Synthesis of Two-Dimensional Covalent Organic Frameworks in Ionic Liquids

Two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks were synthesized in high yields by polycondensation in nonvolatile ionic liquids. The resulting crystallites are highly porous and exhibit exceptional capability of removing bisphenol A from water. The one reported is a general method to synthesize microporous and mesoporous frameworks, it allows to achieve regular macroscopic shapes, and it is effective in a wide range of reaction temperatures.     

Shape Control of VO2 (B) Hierarchical Nanostructures

A green route is designed to gain a clear idea of growth mechanism of complex VO₂ (B) hierarchical microstructures, since this kind of metal oxide has various metastable phases due to their diverse valence states. Three‐dimensional (3D) uniform flower‐like VO₂ (B) hierarchical microstructure has thus been assembled with the interleaving nanoplates, which are about 25 nm in thickness and well‐crystallized in structure with {114} planes as the dominant surfaces. Results of the systemic control experiments revealed that formation of the flower‐like VO₂ (B) results from a fast nucleation‐growth process, where ethylene glycol (EG) not only acts as a green solvent and reductive agent, but also plays a key role in self‐assembly of the resulted VO₂ (B) hierarchical microstructures. Hydroxyl amount on the solvent molecule is crucial in formation and shape control of VO₂ (B) hierarchical microstructures. Result of this work would be helpful to understand the growth mechanism of complex three‐dimensional hierarchical superstructures of different metal oxides, which is very important to material science and inorganic synthetic chemistry.     

Advances in Doppler OCT

We review the principle and some recent applications of Doppler optical coherence tomography (OCT). The advances of the phase-resolved Doppler OCT method are described. Functional OCT algorithms which are based on an extension of the phase-resolved scheme are also introduced. Recent applications of Doppler OCT for quantification of flow, imaging of microvasculature and vocal fold vibration, and optical coherence elastography are briefly discussed.     

Mode-filtered light methane gas sensor based on cryptophane A

A mode-filtered light sensor has been developed for methane (CH₄) gas determination at ambient conditions. The proposed chemosensor consisted of an annular column which was constructed by inserting an optical fiber coated with a thin silicone cladding of cryptophane A into a fused-silica capillary. When CH₄ was introduced to the sensor, selective inclusion of CH₄ into the silicone layer would cause a change in the local refractive index of the cladding, resulting in the change of mode-filtered light that emanated from the fiber. Three detection windows were set alongside the capillary to propagate the light to a charge-coupled device (CCD). The changes of mode-filtered light on exposure to various concentrations of CH₄ were thus simultaneously monitored. The mode-filtered light intensity decreased with the increase in concentration of CH₄. The dynamic concentration range of the sensor for CH₄ was 0.0-16.0% v/v with a detection limit of 0.15% v/v. The highest sensitivity was found at the channel furthest away from the excitation light source. The response time (t_95%) was about 5 min. The reproducibility was good with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of less than 7% from evaluating six cryptophane A-coated fibers. Oxygen, hydrogen and carbon dioxide showed very little interference on detection but interferences from dichloromethane and carbon tetrachloride were observed. The proposed mode-filtered light sensor has been successfully applied to determine CH₄ samples and the accuracy was good. Our work offers a promising approach for CH₄ detection.     

Electrochemistry and spectroelectrochemistry of meso-substituted free-base corroles in nonaqueous media: reactions of (Cor)H3, [(Cor)H4]+, and [(Cor)H2]-

Eleven free-base corroles with different electron-donating or electron-withdrawing meso substituents were characterized as to their electrochemistry and UV-visible spectroscopy in benzonitrile (PhCN) or pyridine containing tetra-n-butylammonium perchlorate (0.1 M). Six forms of the compounds with different numbers of protons and/or oxidation states were spectroscopically identified and are represented as (Cor)H3, (.Cor)H2, [(Cor)H2]-, [(.Cor)H2]2-, [(Cor)H4]+, and [(.Cor)H4]2+, where Cor is a trianionic corrole macrocycle. The electrochemistry and UV-visible properties are a function of corrole basicity, solvent basicity, and types or sizes of the meso substituents, and the compounds could be subdivided into one of two different groups, one of which comprises sterically hindered corroles and another that does not. The electroactive species in PhCN is (Cor)H3, whereas in pyridine, one inner proton dissociates, generating a mixture of (Cor)H3, [(Cor)H2]-, and pyH+. The addition of one electron to [(Cor)H2]- reversibly gives the [(.Cor)H2]2- pi-anion radical, whereas a reversible oxidation of the same species gives the neutral radical (.Cor)H2. The first one-electron reduction of (Cor)H3 occurs at the macrocycle in PhCN, but the initial product rapidly converts to [(Cor)H2]-, which undergoes additional reversible redox reactions at the conjugated pi-ring system. The first oxidation of (Cor)H3 in PhCN leads to a mixture of (.Cor)H2 and [(Cor)H4]+, both of which could be further oxidized or reduced. The UV-visible spectra of [(Cor)H4]+ were measured in PhCN after titrations with trifluoroacetic acid, after which selected samples were examined as to their electrochemistry. The HOMO-LUMO gaps of [(Cor)H2]-, (Cor)H3, and [(Cor)H4]+ were also determined.     

Synthesis and electrochemistry of undeca-substituted metallo-benzoylbiliverdins

The high-yield preparation of metallo-benzoylbiliverdins 9, 10, and 11 from either oxidation of dodeca-substituted porphyrin 6 in the presence of NaNO2/TFA and air followed by metalation or by reaction of the Ni(II) or Cu(II) complexes of 6 with m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid in pyridine under air is reported. The X-ray structures of complexes 9 and 10 and the electrochemistry and spectroelectrochemistry of metallo-benzoylbiliverdins 9-11 are presented and discussed.     

Formation and properties of cyclo[6]pyrrole and cyclo[7]pyrrole

Oxidative coupling of a tetraalkylbipyrrole under FeIII-mediated coupling conditions in the presence of HCl results in a mixture of cyclo[6]- and cyclo[7]pyrroles, as well as the known cyclo[8]pyrrole. This "matched set" of heteroannulenes was analyzed by spectroscopic, electrochemical, and X-ray diffraction methods.     

Electrochemistry and spectroelectrochemistry of heterobimetallic porphyrin-corrole dyads. Influence of the spacer, metal ion, and oxidation state on the pyridine binding ability

Combined electrochemical and UV-visible spectroelectrochemical methods were utilized to elucidate the prevailing mechanisms for electroreduction of previously synthesized porphyrin-corrole dyads of the form (PCY)H2Co and (PCY)MClCoCl where M = Fe(III) or Mn(III), PC = porphyrin-corrole, and Y is a bridging group, either biphenylenyl (B), 9,9-dimethylxanthenyl (X), anthracenyl (A), or dibenzofuranyl (O). These studies were carried out in pyridine, conditions under which the cobalt(IV) corrole in (PCY)MClCoCl is immediately reduced to its Co(III) form, thus enabling direct comparisons with the free-base porphyrin dyad, (PCY)H2Co(III) under the same solution conditions. The compounds are all reduced in multiple one-electron-transfer steps, the first of which involves the M(III)/M(II) process of the porphyrin in the case of (PCY)MClCoCl and the Co(III)/Co(II) process of the corrole in the case of (PCY)H2Co. Each metal-centered redox reaction may be accompanied by the gain or loss of pyridine axial ligands, with the exact stoichiometry of the exchange process depending upon the specific combination of metal ions in the dyad, their oxidation states, and the particular spacer in the complex. Before this study was started, it was expected that the porphyrin-corrole dyads with the largest spacers, namely, O and A, would readily accommodate the formation of cobalt(III) bis-pyridine adducts because of the larger size of the cavity while dyads with the smallest B spacer would seem to have insufficient room to add even a single pyridine within the cavity, as was structurally seen in the case of (PCB)H2Co(py). This is clearly not the case, as shown in the present study. A reversible Co(III)/Co(II) reaction is seen for (PCB)MnClCoCl at -0.62 V, which when combined with spectroscopic data, leads to the assignment of (PCB)Mn(III)(py)2Co(III)(py) as the species in pyridine. The reduction of (PCB)Mn(III)(py)2Co(III)(py) to (PCB)Mn(II)(py)Co(III)(py) is accompanied on the slower spectroelectrochemical time scale by the appearance of a 603 nm band in the UV-vis spectra and is consistent with the addition of a second pyridine ligand to the Co(III)(py) unit of the dyad as one ligand is lost from the electrogenerated manganese(II) porphyrin, thus maintaining one pyridine ligand within the cavity. A different change in the coordination number is observed in the case of (PCB)FeClCoCl. Here the initial Fe(III) complex can be assigned as (PCB)Fe(III)ClCo(III)(py), which has no pyridine molecule within the cavity and the singly reduced form is characterized as (PCB)Fe(II)(py)2Co(III)(py)2, which contains two pyridine ligands inside the cavity. A following one-electron reduction of the Fe(II)/Co(III) complex then gives [(PCB)Fe(II)(py)2Co(II)]-.