Radiation-induced degradation of aqueous 2–chlorophenol assisted by zeolites

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - This study aims to demonstrate that zeolite has the potential to increase the efficiency of radiolysis treatment of aqueous organic pollutants by...     

Comparative investigation of Au nano-particle formation process dependent upon various protective agents

Formation process of gold nanoparticles was investigated by near-field heterodyne transient grating method. In the absence of the protective agents, although the diffusion of H[Au^ICl₂] could be observed after the photo-reduction of H[Au^IIICl₄], the diffusion of nanoparticle-seeds was not observed. On the other hand, in the presence of the protective agents, the diffusion of a complex molecule (Au and protective agent) and nanoparticle-seeds could be observed. From these results, it was found that enough amount of the complex is essential for the nanoparticle formation. We also investigated the formation process with four different chemicals as a protective agent. The hydrodynamic radius of nanoparticle-seeds generated in the poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) and TritonX-100 solutions were larger than those generated in the Tween 20 and Brij 58 solutions. The former two have hydrophilic chain in the molecular structure; on the other hand, the latter two have hydrophobic alkyl chain. Based on those facts, we concluded that the interaction between the chains of the complex molecule plays an important role in the nanoparticle formation process.     

A Bipodal Dicyano Anchor Unit for Single‐Molecule Spintronic Devices

The conductance through single 7,7,8,8‐tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) connected to gold electrodes is studied with the nonequilibrium Green’s function method combined with density functional theory. The aim of the study is to derive the effect of a dicyano anchor group, ?C(CN)₂, on energy level alignment between the electrode Fermi level and a molecular energy level. The strong electron‐withdrawing nature of the dicyano anchor group lowers the LUMO level of TCNQ, resulting in an extremely small energy barrier for electron injection. At zero bias, electron transfer from electrodes easily occurs and, as a consequence, the anion radical state of TCNQ with a magnetic moment is formed. The unpaired electron in the TCNQ anion radical causes an exchange splitting between the spin‐α and spin‐β transmission spectra, allowing the single TCNQ junction to act as a spin‐filtering device.     

Synthesis of 4,5-fused tricyclic quinolines via an acid-promoted intramolecular Friedel–Crafts allenylation of aniline derivatives

A novel method for synthesizing 4,5-fused tricyclic quinoline derivatives based on an acid-promoted intramolecular Friedel–Crafts allenylation of anilines. Using aryl group-substituted propargyl alcohol derivatives with a meta-substituted N-Boc aniline unit as substrates, a four-step reaction sequence involving an acid-promoted intramolecular Friedel–Crafts allenylation of anilines, an acid-promoted intramolecular C–N bond formation, deprotection of the Boc group, and air oxidation proceeded in a single pot, producing the corresponding 4,5-fused tricyclic quinoline derivatives in 31–84% yield.     

Adsorption and photochemical behaviors of the novel cationic xanthene derivative on the clay surface

Novel tetra-cationic xanthene derivative (Flu) was synthesized. Its adsorption and photochemical behaviors on the clay surface were investigated. Fluorescence quantum yield (?_f) and fluorescence lifetime were 0.50 and 2.9 ns for Flu/clay complex. ?_f of Flu was enough high (>0.1) even at high density conditions (0.080 molecules nm⁻²). It is supposed that the strong interaction between clay and Flu by the ‘Size-Matching Effect’ realizes the highly emissive clay complexes at high density adsorption condition by a suppression of a molecular aggregation, which tends to decrease the photochemical activity.     

Synthesis and Pyrolysis of Fullerenol-stabilized Pt Nanocolloids as a unique Approach to Pt-doped Carbon

An aqueous colloidal dispersion of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) stabilized by fullerenol C₆₀(OH)₁₂ (Pt:C₆₀(OH)₁₂) was successfully synthesized via liquid-phase chemical reduction. The subsequent pyrolysis of Pt:C₆₀(OH)₁₂ at different temperatures was conducted to afford Pt-doped carbon with different chemical compositions (Pt:C60ⁿ). X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and Infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy and thermogravimetric measurements revealed that the thus-prepared nanocomposite consists of Pt NPs and high valent Pt-C₆₀(OH)₁₂ complex. One distinct feature of C₆₀(OH)₁₂ matrix as catalyst support is the suppression of size growth of Pt NPs during the pyrolysis up to 300 °C. Electrochemical experiments using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) were performed to find that Pt:C60³⁰⁰ (pyrolyzed at 300 °C) exhibited higher activity than others, that was attributed to the π-extended feature of the as-obtained carbon.     

Palladium‐Catalyzed Direct Thiolation of Aryl CH Bonds with Disulfides

A catalytic variant of the direct thiolation of arenes, bearing directing groups, with disulfides or thiols has been developed under palladium and copper co‐catalysis. Both sulfenyl moieties of the disulfide could be incorporated into the thiolated products, therefore, the reactions reached completion with only half an equivalent of disulfide, with respect to the starting arene. Experimental evidence suggested that the reaction proceeds through a Pd^II/Pd^IV mechanism.     

High Diastereoselection of a Dissymmetric Capsule by Chiral Guest Complexation

Encapsulation of chiral guests in the dissymmetric capsule 1?4 BF₄ formed diastereomeric supramolecular complexes G ? 1?4 BF₄ ( G : guest). When chiral guests 2 a – q were encapsulated within the dissymmetric space of the self‐assembled capsule 1?4 BF₄, circular dichroism (CD) was observed at the absorption bands that are characteristic of the π–π* transition of the bipyridine moiety of the capsule, which suggests that the P and M helicities of the capsule are biased by the chiral guest complexation. The P helicity of diastereomeric complex (S)‐ 2 l ? 1?4 BF₄ was determined to be predominant, based on CD exciton coupling theory and DFT calculations. The diastereoselectivity was highly influenced by the ester substituents, such that benzyl ester moieties were good for improving the diastereoselectivity. A diastereomeric excess of 98 % was achieved upon the complexation of 2 j . The relative enthalpic and entropic components for the distereoselectivity were obtained from a van’t Hoff plot. The enthalpic components were linearly correlated with the substituent Hammett parameters (σ_p⁺). The electron‐rich benzyl ester moieties generated donor–acceptor π–π stacking interactions with the bipyridine moiety, which resulted in a significant difference in energy between the predominant and subordinate diastereomeric complexes.     

Copper–Oxygen Dynamics in the Tyrosinase Mechanism

The dinuclear copper enzyme, tyrosinase, activates O₂ to form a (μ-η²:η²-peroxido)dicopper(II) species, which hydroxylates phenols to catechols. However, the exact mechanism of phenolase reaction in the catalytic site of tyrosinase is still under debate. We herein report the near atomic resolution X-ray crystal structures of the active tyrosinases with substrate l -tyrosine. At their catalytic sites, CuA moved toward l -tyrosine (CuA1 → CuA2), whose phenol oxygen directly coordinates to CuA2, involving the movement of CuB (CuB1 → CuB2). The crystal structures and spectroscopic analyses of the dioxygen-bound tyrosinases demonstrated that the peroxide ligand rotated, spontaneously weakening its O−O bond. Thus, the copper migration induced by the substrate-binding is accompanied by rearrangement of the bound peroxide species so as to provide one of the peroxide oxygen atoms with access to the phenol substrate's ϵ carbon atom.