Sterically-Hindered Molecular p-Dopants Promote Integer Charge Transfer in Organic Semiconductors

Molecular p-dopants designed to undergo electron transfer with organic semiconductors are typically planar molecules with high electron affinity. However, their planarity can promote the formation of ground-state charge transfer complexes with the semiconductor host and results in fractional instead of integer charge transfer, which is highly detrimental to doping efficiency. Here, we show this process can be readily overcome by targeted dopant design exploiting steric hindrance. To this end, we synthesize and characterize the remarkably stable p-dopant 2,2′,2′′-(cyclopropane-1,2,3-triylidene)tris(2-(perfluorophenyl)acetonitrile) comprising pendant functional groups that sterically shield its central core while retaining high electron affinity. Finally, we demonstrate it outperforms a planar dopant of identical electron affinity and increases the thin film conductivity by up to an order of magnitude. We believe exploiting steric hindrance represents a promising design strategy towards molecular dopants of enhanced doping efficiency.     

Cyanide Biodegradation by Trichoderma harzianum and Cyanide Hydratase Network Analysis

Cyanide is a poisonous and dangerous chemical that binds to metals in metalloenzymes, especially cytochrome C oxidase and, thus, interferes with their functionalities. Different pathways and enzymes are involved during cyanide biodegradation, and cyanide hydratase is one of the enzymes that is involved in such a process. In this study, cyanide resistance and cyanide degradation were studied using 24 fungal strains in order to find the strain with the best capacity for cyanide bioremediation. To confirm the capacity of the tested strains, cyano-bioremediation and the presence of the gene that is responsible for the cyanide detoxification was assessed. From the tested organisms, Trichoderma harzianum (T. harzianum) had a significant capability to resist and degrade cyanide at a 15 mM concentration, where it achieved an efficiency of 75% in 7 days. The gene network analysis of enzymes that are involved in cyanide degradation revealed the involvement of cyanide hydratase, dipeptidase, carbon–nitrogen hydrolase-like protein, and ATP adenylyltransferase. This study revealed that T. harzianum was more efficient in degrading cyanide than the other tested fungal organisms, and molecular analysis confirmed the experimental observations.     

Investigating the effects of nanoparticles mean diameter on laminar mixed convection of a nanofluid through an inclined tube with circumferentially nonuniform heat flux

In this study, laminar mixed convection of a water-based nanofluid containing Al₂O₃ nanoparticles in an inclined copper tube, which is heated at the top half surface, is investigated numerically. A heat conduction mechanism through the tube wall was implemented. Three-dimensional equations using a two-phase mixture model were solved to investigate the hydrodynamic and thermal behaviors of the nanofluid over a wide range of nanoparticle volume fractions. To verify the model, the results were compared with previous works and a good agreement between the results was observed. The effect of nanoparticles diameter on the hydrodynamic and thermal parameters over a wide range of Grashof numbers is presented and discussed for a particle volume fraction and Reynolds number. It is shown that the diameter of nanoparticles affects the particle distribution in the cross section perpendicular to the tube axis, heat transfer coefficient, and shear stress.     

Adsorption and diffusion of Xenon in a granulated nano-NaY zeolite

Henry??s law constant and crystal diffusivity of xenon in the granulated nano-NaY zeolite were measured by the pulse gas chromatography method. For this purpose the moments of response peaks of xenon were analyzed. The effect of extra column parts of the utilized chromatographic system was also considered by analyzing the moments of the response peak which was obtained by pulse injection of inert gas of helium into the carrier gas of nitrogen. In addition, the measurement of average velocity of the carrier gas regarding the pressure drop in the extra column parts of the system attributed to precise results. By carrying out the experiments at various temperatures in the range of 30?C110?°C the heat of adsorption and activation energy of crystal diffusivity were estimated. In order to find the binder effect on the adsorption of and diffusion into granules, the aforementioned parameters were also measured for the binderless granules of macron sized NaY zeolite. Results revealed that although the adsorption of xenon on the binder of bentonite was negligible, the diffusion resistance created by this binder was significant such that the effective crystal diffusivity in the granules with 25?% binder was determined to be 96 percent lower than the granules with no binder.     

Nuclear Overhauser Enhancement Effect in Distinguishing Rapid Aromatic Hydrogen Exchange in Primaquine and Related Analogues

NOE phenomenon has been observed and employed to distinguish rapid aromatic hydrogen exchange in primaquine and related analogues. The hydrogens at carbons 5 and 7 in the quinoline nucleus undergo acid-catalyzed H/D exchange with faster exchange at C-5 relative to C-7.     

Catalytic wet air oxidation of phenol over ultrasound-assisted synthesized Ni/CeO2–ZrO2 nanocatalyst used in wastewater treatment

Non-noble metal Ni with different loadings was coated on precipitated CeO₂–ZrO₂ support by the sonochemistry method and examined for catalytic wet air oxidation of phenol. The structure of the nanocatalysts was determined by BET, FESEM, XRD, and FTIR analyses. The results showed non-uniform morphology of the nanocatalyst at lower Ni contents changed to homogenous morphology with spherical nano particles at higher Ni contents. While the size of NiO crystals remained constant with rising Ni content, the crystallinity of NiO significantly increased. If the crystallinity of NiO was 100% in 20% wt Ni/CeO₂–ZrO₂, the crystallinity of NiO in 5% wt Ni was found to be 41.13%. The average particle size in Ni(15%)/CeO₂–ZrO₂ was 77 nm in which 85.71% of particle diameters were less than 100 nm. Catalytic wet air oxidation of phenol with different Ni loadings indicated improvement of phenol destruction at higher amounts of active phase. Removal of phenol increased with increasing catalyst loading from 4 to 9.0 g/l but further increase to 10 g/l declined the catalyst reactivity.     

Palladium nanoparticles supported on poly (N-vinylpyrrolidone)-grafted silica as new recyclable catalyst for Heck cross-coupling reactions

Novel catalytic system based on palladium nanoparticles supported on poly (N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) grafted silica was prepared. Aminopropylsilica was reacted with acryloyl chloride to form acrylamidopropylsilica, and onto this functionalized silica vinylpyrrolidone monomer was polymerized by free-radical polymerization. The complexation of PVP-grafted silica with PdCl₂ was carried out to obtain the heterogeneous catalytic system. X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image showed that palladium dispersed through the support in nanometer size. This catalytic system exhibited excellent activity in cross-coupling reactions of aryl iodides, bromides and also chlorides with olefinic compounds in Heck-Mizoraki reactions in short reaction time and high yields. Elemental analysis of Pd by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) technique and hot filtration test showed low leaching of the metal into solution from the supported catalyst. The catalyst can be reused several times in repeating Heck reaction cycles without considerable loss in its activity.     

Essential Oil Composition of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nepeta involucrata</Emphasis> from Iran

The essential oil of Nepeta involucrata (Bunge) Bornm. (Lamiaceae) obtained by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts during the flowering stage was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Forty-eight compounds representing 97.2% of total oil were identified. The main compounds of the oil were 1,8-cineol (23.1%), germacrene-D (15.1%), and β-pinene (12.2%). No traces of nepetalactone isomers were found as oil constituents. __________ Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 562–564, November–December, 2005.     

Cyanide Hydratase Modification Using Computational Design and Docking Analysis for Improved Binding Affinity in Cyanide Detoxification

Cyanide is a hazardous and detrimental chemical that causes the inactivation of the respiration system through the inactivation of cytochrome c oxidase. Because of the limitation in the number of cyanide-degrading enzymes, there is a great demand to design and introduce new enzymes with better functionality. This study developed an integrated method of protein-homology-modelling and ligand-docking protein-design approaches that reconstructs a better active site from cyanide hydratase (CHT) structure. Designing a mutant CHT (mCHT) can improve the CHT performance. A computational design procedure that focuses on mutation for constructing a new model of cyanide hydratase with better activity was used. In fact, this study predicted the three-dimensional (3D) structure of CHT for subsequent analysis. Inducing mutation on CHT of Trichoderma harzianum was performed and molecular docking was used to compare protein interaction with cyanide as a ligand in both CHT and mCHT. By combining multiple designed mutations, a significant improvement in docking for CHT was obtained. The results demonstrate computational capabilities for enhancing and accelerating enzyme activity. The result of sequence alignment and homology modeling show that catalytic triad (Cys-Glu-Lys) was conserved in CHT of Trichoderma harzianum. By inducing mutation in CHT structure, MolDock score enhanced from −18.1752 to −23.8575, thus the nucleophilic attack can occur rapidly by adding Cys in the catalytic cavity and the total charge of protein in pH 6.5 is increased from −6.0004 to −5.0004. Also, molecular dynamic simulation shows a stable protein-ligand complex model. These changes would help in the cyanide degradation process by mCHT.