Time-dependent quantum wave-packet description of the 1pi sigma* photochemistry of phenol

The photoinduced hydrogen elimination reaction in phenol via the conical intersections of the dissociative 1pi sigma* state with the 1pi pi* state and the electronic ground state has been investigated by time-dependent quantum wave-packet calculations. A model including three intersecting electronic potential-energy surfaces (S0, 1pi sigma*, and 1pi pi*) and two nuclear degrees of freedom (OH stretching and OH torsion) has been constructed on the basis of accurate ab initio multireference electronic-structure data. The electronic population transfer processes at the conical intersections, the branching ratio between the two dissociation channels, and their dependence on the initial vibrational levels have been investigated by photoexciting phenol from different vibrational levels of its ground electronic state. The nonadiabatic transitions between the excited states and the ground state occur on a time scale of a few tens of femtoseconds if the 1pi pi*-1pi sigma* conical intersection is directly accessible, which requires the excitation of at least one quantum of the OH stretching mode in the 1pi pi* state. It is shown that the node structure, which is imposed on the nuclear wave packet by the initial preparation as well as by the transition through the first conical intersection (1pi pi*-1pi sigma*), has a profound effect on the nonadiabatic dynamics at the second conical intersection (1pi sigma*-S0). These findings suggest that laser control of the photodissociation of phenol via IR mode-specific excitation of vibrational levels in the electronic ground state should be possible.     

Novel superabsorbent polymer composites based on α-cellulose and modified zeolite: synthesis,characterization, water absorbency and water retention capacity

Cellulose - Most superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) are prepared based on synthetic polymers (from petroleum resources), making them costly, nondegradable, and not ecofriendly. To overcome these...     

Widely Adaptable Oil-in-Water Gel Emulsions Stabilized by an Amphiphilic Hydrogelator Derived from Dehydroabietic Acid

A surfactant, R-6-AO, derived from dehydroabietic acid has been synthesized. It behaves as a highly efficient low-molecular-weight hydrogelator with an extremely low critical gelation concentration (CGC) of 0.18 wt % (4 mm ). R-6-AO not only stabilizes oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions at concentrations above its critical micelle concentration (cmc) of 0.6 mm , but also forms gel emulsions at concentrations beyond the CGC with the oil volume fraction freely adjustable between 2 % and 95 %. Cryo-TEM images reveal that R-6-AO molecules self-assemble into left-handed helical fibers with cross-sectional diameters of about 10 nm in pure water, which can be turned to very stable hydrogels at concentrations above the CGC. The gel emulsions stabilized by R-6-AO can be prepared with different oils (n-dodecane, n-decane, n-octane, soybean oil, olive oil, tricaprylin) owing to the tricyclic diterpene hydrophobic structure in their molecules that enables them to adopt a unique arrangement in the fibers.     

The structure and electronic property of the smallest C20‐glycine and Gd‐encapsulated C20‐glycine derivatives with potentially biological activity

Theoretical calculations on interaction of the C₂₀ fullerene (consists solely by pentagons) with the smallest amino acid (glycine) were carried out using density‐functional theory method. The glycine molecule energetically prefers to interact with the Top‐site on the C₂₀ cage via its amino nitrogen (N) active site. The stable ordering of three active sites on glycine molecule is NH₂‐site > O‐site > OH‐site. Moreover, when the Gd atom is encapsulated to the center of C₂₀‐glycine, the cage volume obviously increase ～24.8%; and the endohedral atom induces the generation of two strong bands in the partial density of states spectra, which could cause the effect on optical properties. Additionally, it is also found that the modified C₂₀‐glycine derivative by Gd atom can reduce the thermodynamic and kinetic stabilities. It could be expected that the study may provide a theoretical reference in exploring their intrinsic feature structurally to antitumor activity. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

基于第一性原理方法研究ReOx在ReOx-Rh/ZrO2和ReOx-Ir/ZrO2催化的甘油氢解反应中的作用机制

采用密度泛函理论研究了ZrO₂负载的Ru基、Rh基以及Re改性的Rh基、Ir基催化剂上甘油氢解生成1,2-丙二醇和1,3-丙二醇的热力学过程, 重点考察了ReO_x调变催化剂活性和选择性的作用机制. 结果表明, Ru/ZrO₂和Rh/ZrO₂催化剂上甘油分解经由脱水-加氢反应途径, 1,2-丙二醇的生成是热力学有利过程, 其中Ru基催化剂活性更高. 在Re修饰的Rh基和Ir基催化剂上, 反应遵循直接氢解机理, 其中金属表面解离的氢原子进攻ReO_x团簇上与醇盐紧邻的C-O键是催化甘油转化为丙二醇最核心的步骤. ReO_x-Rh/ZrO₂催化剂上1,2-丙二醇为主要产物, 并伴随1,3-丙二醇的生成, ReO_x的修饰则显著提高了Ir/ZrO₂催化剂上1,3-丙二醇选择性. 与单金属催化剂上发生的间接氢解机理相比, 修饰催化剂上1,3-丙二醇选择性的提高可主要归因于Rh(Ir)-Re协同催化的直接氢解反应过程, 其中羟基化铼官能团有利于末端醇盐中间体的生成. ReO_x-Ir/ZrO₂催化剂上较大的Ir-Re团簇使得末端金属醇盐的立体优选性比次级醇盐更为突出, 从而具有最高的1,3-丙二醇选择性.     

S掺杂的还原态TiO2-x的制备及其可见光催化性能

作为一种稳定、价廉的光催化剂,TiO2被广泛应用于各种污染物的降解;但是,较大的宽禁带(~3.2 eV)和较低的电子迁移率不仅使TiO2很难吸收可见光,而且光生电子和空穴的复合几率高,从而导致TiO2的总体光电效率不高.因此,设计能够被可见光激发、并具有快速光生电子传输的TiO2一直是研究热点.研究表明,Ti3+自掺杂的TiO2(还原态TiO2-x)不仅能够被可见光激发,而且使TiO2具有良好的电子导电性,从而有利于提高TiO2的光电转换效率.另外,非金属元素的掺杂能够减小TiO2的禁带宽度,使TiO2能够响应可见光并具有良好的可见光催化性能,其中S元素的掺杂被广泛研究.目前,S掺杂纳米TiO2的制备通常采用TiS2,单质S,硫脲、二甲亚砜等为S源,但这类原料通常价格昂贵或者具有一定的毒性,因而实际应用受到限制.而制备Ti3+自掺杂TiO2的方法大都是基于"还原法",在真空或强还原性气氛如H2,CO中加热TiO2,或采用高能粒子(电子、氩离子)轰击.在实际应用中,这些方法存在步骤多、条件苛刻、反应时间长和设备昂贵等不足.而且,还原法反应通常发生在颗粒的表面,形成的Ti3+很容易被空气和水中的溶解O2氧化,降低材料的稳定性.虽然在温和的液相中还原Ti4+可用于制备Ti3+掺杂的TiO2,但是由于反应过程中有副产物生成,需要进行后续处理才能得到纯的Ti3+自掺杂TiO2.因此,设计一种简单的制备S掺杂还原态TiO2-x光催化剂仍具有十分重要的意义.前期我们采用H2O2氧化TiH2得到不同状态的前驱体凝胶,然后进行不同方式的后处理得到Ti3+自掺杂的纳米TiO2.本文以TiH2和H2O2反应得到的黄色前驱体凝胶为Ti源,以价格低廉、无毒、稳定的二氧化硫脲为S源和还原剂,采用不同的方法制备了S掺杂的还原态TiO2-x光催化剂.本文初步研究了在凝胶中加入二氧化硫脲后进行水热处理,以及将干燥的凝胶粉末与二氧化硫脲混合热处理对所得产物的影响.并与纯的TiO2、还原态TiO2-x和S掺杂TiO2的光吸收、电化学、光催化性能进行对比研究.采用X射线衍射、透射电子显微镜、高分辨透射电子显微镜、X-射线光电子能谱、紫外-可见漫反射光谱、比表面分析和电化学工作站等技术对产物的结构、形貌和光电性能进行了表征.以罗丹明B(RhB)溶液为模拟废水,考察样品的可见光催化性能.结果表明,不同的后续处理方式不仅影响S掺杂TiO2-x的结晶性和形貌,而且影响产物的光吸收性能和电子传输性能,从而使不同条件下所得产物的可见光催化性能不同.其中,采用热处理方式得到的S掺杂TiO2-x样品在可见光下降解RhB的速率分别是纯的TiO2,TiO2-x和S掺杂TiO2的31,2.5和3.6倍,而且样品具有良好的循环稳定性.     

Observation of inductive effects that cause a change in the rate-determining step for the conversion of rhenium azides to imido complexes

The cationic oxorhenium(V) complex [Re(O)(hoz)(2)(CH(3)CN)][B(C(6)F(5))(4)] [1; Hhoz = 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)-2-oxazoline] reacts with aryl azides (N(3)Ar) to give cationic cis-rhenium(VII) oxoimido complexes of the general formula [Re(O)(NAr)(hoz)(2)][B(C(6)F(5))(4)] [2a-2f; Ar = 4-methoxyphenyl, 4-methylphenyl, phenyl, 3-methoxyphenyl, 4-chlorophenyl, and 4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]. The kinetics of formation of 2 in CH(3)CN are first-order in both azide (N(3)Ar) and oxorhenium(V) complex 1, with second-order rate constants ranging from 3.5 × 10(-2) to 1.7 × 10(-1) M(-1) s(-1). A strong inductive effect is observed for electron-withdrawing substituents, leading to a negative Hammett reaction constant ρ = -1.3. However, electron-donating substituents on phenyl azide deviate significantly from this trend. Enthalpic barriers (ΔH(?)) determined by the Eyring-Polanyi equation are in the range 14-19 kcal mol(-1) for all aryl azides studied. However, electron-donating 4-methoxyphenyl azide exhibits a large negative entropy of activation, ΔS(?) = -21 cal mol(-1) K(-1), which is in sharp contrast to the near zero ΔS(?) observed for phenyl azide and 4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl azide. The Hammett linear free-energy relationship and the activation parameters support a change in the mechanism between electron-withdrawing and electron-donating aryl azides. Density functional theory predicts that the aryl azides coordinate via N(α) and extrude N(2) directly. For the electron-withdrawing substituents, N(2) extrusion is rate-determining, while for the electron-donating substituents, the rate-determining step becomes the initial attack of the azide. The barriers for these two steps are inverted in their order with respect to the Hammett σ values; thus, the Hammett plot appears with a break in its slope.     

Numerical simulation of coupled heat and mass transfer in wood dried at high temperature

The mutual effect between heat and mass transfer is investigated for wood dried at high temperature. A numerical model of coupled heat and mass transfer under the effect of the pressure gradient is presented. Based on the macroscopic viewpoint of continuum mechanics, the mathematical model with three independent variables (temperature, moisture content and gas pressure) is constructed. Mass transfer in the pores involves a diffusional flow driven by the gradient of moisture content, convectional flow of gaseous mixture governed by the gradient of gas pressure, the Soret effect and phase change of water. Energy gain or loss due to phase change of water is taken as the heat source. Numerical methods, the finite element method and the finite difference method are used to discretize the spatial and time dimension, respectively. A direct iteration method to solve the nonlinear problem without direct evaluation of the tangential matrix is introduced. The local convergence condition based on the contraction–mapping principle is discussed. The mathematical model is applied to a 3-D wood board dried at high temperature with the Neumann boundary conditions for both temperature and moisture content, and the Dirichlet boundary conditions for gas pressure.     

Charge Density Overcomes Steric Hindrance of Ferrocene Surfactant in Switchable Oil-in-Dispersion Emulsions

A ferrocene surfactant can be switched between single and double head form (FcN⁺C₁₂/Fc⁺N⁺C₁₂) triggered by redox reaction. FcN⁺C₁₂ can neither stabilize an O/W emulsion alone nor an oil-in-dispersion emulsion in combination with alumina nanoparticles due to the steric hindrance of the ferrocene group. However, such steric hindrance can be overcome by increasing the charge density in Fc⁺N⁺C₁₂, so that oil-in-dispersion emulsions can be co-stabilized by Fc⁺N⁺C₁₂ and alumina nanoparticles at very low concentrations (1×10⁻⁷ M (≈50 ppb) and 0.001 wt %, respectively). Not only can reversible formation/destabilization of oil-in-dispersion emulsions be achieved by redox reaction, but also reversible transformation between oil-in-dispersion emulsions and Pickering emulsions can be obtained through reversing the charge of alumina particles by adjusting the pH. The results provide a new protocol for the design of surfactants for stabilization of smart oil-in-dispersion emulsions.