Effect of spacer length on mesomorphic behaviours of chiral liquid crystal compounds containing (-)-menthyl

ABSTRACT

A homologous series of new chiral liquid crystal compounds, MnBEB (n = 4–10), was prepared by covalently linking a chiral (–)-menthyl with biphenyl-benzoate via a dicarboxylic spacer of varying length and parity. A combination of analysis methods, such as FT-IR, ¹H NMR spectra, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarised optical microscopy (POM) and X-ray diffraction was carried out to systematically investigate their phase structures and phase transition behaviours. The length and parity of the flexible spacers has a profound influence on the T_m and T_c and a modest odd-even effect is observed for the chiral liquid crystal compounds MnBEB. Only compound M4BEB developed an N* phase with selectively reflection on heating and a blue phase on cooling process. In addition, increasing the length of the flexible spacers tends to narrow the temperature range of the N* phase and widen the smectic phase, moreover, the pitch becomes longer with the spacer increases.     

A new method for the synthesis of 3-hydroxymethylbenzofuran

A new one-step synthesis of 3-hydroxymethylbenzofuran, based on intramolecular cyclization of 2- （methoxymethyl）-2-（2＇-methoxymethyl-4＇-methylphenyl）-butanone I under diluted hydrochloric acid in THF, was developed. The mechanism for this process was investigated via chemical equilibrium shift of tautomer in acidic conditions. The applicability of this new method was studied further in this paper.     

A Facile Synthesis of Fused Phosphorus-Heterocycle with Bioactivity via Lawesson's Reagent

A convenient one-pot synthesis of fused phosphorus-heterocycles with biological activity via the cyclization reactions of Lawesson's reagent with bifunctional substrates is reported.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Sn–Zn–Bi–Cr lead-free solder

In this paper, the effect of trace addition of Cr on the mechanical properties and reliability on Sn–8Zn–3Bi solder alloys was investigated. It has been demonstrated that the microstructure of solder alloys was refined after doping traces of Cr. The elongation reaches up to 40.63% after doping 0.1% Cr; and the fracture mechanism converts from quasi-cleavage fracture into ductile fracture. With aging time of 0, 4, 9 and 16 days, mechanical property of Sn–8Zn–3Bi–0.3Cr alloy was improved slightly. It was found that the Sn–Zn–Cr phase was increased and Zn in alloy was consumed after aging, so that the amount of primary Zn phase was reduced and microstructure was improved.     

Synergistic Effect of Boron Nitride and Carbon Domains in Boron Carbide Nitride Nanotube Supported Single-Atom Catalysts for Efficient Nitrogen Fixation

Developing the low-cost and efficient single-atom catalysts (SACs) for nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is of great importance while remains as a great challenge. The catalytic activity, selectivity and durability are all fundamentally related to the elaborate coordination environment of SACs. Using first-principles calculations, we investigated the SACs with single transition metal (TM) atom supported on defective boron carbide nitride nanotubes (BCNTs) as NRR electrocatalysts. Our results suggest that boron-vacancy defects on BCNTs can strongly immobilize TM atoms with large enough binding energy and high thermal/structural stability. Importantly, the synergistic effect of boron nitride (BN) and carbon domains comes up with the modifications of the charge polarization of single-TM-atom active site and the electronic properties of material, which has been proven to be the essential key to promote N₂ adsorption, activation, and reduction. Specifically, six SACs (namely V, Mn, Fe, Mo, Ru, and W atoms embedded into defective BCNTs) can be used as promising candidates for NRR electrocatalysts as their NRR activity is higher than the state-of-the art Ru(0001) catalyst. In particular, single Mo atom supported on defective BCNTs with large tube diameter possesses the highest NRR activity while suppressing the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction, with a low limiting potential of −0.62 V via associative distal path. This work suggests new opportunities for driving NH₃ production by carbon-based single-atom electrocatalysts under ambient conditions.     

Boron-iron nanochains for selective electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate

The electrocatalysis of nitrate reduction reaction(NRR) has been considered to be a promising nitrate removal technology.Developing a highly effective iron-based electrocatalyst is an essential challenge for NRR.Herein,boron-iron nanochains(B-Fe NCs) as efficient NRR catalysts were prepared via a facile lowcost and scalable method.The Fe/B ratio of the B-Fe NCs-x can be elaborately adjusted to optimize the NRR catalytic performance.Due to the electron transfer from boron to metal,the metal-metal bonds are weakened and the electron density near the metal atom centers are rearranged,which are favor of the conversion from NO_3~-into N_2.Moreover,the well-crosslinked chain-like architectures benefit the mass/electron transport to boost the exposure of abundant catalytic active sites.Laboratory experiments demonstrated that the optimized B-Fe NCs catalyst exhibits superior intrinsic electrocatalytic NRR activity of high nitrate conversion(～80%),ultrahigh nitrogen selectivity(～99%) and excellent long-term reactivity in the mixed electrolyte system(0.02 mol/L NaCl and 0.02 mol/L Na_2 SO_4 mixed electrolyte),and the electrocatalytic activity of the material shows poor performance at low chloride ion concentration(Nitrate conversion of ～61 % and nitrogen selectivity of ～57% in 0.005 mol/L NaCl and 0.035 mol/L Na_2 SO_4 mixed electrolyte).This study provides a broad application prospect for further exploring the highefficiency and low-cost iron-based functional nanostructures for electrocatalytic nitrate reduction.