Catalytic,Mild, and Selective Oxyfunctionalization of Linear Alkanes: Current Challenges

Selective catalysts for sustainable oxidation of alkanes are highly demanded because of the abundance of these molecules in the environment, the possibility to transform them into higher‐value compounds, such as chemicals or synthetic fuels, and the fact that, kinetically speaking, this is a difficult reaction. Numerous chemical and biological catalysts have been developed in the lasts decades for this purpose, rendering the overview over this field of chemistry difficult. After giving a definition of the ideal catalyst for alkane oxyfunctionalization, this review aims to present the catalysts available today that are closest to ideal.     

Development of an Iron(II)‐Catalyzed Aerobic Catechol Cleavage and Biomimetic Synthesis of Betanidin

An aerobic iron(II)‐catalyzed cleavage of catechols was developed. This reaction allows for the preparation of 2‐methoxy‐2 H‐pyrans that can be employed as versatile building blocks for synthesis. The utility of this biomimetic oxidative cleavage is featured in the synthesis of betanidin, a natural colorant with antioxidant properties.     

Free-radical polymerization of vinyl monomers using hematin as a biomimetic catalyst in place of enzyme

This paper reports the free-radical polymerization of vinyl monomers catalyzed by hematin. The polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was carried out in the presence of hematin and H₂O₂, giving polyMMA, quantitatively. In the case of the polymerization of styrene and acrylamide, 2,4-pentanedione as a radical mediator was required in addition to hematin and H₂O₂. The polymerization of styrene reached an upper limit, whereas that of acrylamide proceeded in an almost quantitative conversion.

     

Polymerization of Vinyl Ethers by Iron(II) and Cobalt(II) Pyridyl Bis(imine) Complexes in the Presence of Methylaluminoxane

Summary: The polymerizations of ethyl vinyl ether, n‐butyl vinyl ether and isobutyl vinyl ether were investigated with a series of pyridine bis(imine) complexes of iron(II ) and cobalt(II ) in the presence of methylaluminoxane. The cobalt catalysts showed much higher activity and produced higher molecular weight polymers than their iron analogues. Both catalyst systems produced predominantly atactic polymers. There were no specific trends in the activity and the polymer molecular weight, according to the steric bulk around the metal center.

The iron(II ) and cobalt(II ) catalysts used here.     

卟啉在纯铁表面上的化学与电化学修饰

通过在卟啉的丙酮－水溶液中循环阳极电位扫描，在工业纯铁表面形成一层修饰层．此修饰层呈淡黄色，结晶细密．与基体结合牢固，耐腐蚀性能良好．质谱分析及反射红外分析说明有铁卟啉螯合物生成．若将工业纯铁直接浸入卟啉的丙酮－水溶液中，其表面同样也可形成一层修饰膜, 此膜较之电化学修饰层疏松而厚．卟啉在纯铁表面的电化学修饰层与化学修饰膜的形成机制有着本质的不同．     

cis‐1,4‐specific carbocationic polymerization and copolymerization of 1,3‐dienes initiated by (S,S)‐bis(oxazolinylphenyl)amine chromium complexes

Two new chiral (S,S)‐bis(oxazolinylphenyl)amine chromium dichloride complexes have been synthesized and structurally characterized. In combination with 2 equiv. of borate and an excess of AlR₃, such Cr complexes serve as effective cationic initiators in the stereoregular carbocationic polymerization of 1,3‐dienes such as isoprene (IP) and myrcene (MY), affording cyclized cis‐1,4‐PIPs/PMys (cis‐1,4‐selectivity up to 96%) with cyclic sequence contents ranging from 26% to 87%. Moreover, these Cr initiator systems also exhibit an unprecedented control over sequence distribution of comonomers in the carbocationic copolymerization of IP and MY, preparing novel copolymers with different microstructures from mainly cyclized cis‐1,4‐specific statistical copolymers to cyclic olefin copolymers. The nature of Cr complex, borate, AlR₃, temperature, molar ratio of comonomers has considerable effect on the (co)polymer's yield, stereoselectivity, cyclization, and comonomer sequence distribution. A plausible mechanism is suggested, which gives a new strategy for biomimetic synthesis of natural rubber. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 55, 1250–1259     

Adaptive Organic Nanoparticles of a Teflon‐Coated Iron (III) Porphyrin Catalytically Activate Dioxygen for Cyclohexene Oxidation

Self‐organized organic nanoparticles (ONP) are adaptive to the environmental reaction conditions. ONP of fluorous alkyl iron(III) porphyrin catalytically oxidize cyclohexene to the allylic oxidation products. In contrast, the solvated metalloporphyrin yields both allylic oxidation and epoxidation products. The ONP system facilitates a greener reaction because about 89% reaction medium is water, molecular oxygen is used in place of synthetic oxidants, and the ambient reaction conditions used require less energy. The enhanced catalytic activity of these ONP is unexpected because the metalloporphyrins in the nanoaggregates are in the close proximity and the TON should diminish by self‐oxidative degradation. The fluorous alkyl chain stabilizes the ONP toward self‐oxidative degradation.     

Accurate Interaction Energies of CO2 with the 20 Naturally Occurring Amino Acids

We have performed a series of highly accurate calculations between CO₂ and the 20 naturally occurring amino acids for the investigation of the attractive noncovalent interactions. Different nucleophilic groups present in the amino acid structures were considered (α-NH₂, COOH, side groups), and the stronger binding sites were identified. A database of accurate reference interactions energies was compiled as computed by explicitly-correlated coupled-cluster singles-and-doubles, together with perturbative triples extrapolated to the complete-basis-set limit. The CCSD(F12)(T)/CBS reference values were used for comparing a variety of popular density functionals with different basis sets. Our results show that most density functionals with the triple-zeta basis set def2-TZVPP align with the CCSD(F12)(T)/CBS reference values, but errors range from 0.1 kcal/mol up to 1.0 kcal/mol.     

仿生无机纳米材料改造生物体的研究进展

在进化的过程中,生物体学会了利用材料来改造自身以适应环境的变化。自然界中的一些生物体可以通过生物矿化合成无机纳米材料为自己提供保护或其他特殊功能。但是自然界中还有部分生物体不具备生物矿化功能,受到自然界生物体利用纳米材料的启发,科学家们开始尝试通过人工赋予生物体纳米材料来对其进行改造。本文就基于生物-材料界面复合技术的纳米材料对生物体的改造,依次从调控机制、改造方法、功能应用等方面做了系统的阐述,重点介绍了通过仿生矿化对生物体进行纳米改造的研究进展,对仿生无机纳米材料改造生物体的领域现状做了分析和总结,并且对该领域的发展前景进行了展望。     

From Salts to Ionic Liquids by Systematic Structural Modifications: A Rational Approach Towards the Efficient Modular Synthesis of Enantiopure Imidazolium Salts

This paper reports a simple and robust modular synthetic strategy that leads to a large variety of configurationally and structurally diverse imidazole‐based chiral ionic liquids (CILs) by lipase‐catalyzed resolution. The intimate microscopic interactions of the supramolecular ionic network of these imidazolium chiral salts at the molecular level are investigated both spectroscopically (NMR, FT‐IR‐ATR) and theoretically, and a topological analysis of the experimental electron densities obtained by X‐ray dif fr action of single crystals is performed. Our results support the key role played by the relative configuration of the ‐OR group on the hydrogen‐bonding pattern and its strong influence on the final physical properties of the imidazolium salt. We also obtained a reasonable correlation between the observed melting point and the non‐covalent interactions. The spectroscopic data and the topological analysis reflect the key role played by hydrogen bonds between the OH and imidazolium C2H groups in both cation–anion and cation–cation interactions, with the presence of an OH group leading to an additional inter‐cation interaction. This interaction significantly affects the properties of stereoisomeric salts. Even more interestingly, we also studied the effect of the chirality by comparing enantiopure CILs with their racemic mixtures and found that, with the exception of trans‐Cy6‐OH‐Im‐Bn‐Br, the melting points of the racemic mixtures are higher than those of the corresponding enantiomerically pure forms. For stereoisomeric examples, we have successfully explained the differences in melting temperatures in light of the corresponding structural data. Chirality should therefore be taken into account as a highly attractive design vector in the preparation of ILs with specifically desired properties.     

Horseradish Peroxidase as a Catalyst for Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

The hemoprotein horseradish peroxidase (HRP) catalyzes the polymerization of N‐isopropylacrylamide with an alkyl bromide initiator under conditions of activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET ATRP) in the absence of any peroxide. This is a novel activity of HRP, which we propose to name ATRPase activity. Bromine‐terminated polymers with polydispersity indices (PDIs) as low as 1.44 are obtained. The polymerization follows first order kinetics, but the evolution of molecular weight and the PDI upon increasing conversion deviate from the results expected for an ATRP mechanism. Conversion, and PDI depend on the pH and on the concentration of the reducing agent, sodium ascorbate. HRP is stable during the polymerization and does not unfold or form conjugates.