Biocatalytic Intramolecular C−H aminations via Engineered Heme Proteins: Full Reaction Pathways and Axial Ligand Effects

Engineered heme protein biocatalysts provide an efficient and sustainable approach to develop amine-containing compounds through C−H amination. A quantum chemical study to reveal the complete heme catalyzed intramolecular C−H amination pathway and protein axial ligand effect was reported, using reactions of an experimentally used arylsulfonylazide with hemes containing L=none, SH⁻, MeO⁻, and MeOH to simulate no axial ligand, negatively charged Cys and Ser ligands, and a neutral ligand for comparison. Nitrene formation was found as the overall rate-determining step (RDS) and the catalyst with Ser ligand has the best reactivity, consistent with experimental reports. Both RDS and non-RDS (nitrene transfer) transition states follow the barrier trend of MeO⁻<SH⁻<MeOH<None due to the charge donation capability of the axial ligand to influence the key charge transfer process as the electronic driving forces. Results also provide new ideas for future biocatalyst design with enhanced reactivities.     

Ru掺杂对Fe催化剂上酚类化合物加氢脱氧影响的密度泛函理论研究北大核心CSCD

采用密度泛函理论(DFT)计算研究了苯酚、邻甲酚、愈创木酚在不同结构Ru-Fe(211)表面上吸附活化性能和加氢脱氧反应路径.结果表明,Ru掺杂能促进H2分子在Fe(211)表面上解离,提高加氢脱氧反应速率.酚类在1Ru_(ads)-Fe(211)表面上吸附比在1Ru_(sub)-Fe(211)表面上更稳定,苯酚和邻甲酚脱羟基步骤能垒分别降低0.13和0.28 eV,有利于生成芳烃.愈创木酚在1Ru_(sub)-Fe(211)表面上加氢脱氧优势路径是先脱甲氧基生成苯酚,苯酚再加氢脱氧生成产物苯(速控步骤能垒1.16 eV);而在1Ru_(ads)-Fe(211)表面上愈创木酚先脱羟基再脱甲基生成苯酚的路径更具有动力学优势(速控步骤能垒1.21 eV).计算结果表明Ru掺杂方式影响Fe催化剂对酚反应分子的吸附稳定性以及加氢脱氧反应路径和性能.与1Ru掺杂Fe(211)催化剂相比,增加Ru原子数形成4Ru_(ads)-Fe(211),能够进一步提高酚类反应物的吸附强度,但导致加氢脱氧反应能垒升高.因此,在Fe催化剂上以表面吸附的形式掺杂少量贵金属Ru更利于酚类加氢脱氧生成芳烃.     

氧化铜表面臭氧分解路径及表面氧物种生成机理研究

基于密度泛函理论（DFT）计算研究了O3在完整和具有氧空位的CuO(111)表面吸附的吸附位、吸附结构、吸附能和电子转移情况,比较了O3在完整表面和具有氧空位的表面分解的路径和能垒,分析了氧空位和表面吸附氧的生成机理。结果表明,在完整CuO表面,O3分子通过化学吸附或物理吸附表面结合,吸附能最高为-1.22eV（构型bri(2)）。O3在具有氧空位的CuO表面均为化学吸附,吸附能最高为-2.95eV（构型ovbri(3)）,显著高于完整表面的吸附能。O3吸附后,Cu吸附位的电荷密度减小,O3中的O原子附近的电荷密度显著增强,电荷从CuO表面转移到O3,并形成Cu-O离子键。O3分解后形成了超氧物种,提高了表面的氧化活性。在完整表面,以构型bri(2)为起始构型的路径反应能垒最低,为0.52eV;O2*在完整表面的脱附所需要的最低能量为0.42eV,形成氧空位的O2*脱附能为2.06eV。在具有氧空位的表面,O3分解的反应能垒为0.30eV（构型ovbri(1)）和0.12eV（构型ovbri(3)）,均低于完整表面的反应能垒;分解形成的O2*的最低脱附能也低于完整表面,为0.27eV。可见,氧空位的形成提高了吸附能,降低了反应能垒,使O3分子更容易吸附在CuO表面,并加快了O3的催化分解。     

Influence of Pt Alloying on the Fluorescence of Fully Inorganic,Colloidal Gold Nanoclusters

Noble metal alloy nanoclusters (NCs) are interesting systems as the properties of two or more elements can be combined in one particle, leading to interesting fluorescence phenomena. However, previous studies have been exclusively performed on ligand-capped NCs from wet chemical synthesis. This makes it difficult to differentiate to which extent the fluorescence is affected by ligand-induced effects or the elemental composition of the metal core. In this work, we used laser fragmentation in liquids (LFL) to fabricate colloidal gold-rich bi-metallic AuPt NCs in the absence of organic ligands and demonstrate the suitability of this technique to produce molar fraction series of 1nm alloy NC. We found that photoluminescence of ligand-free NCs is not a phenomenon limited to Au. However, even minute amounts of Pt atoms in the AuPt NCs lead to quenching and red-shift of the fluorescence, which may be attributed to the altered surface charge density.     

Exploring AuRh Nanoalloys: A Computational Perspective on the Formation and Physical Properties

We studied the formation of AuRh nanoalloys (between 20–150 atoms) in the gas phase by means of Molecular Dynamics (MD) calculations, exploring three possible formation processes: one-by-one growth, coalescence, and nanodroplets annealing. As a general trend, we recover a predominance of Rh@Au core-shell ordering over other chemical configurations. We identify new structural motifs with enhanced thermal stabilities. The physical features of those selected systems were studied at the Density Functional Theory (DFT) level, revealing profound correlations between the nanoalloys morphology and properties. Surprisingly, the arrangement of the inner Rh core seems to play a dominant role on nanoclusters’ physical features like the HOMO-LUMO gap and magnetic moment. Strong charge separations are recovered within the nanoalloys suggesting the existence of charge-transfer transitions.     

Comparison of Nitrogen Activation on Trinuclear Niobium and Tungsten Sulfide Clusters Nb3Sn and W3Sn (n=0–3): A DFT Study

The reaction of N₂ with trinuclear niobium and tungsten sulfide clusters Nb₃S_n and W₃S_n (n=0–3) was systematically studied by density functional theory calculations with TPSS functional and Def2-TZVP basis sets. Dissociations of N−N bonds on these clusters are all thermodynamically allowed but with different reactivity in kinetics. The reactivity of Nb₃S_n is generally higher than that of W₃S_n. In the favorite reaction pathways, the adsorbed N₂ changes the adsorption sites from one metal atom to the bridge site of two metal atoms, then on the hollow site of three metal atoms, and at that place, the N−N bond dissociates. As the number of ligand S atoms increases, the reactivity of Nb₃S_n decreases because of the hindering effect of S atoms, while W₃S and W₃S₂ have the highest reactivity among four W₃S_n clusters. The Mayer bond order, bond length, vibrational frequency, and electronic charges of the adsorbed N₂ are analyzed along the reaction pathways to show the activation process of the N−N bond in reactions. The charge transfer from the clusters to the N₂ antibonding orbitals plays an essential role in N−N bond activation, which is more significant in Nb₃S_n than in W₃S_n, leading to the higher reactivity of Nb₃S_n. The reaction mechanisms found in this work may provide important theoretical guidance for the further rational design of related catalytic systems for nitrogen reduction reactions (NRR).     

Tuning the Structure and Properties of N-doped Positively Charged Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

A detailed study of the geometry, aromatic character, electronic and magnetic properties for a series of positively charged N-doped polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was performed. Magnetic properties of the examined molecules were analyzed by means of the magnetically induced current density calculated using the diamagnetic-zero version of the continuous transformation of origin of current density (CTOCD-DZ) method. The comparative study of the local aromaticity of the studied molecules was performed using several different indices: energy effect (ef), harmonic oscillator model of aromaticity (HOMA) index, six centre delocalization index (SCI) and nucleus independent chemical shifts (NICS). The presence of N-atoms in the inner rings was found to cause a planarity distortion in the studied N-doped systems. The geometric changes and charged nature of the studied N-doped systems do not significantly influence the current density and the local aromaticity distribution in comparison with the corresponding parent benzenoid hydrocarbons. The present study demonstrates how quantum chemical calculations can be used for rational design of novel PAHs and for fine tuning of their properties.     

Insights and Activation Energy Surface of the Dehydrogenation of C2HxO Species in Ethanol Oxidation Reaction on Ir(100)

Dehydrogenation of an organic compound is the first and the most fundamental elementary reaction in many organic reactions. In ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) to form CO₂, there are a total of 46 pathways in C₂H_xO (x=1–6) species leading to the removal of all six hydrogen atoms in five C−H bonds and one O−H bond. To investigate the degree of dehydrogenation in EOR under operando conditions, we performed density function theory (DFT) calculations to study 28 dehydrogenation steps of C₂H_xO on Ir(100). An activation energy surface was then constructed and compared with that of the C−C bond cleavages to understand the importance of the degree of dehydrogenation in EOR. The results show that there are likely 28 dehydrogenations in EOR under fuel cell temperatures and the last two hydrogens in C₂H₂O are less likely cleaved. On the other hand, deep dehydrogenation including 45 dehydrogenations can occur under ethanol steam reforming conditions.     

Micro-CT参数对骨质疏松性椎体压缩性骨折术后复发的预测价值

本研究探讨Micro-CT参数对骨质疏松性椎体压缩性骨折(OVCF)患者术后复发的预测价值。选取OVCF患者127例,根据术后6个月骨折复发情况分为复发组(n=41)与未复发组(n=86)。患者均接受Micro-CT检查,对比两组Micro-CT参数,即骨体积分数(BV/TV)、骨小梁厚度(Tb.Th)、骨小梁间隙(Tb.Sp)、结构模型指数(SMI),以及骨密度(BMD)、骨矿含量(BMC),分析各参数与BMD、BMC及术后复发相关性,并评价各参数对术后复发的预测价值。结果显示,复发组骨体积分数(BV/TV)、骨小梁厚度(Tb.Th)低于未复发组,骨小梁间隙(Tb.Sp)、结构模型指数(SMI)高于未复发组(P<0.05);BV/TV、Tb.Th与骨密度(BMD)、骨矿含量(BMC)呈正相关,Tb.Sp、SMI与BMD、BMC呈负相关(P<0.05);将年龄、BMD、BMC等其他因素控制后,BV/TV、Tb.Sp、Tb.Th、SMI与OVCF术后骨折复发显著相关(P<0.05);BV/TV、Tb.Sp、Tb.Th、SMI联合预测OVCF术后骨折复发的曲线下面积(AUC)最大,为0.888(P<0.05)。提示Micro-CT参数在OVCF患者中呈异常表达,采用Micro-CT检查可为临床预测OVCF术后骨折复发提供科学指导。     

基于“透过表面接枝”方式制备低分散性和高接枝密度聚合物刷的研究

"透过表面接枝"(grafting-through)是一种聚合物表面改性的新方法,可以显著改善传统grafting-from和grafting-to方法接枝工艺的缺陷,获得兼具高接枝密度和低分散性的聚合物刷产物.本文采用布朗动力学模拟方法,模拟研究了grafting-through方法接枝聚合物刷过程中的主控因素,从微观动力学角度阐明其特有的链增长趋同化效应是保持产物聚合物刷较低分散性的主因.引发效率在grafting-through中可显著提高,且产物聚合物刷的分子量呈现泊松分布.此外,反应中保持高的单体通量,可以同时实现产物聚合物较长的平均链长和较低的分散性,有利于制备性能优异的改性材料.该研究对深入理解grafting-through接枝过程的动力学主控因素,促进grafting-through技术的推广和工艺的改进具有一定的理论指导意义.