Coherent Bragg imaging of 60†nm Au nanoparticles under electrochemical control at the NanoMAX beamline.

Nanoparticles are essential electrocatalysts in chemical production, water treatment and energy conversion, but engineering efficient and specific catalysts requires understanding complex structure-reactivity relations. Recent experiments have shown that Bragg coherent diffraction imaging might be a powerful tool in this regard. The technique provides three-dimensional lattice strain fields from which surface reactivity maps can be inferred. However, all experiments published so far have investigated particles an order of magnitude larger than those used in practical applications. Studying smaller particles quickly becomes demanding as the diffracted intensity falls. Here, in situ nanodiffraction data from 60 nm Au nanoparticles under electrochemical control collected at the hard X-ray nanoprobe beamline of MAX IV, NanoMAX, are presented. Two-dimensional image reconstructions of these particles are produced, and it is estimated that NanoMAX, which is now open for general users, has the requisites for three-dimensional imaging of particles of a size relevant for catalytic applications. This represents the first demonstration of coherent X-ray diffraction experiments performed at a diffraction-limited storage ring, and illustrates the importance of these new sources for experiments where coherence properties become crucial.

Interfacial Study of Nickel-Modified Pt(111) Surfaces in Phosphate-Containing Solutions: Effect on the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

The surface modification of electrodes attracts great interest in electrocatalysis. It has often been observed that deposition of foreign adatoms on the surface of an electrode can originate a significant enhancement in the catalytic activity. For example, it has been reported that nickel deposits on Pt surfaces improve the rate of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER, Nature Energy 2017, 2, 17031). During the deposition process of such metal adlayers, the pH and the nature of the ions in the electrolyte play an important role. Phosphate species are typically used to prepare buffer solutions in a wide range of pH. Therefore, electrolytes containing phosphate species are used in a large number of applications. However, the effect of phosphate on platinum surface modification with nickel deposits has not been studied yet. In this work, new data about the interaction of phosphate with nickel adatoms deposited on Pt(111) at pH 5 is investigated using cyclic voltammetry and infrared spectroscopy. The results show that, when nickel is in solution, the phosphate ions are adsorbed at lower potentials than in the absence of nickel. In addition, Laser-Induced Temperature Jump Technique demonstrates that nickel facilitates the adsorption of phosphate because of a shift of the potential of zero charge (pzc) toward negative potentials. This increases the magnitude of the positive electric field on the electrode surface, at a given potential E>pzc, facilitating the adsorption of anions. CO displacement technique has been also employed to obtain additional information about co-adsorbed phosphate on nickel adlayers. Finally, the HER has been studied at pH 5 in the presence of nickel, with and without phosphate in the bulk solution.

Cyclopentene Annulations of Alkene Radical Cations with Vinyl Diazo Species Using Photocatalysis.

A direct (3+2) cycloaddition between alkenes and vinyl diazo reagents using either Cr or Ru photocatalysis is described. The intermediacy of a radical cation species enables a nucleophilic interception by vinyl diazo compounds, a departure from their traditional electrophilic behavior. A variety of cyclopentenes are synthesized using this method, and experimental insights implicate a direct cycloaddition instead of a cyclopropanation/rearrangement process.

Cation Effects on Interfacial Water Structure and Hydrogen Peroxide Reduction on Pt(111).

The interface between the Pt(111) surface and several MeF/HClO4 (Me+ = Li+, Na+, or Cs+) aqueous electrolytes is investigated by means of cyclic voltammetry and laser-induced temperature jump experiments. Results point out that the effect of the electrolyte on the interfacial water structure is different depending on the nature of the metal alkali cation, with the values of the potential of maximum entropy (pme) following the order pme (Li+) < pme (Na+) < pme (Cs+). In addition, the hydrogen peroxide reduction reaction is studied under these conditions. This reaction is inhibited at low potentials as a consequence of the build up of negative charges on the electrode surface. The potential where this inhibition takes place (E inhibition) follows the same trend as the pme. These results evidence that the activity of an electrocatalytic reaction can depend to great extent on the structure of the interfacial water adlayer and that the latter can be modulated by the nature of the alkali metal cation.

Interfacial Water Structure as a Descriptor for Its Electro-Reduction on Ni(OH)2-Modified Cu(111).

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has been crucial for the development of fundamental knowledge on electrocatalysis and electrochemistry, in general. In alkaline media, many key questions concerning pH-dependent structure-activity relations and the underlying activity descriptors remain unclear. While the presence of Ni(OH)2 deposited on Pt(111) has been shown to highly improve the rate of the HER through the electrode's bifunctionality, no studies exist on how low coverages of Ni(OH)2 influence the electrocatalytic behavior of Cu surfaces, which is a low-cost alternative to Pt. Here, we demonstrate that Cu(111) modified with 0.1 and 0.2 monolayers (ML) of Ni(OH)2 exhibits an unusual non-linear activity trend with increasing coverage. By combining in situ structural investigations with studies on the interfacial water orientation using electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy and laser-induced temperature jump experiments, we find a correlation between a particular threshold of surface roughness and the decrease in the ordering of the water network at the interface. The highly disordered water ad-layer close to the onset of the HER, which is only present for 0.2 ML of Ni(OH)2, facilitates the reorganization of the interfacial water molecules to accommodate for charge transfer, thus enhancing the rate of the reaction. These findings strongly suggest a general validity of the interfacial water reorganization as an activity descriptor for the HER in alkaline media.

Effect of the Interfacial Water Structure on the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on Pt(111) Modified with Different Nickel Hydroxide Coverages in Alkaline Media.

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) constitutes one of the most important reactions in electrochemistry because of the value of hydrogen as a vector for energy storage and transport. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of this reaction in relation to its pH dependence is of crucial importance. While the HER on Pt(111) works efficiently in acid media, in alkaline media, the reaction is impeded and considerably larger applied overpotentials are necessary. The presence of Ni(OH)2 adsorbed on Pt(111) has been demonstrated to highly improve the rate of hydrogen evolution, decreasing the overpotential of this reaction in comparison to acid media. The way low coverages of Ni(OH)2 on the Pt surface improve HER is still under discussion. In this work, we have prepared different Ni(OH)2 coverages on Pt(111) to check how Ni(OH)2 deposited on Pt(111) influences the HER rate. To this end, the Ni(OH)2-Pt(111)|0.1 M NaOH interface was characterized with cyclic voltammetry, CO displacement technique, and Fourier transform infrared-reflection absorption spectroscopy. On the basis of the proposal made by Ledezma-Yanez et al. [ Nature Energy 2017, 2, 17031] to explain the HER in alkaline media, we also studied the effect of the different Ni(OH)2 coverages on the electric field using the laser-induced temperature jump technique. This technique revealed that introduction of nickel adlayers on the surface decreases the ordering of the water network at the interphase, a fact that has relevant implications for the HER mechanism.

Radical Cation Cyclopropanations via Chromium Photooxidative Catalysis.

The chromium photocatalyzed cyclopropanation of diazo reagents with electron-rich alkenes is described. The transformation occurs under mild conditions and features specific distinctions from traditional diazo-based cyclopropanations (e.g., avoiding ß-hydride elimination, chemoselectivity considerations, etc.). The reaction appears to work most effectively using chromium catalysis, and a number of decorated cyclopropanes can be accessed in generally good yields.

Synthesis and Evaluation of Quinazolines as Inhibitors of the Bacterial Cell Division Protein FtsZ.

The bacterial cell division protein FtsZ is one of many potential targets for the development of novel antibiotics. Recently, zantrin Z3 was shown to be a cross-species inhibitor of FtsZ; however, its specific interactions with the protein are still unknown. Herein we report the synthesis of analogues that contain a more tractable core structure and an analogue with single-digit micromolar inhibition of FtsZ's GTPase activity, which represents the most potent inhibitor of Escherichia coli FtsZ reported to date. In addition, the zantrin Z3 core has been converted to two potential photo-cross-linking reagents for proteomic studies that could shed light on the molecular interactions between FtsZ and molecules related to zantrin Z3.