On the stability of the "wired" bilirubin oxidase oxygen cathode in serum

Oxygen is electroreduced to water on the "wired" bilirubin oxidase (w-BOD) catalyst at a considerably lesser potential than on pure platinum. The w-BOD catalyst could be of value in an implantable glucose-O2 biofuel cell, operating living tissue, if it were stable in serum. We found, however, that w-BOD loses its activity in a few hours in the combined presence of the urate and O2, both of which are normal serum constituents (Bioelectrochemistry, 2004, 65, 83-88). Here we report a second major instability: When the disconnected w-BOD cathode is allowed, in the absence of urate, to poise itself at the potential of the O2/H2O half cell at pH 7.2, it loses its activity rapidly. Unlike the urate/O2 caused loss, this loss can be avoided either by applying a potential that is reducing relative to the O2/H2O half-cell potential, or by excluding O2 and adding a mildly reducing reagent, such as urate. The w-BOD cathode can be stored, therefore, in deoxygenated serum, which contains urate.     

Homogeneous and supported copper(II) acetate as catalyst for CO coupling reactions

The reactivity of copper(II) acetate as catalyst in a standard CO coupling reaction has been systematically evaluated. Optimization of the reaction conditions resulted in a protocol involving stoichiometric amounts of reagents, a substoichiometric amount of base and 20 mol% catalyst, at 50 °C in 1,2-dichloroethane and under 1 atm O₂. Next, the reactivity of polymer-supported copper(II) acetate was evaluated. Although it is found that, in contrast to previous results obtained in related CN coupling reactions, the polymer-supported catalyst is in this case less efficient than the corresponding homogeneous one, the catalyst turns out to be conveniently recovered from the reaction mixture by simple filtration.     

Dendrimeric organochalcogen catalysts for the activation of hydrogen peroxide: origins of the "dendrimer effect" with catalysts terminating in phenylseleno groups

Several scenarios were evaluated to explain the large "dendrimer effect" observed in the bromination of cyclohexene with H(2)O(2) and NaBr catalyzed by the addition of Frechét-type dendrimers terminating in -O(CH(2))(3)SePh groups. Although phenylseleninic acid was an efficient catalyst for the oxidation of NaBr with H(2)O(2), first-order rate constants for the selenoxide elimination were too small to produce PhSeO(2)H at a rate sufficient to explain the rates of catalysis and no dendrimer effect was observed in the rates of selenoxide elimination. An induction period was observed using 1-SePh as a catalyst for the oxidation of Br(-) with H(2)O(2). The addition of preformed selenoxide 1-Se(=O)Ph gave immediate catalysis with no induction period. However, rates of oxidation of the selenides with H(2)O(2) under homogeneous or biphasic conditions or with t-BuOOH under homogeneous conditions were too slow to account for the rates of catalysis, and no dendrimer effect was observed in the rates of oxidation. The primary oxidant for converting selenides to selenoxides was "Br(+)" produced initially by the uncatalyzed background reaction of H(2)O(2) with NaBr and then produced catalytically following formation of selenoxide groups. Autocatalysis is observed, and the rate of oxidation increases with the number of SePh groups. Autocatalysis is the source of the large dendrimer effect observed with the SePh series of catalysts.     

"Decoking" of a "coked" zeolite catalyst in a glow discharge

'Decoking' of a 'coked' zeolite catalyst in a glow discharge in oxygen is investigated. The 'decoking' process involves reactions of atomic oxygen (O atoms) with 'coke' and yields gases such as CO, CO₂ as well as other gaseous products that could be easily pumped out.Three different modes of discharge were investigated including a static mode, a flowing-gas mode, and a periodic-purge mode where the oxygen and other gaseous products of the discharge were replaced by fresh O₂ gas after short but regular intervals of time. In some cases, additional heating was also used to provide base temperatures of the order of 100 °C to facilitate penetration of oxygen atoms into the inner layers and cages of the zeolite catalyst.This paper presents some results of spectroscopic analytical techniques used to monitor the atomization of oxygen, oxidation of 'coke', and to confirm the process of 'decoking'. More specifically, radiation emission on the 3 s ⁵S– 3p ⁵P transitions of O around 777.2–777.5 nm were selected for monitoring the atomization of O₂. On the other hand, X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to determine the amount of residual carbon and extent of 'decoking'. Furthermore, evolution of CO and CO₂ gases as a function of time was systematically monitored in real time. For CO, the 451.1 nm band head belonging to the B¹ - A¹ bands of the Angstrom system of the CO spectrum was used, while for CO₂, the band head at 353.4 nm belonging to the CO₂⁺ spectrum was used. The rates of evolution of CO and CO₂ were related to the rate of 'decoking' of the catalyst. It is noted that in the periodic-purge mode, about 63% of the total yield of CO from a given sample of the catalyst appears in the first 3-min exposure to discharge whereas it takes up to 15 min to remove nearly 94% of the removable carbon under our experimental conditions.     

Identification of catalyst surface species during asymmetric platinum-catalysed hydrogenation in a "supercritical" solvent

In situ attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy studies during the enantioselective hydrogenation of ethyl pyruvate in "supercritical" ethane over a chirally modified Pt/Al(2)O(3) catalyst show the preferential adsorption of ethyl pyruvate as cis-conformer and indicate a hydrogen bond interaction of this species with the co-adsorbed modifier cinchonidine.     

Sensitivity of the properties of ruthenium "blue dimer" to method, basis set, and continuum model

The ruthenium "blue dimer" [(bpy)(2)Ru(III)OH(2)](2)O(4+) is best known as the first well-defined molecular catalyst for water oxidation. It has been subject to numerous computational studies primarily employing density functional theory. However, those studies have been limited in the functionals, basis sets, and continuum models employed. The controversy in the calculated electronic structure and the reaction energetics of this catalyst highlights the necessity of benchmark calculations that explore the role of density functionals, basis sets, and continuum models upon the essential features of blue-dimer reactivity. In this paper, we report Kohn-Sham complete basis set (KS-CBS) limit extrapolations of the electronic structure of "blue dimer" using GGA (BPW91 and BP86), hybrid-GGA (B3LYP), and meta-GGA (M06-L) density functionals. The dependence of solvation free energy corrections on the different cavity types (UFF, UA0, UAHF, UAKS, Bondi, and Pauling) within polarizable and conductor-like polarizable continuum model has also been investigated. The most common basis sets of double-zeta quality are shown to yield results close to the KS-CBS limit; however, large variations are observed in the reaction energetics as a function of density functional and continuum cavity model employed.     

Preparation of Pt@Fe2O3 nanowires and their catalysis of selective oxidation of olefins and alcohols

Iron oxide coated platinum nanowires (Pt@Fe(2)O(3)NWs) with a diameter of 2.8 nm have been prepared by the oxygen oxidation of FePt NWs in oleylamine. These "cable"-like NWs were characterised by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. These Pt@Fe(2)O(3) NWs were used as "non-support" heterogeneous catalysts in oxidation of olefins and alcohols. The results revealed that it is an active and highly selective catalyst. Styrene derivatives were tested with molecular oxygen as the sole oxidant, with benzaldehyde successfully obtained from styrene in an absolute yield of 31%, whereas the use of tert-butyl hydroperoxide as the sole oxidant in the oxidation of alcohols led to yields of more than 80% of the corresponding ketone or aldehyde. This unsupported catalyst was found to be more active (TOF=96.5 h(-1)) than other reported Fe(2)O(3) nanoparticle catalysts and could be recycled multiple times without any notable decrease in activity. Our findings will extend the use of such nanomaterial catalysts to new catalytic systems.     

Oxygen is electroreduced to water on a "wired" enzyme electrode at a lesser overpotential than on platinum

The first enzyme-based catalyst that is superior to platinum in the four-electron electroreduction of oxygen to water is reported. The smooth Pt cathode reached half and 90% of the mass transport-limited current density at respective overpotentials of -0.4 and -0.58 V in 0.5 M sulfuric acid, and only at even higher overpotentials in pH 7.2 phosphate buffer. In contrast, the smooth "wired" bilirubin oxidase cathode reached half and 90% of the mass transport-limited current density at respective overpotentials as low as -0.2 and -0.25 V. The mass transport-limited current density for the smooth "wired" enzyme cathode in PBS was twice that with smooth Pt in 0.5 M sulfuric acid. Under 1 atm O2 pressure, O2 was electroreduced to water on a polished carbon cathode, coated with the "wired" BOD film, in pH 7.2 saline buffer (PBS) at an overpotential of -0.31 V at a current density of 9.5 mA cm-2. At the same overpotential, the current density of the polished platinum cathode in 0.5 M H2SO4 was 16-fold lower, only 0.6 mA cm-2.     

Highly efficient recycling of a "sandwich" type polyoxometalate oxidation catalyst using solvent resistant nanofiltration

A "sandwich" type polyoxometalate catalyst ([MeN(n-C8H17)3]12[WZn3(ZnW9O34)2]) was very efficiently recycled by nanofiltration with almost quantitative retention, using an alpha-alumina supported mesoporous gamma-alumina membrane.     

Lanthanum(III)-catalyzed disproportionation of hydrogen peroxide: a heterogeneous generator of singlet molecular oxygen-1O2 (1Deltag)-in near-neutral aqueous and organic media for peroxidation of electron-rich substrates

The decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into singlet molecular oxygen-(1)O(2) ((1)Delta(g))-in the presence of lanthanum(iii) salts was studied by monitoring its characteristic IR luminescence at 1270 nm. The process was found to be heterogeneously catalyzed by La(III), provided that the heterogeneous catalyst is generated in situ. The yield of (1)O(2) generation was assessed as 45+/-5 % both in water and in methanol. The pH-dependence on the rate of (1)O(2) generation corresponds to a bell-shaped curve from pH 4.5 to 13 with a maximum around pH 8. The study of the influence of H(2)O(2) showed that the formation of (1)O(2) begins as soon as one equivalent of H(2)O(2) is introduced. It then increases drastically up to two equivalents and more smoothly above. Unlike all other metal salt catalyst systems known to date for H(2)O(2) disproportionation, this chemical source of (1)O(2) is able to generate (1)O(2) not only in basic media, but also under neutral and slightly acidic conditions. In addition, this La-based catalyst system has a very low tendency to induce unwanted oxygenating side reactions, such as epoxidation of alkenes. These two characteristics of the heterogeneous lanthanum catalyst system allow non-photochemical (i.e., "dark") singlet oxygenation of substrate classes that cannot be peroxidized successfully with conventional molybdate catalysts, such as allylic alcohols and alkenyl amines.     

Concise approach to the "higher sugar" core of the nucleoside antibiotic hikizimycin

A highly productive synthesis of phenylthio glycoside 33 is described which constitutes a fully functional surrogate for the hikosamine core of hikizimycin 1, a complex nucleoside antibiotic endowed with promising anthelmintic properties. The chosen approach to this undecose derivative starts from mannofuranose 7 which was one-carbon homologated to alkyne 8 in one step on treatment with lithio (trimethylsilyl)diazomethane. Alkynyl iodide 12 derived from 8 was combined with the tartrate-derived aldehyde 17 by a Nozaki-Hiyama-Kishi reaction that can either be performed using overstoichiometric amounts of CrCl2 or by means of a catalytic manifold based on the turnover of a cat. CrCl2/chlorosilane/manganese redox couple. Semi-hydrogenation of the resulting alkyne 18 to (Z)-olefin 19 required the use of Pd/C as the catalyst, whereas conventional Lindlar reduction was unsatisfactory. Attempted cis-dihydroxylation of alkene 22 (formed from 19 by a Mitsunobu reaction with phthalimide) by using catalytic amounts of OsO4 and NMO as the stoichiometric oxidant essentially failed, whereas a stoichiometric osmylation afforded the stable osmate ester 26 a as a single diastereomer. Since the use of OsO4 in stoichiometric amounts deemed inappropriate for a total synthesis project, recourse was taken to catalytic "Blitz dihydroxylation" with RuO4 in the presence of FeCl2.4H2O as co-catalyst. Application of these conditions to alkene 30 bearing a free aldehyde function at the terminus of the "higher sugar" chain furnished pyranose 32 in good yield and excellent diastereoselectivity, which was converted into the targeted thioglycoside 33 on treatment with PhSSPh/Et3P. It is particularly noteworthy that the conformational constraints of the acyclic substrate 30 enforce the dihydroxylation to violate Kishi's empirical rule for transformations of this type.     

Regioselectivity and diasteroselectivity in Pt(II)-mediated "green" catalytic epoxidation of terminal alkenes with hydrogen peroxide: mechanistic insight into a peculiar substrate selectivity

Recently developed electron-poor Pt(II) catalyst 1 with the "green" oxidant 35% hydrogen peroxide displays high activity and complete substrate selectivity in the epoxidation of terminal alkenes because of stringent steric and electronic requirements. In the presence of isolated dienes bearing terminal and internal double bonds, epoxidation is completely regioselective toward the production of terminal epoxides. Insight into the mechanism is gained by means of a reaction progress kinetic analysis approach that underlines the peculiar role of 1 in activating both the alkene and H2O2 in the rate-determining step providing a rare example of nucleophilic oxidation of alkenes by H2O2.     

Catalytic conversion of raw <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dioscorea composita</Emphasis> biomass to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural using a combination of metal chlorides in <Emphasis Type="Italic">N,N</Emphasis>-dimethylacetamide solvent containing lithium chloride

We synthesized 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from carbohydrates using metal chloride catalysts. A 33.2 % yield of HMF was obtained from raw Dioscorea composita biomass with high starch by using a catalyst system composed of CrCl₃·6H₂O and LaCl₃·6H₂O at 120 °C for 4 h in N,N-dimethylacetamide containing lithium chloride. The catalyst system is also cost-effective for the conversion of soluble starch into HMF. In addition, levulinic acid was not formed in the reactions.     

Revisiting the polyoxometalate-based late-transition-metal-oxo complexes: the "oxo wall" stands

Terminal oxo complexes of the late transition metals Pt, Pd, and Au have been reported by us in Science and Journal of the American Chemical Society. Despite thoroughness in characterizing these complexes (multiple independent structural methods and up to 17 analytical methods in one case), we have continued to study these structures. Initial work on these systems was motivated by structural data from X-ray crystallography and neutron diffraction and (17)O and (31)P NMR signatures which all indicated differences from all previously published compounds. With significant new data, we now revisit these studies. New X-ray crystal structures of previously reported complexes K(14)[P(2)W(19)O(69)(OH(2))] and "K(10)Na(3)[Pd(IV)(O)(OH)WO(OH(2))(PW(9)O(34))(2)]" and a closer examination of these structures are provided. Also presented are the (17)O NMR spectrum of an (17)O-enriched sample of [PW(11)O(39)](7-) and a careful combined (31)P NMR-titration study of the previously reported "K(7)H(2)[Au(O)(OH(2))P(2)W(20)O(70)(OH(2))(2)]." These and considerable other data collectively indicate that previously assigned terminal Pt-oxo and Au-oxo complexes are in fact cocrystals of the all-tungsten structural analogues with noble metal cations, while the Pd-oxo complex is a disordered Pd(II)-substituted polyoxometalate. The neutron diffraction data have been re-analyzed, and new refinements are fully consistent with the all-tungsten formulations of the Pt-oxo and Au-oxo polyoxometalate species.     

A new class of "tethered" ruthenium(II) catalyst for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation reactions

Ruthenium dimer 4 is converted directly to monomeric asymmetric transfer hydrogenation catalyst 2 under the conditions employed for ketone reduction. Using 0.25 mol % of either 4 or 0.5 mol % of 2 in formic acid/triethylamine, it is possible to achieve ketone reduction in quantitative conversion and with ee's as high as 98%. Complex 2 is a robust "single-reagent" catalyst which offers significant scope for modification toward specific substrates. The synthesis and applications of an analogous complex derived from (1R,2S)-norephedrine are also described.     

Understanding the "tailoring synthesis" of CdS nanorods by O2

Parameters such as solution concentrations and composition of the ambient atmosphere are known to be important in phase and morphology control in the solvothermal synthesis of CdS semiconductor nanorods (NRs), but a clear understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved is lacking. In this work, a series of experiments were performed to demonstrate that the key factor affecting the phase and morphology of CdS NRs is the amount of O(2) in the space above the reaction solution in the sealed vessel relative to the amount of precursors in solution: O(2)-depleted conditions resulted in more cubic phase CdS and thick polycrystalline NRs with an aspect ratio usually less than 3, which have small blue shifts in band-edge emission and little surface trap emission, while O(2)-rich conditions resulted in more hexagonal-phase CdS and slim single-crystal NRs, which have significantly blue shifted band-edge emission and relatively strong surface trap emission. Thus, increasing the amount of solution in the vessel, changing the ambient atmosphere from air to N(2), and increasing the reagent concentration all lower the molar ratio of O(2) to reagents and lead to more cubic phase and thicker NRs. The results indicate that the composition of the "empty" section of the reaction vessel plays as important a role as the composition of the liquid in determining the phase and morphology, something that has been overlooked in earlier work. A mechanism to explain the effect of oxygen on the nucleation and growth stages has been proposed on the basis of those results and further supported by shaking experiments and ZnS NR synthesis manipulation. The CdS NRs synthesized under different conditions showed obvious differences in photocatalytic activity, which indicated that controlling the synthetic process can lead to materials with tailored photocatalytic activity.     

"Black spots" in a surfactant-rich Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction dispersed in a water-in-oil microemulsion system

The Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction dispersed in water-in-oil aerosol OT (AOT) microemulsion has been studied at small radius R(d) of water nanodroplets (R(d) (nm) congruent with0.17omega,omega = [H(2)O][AOT] = 9). Stationary spotlike and labyrinthine Turing patterns are found close to the fully oxidized state. These patterns, islands of high concentration of the reduced state of the Ru(bpy)(3) (2+) catalyst, can coexist either with "black" reduction waves or, under other conditions, with the "white" oxidation waves usually observed in the BZ reaction. The experimental observations are analyzed with the aid of a new Oregonator-like model and qualitatively reproduced in computer simulations.     

Kinetics of the oxygenation of unsaturated organics with singlet oxygen generated from H2O2 by a heterogeneous molybdenum catalyst

A heterogeneous catalyst containing MoO42- exchanged on layered double hydroxides (Mo-LDHs) is used to produce 1O2 from H2O2, and with this dark 1O2, unsaturated hydrocarbons are oxidized in allylic peroxides. The oxidation kinetics are studied in detail and are compared with the kinetics of oxidation by 1O2, formed from H2O2 by a homogeneous catalyst. A model is proposed for the heterogeneously catalyzed 1O2 generation and peroxide formation. The model divides the reaction suspension in two compartments: (1) the intralamellar and intragranular zones of the LDH catalyst; (2) the bulk solution. The 2-compartment model correctly predicts the oxidant efficiency and peroxide yield for a series of olefin peroxidation reactions. 1O2 is generated at a high rate by the heterogeneous catalyst, but somewhat more 1O2 is lost by quenching with the heterogeneous catalyst than using the homogeneous catalyst. Quenching occurs mainly as a result of collision with the LDH hydroxyl surface, as is evidenced by using LDH supports containing strong 1O2 deactivators such as Ni2+. A total of 15 organic substrates were peroxidized on a preparative scale using the best Mo-LDH catalyst under optimal conditions.     

A colloid "digesting" route to novel, thermally stable high surface area ZrO2 and Pd/ZrO2 catalytic materials

Zirconia having high thermal stability and high surface area (up to 160 m(2)/g at 700 degrees C) has been prepared by a colloidal "digesting" process. This material having demonstrated high surface areas at elevated temperatures was then applied as a catalyst support. A Pd colloid with diameter of approximately 12 nm has been successfully deposited on the high surface area zirconia material. All systems have been well characterized by TEM, X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption isotherms, FTIR, elemental analysis and dynamic light scattering techniques. The colloidal Pd particles have been found homogeneously well dispersed in the hydrous zirconia matrix without aggregation. The Pd/ZrO2 catalysts have been screened for cyclohexene and 1-hexene hydrogenation activity and it was found that the catalyst is extremely active.     

Structural varieties in heterobimetallic lanthanide disiloxanediolates: "inorganic metallocenes" versus in-plane metallacrowns

The previously proposed concept of "inorganic metallocenes" of group 3 and rare-earth elements has been tested by preparing a series of novel disiloxanediolates with metals displaying different ionic radii. For the smaller scandium and yttrium, approximately planar arrangements of the disiloxanediolate frameworks with solvent and chloride ligands in trans positions were found. Thus, the compounds [{(Ph2SiO)2O}2{Li(DME)}2]ScCl(THF/DME) (2; DME=1,2-dimethoxyethane and THF=tetrahydrofuran) and [{(Ph2SiO)2O}2{Li(THF)2}2]YCl(THF) (3) can be described as heterobimetallic inorganic ring systems or metallacrown complexes with "in-plane" coordination of the metal. In contrast, "out-of-plane" geometries with cis coordination of additional ligands were identified in the praseodymium derivatives [{(Ph2SiO)2O}2{Li(THF)2}{Li(THF)}]Pr(micro-Cl)2Li(THF)2 (4) and [{(Ph2SiO)2O}2{Li(DME)}2]PrCl(DME) (5). These compounds can be viewed as analogues of the known metallocene derivatives (C5Me5)2Pr(micro-Cl)2Li(THF)2 and (C5Me5)2PrCl(THF). The molecular structures of 2-5 have been determined by X-ray diffraction.