Voltammetric Determination of Boric Acid Using the Ternary Complexation System with Salicylaldehyde and H‐Acid

A square‐wave voltammetric method for the determination of boric acid in water has been described based on the new understanding of the electrochemical behavior of boric acid‐Azomethine H complexation. Salicylaldehyde and H‐acid were used as the starting materials of boric acid‐Azomethine H complex and their concentrations were optimized for boric acid determination in water. A glassy carbon electrode, instead of a conventional mercury electrode, was used in the measurement. The detection limit of the proposed method was 0.10 mg B dm^?3. The proposed method was successfully used for boric acid determination in the water from a seawater desalination RO plant.     

Molecularly defined graphitic interface toward proton manipulation

Proton plays a critical role in electrochemical systems to control electrochemical reactivity or isotopic enrichment. Graphene is intensively investigated owing to its unique electronic structure and device fabrication. Through the structural tunability of graphitic materials by chemical or physical modification of the surface, graphene is revealed to be an ideal material for proton manipulation. Here, we review the use of graphene or graphitic materials toward the manipulation of proton with regard to the following three points. (1) Electronic properties of graphene: The electronic band structure of graphene can be modified by metal contacts owing to the interaction with a metal surface. (2) Molecular control of graphitic interface: The chemical structure of graphene can be modified, as is done in molecular chemistry, and can be used as a catalytic platform. (3) Proton conduction by graphene: Proton transport through a graphene layer occurs with a unique mechanism such as tunneling. We provide a perspective on the use of graphitic materials toward controlling the behavior of protons on the basis of the aforementioned points. From the above, graphene can be used as a platform for proton manipulation.     

On the electronic character of localized singlet 2,2-dimethoxycyclopentane-1,3-diyl diradicals: substituent effects on the lifetime

Photodenitrogenation of the diazenes 4 affords exclusively the housanes 5 through intramolecular cyclization of the spectrally detected and characterized singlet diradicals 3. The lifetime of singlet diradical 3, determined by transient absorption measurements, depends on the Y and Z substituents at the para position of the phenyl ring and has the following order: Y, Z = OMe, OMe > OMe, CN > CN, CN > OMe, H > Cl, Cl approximately CN, H approximately Me, Me > H, H. This unprecedented substituent effect reveals stabilization of the singlet 2,2-dimethoxycyclopentane-1,3-diyl diradicals 3 through radical, zwitterionic, pi-bonding, and hyperconjugative structures.     

Charge separation in a nonfluorescent donor-acceptor dyad derived from boron dipyrromethene dye, leading to photocurrent generation

Boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY), which is commonly used as an energy absorbing and transferring antenna molecule, has been modified to contain an electron donor moiety, 8-(2,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-4,4-difluoro-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (MEOPHBDP). The photoinduced electron transfer from a 2,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl moiety to a BODIPY moiety of MEOPHBDP in acetonitrile was observed by femtosecond laser flash photolysis measurements. The lifetime of the charge-separated state of MEOPHBDP was 59 ps at 298 K. The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) were prepared using MEOPHBDP with carboxylic acid (MEOPHBDP-COOH) and a reference BODIPY dye having no electron donor moiety. The photovoltaic measurements were performed using a standard two-electrode system consisting of a working electrode and a Pt sputtered electrode in methoxyacetonitrile containing 0.5 M iodide and 0.05 M I(2). The photoelectrochemical properties of DSSC with MEOPHBDP are compared with those with a reference BODIPY dye.     

Enantio- and diastereoselective, stereospecific mannich-type reactions in water

Catalytic asymmetric Mannich-type reactions in water proceeded in high yields and selectivities using a combination of ZnF2 and a chiral diamine that has the methoxy groups on the aromatic rings. In these reactions, either syn- or anti-Mannich adducts were stereospecifically obtained from (E)- or (Z)-silicon enolate, in contrast with most asymmetric Mannich-type reactions.     

Nitrile anion cyclization with epoxysilanes followed by brook rearrangement/ring opening of cyclopropane nitriles/alkylation

The reaction of delta-silyl-gamma,delta-epoxypentanenitrile derivatives with a base and an alkylating agent affords delta-siloxy-gamma,delta-unsaturated pentanenitrile derivatives via a tandem process that involves the formation of the cyclopropane derivative by epoxy nitrile cyclization followed by Brook rearrangement and an anion-induced cleavage of the cyclopropane ring.     

Gamma-p-toluenesulfonyl-alpha,beta-epoxysilane: a new and practical acrolein beta-anion equivalent

[reaction: see text] Reaction of gamma-p-toluenesulfonyl-alpha,beta-epoxysilane with alkyl halides and aldehydes followed by treatment with n-Bu4NF affords alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes via a Brook rearrangement-mediated tandem process under extremely mild conditions.