Reversible tunability of the near-infrared valence band plasmon resonance in Cu(2-x)Se nanocrystals

We demonstrate that colloidal Cu(2-x)Se nanocrystals exhibit a well-defined infrared absorption band due to the excitation of positive charge carrier oscillations (i.e., a valence band plasmon mode), which can be tuned reversibly in width and position by varying the copper stoichiometry. The value of x could be incrementally varied from 0 (no plasmon absorption, then a broad peak at 1700 nm) to 0.4 (narrow plasmon band at 1100 nm) by oxidizing Cu(2)Se nanocrystals (upon exposure either to oxygen or to a Ce(IV) complex), and it could be incrementally restored back to zero by the addition of a Cu(I) complex. The experimentally observed plasmonic behavior is in good agreement with calculations based on the electrostatic approximation.     

Steady-state photoinduced absorption of CdSe/CdS octapod shaped nanocrystals

Colloidal branched nanocrystals have been attracting increasing attention due to evidence of an interesting relationship between their complex shape and charge carrier dynamics. Herein, continuous wave photoinduced absorption (CW PIA) measurements of CdSe/CdS octapod-shaped nanocrystals are reported. CW PIA spectra show strong bleaching due to the one-dimensional (1D) CdS pod states (480 nm) and the zero-dimensional (0D) CdSe core states (690 nm). The agreement with previously reported ultrafast pump-probe experiments indicates that this strong bleaching signal may be assigned to state filling. Additional bleaching features at 520 and 560 nm are characterized by a longer lifetime and are thus ascribed to defect states, localized at the pod-core interface of the octapod, showing that some of the initially photogenerated carriers get quickly trapped into these long-lived defect states. However, we remark that a relevant part of electrons remain untrapped: this opens up the opportunity to exploit octapod shaped nanocrystals in photovoltaics applications, as electron acceptor materials, considering that several efficient hole extracting materials are already available for the realization of a composite bulk heterojunction.     

Reactivity studies of a disilene with N2O and elemental sulfur

In a previous contribution, we have reported on a convenient and high yield synthesis of the disilene trans-[(TMS)(2)N(η(1)-Me(5)C(5))Si═Si(η(1)-Me(5)C(5))N(TMS)(2)] (2). Herein, we show the reactions of 2 with N(2)O and S(8). The former reaction affords two isomeric (cis- and trans-) dioxadisiletane ring compounds. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report where both cis-and trans-isomers are isolated from the same disilene precursor and characterized structurally by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. The reaction of 2 with elemental sulfur yields only the trans-isomer. To investigate this dissimilar reaction pattern exhibited by 2, computational studies were performed. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations showed that the two dioxadisiletane ring isomers are isoenergetic, with the trans isomer being slightly more stable than the cis counterpart, by 3.3 kcal/mol, while that is not the case with sulfur. All the isolated compounds are characterized by single-crystal XRD studies, multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, and electron ionization-mass spectrometry (EI-MS).     

Synthesis,Crystal Structure,Spectral and Thermal Studies of (<Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis>)-4-Dimethamino[(1-phenylethyl)iminomethyl]benzyne

Abstract  

Schiff-base compound (E)-4-dimethamino[(1-phenylethyl)iminomethyl]benzyne was synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses (CHN), FT-IR and ¹H-NMR spectroscopic techniques and thermogravimetric analyses (TG). Crystal structure of the title compound was obtained by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The title compound crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁ with unit cell parameters: a = 8.5283(2), b = 6.0699(2), c = 13.6997(4) Ǻ, β = 91.471(2)°, V = 708.94(4) Ǻ³ and Z = 2.     

Band-edge ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy of core/shell CdSe/CdS rods: assessing electron delocalization by effective mass calculations

CdSe/CdS dot/rods nanocrystals show interesting physical properties related to the band-alignment at the hetero-interface, which controls the band-edge electron delocalization over the rods. Here the differential transmission spectra of CdSe/CdS nanorod samples with different core sizes have been measured using excitation resonant to the core transition. The photo bleaching ratio between dot and rod transitions increases with the dot size, indicating a trend towards electron localization. This trend has been further quantified by performing effective mass calculations in which the conduction band misalignment was varied in order to reproduce the observed bleaching feature ratio. The best agreement was found for negligible conduction band misalignment for small dots of around 2.3 nm in diameter, and about -0.1 eV misalignment was estimated for the larger dots, above 3.5 nm in diameter. This shows that the band misalignment might be dependent on the geometry of the system, and we argue that this might be related to different strain developed at the hetero-interface.     

Abnormal N-heterocyclic carbene palladium complex: living catalyst for activation of aryl chlorides in Suzuki-Miyaura cross coupling

Palladium complexes bearing abnormal N-heterocyclic carbene were used as catalysts in Suzuki-Miyaura cross coupling of aryl chlorides at 25 °C. The catalyst remained active for 10 successive catalytic runs and can activate 4-chlorotoluene at 25 °C with 0.01 mol% catalyst loading resulting in a TON of 9500 within 6 h.     

Mild method for the synthesis of 1H-indazoles through oxime-phosphonium ion intermediate

The synthesis of 1H-indazoles from o-aminobenzoximes is achieved via N–N bond formation using triphenylphosphine, I₂, and imidazole. Selective formation of oxime-phosphonium ion intermediate in the presence of the amino group is the driving force for this reaction. The nucleophilicity of the arylamino group and electrophilicity toward the N–O bond of oxime also control the reaction. The reaction proceeds at a faster rate with good to excellent yield under this mild reaction condition and is amenable to scale-up.     

FRET based selective and ratiometric ‘naked-eye’ detection of CN in aqueous solution on fluorescein–Zn–naphthalene ensemble platform

We have developed a FRET-based ratiometric fluorescent probe for the detection of CN⁻ using a fluorescein–Zn–naphthalene ensemble (NFH·Zn²⁺). The sensing mechanism was ascribed by displacement approach. The chemosensor exhibits high selectivity and sensibility for CN⁻. The speculation was supported by fluorescence emission spectra, UV–vis spectrum, ¹H NMR titration experiments, and mass spectra. The interconversion of probe NFH and NFH·Zn²⁺ via the complexation/decomplexation by the modulation of Zn²⁺/CN⁻ mimics INHIBIT gate. In addition, it also shows an excellent performance in ‘dip stick’ method.