Synthesis of palladium concave Nanocubes with high‐index facets and their catalytic properties

Palladium nanocrystals with a variety of shapes have received particular interest in recent years due to their unique properties in catalysis. Herein, Pd concave nanocubes with high‐index facets (Pd‐CNs) was synthesized by a simple water‐based route without seeds using L‐ascorbic acid (AA) as the reduction agent in the presence of CTAB. X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were employed to demonstrate the formation of concave structures with high‐index facets of the Pd‐CNs with an average size of 17.5 nm. The as‐prepared Pd‐CNs presented significantly higher catalytic activity than commercial Pd/C (an average particle size of 4.7 nm) in the electro‐oxidation of methanol, but exhibited weaker property in Suzuki coupling reaction, which provided an evidence for the effect of shape and size on different reactions.     

From manganese complexes to nano-sized manganese oxides as water-oxidizing catalysts for artificial photosynthetic systems: Insights from the Zanjan team

On the occasion of the international year of light and light-based technologies, I provide a short overview of our recent findings and personal view on the Mn-based water-oxidizing catalysts and the related sophisticated strategies toward water oxidation, which are promising in the artificial photosynthetic systems.     

Synthesis,spectral characterization,C?C coupling,oxidation reactions and antibacterial activities of new ruthenium(III) Schiff base complexes

A new series of hexa‐coordinated stable Ru(III) Schiff base complexes of the type [RuX(EPh₃)(L)] (where X = Cl/Br; E = P/As; L = tetradentate N₂O₂ donor Schiff ligands) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, magnetic susceptibility measurement, FT‐IR, UV–vis, ¹³C{¹H}‐NMR, ESR spectra, electrochemical and powder X‐ray diffraction pattern studies. The selective oxidation of alcohols to their corresponding carbonyl compounds occurred in the presence of N‐methylmorpholin‐N‐oxide (NMO), H₂O₂ and O₂ atmosphere at ambient temperature as co‐oxidants and C? C coupling reactions. Further, these new Schiff base ligands and their Ru(III) complexes were also screened for their antibacterial activity against K. pneumoniae, Shigella sp., M. luteus, E. coli and S. typhi. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Probing the Antioxidant Activity of Polyphenols by CIDNP: From Model Compounds to Green Tea and Red Wine

Polyphenols occur naturally in a vast variety of plants. One of their predominant properties is their antioxidant activity. To provide a deeper understanding of the antioxidant mechanism, ¹H CIDNP spectroscopy (CIDNP=chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization) is used to study model hydrogen abstraction reactions with four catechin‐based polyphenols: catechin (CA), gallocatechin (GC), epigallocatechin (EGC), and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). The experiments involve photoinduced hydrogen‐atom transfer to a hydrogen abstractor (e.g., excited isopropylthioxanthone) followed under steady‐state conditions and in a time‐resolved fashion (resolution 500 ns–1 ms). It is found that hydrogen abstraction is an essentially stochastic process with a slight preference for the B rings in the catechin‐based polyphenols. Remarkably, analogous reactivity patterns could be followed in the “real systems”, green tea and red wine. We also show that CIDNP can be used as a semiquantitative tool to assess chemical reactivity.     

Efficient Aerobic Wacker Oxidation of Styrenes Using Palladium Bis(isonitrile) Catalysts

The palladium‐catalyzed aerobic oxidation of alkenes and especially styrenes (Wacker oxidation) by using chiral pseudo C₂‐symmetrical bis(isonitrile) ligands in the absence of further cocatalysts gives rise to methyl ketones in a highly chemoselective manner. The palladium bis(isonitrile) catalyst was characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X‐ray structure analysis, revealing a dissymmetric coordination of palladium by the two isonitrile moieties.     

Palladium-catalyzed, asymmetric Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of prochiral cyclobutanones with PHOX ligands

Described in this report is a general method for the conversion of prochiral 3-substituted cyclobutanones to enantioenriched γ-lactones through a palladium-catalyzed Baeyer-Villiger oxidation using phosphinooxazoline ligands in up to 99% yield and 81% ee. Lactones of enantiopurity ≥93% could be obtained through a single recrystallization step. Importantly, 3,3-disubtituted cyclobutanones produced enantioenriched lactones containing a β-quaternary center.