Fe3+/H2O2 was definitively shown to produce a slow and sluggish initial rate of reaction, or even a complete cessation of activity. Homogeneous iron(III) catalysts, with carbon dots (CD) as anchoring points (CD-COOFeIII), are presented herein. These catalysts significantly enhance hydrogen peroxide activation to produce hydroxyl radicals (OH), demonstrating a 105-fold improvement over the Fe3+/H2O2 system. The OH flux generated by the reductive cleavage of the O-O bond is enhanced by the high electron-transfer rate constants of CD defects, a process that exhibits self-regulated proton transfer, as demonstrated by operando ATR-FTIR spectroscopy in D2O, along with kinetic isotope effects. Organic molecules, through hydrogen bonds, engage with CD-COOFeIII, resulting in a faster electron-transfer rate constant during the redox reactions of CD defects. In comparison to the Fe3+/H2O2 system, the CD-COOFeIII/H2O2 system demonstrates at least a 51-fold improvement in antibiotic removal efficiency, under identical conditions. The implications of our findings pave a new course for the established Fenton methodology.
Employing a Na-FAU zeolite catalyst, impregnated with multifunctional diamines, the dehydration of methyl lactate into acrylic acid and methyl acrylate was assessed experimentally. With 12-Bis(4-pyridyl)ethane (12BPE) and 44'-trimethylenedipyridine (44TMDP) loaded at 40 wt % or two molecules per Na-FAU supercage, a dehydration selectivity of 96.3 percent was observed over 2000 minutes on stream. The flexible diamines 12BPE and 44TMDP, whose van der Waals diameters are approximately 90% of the Na-FAU window opening, exhibit interaction with the interior active sites of Na-FAU, as discernible by infrared spectroscopy. PMA activator supplier At 300 degrees Celsius, consistent amine loading was observed in Na-FAU during a 12-hour reaction period, while a 44TMDP reaction resulted in an 83% decline in amine loading. Modifying the weighted hourly space velocity (WHSV) from 09 to 02 hours⁻¹ resulted in a yield as high as 92% and a selectivity of 96% with 44TMDP-impregnated Na-FAU, setting a new high for reported yields.
Conventional water electrolysis (CWE) is hampered by the close coupling of the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions (HER/OER), which results in a complex task for separating the generated hydrogen and oxygen, thereby potentially leading to safety risks and requiring sophisticated separation technologies. Earlier decoupled water electrolysis designs were mainly concentrated on employing multiple electrodes or multiple cells; however, this approach often introduced complicated operational steps. For decoupling water electrolysis, a novel single-cell pH-universal, two-electrode capacitive decoupled water electrolyzer (all-pH-CDWE) is proposed and demonstrated. A low-cost capacitive electrode and a bifunctional HER/OER electrode are strategically used to separate hydrogen and oxygen generation. Within the all-pH-CDWE, electrocatalytic gas electrode generation of high-purity H2 and O2 is achieved solely by alternating the direction of the applied current. The all-pH-CDWE, a meticulously designed system, sustains continuous round-trip water electrolysis for over 800 consecutive cycles, achieving an electrolyte utilization ratio approaching 100%. The all-pH-CDWE's energy efficiency, 94% in acidic and 97% in alkaline electrolytes, is a considerable enhancement relative to CWE, operating at a current density of 5 mA cm⁻². Subsequently, the created all-pH-CDWE demonstrates scalability to a 720 C capacity at a high 1 A current per cycle while maintaining a constant 0.99 V average HER voltage. PMA activator supplier Through this work, a new strategy is established for the mass production of H2 via a readily rechargeable process, ensuring high efficiency, robust functionality, and suitability for extensive applications.
Oxidative cleavage and functionalization of unsaturated C-C bonds are pivotal in creating carbonyl compounds from hydrocarbon feeds. Yet, no reports exist on the direct amidation of unsaturated hydrocarbons via oxidative cleavage with molecular oxygen as the benign oxidant. This study reports, for the first time, a manganese oxide-catalyzed auto-tandem catalytic approach enabling the direct synthesis of amides from unsaturated hydrocarbons, achieved by coupling the oxidative cleavage with amidation reactions. With oxygen acting as the oxidant and ammonia the nitrogen source, a variety of structurally diverse mono- and multi-substituted activated or unactivated alkenes or alkynes experience smooth cleavage of their unsaturated carbon-carbon bonds, resulting in amides that are one or more carbons shorter. Additionally, a subtle alteration of the reaction environment facilitates the direct production of sterically hindered nitriles from alkenes or alkynes. This protocol benefits from an impressive tolerance for functional groups across various substrates, a flexible approach to late-stage functionalization, efficient scalability, and a cost-effective, recyclable catalyst. Detailed analyses indicate that the exceptional activity and selectivity of the manganese oxides stem from their expansive surface area, numerous oxygen vacancies, superior reducibility, and moderate acidity. Mechanistic investigations, coupled with density functional theory calculations, suggest that the reaction follows divergent pathways contingent upon the substrates' structures.
pH buffers are indispensable in both chemistry and biology, playing a wide array of roles. QM/MM MD simulations of lignin peroxidase (LiP) degradation of lignin substrates reveals the role of pH buffering, incorporating nonadiabatic electron transfer (ET) and proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) theories in this investigation. Lignin oxidation, facilitated by the key enzyme LiP, proceeds via two consecutive electron transfer reactions, ultimately leading to the carbon-carbon bond breakage of the resultant lignin cation radical. The first reaction sequence involves electron transfer (ET) from Trp171 to the active form of Compound I, whereas the second reaction sequence involves electron transfer (ET) from the lignin substrate to the Trp171 radical. PMA activator supplier Our research challenges the prevailing assumption that a pH of 3 strengthens Cpd I's oxidizing potential through protein environment protonation, revealing that intrinsic electric fields exhibit little impact on the initial electron transfer. The results of our investigation show that tartaric acid's pH buffering action is essential to the second ET process. The pH buffer of tartaric acid, as demonstrated in our study, creates a strong hydrogen bond with Glu250, effectively inhibiting proton transfer from the Trp171-H+ cation radical to Glu250, which subsequently stabilizes the Trp171-H+ cation radical, critical for the oxidation of lignin. Besides its pH buffering properties, tartaric acid can elevate the oxidizing strength of the Trp171-H+ cation radical through both the protonation of the nearby Asp264 and the secondary hydrogen bonding with Glu250. By facilitating the thermodynamics of the second electron transfer step through synergistic pH buffering, lignin degradation's overall activation energy is decreased by 43 kcal/mol. This leads to a 103-fold increase in reaction rate, consistent with experimental measurements. These findings significantly expand our grasp of pH-dependent redox reactions across both biological and chemical domains, while simultaneously furnishing critical insights into tryptophan-driven biological electron transfer processes.
Envisioning the synthesis of ferrocenes displaying both axial and planar chirality is a formidable chemical undertaking. We describe a strategy, using palladium/chiral norbornene (Pd/NBE*) cooperative catalysis, to construct both axial and planar chiralities within a ferrocene framework. The Pd/NBE* cooperative catalysis in this domino reaction establishes the initial axial chirality, which then dictates the subsequent planar chirality through a distinctive axial-to-planar diastereoinduction mechanism. Starting materials for this method are 16 readily available ortho-ferrocene-tethered aryl iodides and 14 bulky 26-disubstituted aryl bromides. 32 examples of five- to seven-membered benzo-fused ferrocenes, possessing both axial and planar chirality, were synthesized in a single step, accompanied by consistently high enantioselectivity (greater than 99% e.e.) and diastereoselectivity (greater than 191 d.r.).
The discovery and development of innovative therapeutics is critical for addressing the global health threat of antimicrobial resistance. Nonetheless, the prevalent method of inspecting natural and synthetic chemical compounds or mixtures is susceptible to inaccuracies. An alternative therapeutic strategy to develop potent medications involves combining approved antibiotics with agents targeting innate resistance mechanisms. This review analyzes the chemical structures of effective -lactamase inhibitors, outer membrane permeabilizers, and efflux pump inhibitors, which act as auxiliary agents alongside traditional antibiotics. Methods to enhance or restore the potency of classic antibiotics against inherently antibiotic-resistant bacteria will stem from a rational design of their chemical structures within adjuvants. As a substantial number of bacteria possess multiple resistance mechanisms, adjuvant molecules that target these multiple pathways concurrently show promise as a treatment strategy for multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.
A key role is played by operando monitoring of catalytic reaction kinetics in examining reaction pathways and identifying reaction mechanisms. Tracking molecular dynamics in heterogeneous reactions has been pioneered through the innovative use of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Unfortunately, the SERS capabilities of most catalytic metals prove insufficient. Hybridized VSe2-xOx@Pd sensors are employed in this work to analyze the molecular dynamics associated with Pd-catalyzed reactions. VSe2-x O x @Pd, through metal-support interactions (MSI), displays a significant charge transfer and a concentrated density of states near the Fermi level, which greatly intensifies the photoinduced charge transfer (PICT) to adsorbed molecules, leading to a more intense surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signal.