Palladium/Norbornene‐Catalyzed Indenone Synthesis from Simple Aryl Iodides: Concise Syntheses of Pauciflorol F and Acredinone A

To show the synthetic utility of palladium/norbornene (Pd/NBE) cooperative catalysis, here we report concise syntheses of indenone‐based natural products, pauciflorol F and acredinone A, which are enabled by direct annulation between aryl iodides and unsaturated carboxylic acid anhydrides. Compared to the previous indenone‐preparation approaches, this method allows simple aryl iodides to be used as substrates with complete control of the regioselectivity. The total synthesis of acredinone A features two different Pd/NBE‐catalyzed ortho acylation reactions for constructing penta‐substituted arene cores, including the development of a new ortho acylation/ipso borylation.     

Unveiling the Layer‐Dependent Catalytic Activity of PtSe2 Atomic Crystals for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Two‐dimensional (2D) PtSe₂ shows the most prominent layer‐dependent electrical properties among various 2D materials and high catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and therefore, it is an ideal material for exploring the structure–activity correlations in 2D systems. Here, starting with the synthesis of single‐crystalline 2D PtSe₂ with a controlled number of layers and probing the HER catalytic activity of individual flakes in micro electrochemical cells, we investigated the layer‐dependent HER catalytic activity of 2D PtSe₂ from both theoretical and experimental perspectives. We clearly demonstrated how the number of layers affects the number of active sites, the electronic structures, and electrical properties of 2D PtSe₂ flakes and thus alters their catalytic performance for HER. Our results also highlight the importance of efficient electron transfer in achieving optimum activity for ultrathin electrocatalysts. Our studies greatly enrich our understanding of the structure–activity correlations for 2D catalysts and provide new insight for the design and synthesis of ultrathin catalysts with high activity.     

Rational Design of Specific Recognition Molecules for Simultaneously Monitoring of Endogenous Polysulfide and Hydrogen Sulfide in the Mouse Brain

A biosensor was created for the simultaneous monitoring of endogenous H₂S_n and H₂S in mouse brains and exploring their roles in activation of the TRPA1 channel under two types of brain disease models: ischemia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Based on DFT calculations and electrochemical measurements, two probes, 3,4‐bis((2‐fluoro‐5‐nitrobenzoyl)oxy)‐benzoic acid (M_PS‐1) and N‐(4‐(2,5‐dinitrophenoxy) phenyl)‐5‐(1, 2‐dithiolan‐3‐yl)pentanamide (M_HS‐1), were synthesized for specific recognition of H₂S_n and H₂S. Through co‐assembly of the two probes at the mesoporous gold film with good anti‐biofouling ability and electrocatalytic activity, this microsensor showed high selectivity for H₂S_n and H₂S against potential biological interferences. The biosensor can simultaneously determine the concentration of H₂S_n from 0.2 to 50 μm , as well as that of H₂S from 0.2 to 40 μm . The expression of TRPA1 protein positively correlated with levels of H₂S_n under both ischemia and AD.     

Organic Proton‐Buffer Electrode to Separate Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution in Acid Water Electrolysis

Hydrogen production from water via electrolysis in acid is attracting extensive attention as an attractive alternative approach to replacing fossil fuels. However, the simultaneous evolution of H₂ and O₂ requires a fluorine‐containing proton exchange membrane to prevent the gases from mixing while using the same space to concentrate the gases, which significantly increases the cost and reduces the flexibility of this approach. Here, a battery electrode based on the highly reversible enolization reaction of pyrene‐4,5,9,10‐tetraone is first introduced as a solid‐state proton buffer to separate the O₂ and H₂ evolution of acidic water electrolysis in space and time, through which the gas mixing issue can be avoided without using any membrane. This process allows us to separately consider H₂ and O₂ production according to the variation in input power (e.g., the renewable energy) and/or the location for H₂ concentration, thus showing high flexibility for H₂ production.     

MAO‐free and extremely active catalytic system for ethylene tetramerization

The original Sasol catalytic system for ethylene tetramerization is composed of a Cr source, a PNP ligand, and MAO (methylaluminoxane). The use of expensive MAO in excess has been a critical concern in commercial operation. Many efforts have been made to replace MAO with non‐coordinating anions (e.g., [B(C₆F₅)₄]^?); however, most of such attempts were unsuccessful. Herein, an extremely active catalytic system that avoids the use of MAO is presented. The successive addition of two equivalent [H(OEt₂)₂]⁺[B(C₆F₅)₄]^? and one equivalent CrCl₃(THF)₃ to (acac)AlEt₂ and subsequent treatment with a PNP ligand [CH₃(CH₂)₁₆]₂C(H)N(PPh₂)₂ ( 1 ) yielded a complex presumably formulated as [ 1 ‐CrAl (acac)Cl₃(THF)]²⁺[B(C₆F₅)₄]^?₂, which exhibited high activity when combined with iBu₃Al (1120 kg/g‐Cr/h; ~4 times that of the original Sasol system composed of Cr (acac)₃, iPrN(PPh₂)₂, and MAO). Via the introduction of bulky trialkylsilyl substituents such as –SiMe₃, –Si(nBu)₃, or –SiMe₂(CH₂)₇CH₃ at the para‐position of phenyl groups in 1 (i.e., by using [CH₃(CH₂)₁₆]₂C(H)N[P(C₆H₄‐p‐SiR₃)₂]₂ instead of 1 ), the activities were dramatically improved, i.e., tripled (2960–3340 kg/g‐Cr/h; more than 10 times that of the original Sasol system). The generation of significantly less PE (<0.2 wt%) even at a high temperature is another advantage achieved by the introduction of bulky trialkylsilyl substituents. NMR studies and DFT calculations suggest that increase of the steric bulkiness on the alkyl‐N and P‐aryl moieties restrict the free rotation around (alkyl)N–P (aryl) bonds, which may cause the generation of more robust active species in higher proportion, leading to extremely high activity along with the generation of a smaller amount of PE.     

Synthesis of heterobiaryls via Suzuki‐Miyaura coupling reaction of potassium aryltrifluoroborates with heteroaryl halides in aqueous systems

A variety of heterobiaryl compounds have been synthesized by the Suzuki‐Miyaura coupling reactions of heteroaryl halides with potassium aryltrifluoroborates. Pd (OAc)₂ was found to be highly efficient for the Suzuki‐Miyaura coupling reactions of various heteroaryl halides with potassium aryltrifluoroborates in aqueous systems, delivering the corresponding heterobiaryl compounds in good to excellent yields.     

Single‐armed salamo‐like dioxime and its multinuclear Cu (II), Zn (II) and Cd (II) complexes: Syntheses,structural characterizations,Hirshfeld analyses and fluorescence properties

Three multinuclear Cu (II), Zn (II) and Cd (II) complexes, [Cu₂(L)(μ‐OAc)]·CHCl₂ ( 1 ), [Zn₂(L)(μ‐OAc)(H₂O)]·3CHCl₃ ( 2 ) and [{Cd₂(L)(OAc)(CH₃CH₂OH)}₂]·2CH₃CH₂OH ( 3 ) with a single‐armed salamo‐like dioxime ligand H₃L have been synthesized, and characterized by FT‐IR, UV–vis, X‐ray crystallography and Hirshfeld surfaces analyses. The ligand H₃L has a linear structure and C‐H···π interactions between the two molecules. The complex 1 is a dinuclear Cu (II) complex, Cu1 and Cu2 are all five‐coordinate possessing distorted square pyramidal geometries. The complex 2 also forms a dinuclear Zn (II) structure, and Zn1 and Zn2 are all five‐coordinate bearing distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometries. The complex 3 is a symmetrical tetranuclear Cd (II) complex, and Cd1 is a hexa‐coordinate having octahedral configuration and Cd2 is hepta‐coordinate with a pentagonal bipyramidal geometry, and it has π···π interactions inside the molecule. In addition, fluorescence properties of the ligand and its complexes 1 – 3 have also been discussed.     

Pharmacokinetics of monoester‐diterpenoid alkaloids in myocardial infarction and normal rats after oral administration of Sini decoction by microdialysis combined with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Monoester‐diterpenoid alkaloids are the main bioactive components of Sini decoction, which is a well‐known traditional Chinese medicine formula for the treatment of myocardial infarction (MI) and heart failure in China. In this work, an ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry combined with microdialysis method was successfully established and applied for investigating for the first time comparative plasma pharmacokinetics of three monoester‐diterpenoid alkaloids (benzoylmesaconitine, benzoylaconitine and benzoylhypacoitine) in normal and MI rats after oral administration of Sini decoction. The statistical results of pharmacokinetic parameters demonstrated that benzoylmesaconitine, benzoylaconitine and benzoylhypacoitine showed lower peak concentration, longer half‐life, smaller area under the concentration–time curve, slower clearance, time to peak concentration and mean residence time in MI rats than in normal rats (p < 0.05), which indicated that monoester‐diterpenoid alkaloids exhibited lower systemic exposure and slower elimination in the MI rats. The results provided the experimental basis for understanding the metabolic fate and therapeutic effects of Sini decoction.