coordination Polymers Induced by a Pillar Ligand with Optimized Electrochemical Kinetics for Rechargeable Alkaline Batteries

Coordination polymers are promising cathode materials for rechargeable alkaline batteries. Therefore, the precise modulation of these cathodes by chemical structure and in-depth structure transform study is necessary. Here, two model coordination polymer battery cathodes were designed to demonstrate the dynamic structure–performance relationship. We studied the electrochemical performance of two kinds of nickel-based coordination polymer, comprising a planar 2D cyanide-bridged network and a 3D cyanide-bridged network pillared by pyrazine molecules. The 2D coordination polymer showed serious voltage degradation with poor rate capability, whereas the 3D coordination polymer exhibited stable voltage output coupled with high rate at various current densities. The investigation revealed the underlining relationship of plateau voltage degradation and hydrolysis process of electrodes. It was revealed that the pyrazine pillar molecules in the 3D coordination polymer could suppress the hydrolysis and lead to the in situ formation of partially hydrolyzed structure with excellent electrochemical kinetics; this exhibited obvious smaller peak separation (27 mV compared with 149 mV) and hence an almost twofold increase in capacity retention (31.9 to 50.0 %) and energy density retention (18.2 to 35.9 %) at 10 A g⁻¹.     

Stability and Turing Patterns of a Predator-prey Model with Holling Type II Functional Response and Allee Effect in Predator

Acta Mathematicae Applicatae Sinica, English Series - In this paper, we are concerned with a predator-prey model with Holling type II functional response and Allee effect in predator. We first...     

Effect of active control on optimal structures in wall turbulence

The effect of active control imposed at the wall on optimal structures in wall turbulence is studied by using a linear transient growth model.When the detection plane of the control is located in the buffer layer,the influence of the control on the transient growth of large scale motion becomes negligible as Reynolds number increases.However,if the control signal is detected at the plane located in the logarithm region,the transient growth at large scale can be greatly suppressed.New peak values of transient growth resulting from the strong blowing and suction on the wall exist.The study indicates that a proper selection of control imposed on the wall can suppress the large scale motion in the logarithmic region.