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Crystal structure of a 2:1 piroxicam–gentisic acid co-crystal featuring neutral and zwitterionic piroxicam molecules

A new 2:1 co-crystal of piroxicam and gentisic acid [systematic name: 4-hydroxy-1,1-dioxo- N -(pyridin-2-yl)-2 H -1λ 6 ,2-benzothiazine-3-carboxamide–2-(4-oxido-1,1-dioxo-2 H -1λ 6 ,2-benzothiazine-3-amido)pyridin-1-ium–2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 2C 15 H 13 N 3 O 4 S·C 7 H 6 O 4 ] has been synthesized using a microfluidic platform and initially identified using Raman spectroscopy. In the co-crystal, one piroxicam molecule is in its neutral form and an intramolecular O—H...O hydrogen bond is observed. The other piroxicam molecule is zwitterionic (proton transfer from the OH group to the pyridine N atom) and two intramolecular N—H...O hydrogen bonds occur. The gentisic acid molecule shows whole-molecule disorder over two sets of sites in a 0.809(2):0.191(2) ratio. In the crystal, extensive hydrogen bonding between the components forms layers propagating in the ab plane.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

SERS Theory: The Chemical Effect of Rhodamine 6G Adsorption on Silver Surfaces on Its Raman Spectrum

The SERS spectra of small organic molecules can be very sensitive to the physisorption or chemisorption of the molecules onto metallic surfaces. However it is challenging to model the results, as typical SERS substrates have a broad distribution of possible surface sites, and the populations of these sites and the SERS enhancement factors associated with them are very difficult to determine, especially when electromagnetic hot spots dominate the observed spectra. However it is important to account for these effects if one is to make a quantitative interpretation of measured SERS spectra. Indeed, the influence of different sites is important to both the electromagnetic and chemical mechanisms in SERS, where the former mechanism is concerned with local field enhancement effects arising from plasmon excitation, while the latter arises from the effect of chemisorption induced charged transfer on the Raman intensities, as can be modeled using static limit Raman intensity calculations[1]. Extensive studies have been performed on simple organics like pyridine bound to gold and silver clusters, and it was found that both the chemical and electrodynamic enhancement factors associated with binding pyridine in various orientations result in noticeable changes in the SERS spectra compared to the gas phase spectrum of pyridine.[2] One of the most important benchmark molecules for SERS and TERS studies is Rhodamine 6G (R6G). This is a strongly fluorescent dye molecule in solution, but when adsorbed onto SERS substrates, its fluorescence is quenched, and the resulting SERS intensities are among the largest observed for any molecule. As a result R6G has played a crucial role in the development of single molecule SERS, and in the development of SERS substrates. [3, 4] Previously, the SERS spectrum of R6G has been modeled as if it were a gas phase molecule. Jensen and Schatz[5] incorporated resonant effects as well as vibronic effects and found that resonance excitation to the S1 excited state of R6G resulted in good agreement with spectra obtained from SERS experiments. In another study, intermolecular charge transfer was studied with R6G bound to a Ag2 cluster.[6] It is unclear if a cluster model as small as two silver atoms can accurately capture the surface effects of a nanoparticle with thousands of atoms. Recent single molecule, ultra high vacuum, tip enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SM-UHV-TERS) measurements for R6G[3] were moderately reproduced by gas phase resonance Raman calculations. Of particular importance in this work was the comparison of TERS spectra at room temperature with those at a low temperature of 10K. It was found that lowering the temperature led to both sharpening of the vibrational spectra, and shifts in the spectra (up to 20 cm-1 with some lines shifting red, some blue and some not at all), suggesting that the molecule transitions from a largely gas phase molecule at room temperature to being strongly chemisorbed at 10K. A potential energy distribution analysis performed by Chulhai and Jensen[3] showed that the modes that were shifted from the gas phase had vibrational activity associated with the ethylamine component of R6G, which is the likely moiety associated with Raman calculations. What remains unresolved concerning the SM-UHV-TERS studies of R6G is direct evidence that the chemical binding of R6G to a silver nanoparticle surfaces causes frequency shifts and/or intensity changes in the Raman scattering intensities of specific modes, especially those involving vibrations of the ethylamine moiety. The theoretical work described in this chapter directly addresses this issue by calculating Raman spectra for R6G interacting with a 20-atom silver cluster, and with a flat Ag(111) surface. Tetrahedral Ag20 is chosen for part of these studies as it provides a model nanoparticle structure that has a well-defined fragment of a (111) surface, as well as having edges and vertices that can be used to model coordinately unsaturated sites on a particle. In addition, Ag20 has been found to provide a reasonable reference structure for determining the chemical contribution to SERS enhancements.[1] Two different geometries of the Ag20/R6G system are considered in the present study, corresponding to two different binding configurations of R6G to a pristine Ag(111) surface. In addition, we study adsorption of R6G on a flat Ag(111) surface of using plane wave DFT calculations to determine optimized geometries and normal mode properties.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Review of thermal properties of graphite composite materials

Flammability, thermal, and selected mechanical properties of composites fabricated with epoxy and other thermally stable resin matrices are described. Properties which were measured included limiting-oxygen index, smoke evolution, thermal degradation products, total-heat release, heat-release rates, mass loss, flame spread, ignition resistance, thermogravimetric analysis, and selected mechanical properties. The properties of 8 different graphite composite panels fabricated using four different resin matrices and two types of graphite reinforcement are described. The resin matrices included: XU71775/H795, a blend of vinyl polystyryl pyridine and bismaleimide; H795, a bismaleimide; Cycom 6162, a phenolic; and PSP 6022M, a polystyryl pyridine. The graphite fiber used was AS-4 in the form of either tape or fabric. The properties of these composites were compared with epoxy composites. It was determined that the blend of vinyl polystyryl pyridine and bismaleimide (XU71775/H795) with the graphite tape was the optimum design giving the lowest heat release rate.

Kourtides, D. A.↗

Differentiating Between Hydrogen and Fluorine on a Diamond Surface

We have computed the interaction energies for pyridine (C5H5N) and (CH3)3PO with H and F atoms on the surface of diamond (111) as a function of the type of neighboring surface atom. The pyridine-H and -F interaction energies differ by about 5 kcal/mol, which is only about 1/3 of that found for a one-dimensional model for the surface. The difference in the interaction energies for (CH3)3PO is larger. However, the (CH3)3PO-neighbor interaction energy is larger than for purloiner so that the (CH3)3PO-H interaction becomes repulsive for six neighboring F atoms, Substituting CN for F dramatically increases the repulsion between the surface atoms and molecules. The repulsion is sufficiently large that H/CN does not appear to be better than H/F as a possible way to store data on a surface. While the pyridine shows some potential as a possible probe to differentiate between H and F on a diamond surface, it is not ideal.

Bauschlicher, Charles W., Jr.↗

Detection Opportunity for Aromatic Signature in Titan's Aerosols in the 4.1-5.3 μm Range

The Cassini/Huygens mission provided new insights on the chemistry of the upper atmosphere of Titan. The presence of large molecules and ions (>100's of amu) detected by Cassini at high altitude was not expected, and questions the original assumptions regarding the aerosol formation pathways. From recent laboratory studies, it has been shown that the inclusion of trace amounts of aromatic species drastically impacts the chemistry of aerosol formation and induces observable changes in the properties of the aerosols. In this Letter we focus on the effect of one of the simplest nitrogenous aromatics, pyridine (C5H5N), on the infrared signature of Titan's aerosol analogs. We introduce initial gas mixtures of (i) N2–C5H5N (100%/250 ppm), (ii) N2–CH4–C5H5N (99%/1%/250 ppm), and (iii) N2–CH4 (99%/1%) in a cold plasma discharge. The material produced, herein called tholins, is then analyzed by mid-infrared spectroscopy. When adding pyridine in the discharge, the tholins produced present an aromatic signature in the 4.1–5.3 μm (1850–2450 cm−1) spectral region, attributed to overtones of aromatic C–H out-of-plane bending vibrations. We also observe a spectral shift of the nitrile and iso-nitrile absorption band with the inclusion of pyridine in the gas mixture. These results could help to investigate the data obtained at Titan by the Cassini/Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) instrument in the 1–5 μm infrared window.

Mathé, Christophe↗

Effect of Basicity and Structure on the Hydration of Protonated Molecules, Proton-Bound Dimer and Cluster Formation: An Ion Mobility-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry and Theoretical Study

Protonation, hydration, and cluster formation of ammonia, formaldehyde, formic acid, acetone, butanone, 2-ocatanone, 2-nonanone, acetophenone, ethanol, pyridine, and its derivatives were studied by IMS-TOFMS technique equipped with a corona discharge ion source. It was found that tendency of the protonated molecules, MH{sup +}, to participate in hydration or cluster formation depends on the basicity of M. The molecules with higher basicity were hydrated less than those with lower basicity. The mass spectra of the low basic molecules such as formaldehyde exhibited larger clusters of M{sub n}H{sup +}(H{sub 2}O){sub n}, while for compounds with high basicity such as pyridine, only MH{sup +} and MH{sup +}M peaks were observed. The results of DFT calculations show that enthalpies of hydrations and cluster formation decrease as basicities of the molecules increases. Using comparison of mass spectra of formic acid, formaldehyde, and ethanol, effect of structure on the cluster formation was also investigated. Formation of symmetric (MH{sup +}M) and asymmetric proton-bound dimers (MH{sup +}N) was studied by ion mobility and mass spectrometry techniques. Both theoretical and experimental results show that asymmetric dimers are formed more easily between molecules (M and N) with comparable basicity. As the basicity difference between M and N increases, the enthalpy of MH{sup +}N formation decreases. .

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Conversion of nicotinic acid to trigonelline is catalyzed by N-methyltransferase belonged to motif B′ methyltransferase family in Coffea arabica

Graphical abstract: Trigonelline synthase catalyzes the conversion of nicotinic acid to trigonelline. We isolated and characterized trigonelline synthase gene(s) from Coffea arabica. - Highlights: • Trigonelline is a major compound in coffee been same as caffeine is. • We isolated and characterized trigonelline synthase gene. • Coffee trigonelline synthases are highly homologous with coffee caffeine synthases. • This study contributes the fully understanding of pyridine alkaloid metabolism. - Abstract: Trigonelline (N-methylnicotinate), a member of the pyridine alkaloids, accumulates in coffee beans along with caffeine. The biosynthetic pathway of trigonelline is not fully elucidated. While it is quite likely that the production of trigonelline from nicotinate is catalyzed by N-methyltransferase, as is caffeine synthase (CS), the enzyme(s) and gene(s) involved in N-methylation have not yet been characterized. It should be noted that, similar to caffeine, trigonelline accumulation is initiated during the development of coffee fruits. Interestingly, the expression profiles for two genes homologous to caffeine synthases were similar to the accumulation profile of trigonelline. We presumed that these two CS-homologous genes encoded trigonelline synthases. These genes were then expressed in Escherichiacoli, and the resulting recombinant enzymes that were obtained were characterized. Consequently, using the N-methyltransferase assay with S-adenosyl[methyl-{sup 14}C]methionine, it was confirmed that these recombinant enzymes catalyzed the conversion of nicotinate to trigonelline, coffee trigonelline synthases (termed CTgS1 and CTgS2) were highly identical (over 95% identity) to each other. The sequence homology between the CTgSs and coffee CCS1 was 82%. The pH-dependent activity curve of CTgS1 and CTgS2 revealed optimum activity at pH 7.5. Nicotinate was the specific methyl acceptor for CTgSs, and no activity was detected with any other nicotinate derivatives, or with any of the typical substrates of B′-MTs. It was concluded that CTgSs have strict substrate specificity. The K{sub m} values of CTgS1 and CTgS2 were 121 and 184 μM with nicotinic acid as a substrate, and 68 and 120 μM with S-adenosyl-L-methionine as a substrate, respectively.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Synthesis and properties of a few 1-D cobaltous fumarates

Metal fumarates are often studied in the context of metal organic framework solids. Preparation, structure and properties of three cobalt(II) fumarates, viz. [Co(fum)(H{sub 2}O){sub 4}]{center_dot}H{sub 2}O 1, [Co(fum)(py){sub 2}(H{sub 2}O){sub 2}] 2, and [Co(fum)(4-CNpy){sub 2}(H{sub 2}O){sub 2}] 3 (fum=fumarate, py=pyridine, 4-CNpy=4-cyanopyridine) are described. All three are chain polymers involving bridging fumarato ligands between each pair of octahedral Co(II) centres, but while the first one is zigzag in structure, the latter two are linear. Indexed powder X-ray diffraction patterns, solid state electronic spectra and magnetic properties of the species are reported. Thermal decomposition behaviour of the compounds suggests that they may be suitable as precursors to make Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} via pyrolysis below 600 Degree-Sign C. - Graphical abstract: Structure and properties of three chain-polymeric cobalt(II) fumarates are described. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Three fumarate bridged 1-D coordination polymers of cobalt(II) are reported. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer While Co(II) fumarate pentahydrate is zigzag, the species having both pyridine and water as co-ligands are linear in structure. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Prominent lines in the powder X-ray diffraction patterns have been indexed. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Thermal decomposition of the species yields Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} as the final product.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Intercalation of organic molecules in 2D copper (II) nitroprusside: Intermolecular interactions and magnetic properties

This contribution discusses the intercalation of imidazole and its 2-ethyl derivative, and pyridine in 2D copper nitroprusside. In the interlayer region, neighboring molecules remain interacting throu gh their dipole and quadrupole moments, which supports the solid 3D crystal structure. The crystal structure of this series of intercalation compounds was solved and refined from powder X-ray diffraction patterns complemented with spectroscopic information. The intermolecular interactions were studied from the refined crystal structures and low temperature magnetic measurements. Due to strong attractive forces between neighboring molecules, the resulting π–π cloud overlapping enables the ferromagnetic coupling between metal centers on neighboring layers, which was actually observed for the solids containing imidazole and pyridine as intercalated molecules. For these two solids, the magnetic data were properly described with a model of six neighbors. For the solid containing 2-ethylimidazole and for 2D copper nitroprusside, a model of four neighbors in a plane is sufficient to obtain a reliable data fitting. - Highlights: • Intercalation of organic molecules in 2D copper (II) nitroprusside. • Molecular properties of intercalation compounds of 2D copper (II) nitroprusside. • Magnetic properties of hybrid inorganic–organic solids. • Hybrid inorganic–organic 3D framework.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Two Zn coordination polymers with meso-helical chains based on mononuclear or dinuclear cluster units

Two zinc coordination polymers {[Zn_2(TPPBDA)(oba)_2]·DMF·1.5H_2O}{sub n} (1), {[Zn(TPPBDA)_1_/_2(tpdc)]·DMF}{sub n} (2) have been synthesized by zinc metal salt, nanosized tetradentate pyridine ligand with flexible or rigid V-shaped carboxylate co-ligands. These complexes were characterized by elemental analyses and X-ray single-crystal diffraction analyses. Compound 1 is a 2-fold interpenetrated 3D framework with [Zn{sub 2}(CO{sub 2}){sub 4}] clusters. Compound 2 can be defined as a five folded interpenetrating bbf topology with mononuclear Zn{sup 2+}. These mononuclear or dinuclear cluster units are linked by mix-ligands, resulting in various degrees of interpenetration. In addition, the photoluminescent properties for TPPBDA ligand under different state and coordination polymers have been investigated in detail. - Graphical abstract: Two zinc coordination polymers have been synthesized by zinc metal salt, nanosized tetradentate pyridine ligand with flexible or rigid V-shaped carboxylate co-ligands. Compound 1 is a 2-fold interpenetrated 3D framework with [Zn{sub 2}(CO{sub 2}){sub 4}] clusters. Compound 2 can be defined as a five folded interpenetrating bbf topology with mononuclear Zn{sup 2+}. In addition, the photoluminescent properties for TPPBDA ligand under different status and coordination polymers have been investigated in detail. Display Omitted - Highlights: • Two Zn coordination polymers based on mononuclear or dinuclear cluster units have been synthesized. • Compound 1 is a 2-fold interpenetrated 3D framework with [Zn{sub 2}(CO{sub 2}){sub 4}] clusters. • Compound 2 is a five folded interpenetrating bbf topology with mononuclear Zn{sup 2+}. • The photoluminescent properties for TPPBDA with different state and two coordination polymers have been investigated.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Laser-Induced Thermal Decomposition of Uranium Coordination Compounds with Non-oxidic Ligands to Produce Nitride and Carbide Materials

The production of ceramics from uranium coordination compounds can be achieved through thermal processing if an excess amount of the desired atoms (i.e., C or N), or reactive gaseous products (e.g., methane or nitrogen oxide) is made available to the reactive uranium metal core via decomposition/fragmentation of the surrounding ligand groups. Here, computational thermodynamic approaches were utilized to identify the temperatures necessary to produce uranium metal from some starting compounds—UI 4 (TMEDA) 2 , UCl 4 (TMEDA) 2 , UCl 3 (pyridine) x , and UI 3 (pyridine) 4 . Experimentally, precursors were irradiated by a laser under various gaseous environments (argon, nitrogen, and methane) creating extreme reaction conditions (i.e., fast heating, high temperature profile >2000 °C, and rapid cooling). Despite the fast dynamics associated with laser irradiation, the central uranium atom reacted with the thermal decomposition products of the ligands yielding uranium ceramics. Residual gas analysis identified vaporized products from the laser irradiation, and the final ceramic products were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction. The composition of the uranium precursor as well as the gaseous environment had a direct impact on the production of the final phases.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

C–H Bond Activation Facilitated by Bis(phosphinoamide) Heterobimetallic Zr/Co Complexes

The activation of C–H bonds using first-row transition metals poses a formidable challenge in the development of sustainable catalytic methods. Early/late heterobimetallic complexes provide a Lewis acidic binding site for directing groups, facilitating the activation of C–H bonds at an appended first-row transition metal center. In this work, the reactivity of the ZrIV/Co–I heterobimetallic complexes (THF)(I)Zr(XylNP i Pr 2 ) 2 Co(PR 3 ) (1-PR 3 ; Xyl = 3,5-dimethylphenyl; PR 3 = PMe 3 , PPh 2 Me) toward directed C–H bond activation is explored with pyridine and terminal alkyne derivatives. 1-PMe 3 reacts reversibly with 4-methylpyridine to afford the C–H activated complex (4-Me-C 5 H 4 N)(I)Zr(XylNP i Pr 2 ) 2 (μ-4-Me-C 5 H 3 N)Co(PMe 3 )(H) (3-PMe 3 ). By using the more Lewis basic substrate 4-tert-butylpyridine, (I)Zr(XylNP i Pr 2 )2(μ-4- t Bu-C 5 H 3 N)Co(PMe 3 )(H) (4-PMe 3 ) is formed irreversibly. In addition to pyridine derivatives, 1-PPh 2 Me can activate the C–H bond of terminal alkynes to form (THF)(I)Zr(XylNPiPr 2 ) 2 (μ-R'C≡C)Co(PPh 2 Me)(H) (R' = Ph (5-PPh 2 Me); R' = SiMe 3 (6-PPh 2 Me)).

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Directed Hydrogen Bond Placement: Low Viscosity Amine Solvents for CO2 Capture

Capture of CO2 from power generation is required for its conversion or sequestration. Toward this goal, numerous CO2 capture processes have been developed, with the most widely deployed technology utilizing aqueous solutions of amines. Our group has focused on the design of several classes of water-lean solvents in order to identify molecular-level descriptors to control materials properties such as viscosity and regeneration energy. Large scale molecular simulations have shown that strategic placement of hydrogen bonding and tuning of the acid/base equilibria are critical for controlling viscosity at CO2-rich loadings. Here, we extend these principles to a new class of pyridine-based molecules with a secondary amine functionality for binding CO2. The result is a class of water-lean amines that retain high gravimetric capacity (20%) while exhibiting the lowest CO2-rich viscosities (<150 cP, 40 °C) of any 100% concentrated amine currently known. Additionally, these newly identified solvents exhibit regeneration temperatures as low as 60 °C when applying a polarity swing assisted regeneration, resulting in a solvent that can conceptually absorb and desorb CO2 with only a 20 °C temperature swing.

Malhotra, Deepika↗

Electronic Perturbations of Iron Dipyrrinato Complexes via Ligand [beta]-Halogenation and meso-Fluoroarylation

Systematic electronic variations were introduced into the monoanionic dipyrrinato ligand scaffold via halogenation of the pyrrolic {beta}-positions and/or via the use of fluorinated aryl substituents in the ligand bridgehead position in order to synthesize proligands of the type 1,9-dimesityl-{beta}-R{sub 4}-5-Ar-dipyrrin [R = H, Cl, Br, I; Ar = mesityl, 3,5-(F{sub 3}C){sub 2}C{sub 6}H{sub 3}, C{sub 6}F{sub 5} in ligand 5-position; {beta} = 2,3,7,8 ligand substitution; abbreviated ({sup {beta},Ar}L)H]. The electronic perturbations were probed using standard electronic absorption and electrochemical techniques on the different ligand variations and their divalent iron complexes. The free-ligand variations cause modest shifts in the electronic absorption maxima ({lambda}{sub max}: 464-499 nm) and more pronounced shifts in the electrochemical redox potentials for one-electron proligand reductions (E{sub 1/2}: -1.25 to -1.99 V) and oxidations (E{sub 1/2}: +0.52 to +1.14 V vs [Cp{sub 2}Fe]{sup +/0}). Installation of iron into the dipyrrinato scaffolds was effected via deprotonation of the proligands followed by treatment with FeCl{sub 2} and excess pyridine in tetrahydrofuran to afford complexes of the type ({sup {beta},Ar}L)FeCl(py) (py = pyridine). The electrochemical and spectroscopic behavior of these complexes varies significantly across the series: the redox potential of the fully reversible Fe{sup III/II} couple spans more than 400 mV (E{sub 1/2}: -0.34 to +0.50 V vs [Cp{sub 2}Fe]{sup +/0}); {lambda}{sub max} spans more than 40 nm (506-548 nm); and the {sup 57}Fe Moessbauer quadrupole splitting (|{Delta}E{sub Q}|) spans nearly 2.0 mm/s while the isomer shift ({delta}) remains essentially constant (0.86-0.89 mm/s) across the series. These effects demonstrate how peripheral variation of the dipyrrinato ligand scaffold can allow systematic variation of the chemical and physical properties of iron dipyrrinato complexes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Electrocatalytic Ammonia Oxidation by Pyridyl-Substituted Ferrocenes

Ammonia (NH 3 ) is a promising carbon-free fuel when prepared from sustainable resources. First-row transition metal electrocatalysts for ammonia oxidation are an enabling technology for sustainable energy production. We describe electrocatalytic ammonia oxidation using robust molecular complexes based on Earth-abundant iron. Electrochemical studies of ferrocenes with covalently attached pyridine arms reveal facile ammonia oxidation in DMSO (2.4 M NH 3 ) with modest overpotentials (η = 770–820 mV) and turnover frequencies (125–560 h –1 ). Experimental and computational studies indicate that the pendant pyridyl base serves as an H-bond acceptor with an N–H bond of ammonia that transfers a proton to the pyridine following oxidation by the attached ferrocenium moiety in a proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) step. This generates an amidyl (•NH 2 ) radical stabilized via H-bonding to a pendant pyridinium moiety that rapidly dimerizes to hydrazine (H 2 N–NH 2 ), which is easily oxidized to nitrogen (N 2 ) at the glassy carbon working electrode. This report identifies a general strategy to oxidize ammonia via H-bonding to a base (B:), thereby activating [B···H-NH 2 ] toward PCET by a proximal oxidant to form [BH···NH 2 ] +/• radical cations, which are susceptible to dimerization to form easily oxidized hydrazine.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A Radar-like Iron based Nanohybrid as an Efficient and Stable Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction

The present study shows a design concept for fabricating Fe-PyNG hybrid via strong coupling between FePc and pyridine-N. The prominent features of the Fe-PyNG hybrid include high electrocatalytic activity, superior durability, and better performance than Pt/C toward ORR in alkaline media. These features potentially make Fe-PyNG an outstanding nonprecious metal cathode catalyst for fuel cells. The incorporation of Fe ion and pyridine-N afforded effective bonding and synergetic coupling effects, which lead to significant electrocatalytic performance. DFT calculations indicate that N-modified Fe is a superior site for OOH adsorption and ORR reaction. Meanwhile, the strong chemical bonding between FePc and pyridyne in PyNG leads to its superior stability. We believe that our present synthetic strategy can be further extended to develop other metal complexes/N-doped carbon materials for broad applications in the field of catalysts, batteries, and supercapacitors. This work was supported by National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (2013CB733501), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC-21306169, 21176221, 21136001 and 21101137), Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (ZJNSF-R4110345) and the New Century Excellent Talents in University Program (NCET-10-0979). We thank Prof. Youqun Zhu for Instruments support. D. Mei is supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a multiprogram national laboratory operated for DOE by Battelle. Computing time was granted by the grand challenge of computational catalysis of the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL). EMSL is a national scientific user facility located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and sponsored by DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗

Hydrogen adsorption and anomalous electronic properties of nitrogen-doped graphene

We investigate hydrogen adsorption effects on stabilities and electronic properties of nitrogen defects in graphene using first-principles electronic-structure calculations within the density-functional theory. We find that the adsorption of hydrogen atoms on the pyridine-type nitrogen defects in graphene becomes energetically favorable, whereas in the case of the substitutional nitrogen defect the hydrogen adsorption becomes unfavorable. We also find that a transition from p-type to n-type doping properties occurs by hydrogen adsorption on the pyridine-type defects, suggesting that even the carrier type is controllable in nitrogen-doped graphene.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗