Activation and Conversion of Molecular Nitrogen to the Precursor of Ammonia on Silicon Substituted Cyclo[18]Carbon: a DFT Design

Recent synthesis of sp-hybridized cyclo[18]carbon allotrope has attracted immense curiosity. Since then, a generous amount of theoretical studies concerning aromaticity, adsorption, and spectra of the molecule have been performed. However, very few stuides have been carried out concerning its reactivities and catalytic behaviour. In this article, a DFT-based inquisition has been reported regarding the reactivity of Si substituted cyclo[18]carbon molecule towards molecular N₂. Results show that the Si substituted derivative is effective in producing adducts with molecular nitrogen. Charge calculations and IRC trapping methods indicate that only the Si center of C₁₇Si and its (HOMO-1) level participate in N₂ addition. The N-adduct so formed, is then found to spontaneously react with molecular H₂. The addition of two H₂ molecules to the activated nitrogen molecule to give respective amine derivatives have also been studied. The successful generation of the precursor of NH₃ by C₁₇Si lays a clear emphasis on its potentiality.     

Heterometallic Triply‐Bridging Bis‐Borylene Complexes

Triply‐bridging bis‐{hydrido(borylene)} and bis‐borylene species of groups 6, 8 and 9 transition metals are reported. Mild thermolysis of [Fe₂(CO)₉] with an in situ produced intermediate, generated from the low‐temperature reaction of [Cp*WCl₄] (Cp*=η⁵‐C₅Me₅) and [LiBH₄?THF] afforded triply‐bridging bis‐{hydrido(borylene)}, [(μ₃‐BH)₂H₂{Cp*W(CO)₂}₂{Fe(CO)₂}] ( 1 ) and bis‐borylene, [(μ₃‐BH)₂{Cp*W(CO)₂}₂{Fe(CO)₃}] ( 2 ). The chemical bonding analyses of 1 show that the B?H interactions in bis‐{hydrido (borylene)} species is stronger as compared to the M?H ones. Frontier molecular orbital analysis shows a significantly larger energy gap between the HOMO‐LUMO for 2 as compared to 1 . In an attempt to synthesize the ruthenium analogue of 1 , a similar reaction has been performed with [Ru₃(CO)₁₂]. Although we failed to get the bis‐{hydrido(borylene)} species, the reaction afforded triply‐bridging bis‐borylene species [(μ₃‐BH)₂{WCp*(CO)₂}₂{Ru(CO)₃}] ( 2′ ), an analogue of 2 . In search for the isolation of bridging bis‐borylene species of Rh, we have treated [Co₂(CO)₈] with nido‐[(RhCp*)₂(B₃H₇)], which afforded triply‐bridging bis‐borylene species [(μ₃‐BH)₂(RhCp*)₂Co₂(CO)₄(μ‐CO)] ( 3 ). All the compounds have been characterized by means of single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction study; ¹H, ¹¹B, ¹³C NMR spectroscopy; IR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry.     

Imaging of a convective field in a rectangular cavity using interferometry, schlieren and shadowgraph

The present study is concerned with the quantitative imaging of buoyancy-driven convection in a fluid medium that is confined in a horizontal differentially heated rectangular cavity. The horizontal surfaces of the cavity provide a temperature difference, for initiating convection in the fluid. The vertical side walls are thermally insulated. Three imaging techniques, namely laser interferometry, schlieren, and shadowgraph have been utilized. Experiments have been conducted in a cavity of length 447 mm and 32 mm vertical height. The cavity is square in cross-section, and the imaging direction is parallel to its longer side. Convection in air and water have been investigated. Temperature differences in the range of 5–50 K for air and 3–10 K for water have been employed in the experiments. Quantities of interest are the temperature profiles in unsteadiness in the thermal field. At lower temperature differences across the fluid region, temperatures as recorded by interferometry and schlieren are in good agreement with each other. Further, they match the numerical predictions, as well as correlations available in the literature. Imaging based on shadowgraph is not as satisfactory at lower temperature differences. At larger cavity temperature differences, the shadowgraph images become clear enough for quantitative analysis, but the flow becomes time-dependent. The three techniques reveal similar trends in terms of the spatial distribution of temperature gradients and the time scales of unsteadiness. The schlieren and shadowgraph are more suitable for high gradients and interferometry is suitable for low gradients and all these three techniques are not flow visualization tools alone but are appropriate for quantitative imaging of thermal field.     

Rapid method for radiostrontium determination in milk in emergency situations using PS resin

This study describes a new and rapid procedure for radiostrontium determination in milk samples based on the use of plastic scintillation resins (PS resins). The proposed method reduces the time of analysis by at least 2 h by combining separation and measurement preparation into a single step and optimizing the pre-treatment steps. The method is robust and reproducible, with good total recoveries (65% on average) and a relative bias for total radiostrontium activity (⁸⁹Sr + ⁹⁰Sr) below 7%. The minimum detectable activity for 100 mL of milk sample measured for 60 min is about 0.34 Bq L^?1. The proposed method can quantify radiostrontium content in 5 h, which makes it suitable for use in emergency situations.     

One pot low temperature synthesis of graphene coupled Gd-doped ZnFe<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript> nanocomposite for effective removal of antibiotic levofloxacin drug

Nanocomposites of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) coupled gadolinium doped ZnFe₂O₄ (GZFG) have been successfully one pot in-situ synthesized adopting low temperature solution process from zinc nitrate, iron nitrate, gadolinium acetate and graphene oxide with varying concentrations of gadolinium (upto 10% Gd with respect to Zn) in the precursor medium. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy studies confirm the presence of single phase cubic spinel structure of ZnFe₂O₄ that uniformly distributed over the rGO layers. With increasing Gd doping concentration in precursor medium, the average crystallite size of ZnFe₂O₄ diminishes gradually from ~11 to ~5.5?nm. Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectral analyses confirm an existence of interaction between rGO and ZnFe₂O₄ in GZFG samples. Using antibiotic levofloxacin in water, the drug removal capacity (DRC) of GZFG has been performed by optimization of parameters such as gadolinium doping concentration in precursor medium, solution pH, etc. However, the gadolinium doping leads to an improvement in DRC of the nanocomposite and the 5% Gd doped sample shows about 86% DRC at the optimized condition. This simple strategy can be utilized in the synthesis of rGO coupled Gd doped other metal oxide nanocomposites for DRC application.

Open image in new window

     

Gravimetric determination of palladium with quinolinimide as a reagent

Summary Quinolinimide which is found to be a selective reagent for palladium forms a complex of the composition Pd(C₇H₃O₂N₂)₂. The reagent quantitatively precipitates palladium from solutions of p_H 0.5 to 2.5 in presence of common ions as well as platinium metals, except tin which, however, can be kept in solution by complexing with citric acid. The palladium complex being stable up to 307° C can be directly weighed.

---

Zusammenfassung Chinolinimid wird als selektives Reagens für Palladium vorgeschlagen. Bei p_H-Werten zwischen 0,5 und 2,5 kann Palladium quantitativ in Form des Komplexes Pd(C₇H₃O₂N₂)₂ gefällt werden, wobei die meisten anderen Ionen, auch die der Platinmetalle, in Lösung bleiben. Zinn stört, kann aber mit Citronensäure maskiert werden. Der Palladiumkomplex ist bis 307° C stabil und kann direkt ausgewogen werden.

     

Synthesis,Structure, Bonding,and Reactivity of Metal Complexes Comprising Diborane(4) and Diborene(2): [{Cp*Mo(CO)2}2{μ‐η2:η2‐B2H4}] and [{Cp*M(CO)2}2B2H2M(CO)4], M=Mo,W

The reaction of [(Cp*Mo)₂(μ‐Cl)₂B₂H₆] ( 1 ) with CO at room temperature led to the formation of the highly fluxional species [{Cp*Mo(CO)₂}₂{μ‐η²:η²‐B₂H₄}] ( 2 ). Compound 2, to the best of our knowledge, is the first example of a bimetallic diborane(4) conforming to a singly bridged C_s structure. Theoretical studies show that 2 mimics the Cotton dimolybdenum–alkyne complex [{CpMo(CO)₂}₂C₂H₂]. In an attempt to replace two hydrogen atoms of diborane(4) in 2 with a 2e [W(CO)₄] fragment, [{Cp*Mo(CO)₂}₂ B₂H₂W(CO)₄] ( 3 ) was isolated upon treatment with [W(CO)₅?thf]. Compound 3 shows the intriguing presence of [B₂H₂] with a short B?B length of 1.624(4) Å. We isolated the tungsten analogues of 3 , [{Cp*W(CO)₂}₂B₂H₂W(CO)₄] ( 4 ) and [{Cp*W(CO)₂}₂B₂H₂Mo(CO)₄] ( 5 ), which provided direct proof of the existence of the tungsten analogue of 2 .     

Isostructural Nanocluster Manipulation Reveals Pivotal Role of One Surface Atom in Click Chemistry

Elucidating single-atom effects on the fundamental properties of nanoparticles is challenging because single-atom modifications are typically accompanied by appreciable changes to the overall particle's structure. Herein, we report the synthesis of a [Cu₅₈H₂₀PET₃₆(PPh₃)₄]²⁺ ( Cu₅₈ ; PET: phenylethanethiolate; PPh₃: triphenylphosphine) nanocluster—an atomically precise nanoparticle—that can be transformed into the surface-defective analog [Cu₅₇H₂₀PET₃₆(PPh₃)₄]⁺ ( Cu₅₇ ). Both nanoclusters are virtually identical, with five concentric metal shells, save for one missing surface copper atom in Cu₅₇ . Remarkably, the loss of this single surface atom drastically alters the reactivity of the nanocluster. In contrast to Cu₅₈ , Cu₅₇ shows promising activity for click chemistry, particularly photoinduced [3+2] azide-alkyne cycloaddition (AAC), which is attributed to the active catalytic site in Cu₅₇ after the removal of one surface copper atom. Our study not only presents a unique system for uncovering the effect of a single-surface atom modification on nanoparticle properties but also showcases single-atom surface modification as a powerful means for designing nanoparticle catalysts.