Influence of gadolinium doping on structural, optical, and electronic properties of polymeric graphitic carbon nitride.

Polymeric graphitic carbon nitride (gCN) materials have received great attention in the fields of photo and electrocatalysis due to their distinct properties in metal-free systems with high physicochemical stability. Nevertheless, the activity of undoped gCN is limited due to its relatively low specific surface area, low conductivity, and poor dispersibility. Doping Gd atoms in a gCN matrix is an efficient strategy to fine-tune its catalytic activity and its electronic structure. Herein, the influence of various wt% of gadolinium (Gd) doped in melon-type carbon nitride was systematically investigated. Gadolinium-doped graphitic carbon nitride (GdgCN) was synthesized by adding gadolinium nitrate to dicyandiamide during polymerization. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results revealed that the crystallinity and the morphological properties are influenced by the % of Gd doping. Furthermore, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies revealed that the gadolinium ions bonded with nitrogen atoms. Complementary density functional theory (DFT) calculations illustrate possible bonding configurations of Gd ions both in bulk material and on ultrathin melon layers and provide evidence for the corresponding bandgap modifications induced by gadolinium doping.

Nitrogen Heterocycle Synthesis through Hydride Abstraction of Acyclic Carbamates and Related Species: Scope, Mechanism, Stereoselectivity, and Product Conformation Studies.

Acyliminium ions and related species are potent electrophiles that can be quite valuable in the synthesis of nitrogen-containing molecules. This manuscript describes a protocol to form these intermediates through hydride abstractions of easily accessible allylic carbamates, amides, and sulfonamides that avoids the reversibility that is possible in classical condensation-based routes. These intermediates are used in the preparation of a range of nitrogen-containing heterocycles, and in many cases high levels of stereocontrol are observed. Specifically areas of investigation include the impact of chemical structure on oxidation efficiency, the geometry of the intermediate iminium ions, the impact of a substrate stereocenter on stereocontrol, and an examination of transition state geometry.

Recent advances in NMR spectroscopy of ionic liquids.

This review presents recent developments in the application of NMR spectroscopic techniques in the study of ionic liquids. NMR has been the primary tool not only for the structural characterization of ionic liquids, but also for the study of dynamics. The presence of a host of NMR active nuclei in ionic liquids permits widespread use of multinuclear NMR experiments. Chemical shifts and multinuclear coupling constants are used routinely for the structure elucidation of ionic liquids and of products formed by their covalent interactions with other materials. Also, the availability of a multitude of NMR techniques has facilitated the study of dynamical processes in them. These include the use of NOESY to study inter-ionic interactions, pulsed-field gradient techniques for probing transport properties, and relaxation measurements to elucidate rotational dynamics. This review will focus on the application of each of these techniques to investigate ionic liquids.

Hydrogen-bond directionality and symmetry in [C(O)NH](N)2P(O)-based structures: a comparison between X-ray crystallography data and neutron-normalized values, and evaluation of reliability.

For [C(O)NH](N)2P(O)-based structures, the magnitude of the differences in the N-H...O, H...O=P and H...O=C angles has been evaluated when the N-H bond lengths, determined by X-ray diffraction, were compared to the neutron normalized values and the maximum percentage difference was obtained, i.e. about 3% for the angle even if the N-H bond lengths have a difference of about 30% (0.7 Šfor the X-ray and 1.03 Šfor the neutron-normalized value). The symmetries of the crystals are discussed with respect to the symmetry of the molecules, as well as to the symmetry of hydrogen-bonded motifs, and the role of the most directional hydrogen bond in raising the probability of obtaining centrosymmetric crystal structures is investigated. The work was performed by considering nine new X-ray crystal structures and 204 analogous structures retrieved from the Cambridge Structural Database.

Conformational flexibility in amidophosphoesters: a CSD analysis completed with two new crystal structures of (C6H5O)2P(O)X [X = NHC7H13 and N(CH2C6H5)2].

The crystal structures of diphenyl (cycloheptylamido)phosphate, C19H24NO3P or (C6H5O)2P(O)(NHC7H13), (I), and diphenyl (dibenzylamido)phosphate, C26H24NO3P or (C6H5O)2P(O)[N(CH2C6H5)2], (II), are reported. The NHC7H13 group in (I) provides two significant hydrogen-donor sites in N-H...O and C-H...O hydrogen bonds, needed for a one-dimensional hydrogen-bond pattern along [100] in the crystal, while (II), with a (C6H5CH2)2N moiety, lacks these hydrogen bonds, but its three-dimensional supramolecular structure is mediated by C-H...π interactions. The conformational behaviour of the phenyl rings in (I), (II) and analogous structures from the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) were studied in terms of flexibility, volume of the other group attached to phosphorus and packing forces. From this study, synclinal (±sc), anticlinal (±ac) and antiperiplanar (±ap) conformations were found to occur. In the structure of (II), there is an intramolecular Cortho-H...O interaction that imposes a +sc conformation for the phenyl ring involved. For the structures from the CSD, the +sc and ±ap conformations appear to be mainly imposed by similar Cortho-H...O intramolecular interactions. The large contribution of the C...H/H...C contacts (32.3%) in the two-dimensional fingerprint plots of (II) is a result of the C-H...π interactions. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses exhibit peak temperatures (Tm) at 109 and 81 °C for (I) and (II), respectively, which agree with the strengths of the intermolecular contacts and the melting points.

Synthesis and characterization of CaSr-Metal Organic Frameworks for biodegradable orthopedic applications.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) formed from metals and organic ligands, are crystalline materials that are degradable in aqueous medium, and capable of releasing Ca and Sr ions. In this manuscript, the ability of MOFs to degrade and release osteogenic Ca and Sr ions was investigated. MOFs were generated by choosing osteoinductive Ca and Sr metals, and an organic ligand 1,3,5 tricarboxylicbenzene (H3BTC) as a linker. These MOFs were able to induce in vitro biomineralization from pre-osteoblastic MC3T3 cells and human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Moreover, these MOFs (when loaded with dimethyloxalylglycine (DMOG)) induced vascular endothelial production from hMSCs. qRT-PCR analysis performed on hMSCs (isolated from femoral heads of patients undergoing joint arthroplasty) treated with MOFs crystals suggested that the CaSr-MOFs by themselves can upregulate osteogenic genes in hMSCs, which is the first time to our knowledge that this has been observed from MOFs.

Two single-enantiomer amidophosphoesters: a database study on the chirality of (O)2P(O)(N)-based structures.

The crystal structures of two single-enantiomer amidophosphoesters with an (O)2P(O)(N) skeleton, i.e. diphenyl [(R)-(+)-α-methylbenzylamido]phosphate, (I), and diphenyl [(S)-(-)-α-methylbenzylamido]phosphate, (II), both C20H20NO3P, are reported. In both structures, chiral one-dimensional hydrogen-bonded architectures, along [010], are mediated by N-H...OP interactions. The statistically identical assemblies include the noncentrosymmetric graph-set motif C(4) and the compounds crystallize in the chiral space group P21. As a result of synergistic co-operation from C-H...O interactions, a two-dimensional superstructure is built including a noncentrosymmetric R44(22) hydrogen-bonded motif. A Cambridge Structural Database survey was performed on (O)2P(O)(N)-based structures in order to review the frequency of space groups observed in this family of compounds; the hydrogen-bond motifs in structures with chiral space groups and the types of groups inducing chirality are discussed. The 2,3JX-P (X = H or C) coupling constants from the NMR spectra of (I) and (II) have been studied. In each compound, the two diastereotopic C6H5O groups are different, which is reflected in the different chemical shifts and some coupling constants.

Chiral one-dimensional hydrogen-bonded architectures constructed from single-enantiomer phosphoric triamides.

The two single-enantiomer phosphoric triamides N-(2,6-difluorobenzoyl)-N',N''-bis[(S)-(-)-α-methylbenzyl]phosphoric triamide, [2,6-F2-C6H3C(O)NH][(S)-(-)-(C6H5)CH(CH3)NH]2P(O), denoted L-1, and N-(2,6-difluorobenzoyl)-N',N''-bis[(R)-(+)-α-methylbenzyl]phosphoric triamide, [2,6-F2-C6H3C(O)NH][(R)-(+)-(C6H5)CH(CH3)NH]2P(O), denoted D-1, both C23H24F2N3O2P, have been investigated. In their structures, chiral one-dimensional hydrogen-bonded architectures are formed along [100], mediated by relatively strong N-H...O(P) and N-H...O(C) hydrogen bonds. Both assemblies include the noncentrosymmetric graph-set motifs R22(10), R21(6) and C22(8), and the compounds crystallize in the chiral space group P1. Due to the data collection of L-1 at 120 K and of D-1 at 95 K, the unit-cell dimensions and volume show a slight difference; the contraction in the volume of D-1 with respect to that in L-1 is about 0.3%. The asymmetric units of both structures consist of two independent phosphoric triamide molecules, with the main difference being seen in one of the torsion angles in the OPNHCH(CH3)(C6H5) part. The Hirshfeld surface maps of these levo and dextro isomers are very similar; however, they are near mirror images of each other. For both structures, the full fingerprint plot of each symmetry-independent molecule shows an almost asymmetric shape as a result of its different environment in the crystal packing. It is notable that NMR spectroscopy could distinguish between compounds L-1 and D-1 that have different relative stereocentres; however, the differences in chemical shifts between them were found to be about 0.02 to 0.001 ppm under calibrated temperature conditions. In each molecule, the two chiral parts are also different in NMR media, in which chemical shifts and P-H and P-C couplings have been studied.

A review of NMR methods used in the study of the structure and dynamics of ionic liquids.

Recently, NMR spectroscopy has been emerging out as a powerful tool to study the structure and dynamics of ionic liquids (ILs) and ILs-Li+ salt mixtures. This mini-review primarily focuses on the applications of various NMR spectroscopic techniques such as self-diffusion measurements, NMR relaxometry, two-dimensional NMR, and other novel NMR approaches to study the structure and dynamics of ILs and its mixtures with lithium salts. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Noble metal-free bifunctional oxygen evolution and oxygen reduction acidic media electro-catalysts.

Identification of low cost, highly active, durable completely noble metal-free electro-catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in PEM based water electrolysis and metal air batteries remains one of the major unfulfilled scientific and technological challenges of PEM based acid mediated electro-catalysts. In contrast, several non-noble metals based electro-catalysts have been identified for alkaline and neutral medium water electrolysis and fuel cells. Herein we report for the very first time, F doped Cu1.5Mn1.5O4, identified by exploiting theoretical first principles calculations for ORR and OER in PEM based systems. The identified novel noble metal-free electro-catalyst showed similar onset potential (1.43 V for OER and 1 V for ORR vs RHE) to that of IrO2 and Pt/C, respectively. The system also displayed excellent electrochemical activity comparable to IrO2 for OER and Pt/C for ORR, respectively, along with remarkable long term stability for 6000 cycles in acidic media validating theory, while also displaying superior methanol tolerance and yielding recommended power densities in full cell configurations.

Microwave-enhanced electrochemical cycling performance of the LiNi0.2Mn1.8O4 spinel cathode material at elevated temperature.

The well-established poor electrochemical cycling performance of the LiMn2O4 (LMO) spinel cathode material for lithium-ion batteries at elevated temperature stems from the instability of the Mn(3+) concentration. In this work, a microwave-assisted solid-state reaction has been used to dope LMO with a very low amount of nickel (i.e., LiNi0.2Mn1.8O4, herein abbreviated as LMNO) for lithium-ion batteries from Mn3O4 which is prepared from electrolytic manganese oxide (EMD, γ-MnO2). To establish the impact of microwave irradiation on the electrochemical cycling performance at an elevated temperature (60 °C), the Mn(3+) concentration in the pristine and microwave-treated LMNO samples was independently confirmed by XRD, XPS, (6)LiMAS-NMR and electrochemical studies including electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The microwave-treated sample (LMNOmic) allowed for the clear exposure of the {111} facets of the spinel, optimized the Mn(3+) content, promoting structural and cycle stability at elevated temperature. At room temperature, both the pristine (LMNO) and microwave-treated (LMNOmic) samples gave comparable cycling performance (>96% capacity retention and ca. 100% coulombic efficiency after 100 consecutive cycling). However, at an elevated temperature (60 °C), the LMNOmic gave an improved cycling stability (>80% capacity retention and ca. 90% coulombic efficiency after 100 consecutive cycling) compared to the LMNO. For the first time, the impact of microwave irradiation on tuning the average manganese redox state of the spinel material to enhance the cycling performance of the LiNi0.2Mn1.8O4 at elevated temperature and lithium-ion diffusion kinetics has been clearly demonstrated.

Understanding the mechanism of CO2 capture by 1,3 di-substituted imidazolium acetate based ionic liquids.

Efficient CO2 capture by ionic liquids needs a thorough understanding of underlying mechanisms of the CO2 interaction with ionic liquids, especially when it involves chemisorption. In this work we have systematically investigated the mechanism of CO2 capture by 1,3 di-substituted imidazolium acetate ionic liquids using density functional theory. Solvent effects are analyzed using QM/MM and QM/QM approaches with the help of molecular dynamics simulations and ONIOM methods. The investigation of different stepwise mechanisms shows that CO2 could be involved in the first step of the reaction mechanism, also a new two-step mechanism is proposed. The final stabilization step is analyzed and pointed out to be responsible for important experimentally-observed features of the reaction.

Dynamic Behavior of N-Heterocyclic Carbene Boranes: Boron-Carbene Bonds in B,B-Disubstituted N,N-Dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene Boranes Have Substantial Rotation Barriers.

Dynamic NMR spectroscopy has been used to measure rotation barriers in five B,B-disubstituted 1,3-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene boranes. The barriers are attributed to the sp(2)-sp(3) bond between C(1) of the N-heterocyclic carbene ring and the boron atom. Bonds to boron atoms bearing a thexyl (1,1,2-trimethylpropyl) group show especially high barriers, ranging from 75-86 kJ mol(-1). 2-Isopropyl-1,3,5-trimethylbenzene is used as a comparable to help understand the nature and magnitude of the barriers.

High-resolution slice selection NMR for the measurement of CO2 diffusion under non-equilibrium conditions.

We present a simple and an efficient approach using spatially selective NMR to investigate solvation and diffusion of CO2 in ionic liquids. The techniques demonstrated here are shown as novel and effective means of studying solvated gas dynamics under non-equilibrium conditions without the need for conventional high power gradients.

Molecular simulation and experimental study of CO2 absorption in ionic liquid reverse micelle.

The structure and dynamics for CO2 absorption in ionic liquid reverse micelle (ILRM) were studied using molecular simulations. The ILRM consisted of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([bmim][BF4]) ionic liquid (IL) as the micelle core, the benzylhexadecyldimethylammonium ([BHD](+)) chloride ([Cl](-)) was the cationic surfactant, and benzene was used as the continuous solvent phase in this study. The diffusivity values of this ILRM system were also experimentally determined. Simulations indicate that there is ion exchange between the IL anion ([BF4](-)) and the surfactant anion ([Cl](-)). It was also found that the [bmim][BF4] IL exhibits small local density at the interface region between the IL core and the [BHD](+) surfactant cation layer, which leads to a smaller density for the [bmim][BF4] IL inside the reverse micelle (RM) compared with the neat IL. These simulation findings are consistent with experimental results. Both our simulations and experimental results show that [bmim][BF4] inside the RM diffuses 5-26 times faster than the neat IL, which is partly due to the fast particle diffusion for the ILRM nanodroplet (IL and surfactant) as a whole in benzene solvent compared with neat [bmim][BF4] diffusion. Additionally, it was found that [bmim][BF4] IL solved in benzene diffuses 2 orders of magnitude faster than the neat IL. Lastly, simulations show that CO2 molecules are absorbed in four different regions of the ILRM system, that is, (I) in the IL inner core, (II) in the [BHD](+) surfactant cation layer, (III) at the interface between the [BHD](+) surfactant cation layer and benzene solvent, and (IV) in the benzene solvent. The CO2 solubility was found to decrease in the order II > III ∼ IV > I, while the CO2 diffusivity and permeability decrease in the following order: IV > III > II > I.

Toward a Materials Genome Approach for ionic liquids: synthesis guided by ab initio property maps.

The Materials Genome Approach (MGA) aims to accelerate development of new materials by incorporating computational and data-driven approaches to reduce the cost of identification of optimal structures for a given application. Here, we use the MGA to guide the synthesis of triazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs). Our approach involves an IL property-mapping tool, which merges combinatorial structure enumeration, descriptor-based structure representation and sampling, and property prediction using molecular simulations. The simulated properties such as density, diffusivity, and gas solubility obtained for a selected set of representative ILs were used to build neural network models and map properties for all enumerated species. Herein, a family of ILs based on ca. 200,000 triazolium-based cations paired with the bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide anion was investigated using our MGA. Fourteen representative ILs spreading the entire range of predicted properties were subsequently synthesized and then characterized confirming the predicted density, diffusivity, and CO2 Henry's Law coefficient. Moreover, the property (CO2, CH4, and N2 solubility) trends associated with exchange of the bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide anion with one of 32 other anions were explored and quantified.

Diglycerol-based polyesters: melt polymerization with hydrophobic anhydrides.

The melt polymerization of diglycerol with bicyclic anhydride monomers derived from a naturally occurring monoterpene provides an avenue for polyesters with a high degree of sustainability. The hydrophobic anhydrides are synthesized at ambient temperature via a solvent-free Diels-Alder reaction of α-phellandrene with maleic anhydride. Subsequent melt polymerizations with tetra-functional diglycerol are effective under a range of [diglycerol]/[anhydride] ratios. The hydrophobicity of α-phellandrene directly impacts the swelling behavior of the resulting polyesters. The low E factors (<2), large amount of bio-based content (>75%), ambient temperature monomer synthesis, and polymer degradability represent key factors in the design of these sustainable polyesters.