Synthesis and properties of thermoplastic propyl-etherified amylose

Amylose was etherified with 1-bromopropane in DMSO. The degree of substitution (DS) was varied by altering the feed ratio of 1-bromopropane. The structures of the products were characterized by IR and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. When the molar feed ratio of 1-bromopropane to hydroxyl groups of amylose was beyond 7.5, the hydroxyl groups were completely substituted with propyl ether groups. The etherified amylose with DS 1.9 showed a glass transition temperature (T_g), and that with DS 2.3 or 3.0 showed both T_g and melting temperature (T_m) (DS 3.0 means complete substitution). The etherification imparted melt processability and solubility in nonpolar organic solvent to amylose.     

Copper(II) tetrafluroborate-promoted Meinwald rearrangement reactions of epoxides

Epoxides undergo a highly efficient Meinwald rearrangement in the presence of catalytic quantities of copper(II) tetrafluoroborate to give carbonyl compounds in high yields and with excellent selectivity. The low toxicity and ease of handling of this reagent make it an attractive alternative to the more corrosive or costly Lewis acids frequently employed.     

Poly(ethylene glycol)-supported Piperazine——Synthesis and Application in Knoevenagel Condensation

A soluble,poly(ethylene glycol)-supported piperazine catalyst was prepared.This soluble catalyst efficiently catalyzes the Knoevenagel condensation of various aromatic aldehydes with diethyl malonate or ethyl acetoacetate in a homogeneous phase to afford the desired alkenes in good purity and yield with a facile work-up process.It was found that the polymer reagent could be repeatedly used at least four times without the too much loss of activity.The catalyst has shown a good activity,stability,and recyclin...     

Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Modified with Silylated-salicylaldimine Co(II) and Pd(II) Complexes as Precatalysts in Ethylene Oligomerization

MWCNTs-Co(II) and Pd(II) were prepared through grafting silylated-salicylaldimine Pd(II) and Co(II) on multiwalled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs) for ethylene oligomerization. The structures of the two MWCNTs-supported catalysts were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy(SEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD), Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analyses(TGA) and nitrogen adsorption and desorption. And the influence of the supported pattern on the catalytic properties for ethylene oligomerization was investigated. The results revealed that the silylated-salicylaldimine complexes were grafted on the inner and outer surfaces of the carbon nanotubes and the pore size and BET surface area of MWCNTs decreased. Compared with the homogeneous catalysts, the two MWCNTs-supported catalysts had higher selectivity for hexene and 1-hexene in the presence of diethylaluminum chloride(DEAC) with a small molecule size due to confinement effect. MWCNTs-Pd exhi-bited higher activity and higher selectivity for C₈⁺ olefin compared to MWCNTs-Co due to electronic factors. The catalytic activities of MWCNTs-Pd and MWCNTs-Co decreased from 24.18×10⁵g·(mol Pd·h)^–1 and 20.57×10⁵g·(mol Co·h)^–1 to 19.79×10⁵g·(mol Pd·h)^–1 and 13.14×10⁵g·(mol Co·h)^–1 after the third recycle reaction, respectively.     

Ultrahigh Loading Copper Single Atom Catalyst for Palladium-free Wacker Oxidation

Wacker oxidation is an industry-adopted process to transform olefins into value-added epoxides and carbonyls. However, traditional Wacker oxidation involves the use of homogeneous palladium and copper catalysts for the olefin addition and reductive elimination. Here, we demonstrated an ultrahigh loading Cu single atom catalyst(14% Cu, mass fraction) for the palladium-free Wacker oxidation of 4-vinylanisole into the corresponding ketone with N-methylhydroxylamine hydrochloride as an additive under mild conditions. Mechanistic studies by ¹⁸O and deuterium isotope labelling revealed a hydrogen shift mechanism in this palladium-free process using N-methylhydroxylamine hydrochloride as the oxygen source. The reaction scope can be further extended to Kucherov oxidation. Our study paves the way to replace noble metal catalysts in the traditional homogeneous processes with single atom catalysts.     

Surface Organometallic Chemistry for Single-site Catalysis and Single-atom Catalysis

Although driven by different research interests, single-site catalysts and single-atom catalysts are both believed to be model systems bridging homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. The two concepts are similar but different. In this review, we will first explain the difference between single-atom catalysis and single-site catalysis, in terms of their goals, synthetic methods and coordination structures of corresponding catalysts. Then, we will introduce the surface organometallic chemistry method, a method traditionally used for synthesizing single-site catalyst. We will explain why it might benefit the single-atom catalysis community. At last, the choice of support to accommodate the method for synthesizing single-atom catalysts will be discussed.     

Regulating the Oxygen Affinity of Single Atom Catalysts by Dual-atom Design for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity

This work chooses Cu/Fe single-atom catalysts(SACs) with weak/strong oxygen affinity to clarify the effect of dual-atom configuration on oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) performance based on density functional theory(DFT) calculations. The stability and ORR activity of single or dual Cu/Fe atomic sites anchored on nitrogen-doped graphene sheets(Cu-N₄-C, Cu₂-N₆-C, Fe-N₄-C, and Fe₂-N₆-C) are investigated, and the results indicate the dual-atom catalysts(Cu₂-N₆-C and Fe₂-N₆-C) are thermodynamically stable enough to avoid sintering and aggregation. Compared with single-atom active sites of Cu-N₄-C, which show weak oxygen affinity and poor ORR performance with a limiting potential of 0.58 V, the dual-Cu active sites of Cu₂-N₆-C exhibit enhanced ORR activity with a limiting potential up to 0.87 V due to strengthened oxygen affinity. Interestingly, for Fe SACs with strong oxygen affinity, the DFT results show that the dual-Fe sites stabilize the two OH^* ligands structure[Fe₂(OH)₂-N₆-C], which act as the active sites during ORR process, resulting in greatly improved ORR performance with a limiting potential of 0.90 V. This study suggests that the dual-atom design is a potential strategy to improve the ORR performance of SACs, in which the activity of the single atom active sites is limited with weak or strong oxygen affinity.     

Polymeric Carbon Nitride-based Single Atom Photocatalysts for CO2 Reduction to C1 Products

Photocatalytic CO₂ reduction to C₁ fuels is considered to be an important way for alleviating increasingly serious energy crisis and environmental pollution. Due to the environment-friendly, simple preparation, easy formation of highly-stable metal-nitrogen(M-N_x) coordination bonds, and suitable band structure, polymeric carbon nitride-based single-atom catalysts(C₃N₄-based SACs) are expected to become a potential for CO₂ reduction under visible-light irradiation. In this review, we summarize the recent advancement on C₃N₄-based SACs for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction to C₁ products, including the reaction mechanism for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction to C₁ products, the structure and synthesis methods of C₃N₄-based SACs and their applications toward photocatalytic CO₂ reduction reaction(CO₂RR) for C₁ production. The current challenges and future opportunities of C₃N₄-based SACs for photoreduction of CO₂ are also discussed.     

CoMn@NC催化5-羟甲基糠醛常压氧化为2, 5-呋喃二甲酸二甲酯

2, 5-呋喃二甲酸二甲酯(DMFDCA)这一生物质衍生的增值化学品是石油基聚合物单体对苯二甲酸(TPA)的理想替代品。本研究采用一步共热解法合成了两种廉价金属修饰的氮掺杂多孔碳催化剂CoMn@NC,并将其用于5-羟甲基糠醛(HMF)在温和条件下的需氧氧化。由Co₃Mn₂@NC-800催化HMF在50 ℃和常压氧气的条件下反应12 h后,得到产率为85%的DMFDCA。多孔催化剂的高比表面积提高了传质效率。Co纳米粒子(NPs)和呈原子级分散的Mn与掺杂在碳中的氮配位形成M―N_x。富含吡啶氮的碳基体中的缺电子金属位点有利于HMF和氧的活化。氧形成的超氧自由基阴离子的存在确保了半缩醛中间体和5-(羟基甲基)-2-糠酸甲酯(HMMF)的羟甲基的脱氢氧化,从而高选择性得到DMFDCA。该催化剂性能稳定,可适用于各种取代芳醇。该催化体系具有用于生产聚合物单体羧基酯的应用潜力。