Highly Enantioselective Catalytic System for Asymmetric Copolymerization of Carbon Dioxide and Cyclohexene Oxide

A new ligand can be easily prepared, and its intramolecular dinuclear zinc complexes act as a high performance catalyst for the asymmetric alternating copolymerization of cyclohexene oxide and CO₂ under very mild conditions (1 atm CO₂, room temperature), affording completely alternating polycarbonates with up to 93.8 % enantiomeric excess (ee) and 98 % yield. A high M_n value of 28 600 and a relatively narrow polydispersity (M_w/M_n ratio) of 1.43 were also achieved.     

Development of a Halide‐Free Aluminium‐Based Catalyst for the Synthesis of Cyclic Carbonates from Epoxides and Carbon Dioxide

Kinetic studies of the synthesis of glycerol carbonate from glycidol and carbon dioxide have been carried out. These showed that under suitable reaction conditions, bimetallic aluminium(salen) complex 4 is able to catalyse the conversion of epoxides into the corresponding cyclic carbonates without the need for a co‐catalyst.     

Facile Electrochemical Hydrogenation and Chlorination of Glassy Carbon to Produce Highly Reactive and Uniform Surfaces for Stable Anchoring of Thiolated Molecules

Carbon is a highly adaptable family of materials and is one of the most chemically stable materials known, providing a remarkable platform for the development of tunable molecular interfaces. Herein, we report a two‐step process for the electrochemical hydrogenation of glassy carbon followed by either chemical or electrochemical chlorination to provide a highly reactive surface for further functionalization. The carbon surface at each stage of the process is characterized by AFM, SEM, Raman, attenuated total reflectance (ATR) FTIR, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electroanalytical techniques. Electrochemical chlorination of hydrogen‐terminated surfaces is achieved in just 5 min at room temperature with hydrochloric acid, and chemical chlorination is performed with phosphorus pentachloride at 50 °C over a three‐hour period. A more controlled and uniform surface is obtained using the electrochemical approach, as chemical chlorination is observed to damage the glassy carbon surface. A ferrocene‐labeled alkylthiol is used as a model system to demonstrate the genericity and potential application of the highly reactive chlorinated surface formed, and the methodology is optimized. This process is then applied to thiolated DNA, and the functionality of the immobilized DNA probe is demonstrated. XPS reveals the covalent bond formed to be a C?S bond. The thermal stability of the thiolated molecules anchored on the glassy carbon is evaluated, and is found to be far superior to that on gold surfaces. This is the first report on the electrochemical hydrogenation and electrochemical chlorination of a glassy carbon surface, and this facile process can be applied to the highly stable functionalization of carbon surfaces with a plethora of diverse molecules, finding widespread applications.     

β-PbO2/TiO2纳米管电极的制备及其电催化降解苯酚

采用阳极氧化法和脉冲电沉积制备出β-PbO2改性TiO2纳米管(β-PbO2/TiO2-NTs)电极,通过扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)等技术手段对制备的β-PbO2/TiO2-NTs电极的表面形貌和结构进行了表征。结果表明,该方法成功地将β-PbO2纳米颗粒分散在TiO2纳米管中,通过电催化降解苯酚评价了β-PbO2/TiO2-NTs电极的电催化活性,实验结果表明,在TiO2-NTs中电沉积β-PbO2提高了电极的电催化活性,对苯酚的降解达到83%。     

Size‐Dependent Water Structures in Carbon Nanotubes

Water surrounded by hydrophobic interfaces affects a variety of chemical reactions and biological activities. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be used to investigate the behavior of water at hydrophobic interfaces. Here, we determined the fundamental unit of water by evaluating the ice‐like cluster formation of water in the limited hydrophobic nanospaces of CNTs, using X‐ray diffraction and molecular simulation analysis. The water in CNTs with a diameter of 1 nm had fewer hydrogen bonds than bulk water under ambient conditions. In CNTs with diameters of 2 and 3 nm, water formed nanoclusters even under ambient conditions, because of prolific hydrogen bonding; predominant ice‐like cluster formation was induced in the 2–3 nm nanospaces. The results confirming the cluster formation in the CNTs also demonstrated that the critical cluster size was 0.8–3.4 nm. The fundamental cluster size was 0.8 nm; these results indicated that 0.8 nm clusters are the fundamental units of water assemblies.     

Synthesis of Bridged Oxafenestranes from Pleuromutilin

Fenestranes are an intriguing class of highly strained molecules possessing a quaternary carbon with bonds that deviate from the canonical tetrahedral geometry. Herein we report the discovery that the natural product pleuromutilin can be used as a structurally complex starting material for the synthesis of a series of bridged cis,cis,cis,cis‐[4.5.5.5]‐ and cis,cis,cis,cis‐[4.5.7.5]oxafenestranes through a carbocation rearrangement cascade. X‐ray crystallographic analysis of several cis,cis,cis,cis‐[4.5.5.5]oxafenestranes shows a significant planarization of the central tetracoordinate carbon atom and demonstrates the influence of bridgehead substituents and bridging rings on planarity.     

A Protic Ionic Liquid Catalyzes CO2 Conversion at Atmospheric Pressure and Room Temperature: Synthesis of Quinazoline‐2,4(1H,3H)‐diones

The chemical fixation of CO₂ under mild reaction conditions is of significance from a sustainable chemistry viewpoint. Herein a CO₂‐reactive protic ionic liquid (PIL), [HDBU⁺][TFE^?], was designed by neutralization of the superbase 1,8‐diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec‐7‐ene (DBU) with a weak proton donor trifluoroethanol (TFE). As a bifunctional catalyst for simultaneously activating CO₂ and the substrate, this PIL displayed excellent performance in catalyzing the reactions of CO₂ with 2‐aminobenzonitriles at atmospheric pressure and room temperature, thus producing a series of quinazoline‐2,4(1H,3H)‐diones in excellent yields.     

Diamond: Electronic Ground State of Carbon at Temperatures Approaching 0 K

The relative stability of graphite and diamond is revisited with hybrid density functional theory calculations. The electronic energy of diamond is computed to be more negative by 1.1 kJ mol^?1 than that of graphite at T=0 K and in the absence of external pressure. Graphite gains thermodynamic stability over diamond at 298 K only because of the differences in the zero‐point energy, specific heat, and entropy terms for both polymorphs.     

Facile One‐Pot,One‐Step Synthesis of a Carbon Nanoarchitecture for an Advanced Multifunctonal Electrocatalyst

A one‐pot/one‐step synthesis strategy was developed for the preparation of a nitrogen‐doped carbon nanoarchitecture with graphene‐nanosheet growth on the inner surface of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The N‐graphene/CNT hybrids exhibit outstanding electrocatalytic activity for several important electrochemical reactions as a result of their unique morphology and defect structures, such as high but uniform nitrogen doping, graphene insertion into CNTs, considerable surface area, and the presence of iron nanoparticles. The high‐yield synthetic process features high efficiency, low‐cost, straightforward operation, and simple equipment.     

High Correlation between Oxidation Loci on Graphene Oxide

Recent experiments have shown the coexistence of both large unoxidized and oxidized regions on graphene oxide (GO), but the underlying mechanism for the formation of the GO atomic structure remains unknown. Now, using density functional calculations, 52 oxidation pathways for local pyrene structures on GO were identified, and a kinetic profile for graphene oxidation with a high correlation between oxidation loci was proposed, which is different from the conventional view, which entails a random distribution of oxidation loci. The high correlation is an essential nature of graphene oxidation processes and can be attributed to three crucial effects: 1) breaking of delocalized π bonds, 2) steric hindrance, and 3) hydrogen‐bond formation. This high correlation leads to the coexistence of both large unoxidized and oxidized regions on GO. Interestingly, even in oxidized regions on GO, some small areas of sp²‐hybridized domains, similar to “islands”, can persist because of steric effects.