Photocatalytic activity of multielement doped TiO2 in the degradation of congo red

TiO₂ although considered a promising photocatalyst for the degradation of aqueous pollutants, it suffers from poor absorption in the visible region and hence requires ultraviolet (UV) light for activation. To make TiO₂ a visible active photocatalyst, multielement (C, N, B, and F) doping has been done. The synthesised CNBF/TiO₂ catalysts were calcined at different temperatures and characterized by XRD, BET surface area, UV DRS, XPS, HRSEM-EDAX, and TEM techniques. These catalysts found to show less band gap values when compared to bare TiO₂. These catalysts were tested for their catalytic activity towards the degradation of a textile dye - congo red (CR) under different reaction conditions. It was found that the photocatalytic activity was dependent on both doping of multielement and the calcination temperature of CNBF/TiO₂. The co-doped catalysts which were calcined at 400 °C and 600 °C (100% intensity in anatase phase) were found to be the best catalysts (100% decolourisation of CR in 21/2 h and 2 h respectively). TOC analysis carried out for the samples at the reaction time of 5 h showed very high percentage (83%) degradation of CR over CNBF/TiO₂ catalysts calcined at 600 °C when compared to the other catalysts calcined at different temperatures. CNBF/TiO₂ (1000 °C) showed very less photocatalytic activity due to the formation of rutile phase.     

Enantioselective Synthesis of C−O Axially Chiral Diaryl Ethers by NHC-Catalyzed Atroposelective Desymmetrization**

Axially chiral diaryl ethers, a distinguished class of atropisomers possessing unique dual C−O axis, hold immense potential for diverse research domains. In contrast to the catalytic enantioselective synthesis of conventional single axis bearing atropisomers, the atroposelective synthesis of axially chiral ethers containing flexible C−O axis remains a significant challenge. Herein, we demonstrate the first N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed synthesis of axially chiral diaryl ethers via atroposelective esterification of dialdehyde-containing diaryl ethers. Mechanistically, the reaction proceeds via NHC-catalyzed desymmetrization strategy to afford the corresponding axially chiral diaryl ether atropisomers in good yields and high enantioselectivities under mild conditions. The derivatization of the synthesized product expands the utility of present strategy via access to a library of C−O axially chiral compounds. The temperature dependency and preliminary investigations on the racemization barrier of C−O bonds are also presented.     

QM/MM studies of Ni-Fe hydrogenases: the effect of enzyme environment on the structure and energies of the inactive and active states

The catalytically active (Ni-SI and Ni-R) and inactive states (Ni-A and Ni-B) of Ni-Fe hydrogenases have been studied using density functional theory (DFT) methods. Both isolated clusters and clusters embedded in the enzyme have been used to model the Ni-A, Ni-B, Ni-SI and Ni-R states. The BP86 and B3LYP functionals were employed, and hybrid quantum mechanical (QM)/molecular mechanical (MM) methods were used for the embedded calculations. The QM/MM studies, rather than the isolated cluster calculations, were generally found to give structures which correlated better with X-ray data. The structure of the unready state (Ni-A), was correctly predicted by the QM/MM, but not by the isolated cluster calculation. Comparison with the observed crystal structure favoured the catalytically active state, Ni-SI, to be the protonated (Ni-SI(II)), rather than the unprotonated state (Ni-SI(I)). In the QM/MM studies, the binding of H(2) to Ni-SI(II) is preferred at the Ni (Ni-R(Ni)), rather than at the Fe centre (Ni-R(Fe)), in agreement with xenon binding studies, and in contrast to isolated cluster studies. These calculations cannot say with certainty which functional should be favoured, nor the preferred spin state of the catalytically active species. However, the lack of any predicted structure in which H(2) binds to the Fe centre, does favour a low spin state for Ni-SI(II), and the use of the BP86 functional. This is in agreement with recent high level ab initio calculations of a model of the Ni-SI(I) state.     

Predicting the redox properties of uranyl complexes using electronic structure calculations

A plethora of chemical reactions is redox driven processes. The conversion of toxic and highly soluble U(VI) complexes to nontoxic and insoluble U(IV) form are carried out through proton coupled electron transfer by iron containing cytochromes and mineral surfaces such as machinawite. This redox process takes place through the formation of U(V) species which is unstable and immediately undergo the disproportionation reaction. Thus, theoretical methods are extremely useful to understand the reduction process of U(VI) to U(V) species. We here have carried out the structures and reduction properties of several U(VI) to U(V) complexes using a variety of electronic structure methods. Due to the lack of experimental ionization energies for uranyl (UO₂(V)‐UO₂(VI)) couple, we have benchmarked the current and popularly used density functionals and cost effective ab initio methods against the experimental electron detachment energies of [UO₂F₄]^1‐/2‐ and [UO₂Cl₄]^1‐/2‐. We find that electron detachment energy of U(VI) predicted by RI‐MP2 level on the BP86 geometries correlate nicely with the experimental and CCSD(T) data. Based on our benchmark studies, we have predicted the structures and electron detachment energies of U(V) to U(VI) species for a series of uranium complexes at the RI‐MP2//BP86 level which are experimentally inaccessible till date. We find that the redox active molecular orbital is ligand centered for the oxidation of U(VI) species, where it is metal centered (primarily f‐orbital) for the oxidation of U(V) species. Finally, we have also calculated the detachment energies of a known uranyl [UO₂]¹⁺ complex whose X‐ray crystal structures of both oxidation states are available. The large bulky nature of the ligand stabilizing the uncommon U(V) species which cannot be routinely studied by present day CCSD(T) methods as the system size are more than 20–30 atoms. The success of our efficient computational strategy can be experimentally verified in the near future for the complex as the structures are stable in gas phase which can undergo oxidation.     

Rapid and efficient one-pot microwave-assisted synthesis of 2-phenylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridines and 2-phenylimidazo[1,2-a]quinoline in water–PEG-400

An effective, expeditious, environmentally benign one-pot synthesis of 2-phenylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridines and 2-phenylimidazo[1,2-a]quinoline from easily available starting materials as aromatic carbonyl compound, 2-amino pyridine, succinamide, and in situ generated α-iodo acetophenone in combination with green solvent PEG-400 and water (2:1) under microwave irradiation. The newly developed protocol with excellent yield of product in very short time of reaction by avoiding the use of lachrymatric α-chloro and α-bromocarbonyl compounds, volatile, toxic organic and hazardous solvents, reagents is the advantage of this research work. The final products were confirmed by their characterization data such as ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and were compared with its reported method.     

Expeditious one-pot multicomponent microwave-assisted green synthesis of substituted 2-phenyl Quinoxaline and 7-bromo-3-(4-ethylphenyl) pyrido[2,3-b]pyrazine in water–PEG and water–ethanol

An eco-friendly, expeditious one-pot multicomponent synthesis of substituted 2-phenyl quinoxaline and 7-bromo-3-(4-ethylphenyl) pyrido[2,3-b]pyrazine 4a–k in water–ethanol from easily available starting materials as acetophenone 1, succinamide 2, aromatic amine 3, in situ-generated α-iodo acetophenone from acetophenone, succinamide and catalyzed by silver iodide in combination with green solvent polyethylene glycol-400 and water (2:1) under microwave irradiation. The newly developed protocol with excellent yield of products in very short time of reaction by avoiding the use of lacrimatic α-chloro and α-bromocarbonyl compounds, volatile, toxic organic hazardous solvents, and reagents is the advantage of this research work. The final products were confirmed by their characterization data such as FTIR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, Mass, HRMS and were compared with its reported method.