Construction of mixed carboxylate and pyrogallate building units for luminescent metal-organic frameworks

A metal-organic framework,Ce-FDM-50,was constructed by employing gallic acid featuring both carboxylate and pyrogallate as the coordinating sites and Ce(Ⅲ).The co-assembly of the carboxylates and pyrogallates with two metal ions have achieved a new type of paddle wheel secondary building unit.These building units were further joined by organic struts to obtain frameworks in sql topology.This synthetic approach could be expanded to five different lanthanide metals(Nd,Eu,Gd,Tb,Yb)for the construction of a series of isoreticular MOFs based on FDM-50,and even MTV-MOFs in which mixed lanthanide metals with specific ratios were distributed.In addition,featuring the lanthanide metals as the inorganic nodes in the network,Tb-FDM-50 showed distinct luminescence properties that could be furtherly tuned for variable applications.     

Three‐dimensional Octameric Assembly of Icosahedral M13 Units in [Au8Ag57(Dppp)4(C6H11S)32Cl2]Cl and its [Au8Ag55(Dppp)4(C6H11S)34][BPh4]2 Derivative

The high‐dimensional (that is, three‐dimensional (3D)) assembly of nanomaterials is an effective means of improving their properties; however, achieving this assembly at the atomic level remains challenging. Herein, we obtained a novel nanocluster, [Au₈Ag₅₇(Dppp)₄(C₆H₁₁S)₃₂C_l2]Cl (Dppp=1,3‐bis(diphenylphosphino)propane) showing a 3D octameric assembly mode involving the kernel penetration of eight complete icosahedral Au@Ag₁₀Au₂ units for the first time. The atomically precise structure was determined by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, and further confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry measurements. Furthermore, ligand‐induced transformation prompted the conversion of [Au₈Ag₅₇(Dppp)₄(C₆H₁₁S)₃₂Cl₂]Cl, with complete octameric fusion into [Au₈Ag₅₅(Dppp)₄(C₆H₁₁S)₃₄][BPh₄]₂, with incomplete octameric fusion. These observations will hopefully facilitate further research on the assembly of M₁₃ nanobuilding blocks.     

Effects of molecular weight and small amounts of d-lactide units on hydrolytic degradation of poly(l-lactic acid)s

Films of poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) with different number-average molecular weights (M_n) and d-lactide unit contents (X_d) were made amorphous and the effects of molecular weight and small amounts of d-lactide units on the hydrolytic degradation behavior in phosphate-buffered solution at 37 °C of PLLA were investigated. The degraded films were investigated using gravimetry, gel permeation chromatography, polarimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffractometry, and tensile testing. To exclude the effects of crystallinity on the hydrolytic degradation, the films were made amorphous by melt-quenching. The incorporation of small amounts of d-lactide units drastically enhanced the hydrolytic degradation of PLLA. In the period of 0-32 weeks, the hydrolytic degradation rate constant (k) of PLLA films increased with increasing X_d, while the k values did not depend on M_n. This means that the effects of X_d on the hydrolytic degradation rate of the films are higher than those of M_n. In contrast, in the period of 32-60 weeks neither X_d nor M_n was a crucial parameter to determine k values, probably because in addition to these parameters the differences in the amount of catalytic oligomers accumulated in films and crystallinity affect the hydrolytic degradation behavior of the films. The initially amorphous PLLA films remained amorphous even after the hydrolytic degradation for 60 weeks.     

Enhanced Electron Transfer Rates by AC Voltammetry for Ferrocenes Attached to the End of Embedded Carbon Nanofiber Nanoelectrode Arrays

The effect of the interior structure of carbon nanomaterials on their electrochemical properties is not well understood. We report here the electron transfer rate (ETR) of ferrocene (Fc) molecules covalently attached to the exposed end of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) in an embedded nanoelectrode array. The ETR in normal DC voltammetry was found to be limited by the conical graphitic stacking structure interior of CNFs. AC voltammetry, however, can cope with this intrinsic materials property and provide over 100 times higher ETR, likely by a new capacitive pathway. This provides a new method for high‐performance electroanalysis using CNF nanoelectrodes.     

Thermal degradation kinetics of polyimide containing 2,6-benzobisoxazole units

A novel polyimide (PI) based on 2,6-bis(p-aminophenyl)-benzo[1,2-d;5,4-d′]bisoxazole has been synthesized via a conventional two-stage procedure with bis(ether anhydrides) (HQDPA). The intermediate poly(amic acid) had inherent viscosities of 1.70 dl/g and could be thermally converted into light yellow polyimide film. The resulted polyimide showed excellent thermal stability, and the glass transition temperatures (T_g) were above 283 °C, the 5% weight loss temperature of the polymer was at 572 °C in N₂. The thermal degradation of the polyimide was studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in order to determine the actual reaction mechanisms of the decomposition process. The activation energy of the solid-state process was determined using Flynn-Wall-Ozawa method, which does not require knowledge of the reaction mechanism, which resulted to be 361.36 kJ/mol. The activation energy of different mechanism models and pre-exponential factor (A) were determined by Coats-Redfern method. Compared with the value obtained from the Ozawa method, the actual reaction mechanism obeyed nucleation and growth model, Avrami-Erofeev function (A₃) with integral form g(X) = [−ln(1−X)]³.     

Automatic code generation for quantum chemistry applications

A unified, computer algebra system‐based scheme of code‐generation for computational quantum‐chemistry programs is presented. Generation of electron‐repulsion integrals and their derivatives as well as exchange‐correlation potential and its derivatives is discussed. Application to general‐purpose computing on graphics processing units is considered.     

Liquid-liquid extraction of copper (I) and copper (II) as ion-paired complexes with acyclic 2-thienyl-containing polythioether and triphenylmethane dye anion

Three acyclic polythioethers containing 2-thienyl units at both ends were synthesized and the effect of substituent on the extraction of copper(II) was studied. The methyl groups in the terminal thiophene ring have imparted an appreciable degree of increase in the percent extraction of copper(II), while the introduction of chlorine atoms into the 2-thienyl unit resulted in the reverse effect. Among the counter dye anions examined, tetrabromophenolphthalein ethylester was the best one for copper(II) extraction. The composition of extracted species was evaluated to be 122 (Cu(II)/polythioether/dye anion). Quantitative extraction of copper(I) was attained as complexes with various triphenylmethane dyes, i.e., bromocresol green, bromothymol blue, bromo-phenol blue and pyrogallol red. Copper(I) in organic phase was completely back-extracted with 2 mole/l sulfuric acid containing 10% hydrogen peroxide.     

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of a Novel Layered Lead(Ⅱ) Carboxylate-sulfonate Compound Templated by 4,4''-Bipyridine

A new lead(Ⅱ) carboxylate-sulfonate has been hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by X-ray single-crystal and elemental analyses. It crystallizes in triclinic, space group P,(1) with a=8.1573(6), b=9.4663(7), c=12.7488(9) (A), α=89.2320(10), β=80.7380(10), γ=77.9760(10)°, Z=2, V=950.10(12) (A)3, Mr=599.57, Dc=2.096 g/cm3, μ=9.032 mm-1, F(000)=572, the final R=0.0412 and wR=0.1035. It has a 1D chain structure, and the Pb(Ⅱ) is six-coordinated. Two PbO6 polyhedra are interconnected via edge-sharing into a two-core unit. Such units are further interconnected by 3-sulfonato-benzoic acids into 1D chains which are linked by hydrogen bonds into a layer structure. The 4,4'-bipyridines are located at the interlayer space and link the layers into a supramolecular structure by π-π stacking interactions.     

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of a Novel 1D Coordination Polymer: [Pr(BYBA)3(H2O)2]·[Pr(BYBA)3(H2O)]

The novel coordination polymer [Pr(BYBA)3(H2O)2]·[Pr(BYBA)3(H2O)] (BYBAH = 2-benzoylbenzoic acid) was yielded by hydrothermal synthesis, determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and characterized by FT-IR and UV-Vis spectra. The crystal crystallizes in the triclinic system, space group P with a = 9.112(3), b = 14.644(5), c = 27.076(11) (A), α = 84.223(3), β = 87.816(4), γ = 88.902(4)o, V = 3592(2) (A)3, C84H60O21Pr2, Mr = 1687.14, Z = 2, F(000) = 1700, Dc = 1.560 g/cm3, μ = 1.419 mm-1, the final R = 0.0485 and wR = 0.1258 for 13035 observed reflections with I＞2((I). The compound contains two different building units, [Pr2(BYBA)6(H2O)4] and [Pr2(BYBA)6(H2O)2]. It is noticeable that [Pr2(BYBA)6(H2O)4] is an isolated binuclear building block, in which the Pr3 ion centers are both located in an eight-coordinated environment. However, in [Pr2(BYBA)6(H2O)2] the Pr3 ion centers are located in a nine-coordinated environment and connected by BYBA ligands to form 1D chains.