Luminescence enhancement and potential application of sky-blue sulfide phosphor doped with promoter

The luminescence of the ZnS:Tm phosphor was enhanced by the addition of a KCl promoter, and a white phosphor was prepared for potential white-light applications. It was found that a high synthesis temperature and high TmF₃ concentration promoted the substitution of Tm³⁺ ions for Zn²⁺ ions. KCl doping facilitated the growth of the hexagonal phase and decreased the phase transformation temperature of ZnS. In addition, the luminescence center concentration, excitation energy absorption, effective energy transfer, charge balance, and luminescence intensity of the phosphor were improved by the addition of the KCl promoter. The emission pattern and peaks of the ZnS:Tm,KCl phosphor were similar to those of the ZnS:Tm phosphor, indicating that the ligand field variation of Tm³⁺ caused by KCl doping was small. When the sky-blue ZnS:Tm,KCl phosphor was blended with a yellow ZnS:Mn,KCl phosphor in 1:1 weight ratio, white-light emission was observed under excitation from a 6-W ultraviolet lamp (1,350 μW/cm², λ?=?254 nm). The Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage coordinates were (0.36, 0.35), and the luminance intensity was 28.1 cd/m².     

Highly Efficient Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Based on 2D Covalent Organic Polymers Complexed with Non‐precious Metals

A class of 2D covalent organic polymers (COPs) incorporating a metal (such as Fe, Co, Mn) with precisely controlled locations of nitrogen heteroatoms and holes were synthesized from various N‐containing metal–organic complexes (for example, metal–porphyrin complexes) by a nickel‐catalyzed Yamamoto reaction. Subsequent carbonization of the metal‐incorporated COPs led to the formation of COP‐derived graphene analogues, which acted as efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction in both alkaline and acid media with a good stability and free from any methanol‐crossover/CO‐poisoning effects.     

Pumping through Porous Hydrophobic/Oleophilic Materials: An Alternative Technology for Oil Spill Remediation

Recently, porous hydrophobic/oleophilic materials (PHOMs) have been shown to be the most promising candidates for cleaning up oil spills; however, due to their limited absorption capacity, a large quantity of PHOMs would be consumed in oil spill remediation, causing serious economic problems. In addition, the complicated and time‐consuming process of oil recovery from these sorbents is also an obstacle to their practical application. To solve the above problems, we apply external pumping on PHOMs to realize the continuous collection of oil spills in situ from the water surface with high speed and efficiency. Based on this novel design, oil/water separation and oil collection can be simultaneously achieved in the remediation of oil spills, and the oil sorption capacity is no longer limited to the volume and weight of the sorption material. This novel external pumping technique may bring PHOMs a step closer to practical application in oil spill remediation.     

Copper‐Catalyzed Intermolecular Trifluoromethylazidation of Alkenes: Convenient Access to CF3‐Containing Alkyl Azides

A novel copper‐catalyzed intermolecular trifluoromethylazidation of alkenes has been developed under mild reaction conditions. A variety of CF₃‐containing organoazides were directly synthesized from a wide range of olefins, including activated and unactivated alkenes, and the resulting products can be easily transformed into the corresponding CF₃‐containing amine derivatives.     

Mixed‐Ligand Catalysts: A Powerful Tool in Transition‐Metal‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling Reactions

Transition‐metal‐catalyzed cross‐coupling reactions have fundamentally revolutionized organic synthesis, empowering the otherwise difficult to achieve products with rapid and convenient accesses alongside excellent yields. Within these reactions, ligands often play a critical role in specifically and effectively advocating the corresponding catalysis. Consequently, a myriad of ligands have been created and applied to make a fine tuning of electronic and steric effect of catalysts, remarkably promoting catalytic efficiency and applicability. The “mixed‐ligand” concept has recently emerged; by combining and capitalizing on the superiority of each individual ligand already available, an expedient way can be achieved to reach a larger extent of catalytic diversity and efficacy. Given the availability of a wealth of ligands, it is reasonable to have great expectations for the original application of mixed‐ligand catalytic systems and their important value in organic synthesis.     

Photochemically Engineering the Metal–Semiconductor Interface for Room‐Temperature Transfer Hydrogenation of Nitroarenes with Formic Acid

A mild photochemical approach was applied to construct highly coupled metal–semiconductor dyads, which were found to efficiently facilitate the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene. Aniline was produced in excellent yield (>99 %, TOF: 1183) using formic acid as hydrogen source and water as solvent at room temperature. This general and green catalytic process is applicable to a wide range of nitroarenes without the involvement of high‐pressure gases or sacrificial additives.     

The First Five‐Membered‐Heterocycle‐Fused Subphthalocyanine Analogues: Chiral Tri(benzo[b]thiopheno)subporphyrazines

Two tri(benzo[b]thiopheno)subporphyrazine regioisomers with C₃ and C₁ molecular symmetry have been isolated from the cyclotrimerization of benzo[b]thiophene‐2,3‐dicarbonitrile as the first five‐membered‐heterocycle‐fused subphthalocyanine analogues. Optical resolution of both regioisomers was achieved by using a chiral HPLC technique, affording the first chiral subphthalocyanine analogues.     

Calcite Microneedle Arrays Produced by Inorganic Ion‐Assisted Anisotropic Dissolution of Bulk Calcite Crystal

Besides studies on the mineralization process, research on the demineralization of minerals provides another way to understand the crystallization mechanism of biominerals and fabricate crystals with complicated morphologies. The formation of ordered arrays of c‐axis‐oriented calcite microneedles with a tri‐symmetric structure and lengths of more than 20 μm was realized on a large scale for the first time through anisotropic dissolution of calcite substrates in undersaturated aqueous solution in the presence of ammonium salts. The lengths and the aspect ratios of the calcite microneedles can be tuned by simply changing the concentrations of the ammonium salts and the dissolution time. The shape of the transverse cross sections of the calcite microneedles obtained in the presence of NH₄Cl and NH₄Ac is almost regularly triangular. The tri‐symmetric transverse cross‐section geometry of the calcite microneedles could be attributed to the tri‐symmetric feature of rhombohedral calcite atomic structures, the synergetic interactions between electrostatic interaction of ammonium ions and dangling surface carbonate groups, and the ion incorporation of halide ions.     

Tailoring 3,3′‐Dihydroxyisorenieratene to Hydroxystilbene: Finding a Resveratrol Analogue with Increased Antiproliferation Activity and Cell Selectivity

Four novel compounds were designed by “tailoring” 3,3′‐dihydroxyisorenieratene (a natural carotenoid) based on an isoprene unit retention truncation strategy. Among them, the smallest molecule 1 (2,3,6,2′,3′,6′‐hexamethyl‐4,4′‐dihydroxy‐trans‐stilbene) was concisely synthesized in a one‐pot Stille–Heck tandem sequence, and surfaced as a promising lead molecule in terms of its selective antiproliferative activity mediated by blocking the NCI‐H460 cell cycle in G1 phase. Additionally, theoretical calculations and cell uptake experiments indicate that the unique polymethylation pattern of compound 1 significantly induces a conformational change shift out of planarity and increases its cell uptake and metabolic stability. The observation should be helpful to rationally design resveratrol‐inspired antiproliferative agents.