Visible‐Light‐Driven CO2 Reduction with Carbon Nitride: Enhancing the Activity of Ruthenium Catalysts

A heterogeneous photocatalyst system that consists of a ruthenium complex and carbon nitride (C₃N₄), which act as the catalytic and light‐harvesting units, respectively, was developed for the reduction of CO₂ into formic acid. Promoting the injection of electrons from C₃N₄ into the ruthenium unit as well as strengthening the electronic interactions between the two units enhanced its activity. The use of a suitable solvent further improved the performance, resulting in a turnover number of greater than 1000 and an apparent quantum yield of 5.7 % at 400 nm. These are the best values that have been reported for heterogeneous photocatalysts for CO₂ reduction under visible‐light irradiation to date.     

Phase behaviour of the thermotropic cubic mesogen 1,2-bis-(4- n -octyloxybenzoyl)hydrazine under pressure

The phase transition behaviour of an optically isotropic, thermotropic cubic mesogen 1,2-bis-(4-n-octyloxybenzoyl)hydrazine, BABH(8), was investigated under pressures up to 200 MPa using a high pressure differential thermal analyser, wide-angle X-ray diffraction and a polarizing optical microscope equipped with a high pressure optical cell. The phase transition sequence, low temperature crystal (Cr₂)-high temperature crystal (Cr ₁)- cubic (Cub)-smectic C (SmC)-isotropic liquid (I) observed at atmospheric pressure, is seen in the low pressure region below about 30 MPa. The cubic phase disappears at high pressures above 30–40 MPa, in conjunction with the disappearance of the Cr₁ phase. The transition sequence changes to Cr₂-SmC-I in the high pressure region. Since only the Cub-SmC transition line among all the phase boundaries has a negative slope (dT/dP) in the temperature-pressure phase diagram, the temperature range for the cubic phase decreases rapidly with increasing pressure. As a result, a triple point was estimated approximately as 31.6 ±2.0 MPa, 147.0±1.0°C for the SmC, Cub and Cr₁ phases, indicating the upper limit of pressure for the observation of the cubic phase. Reversible changes in structure and optical texture between the Cub and SmC phases were observed from a spot-like X-ray pattern and dark field for the cubic phase to the Debye-Sherrer pattern and sand-like texture for the SmC phase both in isobaric and isothermal experiments.     

Standard P3-bundles of exponent two on algebraic surfaces

Let V_K be a twisted form of P³ over the function field of an algebraic surface with Pic V_K generated by the half of the canonical line bundle. We construct an algebraic fibre space V → X projective flat over a smooth projective surface X with the generic fibre V _K → Spac K satisfying some properties.     

Emission and transient absorption measurements of substitution effects of C–C triple bonds on relaxation processes of the fluorescent state of naphthalenes

Photophysical and photochemical properties of naphthalenes substituted with trimethylsilylethynyl, tert-butylethynyl, and trimethylsilylbutadiynyl groups were investigated by measurement of fluorescence yields, lifetimes, and triplet absorption. Introducing trimethylsilylethynyl and tert-butylethynyl groups to the 1-position of the naphthalene skeleton substantially enhanced fluorescence and intersystem crossing (ISC). The rates of fluorescence of 2-substituted naphthalenes were low. The effect of ethynyl groups on the 1-substituted naphthalenes was rationalized in terms of an increase of the transition moment along the short axis of the naphthalene skeleton. Substitution of the trimethylsilylbutadiynyl group at the 1 or 2-position of the naphthalene skeleton caused a considerable decrease in the fluorescence yield (approximately 0.01) and an increase in the ISC yield (0.99).     

Helix formation of poly(phenylacetylene) derivatives bearing amino groups at the meta position induced by optically active carboxylic acids

Two novel phenylacetylene derivatives bearing diethylaminomethyl groups at the meta position on phenyl groups [3‐(N,N‐diethylaminomethyl)phenyl]acetylene ( 1 ) and [3,5‐bis(N,N‐diethylaminomethyl)phenyl]acetylene ( 2 ) were synthesized and polymerized with [Rh(nbd)Cl]₂ (nbd: norbornadiene). Both monomers gave highly cis–transoidal stereoregular polymers that exhibited an induced circular dichroism (ICD) in the UV–visible region, probably because of a prevailing one‐handed helical conformation upon complexation with optically active carboxylic acids such as mandelic acid and lactic acid. The sign of the Cotton effects reflected the absolute configuration of the chiral acids. Therefore, these polymers can be used as a novel probe for determining the configuration of chiral acids. The polymers were stable in the presence of chiral acids in solution. The poly‐ 1 complexed with chiral acids exhibited a split‐type ICD, whereas the poly‐ 2 complexed with chiral acids showed a different, non‐split‐type ICD. The ICD pattern of the poly‐ 1 /chiral acids complexes dramatically changed with an increase in the concentration of the chiral acids, thus showing a non‐split‐type ICD similar to those of the poly‐ 2 /chiral acid complexes. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 3180–3189, 2001     

Theoretical study of stability, structures, and aromaticity of multiply N-confused porphyrins.

The total electronic energy and nucleus-independent chemical shift (NICS) of 95 isomers of N-confused porphyrin (NCP: normal porphyrin (N(0)CP), singly N-confused porphyrin (N(1)CP), doubly N-confused porphyrin (N(2)CP), triply N-confused porphyrin (N(3)CP), and fully N-confused porphyrin (N(4)CP)) have been calculated by the density functional theory (DFT) method. The stability of NCP decreased by increasing the number of confused pyrrole rings. Namely, the relative energies of the most stable isomers in each confusion level increased in a stepwise manner approximately by +18 kcal/mol: 0 (N(0)CP1), +17.147 (N(1)CP2), +37.461 (N(2)CPb3), +54.031 (N(3)CPd6), and +65.636 kcal/mol (N(4)CPc8). In this order, the mean plane deviation of these isomers increased from 0.000 to 0.123, 0.170, 0.215, and 0.251 A, respectively. The unusual tautomeric forms of pyrrole ring with an sp(3)-carbon were found in the stable forms of N(3)CP and N(4)CP. The NICS values at the mean position of the 24 core atoms were nearly the same for the most aromatic isomers regardless of the confusion level: -15.1280 (N(0)CP1), -13.8493 (N(1)CP2), -13.7267 (N(2)CPd1), -11.7723 (N(3)CPb5), and -13.6224 ppm (N(4)CPa6). The positive correlation between aromaticity and stability was inferred from the plots of NICS and the relative energy of NCP for N(0)CP, N(1)CP, and trans-N(2)CP. On the other hand, the correlation was negative for cis-N(2)CP, N(3)CP, and N(4)CP isomers.     

Fuzzy linear programming problems as bi-criteria optimization problems

In this paper, we consider fuzzy linear programming (FLP) problems which involve fuzzy numbers only in coefficients of objective function. First, we shall give concepts of optimal solutions to (FLP) problems and investigate their properties. Next, in order to find all optimal solutions, we define three types of bi-criteria optimization problems.