How deeply are core electrons perturbed when valence electrons are spin polarized? The case study of transition metal compounds

The ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic wave functions of the KMnF₃ perovskite have been evaluated quantum-mechanically by using an all electron approach and, for comparison, pseudopotentials on the transition metal and the fluorine ions. It is shown that the different number of α and β electrons in the d shell of Mn perturbs the inner shells, with shifts between the α and β eigenvalues that can be as large as 6 eV for the 3s level, and is far from negligible also for the 2s and 2p states. The valence electrons of F are polarized by the majority spin electrons of Mn, and in turn, spin polarize their 1s electrons. When a pseudopotential is used, such a spin polarization of the core functions of Mn and F can obviously not take place. The importance of such a spin polarization can be appreciated by comparing (i) the spin density at the Mn and F nuclear position, and then the Fermi contact constant, a crucial quantity for the hyperfine coupling, and (ii) the ferromagnetic–antiferromagnetic energy difference, when obtained with an all electron or a pseudopotential scheme, and exploring how the latter varies with pressure. This difference is as large as 50% of the all electron datum, and is mainly due to the rigid treatment of the F ion core. The effect of five different functionals on the core spin polarization is documented.     

Physico-Chemical Properties of Magnetic Dicationic Ionic Liquids with Tetrahaloferrate Anions

A series of imidazolium-based symmetrical and asymmetrical dicationic ionic liquids (DcILs) with alkyl spacers of different length and with [FeCl₃Br]⁻ as counter ion have been synthesized. The synthesized DcILs are characterized by using FTIR and Raman spectroscopy as well as mass spectrometry, along with single-crystal XRD analysis. Physicochemical properties such as solubility, thermal stability and magnetic susceptibility are also measured. These compounds show low melting points, good solubility in water and organic solvents, thermal stability, and paramagnetism. The products of molar susceptibility and temperature (χ_mol⋅T) for the synthesized DcILs have been found between 4.05 to 4.79 emu mol⁻¹ K Oe⁻¹ and effective magnetic moment values have also been determined to be compared to that expected from the spin-only approximation.     

Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Enantiopure Amino Alcohols from Simple Methyl Ketones

This study highlights the straight-forward synthesis of substituted 1,2-amino alcohols from simple and readily available aromatic methyl ketones. Starting from acetophenone derivatives, the straight-forward synthesis strategy involved an initial bromination of the alpha-positioned methyl group in the first step, followed by a simple hydrolysis to the hydroxyketone (2-hydroxyacetophenone). The hydroxylated intermediate was subsequently converted from Silicibacter pomeroyi to the final 1,2-amino alcohol by using the transaminase. The transaminase-catalyzed reaction proceeded with yields up to 62 % and always excellent enantiomeric excess of >99 %. Interestingly, the keto-enol-tautomerism of the hydroxyl ketone yields an unexpected amino alcohol isomer.     

Carpet Beater Molecules: Synthesis and Characterization of Functional Hexa-peri-benzocoronene–Alkyne Coupling Products

Within the scope of this paper, nine π-expanded mono-substituted 5,8,11,14,17-pentakis-(tert-butyl)-hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronenes (HBC) are introduced. 2-Iodo-5,8,11,14,17-pentakis-(tert-butyl)-hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene served as precursor and was reacted with ethynyltrimethylsilane in a Sonogashira coupling reaction. The acetylene unit is used as a linker and can undergo another Sonogashira coupling reaction combining different phenyl coupling partners with the HBC core. The electron-withdrawing groups such as nitrile, pyridine and carbonyl species (aldehyde, methylester, carboxylic acid) as well as the three quinoxaline based species (diphenylquinoxaline, dibenzo[a,c]phenazine, phenanthro[4’,5’-a,b,c]phenazine) serve as substitution moieties. Their influence on the optoelectronic properties were investigated by UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy demonstrating a maximum redshift of 7 nm compared to starting compound 2-Iodo-5,8,11,14,17-pentakis-(tert-butyl) HBC. As for the phenanthro[4’,5’-a,b,c]phenazine substituted HBC a dramatic decrease in the intensity of the absorption of the UV/Vis spectrum was observed. The fluorescence spectroscopy pointed out that the dibenzo[a,c]phenazine and phenanthro[4’,5’-a,b,c]phenazine substitution changed the spectra to one broad peak departing from the characteristic HBC-like emission pattern.     

CO2 Hydroboration: Impact of the Boryl Moieties on the Reactivity of Four Bis(boryl)acetal Compounds toward 2,6-Diisopropylaniline

The hydroboration of CO₂ into bis(boryl)acetal (BBA) compounds is an important transformation, since it enabled to selectively reduce CO₂ by 4e^- and to subsequently use the BBA compounds as C₁ and C_n sources. However, the influence of the nature of the boryl moieties on the reactivity of BBA compounds has not been evaluated so far. In the present study, four BBA compounds – including two new ones – were reacted with 2,6-diisopropylaniline to afford the expected imine. Significant differences in the rate of the reaction from minutes to weeks have been observed depending on the BBA used, showing the importance of the nature of the boryl moieties. Theoretical investigations enabled to propose a mechanism involving the addition of the aniline to the BBA as the rate-determining step and to determine that the steric hindrance of the BBA compounds is the main factor driving the rate of this condensation reaction.     

Manipulating OH−-Mediated Anode-Cathode Cross-Communication Toward Long-Life Aqueous Zinc-Vanadium Batteries

The anode-cathode interplay is an important but rarely considered factor that initiates the degradation of aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs). Herein, to address the limited cyclability issue of V-based AZIBs, Al₂(SO₄)₃ is proposed as decent electrolyte additive to manipulate OH⁻-mediated cross-communication between Zn anode and NaV₃O₈ ⋅ 1.5H₂O (NVO) cathode. The hydrolysis of Al³⁺ creates a pH≈0.9 strong acidic environment, which unexpectedly prolongs the anode lifespan from 200 to 1000 h. Such impressive improvement is assigned to the alleviation of interfacial OH⁻ accumulation by Al³⁺ adsorption and solid electrolyte interphase formation. Accordingly, the strongly acidified electrolyte, associated with the sedated crossover of anodic OH⁻ toward NVO, remarkably mitigate its undesired dissolution and phase transition. The interrupted OH⁻-mediated communication between the two electrodes endows Zn||NVO batteries with superb cycling stability, at both low and high scan rates.     

Durable Electrocatalytic Reduction of Nitrate to Ammonia over Defective Pseudobrookite Fe2TiO5 Nanofibers with Abundant Oxygen Vacancies

We propose the pseudobrookite Fe₂TiO₅ nanofiber with abundant oxygen vacancies as a new electrocatalyst to ambiently reduce nitrate to ammonia. Such catalyst achieves a large NH₃ yield of 0.73 mmol h⁻¹ mg⁻¹_cat. and a high Faradaic Efficiency (FE) of 87.6 % in phosphate buffer saline solution with 0.1 M NaNO₃, which is lifted to 1.36 mmol h⁻¹ mg⁻¹_cat. and 96.06 % at −0.9 V vs. RHE for nitrite conversion to ammonia in 0.1 M NaNO₂. It also shows excellent electrochemical durability and structural stability. Theoretical calculation reveals the enhanced conductivity of this catalyst and an extremely low free energy of −0.28 eV for nitrate adsorption at the presence of vacant oxygen.     

Ultrasound-Directed Symmetry Breaking and Spin Filtering of Supramolecular Assemblies from only Achiral Building Blocks

Herein we describe the self-assembly of an achiral molecule into macroscopic helicity as well as the emergent chiral-selective spin-filtering effect. It was found that a benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamide (BTA) motif with an aminopyridine group in each arm could coordinate with Ag^I and self-assemble into nanospheres. Upon sonication, symmetry breaking occurred and the nanospheres transferred into helical nanofibers with strong CD signals. Although the sign of the CD signals appeared randomly, it could be controlled by using the as-made chiral assemblies as a seed. Furthermore, it was found that the charge transport of the helical nanofibers was highly selective with a spin-polarization transport of up to 45 %, although the chiral nanofibers are composed exclusively from achiral building blocks. This work demonstrates symmetry breaking under sonication and the chiral-selective spin-filtering effect.     

Dynamic Lone Pair Expression as Chemical Bonding Origin of Giant Phonon Anharmonicity in Thermoelectric InTe

Loosely bonded (“rattling”) atoms with s² lone pair electrons are usually associated with strong anharmonicity and unexpectedly low thermal conductivity, yet their detailed correlation remains largely unknown. Here we resolve this correlation in thermoelectric InTe by combining chemical bonding analysis, inelastic X-ray and neutron scattering, and first principles phonon calculations. We successfully probe soft low-lying transverse phonons dominated by large In¹⁺ z-axis motions, and their giant anharmonicity. We show that the highly anharmonic phonons arise from the dynamic lone pair expression with unstable occupied antibonding states induced by the covalency between delocalized In¹⁺ 5s² lone pair electrons and Te 5p states. This work pinpoints the microscopic origin of strong anharmonicity driven by rattling atoms with stereochemical lone pair activity, important for designing efficient materials for thermoelectric energy conversion.     

Tuning Local Coordination Environments of Manganese Single-Atom Nanozymes with Multi-Enzyme Properties for Selective Colorimetric Biosensing

Single-atom nanozymes (SAzymes) are promising in next-generation nanozymes, nevertheless, how to rationally modulate the microenvironment of SAzymes with controllable multi-enzyme properties is still challenging. Herein, we systematically investigate the relationship between atomic configuration and multi-enzymatic performances. The constructed Mn_SA−N₃-coordinated SAzymes (Mn_SA−N₃−C) exhibits much more remarkable oxidase-, peroxidase-, and glutathione oxidase-like activities than that of Mn_SA−N₄−C. Based on experimental and theoretical results, these multi-enzyme-like behaviors are highly dependent on the coordination number of single atomic Mn sites by local charge polarization. As a consequence, a series of colorimetric biosensing platforms based on Mn_SA−N₃−C SAzymes is successfully built for specific recognition of biological molecules. These findings provide atomic-level insight into the microenvironment of nanozymes, promoting rational design of other demanding biocatalysts.