Gold-Catalyzed Divergent Ring-Opening Rearrangement of Cyclopropenes Enabled by Dichotomous Gold−Carbenes

The gold-catalyzed ring-opening rearrangement of cyclopropenes affords an efficient route to either polysubstituted naphthols or aryl-substituted furans. Owing to the unique dichotomy of gold−carbenes, this protocol provides a switchable reaction selectivity between naphthols and furans enabled by the use of TFP−Au(MeCN)SbF₆ (tri(2-furyl) phosphine) or PNP(AuNTf₂)₂ (bis(diphenylphosphino)(isopropyl) amine) as catalysts respectively. It is proposed that the gold−carbene intermediate might be involved in the cyclopropene→naphthol rearrangement while the gold-carbocation is more likely to be involved in the cyclopropene→furan rearrangement.     

Photothermal Oxidation of Cinnamyl Alcohol with Hydrogen Peroxide Catalyzed by Gold Nanoparticle/Antimony-Doped Tin Oxide Nanocrystals

Gold nanoparticles with different mean sizes were formed on antimony-doped tin oxide nanocrystals by the temperature-varied deposition-precipitation method (Au/ATO NCs). Au/ATO NCs possess strong absorption in the near-infrared region due to Drude excitation in addition to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of AuNPs around 530 nm. Au/ATO NCs show thermally activated catalytic activity for the oxidation of cinnamyl alcohol to cinnamaldehyde by hydrogen peroxide. The catalytic activity increases with a decrease in the mean Au particle size (d_Au) at 5.3 nm≤d_Au≤8.2 nm. Light irradiation (λ_ex >660 nm, ∼0.5 sun) of Au/ATO NCs increases the rate of reaction by more than twice with ∼95 % selectivity. Kinetic analyses indicated that the striking enhancement of the reaction stems from the rise in the temperature near the catalyst surface of ∼30 K due to the photothermal effect of the ATO NCs.     

Mechanical property and deformation mechanism of gold nanowire with non-uniform distribution of twinned boundaries:A molecular dynamics simulation study

The mechanical property and deformation mechanism of twinned gold nanowire with non-uniform distribution of twinned boundaries(TBs) are studied by the molecular dynamics(MD) method. It is found that the twin boundary spacing(TBS) has a great effect on the strength and plasticity of the nanowires with uniform distribution of TBs. And the strength enhances with the decrease of TBS, while its plasticity declines. For the nanowires with non-uniform distribution of TBs, the differences in distribution among different TBSs have little effect on the Young's modulus or strength, and the compromise in strength appears. But the differences have a remarkable effect on the plasticity of twinned gold nanowire. The twinned gold nanowire with higher local symmetry ratio has better plasticity. The initial dislocations always form in the largest TBS and the fracture always appears at or near the twin boundaries adjacent to the smallest TBS. Some simulation results are consistent with the experimental results.     

Synthesis of mesoporous-silica coated multi-branched gold nanoparticles for surface enhanced Raman scattering evaluation of 4-bromomethcathinone

Mesoporous silica-coated multi-branched gold nanoparticles (bAu@mesoSiO₂) aiming for enhanced Raman sensing for 4-bromomethcathinone (4-BMC) detection is reported. In this work, we present an effective strategy to probe the Raman signal of 4-MBC. Morphologies and optical properties of the synthesized materials with different [Au³⁺]/[Au⁰] ratios are characterized utilizing transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–vis and mid-infrared spectroscopy. Both experimental and theoretical (simulation) studies were investigated. Taking advantages of gold core branches that provide highly localized and strongly enhanced electromagnetic fields due to plasmon resonance, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is observed. The experimental results show that the SERS intensity exhibits a 100-fold increase with the increased average length and quantity of gold branches (nano tips). The analytical performance yielded a detection limit of 0.1?mg/ml for the 4-MBC target within 5?mins. The sensing method will likely find further improvement and broad use in the forensic science. Besides rapid detection and portability, the combination of the Raman effect and enhanced materials imparts other notable advantages, such as its non-contact and free of reagents.     

氧化石墨烯/多壁碳纳米管负载金铂核壳纳米粒子构建一种三维新型抗坏血酸电化学传感器

该文采用涂覆的方式构建了一种用于灵敏检测抗坏血酸(AA)的电化学传感器。先将多壁碳纳米管(MWCNTs)和氧化石墨烯(GO)混合悬浮液修饰在玻碳电极(GCE)表面,修饰的GO可有效防止MWCNTs聚集,再将具有良好电催化性能的金铂核壳纳米粒子(Au@Pt NPs)修饰在GO/MWCNTs电极上,层层组装构建形成GO/MWCNTs/Au@Pt NPs/GCE三维新型抗坏血酸电化学传感器。该修饰电极在磷酸缓冲溶液中对AA显示了较宽的线性范围和极低的检出限,氧化峰电流与AA浓度在0.005～0.5μmol/L和0.5～1 000μmol/L范围内呈良好的线性关系,相关系数均为0.999,检出限(S/N=3)为4×10~(-9) mol/L,稀释人体血清样品的加标浓度为0.01、0.1、10μmol/L,回收率为90.9%～108%,相对标准偏差(RSD,n=3)为1.2%～2.8%。该修饰电极对AA具有良好的选择性,可有效排除多巴胺、尿酸、葡萄糖等生物小分子的干扰。方法简单、高效、灵敏,可用于临床实际检测。     

Stabilized Carbenium Ions as Latent,Z‐type Ligands

Controlling the reactivity of transition metals using secondary, σ‐accepting ligands is an active area of investigation that is impacting molecular catalysis. Herein we describe the phosphine gold complexes [(o‐Ph₂P(C₆H₄)Acr)AuCl]⁺ ([ 3 ]⁺; Acr=9‐N‐methylacridinium) and [(o‐Ph₂P(C₆H₄)Xan)AuCl]⁺ ([ 4 ]⁺; Xan=9‐xanthylium) where the electrophilic carbenium moiety is juxtaposed with the metal atom. While only weak interactions occur between the gold atom and the carbenium moiety of these complexes, the more Lewis acidic complex [ 4 ]⁺ readily reacts with chloride to afford a trivalent phosphine gold dichloride derivative ( 7 ) in which the metal atom is covalently bound to the former carbocationic center. This anion‐induced Au^I/Au^III oxidation is accompanied by a conversion of the Lewis acidic carbocationic center in [ 4 ]⁺ into an X‐type ligand in 7 . We conclude that the carbenium moiety of this complex acts as a latent Z‐type ligand poised to increase the Lewis acidity of the gold center, a notion supported by the carbophilic reactivity of these complexes.     

Substitution‐Pattern‐ and Counteranion‐Depending Ion‐Pairing Assemblies Based on Electron‐Deficient Porphyrin–AuIII Complexes

Porphyrin–Au^III complexes, which were partially or totally modified with C₆F₅ at the meso positions, were synthesized. The highly electron‐withdrawing substituents induced electron‐deficient states and Lewis acid properties. Single‐crystal X‐ray analysis of the ion pairs revealed ion‐pairing assemblies with characteristics dependent on the number and substitution pattern of the C₆F₅ units and the geometries of the anions.     

In Situ Generated Gold Nanoparticles on Active Carbon as Reusable Highly Efficient Catalysts for a C −C Stille Coupling

Gold nanoparticle catalysts are important in many industrial production processes. Nevertheless, for traditional C ?C cross‐coupling reactions they have been rarely used and Pd catalysts usually give a superior performance. Herein we report that in situ formed gold metal nanoparticles are highly active catalysts for the cross coupling of allylstannanes and activated alkylbromides to form C ?C bonds. Turnover numbers up to 29 000 could be achieved in the presence of active carbon as solid support, which allowed for convenient catalyst recovery and reuse. The present study is a rare case where a gold metal catalyst is superior to Pd catalysts in a cross‐coupling reaction of an organic halide and an organometallic reagent.     

Mass spectrometry combined with affinity probes for the identification of CP4 EPSPS in genetically modified soybeans

Sample preparation methods used for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) analysis are often time consuming, require extensive manual manipulation, and result in limited amounts of purified protein, which may complicate the detection of low‐abundance GM protein. A robust sample pretreatment method prior to mass spectrometry (MS) detection of the transgenic protein (5‐enolpyruvylshikimate‐3‐phosphate synthase [CP4 EPSPS]) present in Roundup Ready soya is investigated. Liquid chromatography‐multiple reaction monitoring tandem MS (nano LC‐MS/MS‐MRM) was used for the detection and quantification of CP4 EPSPS. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and concanavalin A (Con A)‐immobilized Sepharose 4B were used as selective probes for the separation of the major storage proteins in soybeans. AuNPs that enable the capture of cysteine‐containing proteins were used to reduce the complexity of the crude extract of GM soya. Con A‐sepharose was used for the affinity capture of β‐conglycinin and other glycoproteins of soya prior to enzymatic digestion. The methods enabled the detection of unique peptides of CP4 EPSPS at a level as low as 0.5% of GM soya in MRM mode. Stable‐isotope dimethyl labeling was further applied to the quantification of GM soya. Both probes exhibited high selectivity and efficiency for the affinity capture of storage proteins, leading to the quantitative detection at 0.5% GM soya, which is a level below the current European Union's threshold for food labeling. The square correlation coefficients were greater than 0.99. The approach for sample preparation is very simple without the need for time‐consuming protein prefractionation or separation procedures and thus presents a significant improvement over existing methods for the analysis of the GM soya protein.     

Mechanistic Insights into C(sp2)−C(sp)N Reductive Elimination from Gold(III) Cyanide Complexes

A new family of phosphine-ligated dicyanoarylgold(III) complexes has been prepared and their reactivity towards reductive elimination has been studied in detail. Both, a highly positive entropy of activation and a primary ^12/13C KIE suggest a late concerted transition state while Hammett analysis and DFT calculations indicate that the process is asynchronous. As a result, a distinct mechanism involving an asynchronous concerted reductive elimination for the overall C(sp²)−C(sp)N bond forming reaction is characterized herein, for the first time, complementing previous studies reported for C(sp³)−C(sp³), C(sp²)−C(sp²), and C(sp³)−C(sp²) bond formation processes taking place on gold(III) species.