Room-temperature dissociation of 1,2-dibromodisilenes to bromosilylenes

A room-temperature dynamic equilibrium between dibromodisilenes and bromosilylenes has been demonstrated by taking advantage of the steric protection using the fused-ring bulky 1,1,3,3,5,5,7,7-octa-R-s-hydrindacen-4-yl (Rind) groups. Although the bromosilylenes cannot be directly observed by spectroscopic methods, the thermal homolytic cleavage of the Si═Si double bond has been confirmed by a pseudo-first-order kinetics for the trapping with bis(trimethylsilyl)acetylene and a crossover reaction using two kinds of Rind-substituted dibromodisilenes. The addition of 4-pyrrolidinopyridine (PPy) to the dibromodisilene leads to an equilibrium mixture between the dibromodisilene and a PPy adduct of bromosilylene, the latter being isolated and characterized. The substitution of the bromine atom in the dibromodisilene by the Grignard reagent is significantly accelerated by the addition of PPy.     

Boron-boron σ-bond formation by two-electron reduction of a H-bridged dimer of monoborane

Diborane(6) as a H-bridged dimer of monoborane can be converted cleanly by two-electron reduction into diborane(6) dianion, which is isoelectronic with ethane, through B-B σ-bond formation when each boron atom has a bulky ligand on it. The existence of the B-B σ bond is supported by the X-ray molecular structure [B-B bond length of 1.924(3) ?], NMR studies, magnetic susceptibility measurements, and DFT calculations. Stepwise hydride abstraction reactions of the diborane(6) dianion produce the corresponding H-bridged diborane(5) anion and doubly H-bridged diborane(4) without B-B bond scission.     

Quantum 401-1401-1401-1algebras and Macdonald polynomials

We derive a quantum deformation of theW _N algebra and its quantum Miura transformation, whose singular vectors realize the Macdonald polynomials.     

Bis-phosphoryl-bridged stilbenes synthesized by an intramolecular cascade cyclization

Bis-phosphoryl-bridged stilbenes have been synthesized using an intramolecular cascade cyclization. They show intense blue fluorescences at longer wavelengths with higher quantum yields compared to those of the known element-bridged stilbenes. In addition, they have much lower reduction potentials due to the inductive effect of phosphoryl groups. The incorporation of the phosphoryl moiety is an effective way for the construction of highly electron-accepting pi-conjugated systems.     

Direct deposition of gold nanoparticles onto polymer beads and glucose oxidation with H2O2

Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) were deposited directly from aqueous solution of diethylenediaminegold(III) complex onto polymer beads commercially available, such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polystyrene (PS), and polyaniline (PANI) without surface modification. The dropwise addition of NaBH4 to reduce Au(III) was found to be very effective to obtain small Au0 NPs with a narrow size distribution except for PANI. The catalytic performance of Au NPs deposited on polymer beads for H2O2 decomposition and glucose oxidation with H2O2 were more significantly affected by the kinds of polymer supports than by the size of Au NPs. The equimolar oxidation of glucose with H2O2 could be operated by controlling the decomposition rate of H2O2 over Au/PMMA.     

Air- and moisture-stable p-monothiobenzoquinones incorporated in an octaalkyl-s-hydrindacene skeleton

p-Monothiobenzoquinones incorporated in a fused-ring octaalkyl-s-hydrindacene skeleton have been synthesized as air- and moisture-stable reddish orange crystals by the oxidation of mercaptophenol derivatives with DDQ, which have been characterized by X-ray crystallography to show a planar quinoid framework.     

A new binding motif of sterically demanding thiolates on a gold cluster

A gold cluster, Au(41)(S-Eind)(12), was synthesized by ligating the bulky arenethiol 1,1,3,3,5,5,7,7-octaethyl-s-hydrindacene-4-thiol (Eind-SH) to preformed Au clusters. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and the fragmentation pattern in the mass spectrometry analysis indicated that formation of gold-thiolate oligomers at the interface was suppressed, in sharp contrast to conventional thiolate-protected Au clusters.