Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “AROMATICS”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 973 records · Page 54
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Selective binding of choline by a phosphate-coordination-based triple helicate featuring an aromatic box

In nature, proteins have evolved sophisticated cavities tailored for capturing target guests selectively among competitors of similar size, shape, and charge. The fundamental principles guiding the molecular recognition, such as self-assembly and complementarity, have inspired the development of biomimetic receptors. In the current work, we report a self-assembled triple anion helicate (host 2) featuring a cavity resembling that of the choline-binding protein ChoX, as revealed by crystal and density functional theory (DFT)-optimized structures, which binds choline in a unique dual-site-binding mode. Here, this similarity in structure leads to a similarly high selectivity of host 2 for choline over its derivatives, as demonstrated by the NMR and fluorescence competition experiments. Furthermore, host 2 is able to act as a fluorescence displacement sensor for discriminating choline, acetylcholine, l-carnitine, and glycine betaine effectively.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Enhanced Raman scattering from aromatic dithiols electrosprayed into plasmonic nanojunctions

We describe surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) experiments in which molecular coverage is systematically varied from 3.8 x 105 to 3.8 x 102 to 0.38 molecules/μm2 using electrospray deposition of ethanolic 4,4’-dimercaptostilbene (DMS) solutions. The plasmonic SERS substrate used herein consists of a well-characterized 2-dimensional (2D) array of silver nanospheres [see El-Khoury et al., J. Chem. Phys., 2014, 141, 214308], previously shown to feature uniform topography and plasmonic response, as well as intense SERS activity. When compared to their ensemble averaged analogues, the spatially and temporally averaged spectra of a single molecule exhibit several unique features including: (i) distinct relative intensities of the observable Raman-active vibrational states, (ii) more pronounced SERS backgrounds, and (iii) broader Raman lines indicative of faster vibrational dephasing. The first observation may be understood on the basis of an intuitive physical picture in which removal of averaging over multiple molecules exposes the tensorial nature of Raman scattering. When an oriented single molecule gives rise to the recorded SERS spectra, the relative orientation of the molecule with respect to vector components of the local electric field determines the relative intensities of the observable vibrational states. Using a single molecule SERS framework described herein, we derive a unique molecular orientation in which a single DMS molecule is isolated at a nanojunction formed between two silver nanospheres in the 2D array. The DMS molecule is found lying nearly flat with respect to the metal surface. The derived orientation of a single molecule at a plasmonic nanojunction is consistent with observations (ii) and (iii). In particular, a careful inspection of the temporal spectral variations along the recorded single molecule SERS time sequences reveals that the time-averaged SERS backgrounds arise from individual molecular events, marked by broadened SERS signatures. We assign the broadened spectra along the SERS time sequence – which sum up to a SERS background in the averaged spectra – to instances in which the π-framework of the DMS molecule is parallel to the metal surface. This also accounts for Raman line broadening as a result of fast vibrational dephasing and driven by molecular reorientation at a plasmonic nanojunction. Furthermore, we report on the orientation dependence of single molecule SERS enhancement factors. We find that in the case of a single DMS molecule isolated at a plasmonic nanojunction, molecular orientation may affect the derived single molecule SERS enhancement factor by up to 5 orders of magnitude. Taking both chemical effects as well as molecular orientation into account, we were able to estimate a single molecule enhancement factor of ~1010 in our measurements.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2016

Tuning the photophysical properties of BODIPY dyes through extended aromatic pyrroles

Three new BODIPY dyes have been synthesized by a two-step synthetic route. Here, this expands the series to nine different BODIPY dyes by this method. Naphtha[1,2-c]pyrrole was combined with 1-pyrenecarboxaldehyde to give a symmetric dipyrrin followed by reaction with boron trifluoride to give a symmetric highly conjugated BODIPY dye. Expanding this synthetic route to a more conjugated pyrrole fluorantho[2,3-c]pyrrole was combined with 1-pyrenecarboxaldehyde followed by reaction with boron trifluoride to give the asymmetric BODIPY dye (9). Dyes with the more highly conjugated fluoranthopyrrole resulted in a bathochromic shift of ca. 50 nm in the electronic absorption and showed greater stability of the LUMO energy, as determined by electrochemical measurements, compared to their naphthapyrrole analogs. All of the dyes synthesized by this method display molar absorptivities greater than 100 000 M -1 cm -1 with photoluminescence quantum efficiencies of 0.8–1.0. Excited state lifetimes of the dyes in dichloromethane are modest, ranging from 3.2 ns to 4.3 ns.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Sulfate radical oxidation of aromatic contaminants: a detailed assessment of density functional theory and high-level quantum chemical methods

We present that advanced oxidation processes that utilize highly oxidative radicals are widely used in water reuse treatment. In recent years, the application of sulfate radical (SO 4 ˙ - ) as a promising oxidant for water treatment has gained increasing attention. To understand the efficiency of SO 4 ˙ - in the degradation of organic contaminants in wastewater effluent, it is important to be able to predict the reaction kinetics of various SO 4 ˙ - -driven oxidation reactions. In this study, we utilize density functional theory (DFT) and high-level wavefunction-based methods (including computationally-intensive coupled cluster methods), to explore the activation energies of SO 4 ˙ - -driven oxidation reactions on a series of benzene-derived contaminants. Additionally, these high-level calculations encompass a wide set of reactions including 110 forward/reverse reactions and 5 different computational methods in total. Based on the high-level coupled-cluster quantum calculations, we find that the popular M06-2X DFT functional is significantly more accurate for OH - additions than for SO 4 ˙ - reactions. Most importantly, we highlight some of the limitations and deficiencies of other computational methods, and we recommend the use of high-level quantum calculations to spot-check environmental chemistry reactions that may lie outside the training set of the M06-2X functional, particularly for water oxidation reactions that involve SO 4 ˙ - and other inorganic species.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Phenyl radical + propene: a prototypical reaction surface for aromatic-catalyzed 1,2-hydrogen-migration and subsequent resonance-stabilized radical formation

The C 9 H 11 potential energy surface (PES) was experimentally and theoretically explored because it is a relatively simple, prototypical alkylaromatic radical system. Although the C 9 H 11 PES has already been extensively studied both experimentally (under single-collision and thermal conditions) and theoretically, new insights were made in this work by taking a new experimental approach: flash photolysis combined with time-resolved molecular beam mass spectrometry (MBMS) and visible laser absorbance. The C 9 H 11 PES was experimentally accessed by photolytic generation of the phenyl radical and subsequent reaction with excess propene (C 6 H 5 + C 3 H 6 ). The overall kinetics of C 6 H 5 + C 3 H 6 was measured using laser absorbance with high time-resolution from 300 to 700 K and was found to be in agreement with earlier measurements over a lower temperature range. Five major product channels of C 6 H 5 + C 3 H 6 were observed with MBMS at 600 and 700 K, four of which were expected: hydrogen (H)-abstraction (measured by the stable benzene, C 6 H 6 , product), methyl radical (CH 3 )-loss (styrene detected), H-loss (phenylpropene isomers detected) and radical adduct stabilization.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Programmed twisting of phenylene–ethynylene linkages from aromatic stacking interactions

Control over the conformation and packing of conjugated materials is an unsolved problem that prevents the rational design of organic optoelectronics, such as preventing self-quenching of luminescent molecules. Exacerbating this challenge is a general lack of widely applicable strategies for controlling packing with discrete, directional non-covalent interactions. Here, we present a series of conjugated molecules with diverse backbones of three or four arenes that feature pentafluorobenzyl ester substituents. Nearly all the compounds reveal intramolecular stacking interactions between the fluoroarene (ArF) side-chains and non-fluorinated arenes (ArH) in the middle of the chromophores; a twisted PE linkage accompanies each example of this intramolecular ArF–ArH stacking. Furthermore, these molecules can resist dramatic changes to emission upon transition from organic solution to thin film when ArF rings prevent interchromophore interactions. By broadening the structural space of conjugated backbones over which ArF–ArH stacking can twist PE linkages reliably and prevent self-quenching of solids with simple synthetic approaches, this work suggests fluorinated benzyl ester substituents adjacent to phenylene ethynylene linkages as supramolecular synthons for the crystal engineering of organic optoelectronic materials.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗