Benign‐by‐Design Solventless Mechanochemical Synthesis of Three‐, Two‐, and One‐Dimensional Hybrid Perovskites

Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites have attracted significant attention owing to their extraordinary optoelectronic properties with applications in the fields of solar energy, lighting, photodetectors, and lasers. The rational design of these hybrid materials is a key factor in the optimization of their performance in perovskite‐based devices. Herein, a mechanochemical approach is proposed as a highly efficient, simple, and reproducible method for the preparation of four types of hybrid perovskites, which were obtained in large amounts as polycrystalline powders with high purity and excellent optoelectronics properties. Two archetypal three‐dimensional (3D) perovskites (MAPbI₃ and FAPbI₃) were synthesized, together with a bidimensional (2D) perovskite (Gua₂PbI₄) and a “double‐chain” one‐dimensional (1D) perovskite (GuaPbI₃), whose structure was elucidated by X‐ray diffraction.     

Combinatorial discovery of fluorescent pharmacophores by multicomponent reactions in droplet arrays

Fluorescence imaging in clinical diagnostics and biomedical research relies to a great extent on the use of small organic fluorescent probes. Because of the difficulty of combining fluorescent and molecular-recognition properties, the development of such probes has been severely restricted to a number of well-known fluorescent scaffolds. Here we demonstrate that autofluorescing druglike molecules are a valuable source of bioimaging probes. Combinatorial synthesis and screening of chemical libraries in droplet microarrays allowed the identification of new types of fluorophores. Their concise and clean assembly by a multicomponent reaction presents a unique potential for the one-step synthesis of thousands of structurally diverse fluorescent molecules. Because they are based upon a druglike scaffold, these fluorophores retain their molecular recognition potential and can be used to design specific imaging probes.     

Metal-Organic Frameworks as Versatile Heterogeneous Solid Catalysts for Henry Reactions

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have become one of the versatile solid materials used for a wide range of applications, such as gas storage, gas separation, proton conductivity, sensors and catalysis. Among these fields, one of the more well-studied areas is the use of MOFs as heterogeneous catalysts for a broad range of organic reactions. In the present review, the employment of MOFs as solid catalysts for the Henry reaction is discussed, and the available literature data from the last decade are grouped. The review is organized with a brief introduction of the importance of Henry reactions and structural properties of MOFs that are suitable for catalysis. The second part of the review discusses the use of MOFs as solid catalysts for the Henry reaction involving metal nodes as active sites, while the third section provides data utilizing basic sites (primary amine, secondary amine, amides and urea-donating sites). While commenting on the catalytic results in these two sections, the advantage of MOFs over other solid catalysts is compared in terms of activity by providing turnover number (TON) values and the structural stability of MOFs during the course of the reaction. The final section provides our views on further directions in this field.     

Theoretical studies of d(A:T)-based parallel-stranded DNA duplexes.

Poly d(A:T) parallel-stranded DNA duplexes based on the Hoogsteen and reverse Watson-Crick hydrogen bond pairing are studied by means of extensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and molecular mechanics coupled to Poisson-Boltzmann (MM-PB/SA) calculations. The structural, flexibility, and reactivity characteristics of Hoogsteen and reverse Watson-Crick parallel duplexes are described from the analysis of the trajectories. Theoretical calculations show that the two parallel duplexes are less stable than the antiparallel Watson-Crick duplex. The difference in stability between antiparallel and parallel duplexes increases steadily as the length of the duplex increases. The reverse Watson-Crick arrangement is slightly more stable than the Hoogsteen duplex, the difference being also increased linearly with the length of the duplex. A subtle balance of intramolecular and solvation terms is responsible for the preference of a given helical structure.     

Determination of anthocyanins in wine based on flow-injection, liquid--solid extraction, continuous evaporation and high-performance liquid chromatography--photometric detection

A continuous method, easy to automate, for the determination of anthocyanins in wine based on the coupling of continuous liquid–solid extraction, evaporation, HPLC individual separation and photometric detection is proposed. The target analytes are removed from the wine in a continuous fashion using a C₁₈ minicolumn and eluted with an aqueous solution (pH 2) with 16% acetonitrile. The eluted fraction is concentrated by solvent evaporation assisted by heat and dragging off the vapour using a flow of N₂. For in-line preconcentration, a continuous evaporation module was designed and located in the manifold between the solid-phase minicolumn and the injection valve of the chromatograph. In this way, injection of the sample into the dynamic system leads the plug through it for liquid–solid extraction of the anthocyanins, partial evaporation of the eluent (with a preconcentration factor as required) and transport to the high-pressure injection valve of the chromatograph, where individual separation and subsequent photometric detection take place. The method thus developed for the determination of malvidin-3-glucoside, cyanidin-3-glucoside and peonidin-3-glucoside anthocyanins in Spanish red wines is more sensitive than the batch manual method based on the same steps, has better linearity of the calibrations curves with lower detection limits and much wider determination range for the most abundant anthocyanins in wine. In addition, the method can be fully automated with low acquisition and maintenance costs.     

Stress‐Transfer‐Induced In Situ Formation of Ultrathin Nickel Phosphide Nanosheets for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution

Ultrathin two‐dimensional (2D) nanostructures have attracted increasing research interest for energy storage and conversion. However, tackling the key problem of lattice mismatch inducing the instability of ulreathin nanostructures during phase transformations is still a critical challenge. Herein, we describe a facile and scalable strategy for the growth of ultrathin nickel phosphide (Ni₂P) nanosheets (NSs) with exposed (001) facets. We show that single‐layer functionalized graphene with residual oxygen‐containing groups and a large lateral size contributes to reducing the lattice strain during phosphorization. The resulting nanostructure exhibits remarkable hydrogen evolution activity and good stability under alkaline conditions.     

Thermophysical properties for (diethyl carbonate + p-xylene + octane) ternary system

The density and speed of sound of the ternary mixture (diethyl carbonate + p-xylene + octane) have been measured at atmospheric pressure and in the temperature range T = (288.15 to 308.15) K. Besides, surface tension has been also determined for the same mixture at T = 298.15 K. The experimental measurements have allowed the calculation of the corresponding derived properties: excess molar volumes, excess isentropic compressibilities, and surface tension deviations. Excess properties have been correlated using Nagata and Tamura equation and correlation for the surface tension deviation has been done with the Cibulka equation. Good accuracy has been obtained. Based on the variations of the derived properties values with composition, a qualitative discussion about the intermolecular interactions was drawn.     

Parallel algorithms for graph cycle extraction using the cyclical conjunction operator

With a view to reducing the computational cost of extracting all the cycles from complex graphs, the authors have examined the viability here of parallel processing. Based on the cyclical conjunction operator, which uses an iterative process to extract every cycle from a graph, a study was performed of the factors intervening in the parallelization of this algorithm, namely the following: granularity of the parallel algorithm, requirements for synchronization points, and the spreading of the load across different processors. Tests were performed on two granularities and four different load distributions. Algorithm implementation is carried out using SGI MP and OpenMP libraries, and, in the light of the present findings, the authors propose a dynamically distributed fine-grain algorithm using that allows all the cycles in a complex graph to be found in an acceptable computational time.