Direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from hydrogen and oxygen over Pd-supported HNb<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>8</Subscript> metal oxide nanosheet catalyst

A two-dimensional layered niobium oxide and its exfoliated nanosheet were examined as potential solid acid supports for direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from hydrogen and oxygen under intrinsically safe and noncorrosive reaction conditions. The catalytic performance strongly depended on the acid strength of the support material. The Pd-supported protonated niobium oxide nanosheet catalyst (Pd/HNb₃O₈-NS) with remarkably enhanced acidity was superior to layered Pd/KNb₃O₈ or Pd/HNb₃O₈ to promote the reaction. Hydrogen peroxide decomposition testing revealed that, although HNb₃O₈ was comparable to its exfoliated counterpart, HNb₃O₈-NS, in suppressing hydrogen peroxide decomposition without hydrogen, HNb₃O₈ was virtually ineffective in preventing hydrogen peroxide hydrogenation in the presence of hydrogen. However, compared with HNb₃O₈, HNb₃O₈-NS was found to be still effective at suppressing hydrogen peroxide hydrogenation. The different efficiency observed between HNb₃O₈ and HNb₃O₈-NS in the prevention of hydrogen peroxide hydrogenation implies that use of a highly acidic support is advantageous to effectively suppress faster and therefore more unfavorable hydrogen peroxide hydrogenation compared with decomposition. This result clearly demonstrates that the highly acidic HNb₃O₈ nanosheet can serve as an efficient solid acid support for direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from hydrogen and oxygen.     

A new anti-inflammatory β-carboline alkaloid from the hairy-root cultures of Eurycoma longifolia

One new β-carboline alkaloid 7-methoxy-(9H-β-carbolin-1-il)-(E)-1-propenoic acid (1) together with 9-methoxycanthin-6-one (2) and 9-hydroxycanthin-6-one (3) were isolated from the hairy-root cultures of Eurycoma longifolia. The effects of these compounds on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW264.7 cells were investigated. Compound 1 strongly inhibited the production of NO while 2 and 3 having weak or inactive effect. Consistently, compound 1 decreased the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase.     

Regular conjugated terpolymers comprising two different acceptors and bithiophene donor in repeating group: Effect of strong and weak acceptors on semiconducting properties

Diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)‐based terpolymers—P(DPP‐TPyT) and P(DPP‐T3MTT)—bearing bithiophene donating groups and weak accepting units such as pyridine (Py) or methyl thiophene‐3‐carboxylate (3MT), in the polymer backbone, were successfully synthesized. Although the two polymers had similar physical and electrochemical properties, grazing incidence X‐ray diffraction patterns of P(DPP‐TPyT) and P(DPP‐T3MTT) showed mixed and edge‐on orientations, respectively, in thermally annealed films. Accordingly, the P(DPP‐T3MTT) showed twice the hole mobility of P(DPP‐TPyT) in a thin‐film transistor, and a blended film of P(DPP‐T3MTT) and [6,6]‐phenyl‐C71‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁BM) showed better power conversion efficiency in a polymer solar cell. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 1339‐1347     

ChemInform Abstract: A Matrix Isolation and Computational Study of Molecular Palladium Fluorides: Does PdF6 Exist?

Binary palladium fluorides from PdF to PdF₆ are investigated by matrix‐isolation methods using thermal evaporation and laser ablation to generate Pd atoms for reaction with F₂‐doped Ar and Ne matrices as well as neat F₂ matrices.     

Hydration of superoxide studied by molecular dynamics simulation

Molecular dynamics was used to study the hydration of superoxide (O). The Helmholtz free energy of hydration of O was estimated by the thermodynamic integration method. The diffusion of O and the water structure around O were also studied. Two water models were used in the calculations and the results were compared to experiments.