Carboxysome-Inspired Electrocatalysis using Enzymes for the Reduction of CO2 at Low Concentrations**

The electrolysis of dilute CO₂ streams suffers from low concentrations of dissolved substrate and its rapid depletion at the electrolyte-electrocatalyst interface. These limitations require first energy-intensive CO₂ capture and concentration, before electrolyzers can achieve acceptable performances. For direct electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction from low-concentration sources, we introduce a strategy that mimics the carboxysome in cyanobacteria by utilizing microcompartments with nanoconfined enzymes in a porous electrode. A carbonic anhydrase accelerates CO₂ hydration kinetics and minimizes substrate depletion by making all dissolved carbon available for utilization, while a highly efficient formate dehydrogenase reduces CO₂ cleanly to formate; down to even atmospheric concentrations of CO₂. This bio-inspired concept demonstrates that the carboxysome provides a viable blueprint for the reduction of low-concentration CO₂ streams to chemicals by using all forms of dissolved carbon.     

A combined experimental and computational investigation of the binary mixtures of 2-methylcyclohexanol and isobutanol

Structural Chemistry - The measured densities and viscosities of the binary mixtures of the isobutanol and 2-methylcyclohexanol were reported experimentally in a certain range of concentrations at...     

Synthesis of boronic acid‐functionalized poly(glycerol‐oligoγ‐butyrolactone): Nano‐networks for efficient electrochemical sensing of biosystems

Despite the outstanding properties of hyperbranched polyglycerols such as biocompatibility and multifunctionality, enough attention has not been paid to the synthesis of their functional copolymers. This problem has limited the structural diversity of hyperbranched polyglycerols and hampers further developments and their practical usage. In this work, butyrolactone segments were incorporated into the backbone of polyglycerols by one‐pot ring‐opening copolymerization of a mixture of glycidol and γ‐butyrolactone in the presence of tin(II) 2‐ethylhexanoate. Poly(glycerol‐oligoγ‐butyrolactone)s were then crosslinked by 2,5‐thiophenediylbisboronic acid to obtain polymeric nanonetworks with 140 nm average size. Afterwards, the gold electrode was modified by the polymeric nano‐networks, and it was used for the determination of glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and Escherichia coli in phosphate buffer solution (pH = 9.0) through cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopic. Taking advantage of the straightforward synthesis, cheap precursors and multifunctionality of poly(glycerol‐oligoγ‐butyrolactone)s, they could be used for real‐time sensing of a wide range of biosystems. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 1430–1439     

The role of hydrogen bonds in thermodynamic and structural properties in binary mixtures of morpholine + 2-methylcyclohexanol: a combined experimental and computational study

Structural Chemistry - Thermodynamic properties of binary mixtures of 2-methylcyclohexanol with morpholine are measured as a function of composition and temperature. The excess molar volumes were...     

Regiospecific iodocyclization of S-allyl dithiocarbamates: synthesis of 2-imino-1,3-dithiolane and 2-iminium-1,3-dithiolane derivatives

4-Alkyl-2-imino-1,3-dithiolanes and 4-alkyl-2-iminium-1,3-dithiolanes were prepared in excellent yields with complete regiospecificity under mild conditions by the iodocyclization of S-allyl dithiocarbamates. Dehydrohalogenation of the 4-alkyl-2-imino-1,3-dithiolanes gave 4-alkylidene-2-imino-1,3-dithiolanes in excellent yields.     

Sodium Borohydride–Solid LiClO4: An Effective Reagent for Reducing Aldehydes and Ketones in Aprotic Solvent

An efficient and simple method for the reduction of aldehydes, ketones and acid chlorides has been accomplished by using NaBH₄–solid LiClO₄ in mild conditions at ambient temperature with complete chemoselectivity in reduction of α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes and ketones. The reaction is fast with high yield and simple workup.     

Catalyst-free Friedel-Crafts alkylation of naphthols with nitrostyrenes in the presence of water

Accelerated Michael-type Friedel-Crafts alkylation of naphthols with nitrostyrenes in the presence of water is reported. The procedure is simple, catalyst-free, and affords good yields of the products.     

Control of spontaneous emission in a five-level system

We study the control of spontaneous emission in a five-level atomic system driven by four fields. We show that with the variation of dynamical variables, namely, Rabi frequencies and carrier phases of driven fields, a wide variety of the spectral behavior can be obtained, including extreme spectral narrowing. Our system can be found easily in real atoms.     

A new coumarin laser dye 3-(benzothiazol-2-yl)-7-hydroxycoumarin

The electronic absorption, and emission spectra as well as fluorescence quantum yield of 3-(benzothiazol-2-yl)-7-hydroxycoumarin (BTHC) were measured in different solvents and are affected by solvent polarity (Δf). The deprotonation of BTHC by triethylamine is a reversible process. BTHC is relatively photostable, the quantum yield of photodecomposition (φ_c) was found to be 2×10⁻⁴ and 2.7×10⁻⁴ in EtOH and DMF, respectively. The fluorescence lifetimes of BTHC were measured in the absence and in the presence of molecular oxygen and were found to be 2.82 and 2.78 ns, respectively. BTHC acts as good laser dye upon pumping with nitrogen laser (λ_ex=337.1 nm) in ethanol and gives laser emission with maxima at 508 and 522 nm.