Liquid Nitrogen Sources Assisting Gram-Scale Production of Single-Atom Catalysts for Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction.

Developing metal-nitrogen-carbon (M-N-C)-based single-atom electrocatalysts for carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2 RR) have captured widespread interest because of their outstanding activity and selectivity. Yet, the loss of nitrogen sources during the synthetic process hinders their further development. Herein, an effective strategy using 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([BMIM][BF4 ]) as a liquid nitrogen source to construct a nickel single-atom electrocatalyst (Ni-SA) with well-defined Ni-N4 sites on a carbon support (denoted as Ni-SA-BB/C) is reported. This is shown to deliver a carbon monoxide faradaic efficiency of >95% over a potential of -0.7 to -1.1 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode) with excellent durability. Furthermore, the obtained Ni-SA-BB/C catalyst possesses higher nitrogen content than the Ni-SA catalyst prepared by conventional nitrogen sources. Importantly, only thimbleful Ni nanoparticles (Ni-NP) are contained in the large-scale-prepared Ni-SA-BB/C catalyst without acid leaching, and with only a slight decrease in the catalytic activity. Density functional theory calculations indicate a salient difference between Ni-SA and Ni-NP in the catalytic performance toward CO2 RR. This work introduces a simple and amenable manufacturing strategy to large-scale fabrication of nickel single-atom electrocatalysts for CO2 -to-CO conversion.

Star-Shaped Molecules as Dopant-Free Hole Transporting Materials for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells: Multiscale Simulation.

On the reported TCP-OH (See Scheme 1), other two star-shaped molecules are theoretically designed by replacement of side group of TCP-OH by N,N-di(4-methoxyphenyl)aniline for TPAP-OH and oxygen-bridged triarylamine for TBOPP-OH. The core group, phenol, is kept in three molecules. Their potential to be hole transport material in perovskite solar cells without dopants is evaluated by multiscale simulations. The properties of isolated molecules are estimated by the frontier molecular orbital, absorption spectrum, and hole mobility. After that, the HTM@CH3 NH3 PbI3 adsorbed system is studied to consider the influence of adsorption on HTM performance. Besides the primary judgment, the glass transition temperature is also simulated to determine the stability of amorphous film. Not only the chemical stability is evaluated but also the amorphous film stability is considered. The latter is almost neglected in previous theoretical studies to evaluate the properties of HTMs. The performance of a designed molecule is evaluated from both the isolated molecules and HTM@CH3 NH3 PbI3 adsorbed system including aforementioned items, which is favorable to build reliable structure-property relationship.

Influence of different ancillary ligand on the phosphorescent properties of platinum(II) complexes.

In past two decades, lots of bidentate Pt(II) complexes are developed as potential organic light emitting diodes due to their simple synthetic process. The relative low quantum efficiency is one of the major blocks for their applications. Two new heteroleptic Pt(II) complexes bearing an n-hexyloxy substituted phenyllepidine-based ligand and either a picolinate (pic) (1) or acetylacetonate (acac) (2) ancillary ligand are synthesized as orange-red-emitter by Wawrzinek and coauthors. The quantum efficiency of 2 is much larger than that of 1 indicating that the variation of ancillary ligand has a great effect on the performance. Inspired by it, other two new bidentate Pt(II) complexes are theoretically designed with the same primary ligand along with pyrazolone (pzl) (3) or N-substituted carbazole (NCaz) (4) ancillary ligand. The phosphorescent properties are explored by density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent DFT (TDDFT) methods with the ultimate goal to explore the influence of ancillary ligand. Moreover, the emission rule is confirmed. Finally, the quantum yield is estimated according to the radiative rate constant (kr) and nonradiative rate constant (knr). The smaller knr is the vital item to determine the high quantum yield.

Synthesis and spectroscopic properties of novel fluorescent compounds containing bis-pyrazole ring.

A series of pyrazoline derivatives containing pyrazole group were synthesized and characterized by means of (1)H NMR, FT-IR, MS and elemental analysis, and their UV-vis absorption behavior and fluorescent properties were also measured. Moreover, the influence of metal ions on spectral properties of synthetic products was examined with compound A5 as an example. It has been found that all synthetic pyrazoline derivatives show two remarkable absorption peaks at about 260 and 360 nm and the maximum emission peak at 445-467 nm. Especially, the joined of Co(2+) can quench the fluorescence of compound A5 obviously.

Synthesis of quinoline derivatives containing pyrazole group and investigation of their crystal structure and spectroscopic properties in relation to acidity and alkalinity of mediums.

Two series of quinoline derivatives containing pyrazole group were synthesized and characterized by means of (1)H NMR, FT-IR, MS, elemental analysis and X-ray single crystal diffraction, and their UV-vis absorption behavior and fluorescence properties were also measured. Moreover, the effects of acetic acid and triethylamine on the spectroscopic properties of synthesized products were examined with compounds 3a and 5a as examples. It has been found that all synthesized quinoline derivatives show maximum absorption peak at 303 nm and emission peaks around 445 nm. Besides, both acetic acid and triethylamine can change the acidity of the medium, thereby influencing the UV-vis absorption spectra and fluorescence spectra of synthesized products. Moreover, theoretical investigations indicate that the integration of H(+) and N atom of quinoline ring favors the formation of a new product in the presence of acetic acid, and the product obtained in this case shows a new UV-vis absorption peak at 400 nm.

Theoretical investigations of the structures and electronic spectra of 8-hydroxylquinoline derivatives.

The spectroscopic properties of 8-hydroxyquinoline derivatives are theoretically investigated by means of density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) methods. The target molecules are divided into two groups: group (I): (E)-2-(2-(3,5-dimethyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)vinyl)quinolin-8-ol (A), together with corresponding potential reaction products of A with acetic acid, i.e., (E)-2-(2-(3,5-dimethyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)vinyl)quinolin-8-yl acetate (AR1), and (E)-2-(2-(3,5-dimethyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)vinyl)-8-hydroxyquinolinium (AR2); group (II): (E)-2-(2-(1-(4-chlorophenyl)-3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)vinyl)quinolin-8-ol (B), as well as potential reaction products of B with acetic acid, i.e., (E)-2-(2-(1-(4-chlorophenyl)-3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)vinyl)quinolin-8-yl acetate (BR1), and (E)-2-(2-(1-(4-chlorophenyl)-3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)vinyl)-8-hydroxyquinolinium (BR2). The geometries are optimized by B3LYP and M06 methods. The results indicate that product molecules tend to be effectively planar compared with reactants. Subsequently, UV absorption spectra are simulated through TD-DFT method with PCM model to further confirm the reasonable products of two reactions. AR2 and BR2 are identified as the target molecules through the experimental spectra for the real products. It is worth noting that the maximum absorption wavelengths of compounds AR2 and BR2 present prominent red shift compared the initial reactants A and B, respectively, which should be ascribed to the enhancive planarity of products that mentioned above and the decreased HOMO-LUMO energy gap. Geometric structures and optical properties for corresponding compounds are discussed in detail.

Synthesis, spectroscopic properties and theoretical studies of bis-Schiff bases derived from polyamine and pyrazolones.

A series of novel bis-Schiff base were synthesized from 1-aryl-3-methyl-4-benzoyl-5-pyrazolones and diethylenetriamine (or triethylenetetramine) as the starting materials. All of these bis-Schiff bases were characterized by means of NMR, IR, and MS. The UV-vis absorption spectra and fluorescent spectra of these bis-Schiff bases were also measured. Moreover, the B3LYP/6-31G(d) method was used to optimize the ground state geometry of the bis-Schiff bases; and the UV-vis spectroscopic properties of the products were computed and compared with corresponding experimental data based on cc-pVDZ basis set of TD-B3LYP method. It has been found that all of these bis-Schiff bases show a remarkable absorption peak in a wavelength range of 270-340 nm; and their maximum emission peaks are around 348 nm.

Crystal structure characterization as well as theoretical study of spectroscopic properties of novel Schiff bases containing pyrazole group.

A series of novel Schiff bases containing pyrazole group were synthesized using 1-aryl-3-methyl-4-benzoyl-5-pyrazolone and phenylenediamine as the starting materials. All as-synthesized Schiff bases were characterized by means of NMR, FT-IR, and MS; and the molecular geometries of two Schiff bases as typical examples were determined by means of single crystal X-ray diffraction. In the meantime, the ultraviolet-visible light absorption spectra and fluorescent spectra of various as-synthesized products were also measured. Moreover, the B3LYP/6-1G(d,p) method was used for the optimization of the ground state geometry of the Schiff bases; and the spectroscopic properties of the products were computed and compared with corresponding experimental data based on cc-pVTZ basis set of TD-B3LYP method. It has been found that all as-synthesized Schiff bases show a remarkable absorption peak in a wavelength range of 270-370 nm; and their maximum emission peaks are around 344 nm and 332 nm, respectively.

Synthesis of benzimidazoles containing pyrazole group and quantum chemistry calculation of their spectroscopic properties and electronic structure.

Five benzimidazole compounds containing pyrazole group were synthesized via one-step reaction of o-phenylenediamine and 1-arylpyrazole-4-carbaldehyde in ethanol under mild conditions. The composition and structure of resultant benzimidazole compounds were analyzed by means of elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and X-ray single crystal diffraction. The ultraviolet-visible light spectra and fluorescent spectra of the products were measured. Their ground-state (S(0)) equilibrium geometries and vibrational frequencies were determined based on B3LYP method, and their first excited-state (S(1)) geometries were fully optimized based on 6-31G (d, p) basis set of TD-B3LYP method. Besides, the spectroscopic properties of the products were computed based on cc-pVTZ basis set of TD-B3LYP method and compared with corresponding experimental data. It has been found that benzimidazole compounds containing pyrazole group can be readily synthesized in a high yield via one-step reaction of o-phenylenediamine and 1-arylpyrazole-4-carbaldehyde in ethanol solvent. The fluorescence properties of the five synthesized compounds are closely related to their molecular structure; and their computed fluorescence spectra well correspond to their experimental values. Moreover, they have stable structure and strong fluorescence, showing potential application in time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay and DNA probe.