Isomeric Dual-Pore Two-Dimensional Covalent Organic Frameworks.

Two-dimensional (2D) covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with hierarchical porosity have been increasingly recognized as promising materials in various fields. Besides, the 2D COFs with kagome (kgm) topology can exhibit unique optoelectronic features and have extensive applications. However, rational synthesis of the COFs with kgm topology remains challenging because of competition with a square-lattice topology. Herein, we report two isomeric dual-pore 2D COFs with kgm topology using a novel geometric strategy to reduce the symmetry of their building blocks, which are four-armed naphthalene-based and azulene-based isomeric monomers. Owing to the large dipole moment of azulene, as-prepared azulene-based COF (COF-Az) possesses a considerably narrow band gap of down to 1.37 eV, which is much narrower than the naphthalene-based 2D COF (COF-Nap: 2.28 eV) and is the lowest band gap among reported imine-linked dual-pore 2D COFs. Moreover, COF-Az was used as electrode material in a gas sensor and exhibits high selectivity for NO2, including a high response rate (58.7%) to NO2 (10 ppm), fast recovery (72 s), up to 10 weeks of stability, and resistance to 80% relative humidity, which are superior to those of reported COF-based NO2 gas sensors. The calculation and in situ experimental results indicate that the large dipole moment of azulene boosts the sensitivity of the imine linkages. The usage of isomeric building blocks not only enables the synthesis of 2D COFs with isometric kgm topology but also provides an azulene-based 2D platform for studying the structure-property correlations of COFs.

The philosophy of carbon: meso-entropy materials.

In the past decades, the materials field has been developing widely and at a high speed, especially for carbon materials. The most popular carbon-rich materials include fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, graphene, graphite, diamond, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Although studies appear to be exhaustive, the relationship between these materials remains unclear. Even for one of carbon-rich materials, the understanding at a chemistry level is still at the stage of hybridization difference. In this article, we propose a new method, the meso-entropy concept, to re-understand carbon materials and forecast new carbon-rich materials with new properties.

Asymmetric additions of thioglycolates and N-Boc aldimines catalyzed by a bifunctional tertiary-amine squaramide.

A highly enantioselective asymmetric addition reaction of thioglycolates and N-Boc aldimines was promoted by a bifunctional tertiary-amine squaramide catalyst. As a result, a number of chiral N,S-acetal derivatives were efficiently synthesized with good enantioselectivities.

Double-single-atom MoCu-embedded porous carbons boost the electrocatalytic N2 reduction reaction.

NH3 is an essential ingredient of chemical, fertilizer, and energy storage products. Industrial nitrogen fixation consumes an enormous amount of energy, which is counter to the concept of carbon neutrality, hence eNRR ought to be implemented as a clean alternative. Herein, we propose a double-single-atom MoCu-embedded porous carbon material derived from uio-66 (MoCu@C) by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) to boost eNRR capabilities, with an NH3 yield rate of 52.4 µg h-1 gcat.-1 and a faradaic efficiency (FE) of 27.4%. Advanced XANES shows that the Mo active site receives electrons from Cu, modifies the electronic structure of the Mo active site and enhances N2 adsorption activation. The invention of rational MoCu double-single-atom materials and the utilization of effective eNRR approaches furnish the necessary building blocks for the fundamental study and practical application of Mo-based materials.

Molecular Engineering of CoII Porphyrins with Asymmetric Architecture for Improved Electrochemical CO2 Reduction.

The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) based on molecular catalysts has attracted more attention, owing to their well-defined active sites and rational structural design. Metal porphyrins (PorMs) have the extended π-conjugated backbone with different transition metals, endowing them with unique CO2 reduction properties. However, few works focus on the investigation of symmetric architecture of PorMs as well as their aggregation behavior to CO2 reduction. In this work, a series of CoII porphyrins (PorCos) with symmetric and asymmetric substituents were used as model of molecular catalysts for CO2 reduction. Owing to the electron donating effect of 2,6-dimethylbenzene (DMB), bandgaps of the complexes became narrower with the increasing number of DMB. As electrocatalysts, all PorCos exhibited promising electrocatalytic CO2 reduction performance. Among the three molecules, asymmetric CoII porphyrin (as-PorCo) showed the lowest onset potential of -288 mV and faradaic efficiencies exceeding 93 % at -0.6 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode, which is highly competitive among the reported state-of-art porphyrin-based electrocatalysts. The CO2 reduction performance depended on π-π stacking between PorCo with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and adjacent PorCos, which could be readily controlled by atomically positioned DMB in PorCo. Density functional theory calculations also suggested that the charge density between PorCo and CNT was highest due to the weak steric hindrance in as-PorCo, providing the new insight into molecular design of catalysts for efficient electrochemical CO2 reduction.