Metal-Free Wet Chemistry for the Fast Gram-Scale Synthesis of γ-Graphyne and its Derivatives.

γ-Graphyne (GY), an emerging carbon allotrope, is envisioned to offer various alluring properties and broad applicability. While significant progress has been made in the synthesis of GY over recent decades, its widespread application hinges on developing efficient, scalable, and accessible synthetic methods for the production of GY and its derivatives. Here we report a facile metal-free nucleophilic crosslinking method using wet chemistry for fast gram-scale production of GY and its derivatives. This synthesis method involves the aromatic nucleophilic substitution reactions between fluoro-(hetero)arenes and alkynyl silanes in the presence of a catalytic amount of tetrabutylammonium fluoride, where the fluoride plays a crucial role in removing protective groups from alkynyl silanes and generating reactive alkynylides. Our comprehensive analysis of the as-prepared GY reveals a layered structure, characterized by the presence of the C(sp)-C(sp2) bond. The synthetic strategy shows remarkable tolerance to various functional groups and enables the preparation of diverse F-/N-rich GY derivatives, using electron-deficient fluoro-substituted (hetero)arenes as precursors. The feasibility of producing GY and derivatives from fluorinated (hetero)arenes through the metal-free, scalable, and cost-effective approach paves the way for broad applications of GY and may inspire the development of new carbon materials.

[2+1] Cycloadditions Modulate the Hydrophobicity of Ni-N4 Single-Atom Catalysts for Efficient CO2 Electroreduction.

Microenvironment regulation of M-N4 single-atom catalysts (SACs) is a promising way to tune their catalytic properties toward the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction. However, strategies that can effectively introduce functional groups around the M-N4 sites through strong covalent bonding and under mild reaction conditions are highly desired. Taking the hydrophilic Ni-N4 SAC as a representative, we report herein a [2+1] cycloaddition reaction between Ni-N4 and in situ generated difluorocarbene (F2C:), and enable the surface fluorocarbonation of Ni-N4, resulting in the formation of a super-hydrophobic Ni-N4-CF2 catalyst. Meanwhile, the mild reaction conditions allow Ni-N4-CF2 to inherit both the electronic and structural configuration of the Ni-N4 sites from Ni-N4. Enhanced electrochemical CO2-to-CO Faradaic efficiency above 98 % is achieved in a wide operating potential window from -0.7 V to -1.3 V over Ni-N4-CF2. In situ spectroelectrochemical studies reveal that a highly hydrophobic microenvironment formed by the -CF2- group repels asymmetric H-bonded water at the electrified interface, inhibiting the hydrogen evolution reaction and promoting CO production. This work highlights the advantages of [2+1] cycloaddition reactions on the covalent modification of N-doped carbon-supported catalysts.