Photoelectrochemical Conversion of Dinitrogen to Benzonitrile: Selectivity Control by Electrophile- versus Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer.

Nitride complexes are key species in homogeneous nitrogen fixation to NH3 via stepwise proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET). In contrast, direct generation of nitrogenous organic products from N2 -derived nitrides requires new strategies to enable efficient reductive nitride transfer in the presence of organic electrophiles. We here present a 2-step protocol for the conversion of dinitrogen to benzonitrile. Photoelectrochemical, reductive N2 splitting produces a rhenium(V) nitride with unfavorable PCET thermochemistry towards ammonia generation. However, N-benzoylation stabilizes subsequent reduction as a basis for selective nitrogen transfer in the presence of the organic electrophile and Brønsted acid at mild reduction potentials. This work offers a new strategy for photoelectrosynthetic nitrogen fixation beyond ammonia-to yield nitrogenous organic products.

Epidermal Growth Factor Signaling Promotes Sleep through a Combined Series and Parallel Neural Circuit.

Sleep requires sleep-active neurons that depolarize to inhibit wake circuits. Sleep-active neurons are under the control of homeostatic mechanisms that determine sleep need. However, little is known about the molecular and circuit mechanisms that translate sleep need into the depolarization of sleep-active neurons. During many stages and conditions in C. elegans, sleep requires a sleep-active neuron called RIS. Here, we defined the transcriptome of RIS and discovered that genes of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway are expressed in RIS. Because of cellular stress, EGFR directly activates RIS. Activation of EGFR signaling in the ALA neuron has previously been suggested to promote sleep independently of RIS. Unexpectedly, we found that ALA activation promotes RIS depolarization. Our results suggest that ALA is a drowsiness neuron with two separable functions: (1) it inhibits specific behaviors, such as feeding, independently of RIS, (2) and it activates RIS. Whereas ALA plays a strong role in surviving cellular stress, surprisingly, RIS does not. In summary, EGFR signaling can depolarize RIS by an indirect mechanism through activation of the ALA neuron that acts upstream of the sleep-active RIS neuron and through a direct mechanism using EGFR signaling in RIS. ALA-dependent drowsiness, rather than RIS-dependent sleep bouts, appears to be important for increasing survival after cellular stress, suggesting that different types of behavioral inhibition play different roles in restoring health. VIDEO ABSTRACT.

First-Row Transition Metal (De)Hydrogenation Catalysis Based On Functional Pincer Ligands.

The use of 3d metals in de/hydrogenation catalysis has emerged as a competitive field with respect to "traditional" precious metal catalyzed transformations. The introduction of functional pincer ligands that can store protons and/or electrons as expressed by metal-ligand cooperativity and ligand redox-activity strongly stimulated this development as a conceptual starting point for rational catalyst design. This review aims at providing a comprehensive picture of the utilization of functional pincer ligands in first-row transition metal hydrogenation and dehydrogenation catalysis and related synthetic concepts relying on these such as the hydrogen borrowing methodology. Particular emphasis is put on the implementation and relevance of cooperating and redox-active pincer ligands within the mechanistic scenarios.

Phosphine-Stabilized Borylenes and Boryl Anions as Ligands? Redox Reactivity in Boron-Based Pincer Complexes.

Stabilized borylenes (L2 BH:) with weakly π-accepting substituents L, such as phosphines, were previously believed to be unstable. In the current manuscript, we describe a series of complexes formally containing a phosphine-stabilized borylene or boryl anion. In contrast to common trivalent boron compounds, the boron-based ligands in this study act as electron-donating ligands. The reported iron hydride complexes exhibit a unique reactivity pattern, undergoing a reversible B-H reductive elimination concomitant with oxidation of the boron(I) center.

Proton Affinities of Cationic Carbone Adducts [AC(PPh3 )2 ](+) (A=Halogen, Hydrogen, Methyl) and Unusual Electronic Structures of the Cations and Dications [AC(H)(PPh3 )2 ](2.).

This work reports the syntheses and the first crystal structures of the cationic carbone adducts [FC(PPh3 )2 ](+) and [BrC(PPh3 )2 ](+) and the protonated dication [FC(H)(PPh3 )2 ](2+) , which are derived from the carbone C(PPh3 )2 . Quantum chemical calculations and bonding analyses were carried out for the series of cations [AC(PPh3 )2 ](+) and dications [AC(H)(PPh3 )2 ](2+) , where A=H, Me, F, Cl, Br, I. The bonding analysis suggests that the cations are best described as phosphane complexes L→(CA)(+) ←L (L=PPh3 ), which are related to the neutral borylene adducts L→(BA)←L (L=cyclic carbene; A=H, aryl) that were recently isolated. The carbone adducts [AC(PPh3 )2 ](+) possess a π electron lone pair at carbon and they can easily be protonated to the dications [AC(H)(PPh3 )2 ](2+) . The calculations of the dications indicate that the molecules are best represented as complexes L→(CHA)(2+) ←L (L=PPh3 ) where a carbene dication is stabilized by the ligands. The central carbon atom in the cations and even in the dications carries a negative partial charge, which is larger than the negative charge at fluorine. There is also the peculiar situation in which the carbon-fluorine bonds in [FC(PPh3 )2 ](+) and [FC(H)(PPh3 )2 ](2+) exhibit the expected polarity with the negative end at fluorine, but the carbon atom has a larger negative charge than fluorine. Given the similarity of carbodiphosphorane C(PPh3 )2 and carbodicarbene C(NHC)2 , we expect that analogous compounds [AC(NHC)2 ](+) and [AC(H)(NHC)2 ](2+) with similar features as [AC(PPh3 )2 ](+) and [AC(H)(PPh3 )2 ](2+) can be isolated.