Prediction of the solvation and structural properties of ionic liquids in water by two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy

Two-dimensional vibrational spectroscopy is applied to investigate the dilution process of 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([Emim][BF4]) in water. With increasing water content in ionic liquid (IL)/water mixtures, the C-H stretching vibration of the imidazolium cation showed systematic blue-shifts, which reflect the weakening of the cohesion between the cation and anion of ILs. The two-dimensional IR results reveal that the ILs sense quite different environments during the whole dilution process. First, the three-dimensional network structure of pure ILs was destroyed gradually into ionic clusters, then the clusters were further dissociated into ionic pairs surrounded by water molecules, and finally the latter became the dominant form in bulk water. Within the concentration range we investigated (0.02相似文献   

稳定同位素标记D_4-罗丹明B的合成及表征

以全氘代邻二甲苯为同位素标记前体,经氧化得到的D_4-邻苯二甲酸与3-羟基-N,N-二乙基苯胺反应生成稳定同位素标记的D_4-罗丹明B,总收率36.9%。目标产物的结构经质谱(MS)、核磁(NMR)等技术手段表征确认,通过高效液相色谱确定化学纯度高于98.0%,同位素氘丰度大于98.0%。将其作为同位素内标试剂用于果汁中罗丹明B的残留检测,在0.05~50 mg/L范围内呈良好的线性关系,其检出限为5μg/kg,回收率为96.4%~103.4%,相对标准偏差(RSD)为1.0%~1.2%,具有很高的灵敏度和准确性。为食品安全领域违禁色素的检测提供了一种可靠实用的方法。     

Do all the protic ionic liquids exist as molecular aggregates in the gas phase?

According to an EI-MS study of 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidium-based protic ionic liquids (PILs), it has been concluded that not all PILs exist as molecular aggregates in the gas phase. The detection of both ions of m/z 115.0 and m/z 116.0 for the 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinium trifluoromethylsulfonate (TMGS) protic ionic liquid indicates that both the molecular and ionic aggregates co-exist in the gas phase, which is to say that the TMGS may also evaporate via the ionic aggregates just like aprotic ionic liquids. Furthermore, investigation on triethylamine-based and 1-methylimidazole-based PILs confirmed that the gas phase structure of PILs depends on both the acidity and basicity of the corresponding acid and base.     

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.     

纳米孔缺陷导致单层黑磷电荷局域极大抑制非辐射电子-空穴复合的时域模拟

通常认为缺陷加速黑磷的非辐射电子-空穴复合,阻碍器件性能的持续提高。实验打破了这一认识。采用含时密度泛函理论结合非绝热分子动力学,我们发现P-P伸缩振动驱动非辐射电子-空穴复合,使纳米孔修饰的单层黑磷的激发态寿命比完美体系延长了约5.5倍。这主要归因于三个因素。一,纳米孔结构不但没有在禁带中引入深能级缺陷,而且由于价带顶下移使带隙增加了0.22 eV。二,除了带隙增加,纳米孔减小了电子和空穴波函数重叠,并抑制了原子核热运动,从而使非绝热耦合降低至完美体系的约1/2。三,退相干时间比完美体系延长了1.5倍。前两个因素战胜了第三个因素,使纳米孔结构激发态寿命延长至2.74 ns,而其在完美体系中约为480 ps。我们的研究表明可以制造合理数量和形貌的缺陷,如纳米孔,降低黑磷非辐射电子-空穴复合,提高光电器件效率。这一研究对于理解和调控黑磷和其它二维材料的激发态性质有重要意义。     

Approaching and bond breaking energies in the C-H activation and their application in catalyst design

It was found that the C-H activation barrier can be divided into two parts: C-H approaching and bond breaking energies. The C-H approaching process starts from the reactant and ends at a cross-point structure which is followed by the C-H breaking process. This finding was proved by the intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) analysis, vibration frequency (VF) analysis, atom-centered density matrix propagation (ADMP) calculation, and potential energy surface (PES) scan. Further research revealed that the C-H bond breaking energy was related to the electronic structure of the catalyst and the C-H bond dissociation energy of the substrate, whereas the C-H approaching energy was highly relative with the interaction between the substrate and catalyst. These results may be helpful in designing a more effective catalyst.     

A theoretical investigation of the interactions between water molecules and ionic liquids

Quantum chemical calculations have been used to investigate the interaction between water molecules and ionic liquids based on the imidazolium cation with the anions [Cl(-)], [Br(-)], [BF(4)(-)], and [PF(6)(-)]. The predicted geometries and interaction energies implied that the water molecules interact with the Cl(-), Br(-), and BF(4)(-0 anions to form X(-)...W (X = Cl or Br, W = H(2)O), 2X-...2W, BF(4)(-)...W, and W...BF(4)(-)...W complexes. The hydrophobic PF(6)(-) anion could not form a stable complex with the water molecules at the density functional theory (DFT) level. Further studies indicate that the cation could also form a strong interaction with the water molecules. The 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation (Emim(+)) has been used as a model cation to investigate the interaction between a water molecule and a cation. In addition, the interaction between the ion pairs and the water was studied by using 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (Emim x Cl) as a model ionic liquid. The strengths of the interactions in these categories follow the trend anion-W > cation-W > ion pair-W.     

Theoretical Design of Multi‐Nitroxyl Organocatalysts with Enhanced Reactivity for Aerobic Oxidation

Higher catalytic performances of N,N′,N′′‐trihydroxyisocyanuric acid (THICA), N,N‐dihydroxypyromellitimide (NDHPI), and N‐hydroxynaphthalimide (NHNI) than that of N‐hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) have been demonstrated recently in aerobic oxidation. Herein, the rational design of reactive multi‐nitroxyl organocatalysts has been addressed theoretically by using systematic analysis of some important properties and catalytic activities of yet‐to‐be‐synthesized catalysts. Our results show that 1) NHNI and its analogue, similar to THICA, unlike NHPI and others, are unsuitable for solvent‐ or mediator‐free catalysis due to their strong intramolecular hydrogen‐bonding interactions; 2) increasing the reactive hydroxyimide groups on the same aromatic ring, or doped N atoms or ionic‐pair groups onto the aromatic ring, can improve catalytic reactivity, whereas appropriate enlargement of conjugated aromatic systems results in unchanged activity; 3) the newly designed catalysts are more active than NHPI and NHNI and have catalytic activities comparable to NDHPI and THICA; 4) the ionic‐pair supported case is suggested to be a very active catalyst, even towards inert propane, and can be used as a novel model catalyst for further improvements. The present work will be helpful in designing reactive hydroxyimide organocatalysts.     

Evanescent Wave-Guided Growth of an Organic Supramolecular Nanowire Array

The ordered assembly of molecules within a specific space of nanoscale, such as a surface, holds great promise in advanced micro-/nanostructure fabrication for various applications. Herein, we demonstrate the evanescent wave (EW)-guided organization of small molecules into a long-range ordered nanowire (NW) array. Experiment and simulation revealed that the orientation and periodicity of the NW array were feasibly regulated by altering the propagation direction and the wavelength of EW. The generality of this approach was demonstrated by using different molecule precursors. While existing studies on EW often took advantages of its near-field property for optical sensing, this work demonstrated the photochemical power of EW in the guided-assembly of small molecules for the first time. It also provides an enlightening avenue to periodic structure with fluorescence, promising for super-resolution microscopy and important devices applicable to optical and bio-related fields.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of benzimidazole pendant cyanopyrimidine derivatives as anticancer agents

Thirteen new benzimidazole pendant cyanopyrimidine derivatives were synthesized. The compounds were synthesized through multistep reaction protocol. The structures of synthesized derivatives were studied by EI-MS, ¹H NMR, FT-IR and elemental analysis. All the compounds were studied for their anticancer activity at National Cancer Institute. Except compound 7j , all the compounds unveiled cytotoxicity against cancer cells. The most active compound 7a had shown highest value of growth inhibition of 88.44% and 84.19% against HOP-92 and T-47D cancer cell lines.