A simple and efficient method for the allylation of heteroarenes catalyzed by PdCl2

The PdCl₂-catalyzed allylation of heteroarenes is presented. Various heteroarenes including O-, N-, and S-based ones were allylated efficiently with a rich range of allylic acetates in the presence of only 2 mol % of PdCl₂, without the need of bases/acids, additives, and external supporting ligands. In addition, the reactions were carried out under mild and simple conditions just by stirring the two reactants and catalyst in CH₂Cl₂ at 60 °C. Moreover, the by-product produced was non-toxic acetic acid. Thus, the method presented in this work provides a general, clean, and operationally simple approach for the functionalization of heteroarenes. Finally, a preliminary mechanistic study suggested that the Pd(II) may be reduced in situ by the heteroarenes to Pd(0), which serves as the active metal center to catalyze the following allylations of heteroarenes via a Tsuji–Trost pathway.     

Polymerizable Molecular Silsesquioxane Cage Armored Hybrid Microcapsules with In Situ Shell Functionalization

We prepared core–shell polymer–silsesquioxane hybrid microcapsules from cage‐like methacryloxypropyl silsesquioxanes (CMSQs) and styrene (St). The presence of CMSQ can moderately reduce the interfacial tension between St and water and help to emulsify the monomer prior to polymerization. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and TEM analysis demonstrated that uniform core–shell latex particles were achieved. The polymer latex particles were subsequently transformed into well‐defined hollow nanospheres by removing the polystyrene (PS) core with 1:1 ethanol/cyclohexane. High‐resolution TEM and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis showed that the final nanospheres possessed hollow cavities and had porous shells; the pore size was approximately 2–3 nm. The nanospheres exhibited large surface areas (up to 486 m² g^?1) and preferential adsorption, and they demonstrated the highest reported methylene blue adsorption capacity (95.1 mg g^?1). Moreover, the uniform distribution of the methacryloyl moiety on the hollow nanospheres endowed them with more potential properties. These results could provide a new benchmark for preparing hollow microspheres by a facile one‐step template‐free method for various applications.     

Robust adaptive fractional-order observer for a class of fractional-order nonlinear systems with unknown parameters

Nonlinear Dynamics - This paper investigates the parameter and state estimation problems for a class of fractional-order nonlinear systems subject to the perturbation on the observer gain. The...     

Kinetics and Mechanism of the Reaction of a Ruthenium(VI) Nitrido Complex with HSO3− and SO32− in Aqueous Solution

The kinetics and mechanism of the reaction of S^IV (SO₃^2?+HSO₃^?) with a ruthenium(VI) nitrido complex, [(L)Ru^VI(N)(OH₂)]⁺ (Ru^VIN, L=N,N′‐bis(salicylidene)‐o‐cyclohexyldiamine dianion), in aqueous acidic solutions are reported. The kinetic results are consistent with parallel pathways involving oxidation of HSO₃^? and SO₃^2? by Ru^VIN. A deuterium isotope effect of 4.7 is observed in the HSO₃^? pathway. Based on experimental results and DFT calculations the proposed mechanism involves concerted N?S bond formation (partial N‐atom transfer) between Ru^VIN and HSO₃^? and H⁺ transfer from HSO₃^? to a H₂O molecule.     

Three-dimensional CFD modeling of transport phenomena in anode-supported planar SOFCs

In this study, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model has been developed for an anode-supported planar SOFC. The conservation equations of mass, momentum, species/charges and thermal energy are solved by finite volume method for a complete unit cell consisting of 13 parallel channels in both anode and cathode. The simulation results of the developed model are well in agreement with the experimental data obtained at same conditions. In this study, the co-flow arrangement with hydrogen utilization of 60 % and operating voltage of 0.7 V is used as the base case, and compared with the counter-flow arrangement. The predicted results reveals that the maximum temperature obtained in the counter-flow arrangement is about 10 °C lower than that of co-flow, but the counter-flow arrangement has a higher temperature gradient between the respective anodes and cathodes in a cross-section normal to the main flow direction, especially in the air inlet region of the cell (x = 0.04 m),which is very harmful to the lifetime of materials. The current density is very unevenly distributed along and normal to the flow direction for both the co- and counter-flow arrangements, and the maximum values occur at junctions of the electrodes, channels and ribs, which causes higher over-potentials and ohmic heating.     

Enantioselective Reduction of 2-Ketoalkanephosphonate by Baker's Yeast

Bioreduction of 2-oxo-3-halo (or azido) alkanephosphonates and 4-ethoxy-4,2-dioxobutanephosphonates by baker's yeast afforded 3-substituted 2-hydroxyalkanephosphonates in moderate to good yields and ee value. Moreover, a regio- and stereoselective bioreduction of 2,3-dioxoalkanephosphonates and 2,4-dioxoalkanephosphonates by baker's yeast was studied also. The resulting chiral hydroxy compounds can be used as chirons for the stereoselective synthesis of biologically active molecules.     

An Atomically Precise Au10Ag2 Nanocluster with Red–Near‐IR Dual Emission

A red–near‐IR dual‐emissive nanocluster with the composition [Au₁₀Ag₂(2‐py?C≡C)₃(dppy)₆](BF₄)₅ ( 1 ; 2‐py?C≡C is 2‐pyridylethynyl, dppy=2‐pyridyldiphenylphosphine) has been synthesized. Single‐crystal X‐ray structural analysis reveals that 1 has a trigonal bipyramidal Au₁₀Ag₂ core that contains a planar Au₄(2‐py?C≡C)₃ unit sandwiched by two Au₃Ag(dppy)₃ motifs. Cluster 1 shows intense red–NIR dual emission in solution. The visible emission originates from metal‐to‐ligand charge transfer (MLCT) from silver atoms to phosphine ligands in the Au₃Ag(dppy)₃ motifs, and the intense NIR emission is associated with the participation of 2‐pyridylethynyl in the frontier orbitals of the cluster, which is confirmed by a time‐dependent density functional theory (TD‐DFT) calculation.     

Hybrid numerical method for wall-resolved large-eddy simulations of compressible wall-bounded turbulence

Acta Mechanica Sinica - Bogies are responsible for a significant amount of aerodynamic resistance and noise, both of which negatively affect high-speed train performance and passenger comfort. In...