New phosphorus- and nitrogen-containing poly(methyl methacrylate)-based copolymer

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Pure poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) always exhibits high flammability and low thermal stability. To address that, a novel reactive comonomer...     

An Autonomous Chemical Robot Discovers the Rules of Inorganic Coordination Chemistry without Prior Knowledge

We present a chemical discovery robot for the efficient and reliable discovery of supramolecular architectures through the exploration of a huge reaction space exceeding ten billion combinations. The system was designed to search for areas of reactivity found through autonomous selection of the reagent types, amounts, and reaction conditions aiming for combinations that are reactive. The process consists of two parts where reagents are mixed together, choosing from one type of aldehyde, one amine and one azide (from a possible family of two amines, two aldehydes and four azides) with different volumes, ratios, reaction times, and temperatures, whereby the reagents are passed through a copper coil reactor. Next, either cobalt or iron is added, again from a large number of possible quantities. The reactivity was determined by evaluating differences in pH, UV‐Vis, and mass spectra before and after the search was started. The algorithm was focused on the exploration of interesting regions, as defined by the outputs from the sensors, and this led to the discovery of a range of 1‐benzyl‐(1,2,3‐triazol‐4‐yl)‐N‐alkyl‐(2‐pyridinemethanimine) ligands and new complexes: [Fe(L¹)₂](ClO₄)₂ ( 1 ); [Fe(L²)₂](ClO₄)₂ ( 2 ); [Co₂(L³)₂](ClO₄)₄ ( 3 ); [Fe₂(L³)₂](ClO₄)₄ ( 4 ), which were crystallised and their structure confirmed by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction determination, as well as a range of new supramolecular clusters discovered in solution using high‐resolution mass spectrometry.     

Dual Metal Active Sites in an Ir1/FeOx Single‐Atom Catalyst: A Redox Mechanism for the Water‐Gas Shift Reaction

Herein, we report a theoretical and experimental study of the water‐gas shift (WGS) reaction on Ir₁/FeO_x single‐atom catalysts. Water dissociates to OH* on the Ir₁ single atom and H* on the first‐neighbour O atom bonded with a Fe site. The adsorbed CO on Ir₁ reacts with another adjacent O atom to produce CO₂, yielding an oxygen vacancy (O_vac). Then, the formation of H₂ becomes feasible due to migration of H from adsorbed OH* toward Ir₁ and its subsequent reaction with another H*. The interaction of Ir₁ and the second‐neighbouring Fe species demonstrates a new WGS pathway featured by electron transfer at the active site from Fe³⁺?O???Ir²⁺?O_vac to Fe²⁺?O_vac???Ir³⁺?O with the involvement of O_vac. The redox mechanism for WGS reaction through a dual metal active site (DMAS) is different from the conventional associative mechanism with the formation of formate or carboxyl intermediates. The proposed new reaction mechanism is corroborated by the experimental results with Ir₁/FeO_x for sequential production of CO₂ and H₂.     

Organic Spherical Nucleic Acids for the Transport of a NIR‐II‐Emitting Dye Across the Blood–Brain Barrier

DNA nanotechnology plays an increasingly important role in the biomedical field; however, its application in the design of organic nanomaterials is underexplored. Herein, we report the use of DNA nanotechnology to transport a NIR‐II‐emitting nanofluorophore across the blood–brain barrier (BBB), facilitating non‐invasive imaging of brain tumors. Specifically, the DNA block copolymer, PS‐b‐DNA, is synthesized through a solid‐phase click reaction. We demonstrate that its self‐assembled structure shows exceptional cluster effects, among which BBB‐crossing is the most notable. Therefore, PS‐b‐DNA is utilized as an amphiphilic matrix to fabricate a NIR‐II nanofluorephore, which is applied in in vivo bioimaging. Accordingly, the NIR‐II fluorescence signal of the DNA‐based nanofluorophore localized at a glioblastoma is 3.8‐fold higher than the NIR‐II fluorescence signal of the PEG‐based counterpart. The notably increased imaging resolution will significantly benefit the further diagnosis and therapy of brain tumors.     

Rare‐Earth Single Erbium Atoms for Enhanced Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction

The solar‐driven photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ (CO₂RR) into chemical fuels is a promising route to enrich energy supplies and mitigate CO₂ emissions. However, low catalytic efficiency and poor selectivity, especially in a pure‐water system, hinder the development of photocatalytic CO₂RR owing to the lack of effective catalysts. Herein, we report a novel atom‐confinement and coordination (ACC) strategy to achieve the synthesis of rare‐earth single erbium (Er) atoms supported on carbon nitride nanotubes (Er₁/CN‐NT) with a tunable dispersion density of single atoms. Er₁/CN‐NT is a highly efficient and robust photocatalyst that exhibits outstanding CO₂RR performance in a pure‐water system. Experimental results and density functional theory calculations reveal the crucial role of single Er atoms in promoting photocatalytic CO₂RR.     

Rapid Synthesis of Chiral 1,2‐Bisphosphine Derivatives through Copper(I)‐Catalyzed Asymmetric Conjugate Hydrophosphination

1,2‐Bisphosphines have been identified as one class of important and powerful chiral ligands in asymmetric catalysis with transition metals. Herein, a copper(I)‐catalyzed asymmetric hydrophosphination of α,β‐unsaturated phosphine sulfides was developed with the assistance of “soft–soft” interaction between copper(I)‐catalyst and the phosphine sulfide moiety, which afforded 1,2‐bisphosphine derivatives with diversified electronic nature and steric hindrance in high to excellent yields with high to excellent enantioselectivity. Moreover, the challenging catalytic asymmetric hydrophosphination/protonation reaction was achieved with excellent enantioselectivity. Strikingly, the dynamic kinetic resolution of racemic diarylphosphines was also successfully carried out with high to excellent diastereo‐ and enantioselectivities. Interestingly, the nucleophilic copper(I)‐diphenylphosphide species was characterized by ³¹P NMR spectrum and mass spectrum. At last, three products were transformed to chiral 1,2‐bisphosphines, which were employed as ligands in Rh‐catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of α‐amino‐α,β‐unsaturated ester. The α‐amino acid derivative was produced in high enantioselectivity, which demonstrated the utility of the present methodology.     

Multicomponent Organic Metal Halide Hybrid with White Emissions

Zero‐dimensional (0D) organic metal halide hybrids, in which organic and metal halide ions cocrystallize to form neutral species, are a promising platform for the development of multifunctional crystalline materials. Herein we report the design, synthesis, and characterization of a ternary 0D organic metal halide hybrid, (HMTA)₄PbMn_0.69Sn_0.31Br₈, in which the organic cation N‐benzylhexamethylenetetrammonium (HMTA⁺, C₁₃H₁₉N₄⁺) cocrystallizes with PbBr₄^2?, MnBr₄^2?, and SnBr₄^2?. The wide band gap of the organic cation and distinct optical characteristics of the three metal bromide anions enabled the single‐crystalline “host–guest” system to exhibit emissions from multiple “guest” metal halide species simultaneously. The combination of these emissions led to near‐perfect white emission with a photoluminescence quantum efficiency of around 73 %. Owing to distinct excitations of the three metal halide species, warm‐ to cool‐white emissions could be generated by controlling the excitation wavelength.