Water-Soluble Polymers with Appending Porphyrins as Bioinspired Catalysts for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Molecular design to improve catalyst performance is significant but challenging. In enzymes, residue groups that are close to reaction centers play critical roles in regulating activities. Using this bioinspired strategy, three water-soluble polymers were designed with appending Co porphyrins and different side-chain groups to mimic enzyme reaction centers and activity-controlling residue groups, respectively. With these polymers, high hydrogen evolution efficiency was achieved in neutral aqueous media for electro- (turnover frequency >2.3×10⁴ s⁻¹) and photocatalysis (turnover number >2.7×10⁴). Porphyrin units are surrounded and protected by polymer chains, and more importantly, the activity can be tuned with different side-chain groups. Therefore, instead of revising molecular structures that is difficult from both design and synthesis points of view, polymers can be used to improve molecular solubility and stability and simultaneously regulate activity by using side-chain groups.     

Strong Visible-Light-Absorbing Cuprous Sensitizers for Dramatically Boosting Photocatalysis

Developing strong visible-light-absorbing (SVLA) earth-abundant photosensitizers (PSs) for significantly improving the utilization of solar energy is highly desirable, yet it remains a great challenge. Herein, we adopt a through-bond energy transfer (TBET) strategy by bridging boron dipyrromethene (Bodipy) and a Cu^I complex with an electronically conjugated bridge, resulting in the first SVLA Cu^I PSs ( Cu-2 and Cu-3 ). Cu-3 has an extremely high molar extinction coefficient of 162 260 m ⁻¹ cm⁻¹ at 518 nm, over 62 times higher than that of traditional Cu^I PS ( Cu-1 ). The photooxidation activity of Cu-3 is much greater than that of Cu-1 and noble-metal PSs (Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ and Ir(ppy)₃⁺) for both energy- and electron-transfer reactions. Femto- and nanosecond transient absorption and theoretical investigations demonstrate that a “ping-pong” energy-transfer process in Cu-3 involving a forward singlet TBET from Bodipy to the Cu^I complex and a backward triplet-triplet energy transfer greatly contribute to the long-lived and Bodipy-localized triplet excited state.     

Sila- and Germacarboxylic Acids: Precursors for the Corresponding Silyl and Germyl Radicals

Silicon-containing compounds are widely used as synthetic building blocks, functional materials, and bioactive reagents. In particular, silyl radicals are important intermediates for the synthesis and transformation of organosilicon compounds. Herein, we describe the first protocol for the generation of silyl radicals by photoinduced decarboxylation of silacarboxylic acids, which can be easily prepared in high yield on a gram scale and are very stable to air and moisture. Irradiation of silacarboxylic acids with blue LEDs (455 nm) in the presence of a commercially available photocatalyst releases silyl radicals, which can further react with various alkenes to give the corresponding silylated products in good-to-high yields with broad functional-group compatibility. This reaction proceeds in the presence of water, enabling efficient deuterosilylation of alkenes with D₂O as the deuterium source. Germyl radicals were similarly obtained.     

POM-Incorporated CoO Nanowires for Enhanced Photocatalytic Syngas Production from CO2

Utilizing sustainable energy for chemical activation of small molecules, such as CO₂, to produce important chemical feedstocks is highly desirable. The simultaneous production of CO/H₂ mixture (syngas) from photoreduction of CO₂ and H₂O is highly promising. However, the relationships between structure, composition, crystallinity, and photocatalytic performance are still indistinct. Here, amorphous ultrathin CoO nanowires and polyoxometalate incorporated nanowires with even lower crystallinity were synthesized. The POM-incorporated ultrathin nanowires exhibit high photocatalytic syngas production activity, reaching H₂ and CO evolution rates of 11555 and 4165 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ respectively. Further experiments indicate that the ultrathin morphology and incorporation of POM both contribute to the superior performance. Multiple characterizations reveal the enhanced charge–hole separation efficiency of the catalyst would facilitate the photocatalysis.     

Quantum Dot-Catalyzed Photoreductive Removal of Sulfonyl-Based Protecting Groups

This Communication describes the use of CuInS₂/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) as photocatalysts for the reductive deprotection of aryl sulfonyl-protected phenols. For a series of aryl sulfonates with electron-withdrawing substituents, the rate of deprotection for the corresponding phenyl aryl sulfonates increases with decreasing electrochemical potential for the two electron transfers within the catalytic cycle. The rate of deprotection for a substrate that contains a carboxylic acid, a known QD-binding group, is accelerated by more than a factor of ten from that expected from the electrochemical potential for the transformation, a result that suggests that formation of metastable electron donor–acceptor complexes provides a significant kinetic advantage. This deprotection method does not perturb the common NHBoc or toluenesulfonyl protecting groups and, as demonstrated with an estrone substrate, does not perturb proximate ketones, which are generally vulnerable to many chemical reduction methods used for this class of reactions.     

Utilizing a Photocatalysis Process to Achieve a Cathode with Low Charging Overpotential and High Cycling Durability for a Li-O2 Battery

The practical applications of non-aqueous lithium-oxygen batteries are impeded by large overpotentials and unsatisfactory cycling durability. Reported here is that commonly encountered fatal problems can be efficiently solved by using a carbon- and binder-free electrode of titanium coated with TiO₂ nanotube arrays (TNAs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Ultraviolet irradiation of the TNAs generates positively charged holes, which efficiently decompose Li₂O₂ and Li₂CO₃ during recharging, thereby reducing the overpotential to one that is near the equilibrium potential for Li₂O₂ formation. The AuNPs promote Li₂O₂ formation, resulting in a large discharge capacity. The electrode exhibits excellent stability with about 100 % coulombic efficiency during continuous cycling of up to 200 cycles, which is due to the carbon- and binder-free composition. This work reveals a new strategy towards the development of highly efficient oxygen electrode materials for lithium-oxygen batteries.     

CO2 to CO: Photo- and Electrocatalytic Conversion Based on Re(I) Bis-Arene Frameworks: Synergisms Between Catalytic Subunits

Reduction of CO₂ to CO and H₂O is a two electron/two proton process. For this process, multinuclear complexes offer advantages by concentrating reduction equivalents more efficiently than mononuclear systems. We present novel complexes with [Re(η⁶-C₆H₆)₂]⁺ as scaffold conjugated to one or two catalytically active [Ru(dmbpy)(CO)₂Cl₂] subunits (dmbpy=5,5′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine). The [Re(η⁶-C₆H₆)₂]⁺ scaffold was chosen due to its very high photo- and chemical stability, as well as the multiple degrees of freedom it offers for any conjugated functionalities. High efficiency and selectivity for the reduction of CO₂ to CO (over H₂ or HCOOH) is reported. TONs and TOFs were found to be comparable or higher than for the catalyst subunit without the rhenium framework. Cooperativity in photo- and electrocatalysis is observed for the complex comprising two catalytic subunits. The synergistic communication between the two catalytic subunits is responsible for the observed enhancement in both photo- and electrocatalytic performance. Confirmation of electronic communication between the two [Ru(dmbpy)(CO)₂Cl₂] subunits as well as the elucidation of a possible mechanism was supported by electrochemistry, IR-spectroelectrochemistry and DFT studies.     

Organophotocatalytic N-Demethylation of Oxycodone Using Molecular Oxygen

N-Demethylation of oxycodone is one of the key steps in the synthesis of important opioid antagonists like naloxone or analgesics like nalbuphine. The reaction is typically carried out using stoichiometric amounts of toxic and corrosive reagents. Herein, we present a green and scalable organophotocatalytic procedure that accomplishes the N-demethylation step using molecular oxygen as the terminal oxidant and an organic dye (rose bengal) as an effective photocatalyst. Optimization of the reaction conditions under continuous flow conditions using visible-light irradiation led to an efficient, reliable, and scalable process, producing noroxycodone hydrochloride in high isolated yield and purity after a simple workup.     

分级纳米材料的结构、制备及其应用

纳米材料因其独特的表面效应、体积效应和量子效应等特点,在化工、生物工程、医学和能源等领域有着广阔的应用。 由简单的低维纳米结构作为主要的构建单元并按照特定的排列方式组装成规整有序的三维结构,即分级纳米结构,已经开展了许多的研究。 本文综述了分级纳米结构的制备方法和微观结构,及其在污水处理、超级电容器、太阳能电池以及光催化等领域的应用。     

Ag3PO4量子点/石墨相氮化碳纳米片复合光催化剂的制备及其对苯甲醇选择性氧化活性

以热氧化剥离法得到的超薄石墨相氮化碳(g-C₃N₄)纳米片为载体,首次在室温条件下,制备了系列Ag₃PO₄量子点/g-C₃N₄纳米片复合光催化剂;通过透射电子显微镜(TEM)、高分辨透射电子显微镜(HRTEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)、傅里叶变换红外光谱(FT-IR)、紫外-可见漫反射光谱(UV-Vis DRS)、荧光光谱(PL),对复合光催化剂的形貌、结构和光学性质进行了表征,考察了系列光催化剂对苯甲醇的光催化选择性氧化性能。 结果表明,粒径为3~5 nm Ag₃PO₄颗粒均匀分散g-C₃N₄纳米片上,结晶度良好。 以乙腈为溶剂时,当m(Ag₃PO₄)/m(g-C₃N₄)=0.6时,苯甲醇具有32.1%的最大转化率,对产物苯甲醛具有90%的最高选择性;活性物种捕捉实验结果表明,该催化氧化反应的主要活性物是光生空穴的氧化作用,能带计算结果表明,该复合催化剂结构具有合适的苯甲醇的氧化电位而选择性生成苯甲醛。