Electrocatalytic proton reduction by an air-stable nickel(ii)-thiolato PNN pincer complex.

We report an air-stable nickel(ii)-thiolato PNN pincer complex [(PNN)NiII(SC6H4Me)]+[MeC6H4SO3]- (PNN = 2-((di-tert-butylphosphinomethyl-6-diethylaminomethyl)pyridine)) which is capable of reducing protons at an overpotential of 0.54 V at low acid concentrations. The proton reduction can be catalysed using weak or strong acids such as acetic acid and trifluoroacetic acid respectively. In contrast, the chloro and nitrate derivatives of the nickel pincer complex behave as poorer catalysts. A mechanism accounting for the role of the ligand in proton reduction is also briefly outlined.

Highly-phosphorescent tungsten(0) carbonyl pyridyl-imidazole complexes as photosensitisers.

Photoluminescence data are reported for two W(CO)4L complexes (L = 2-(1H-imidazol-2-yl)pyridine and 2-(2'-pyridyl)benzimidazole) in room-temperature solutions. The bidentate ligands consist of a pyridine and an imidazole moiety connected by a C-C bond. The complexes have been found to exhibit enhanced phosphorescence from the metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) excited state with quantum yields in the order of 10-3, almost two orders of magnitude higher than those reported for W(CO)4(diimine) complexes. One of the complexes W(CO)4(2-(2'-pyridyl)benzimidazole) can serve as an efficient visible-light photosensitiser for the isomerisation of aromatic alkenes with efficiency comparable to and even exceeding that of the well-studied ruthenium tris-bipyridine complex, Ru(bpy)Cl2.

Detection of structurally similar adulterants in botanical dietary supplements by thin-layer chromatography and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy combined with two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy.

Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) coupled with surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been widely used for the study of various complex systems, especially for the detection of adulterants in botanical dietary supplements (BDS). However, this method is not sufficient to distinguish structurally similar adulterants in BDS since the analogs have highly similar chromatographic and/or spectroscopic behaviors. Taking into account the fact that higher cost and more time will be required for comprehensive chromatographic separation, more efforts with respect to spectroscopy are now focused on analyzing the overlapped SERS peaks. In this paper, the combination of a TLC-SERS method with two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS), with duration of exposure to laser as the perturbation, is applied to solve this problem. Besides the usual advantages of the TLC-SERS method, such as its simplicity, rapidness, and sensitivity, more advantages are presented here, such as enhanced selectivity and good reproducibility, which are obtained by 2DCOS. Two chemicals with similar structures are successfully differentiated from the complex BDS matrices. The study provides a more accurate qualitative screening method for detection of BDS with adulterants, and offers a new universal approach for the analysis of highly overlapped SERS peaks.

Topological insulators based on 2D shape-persistent organic ligand complexes.

Topological insulators (TIs) represent an exciting new class of materials with potential applications in spintronics and quantum computing. In this work, we present a theoretical study on a new family of two dimensional (2D) nanomaterials based on the coordination of shape persistent organic ligands (SPOLs) to heavy transition metal ions such as Pd(2+) and Pt(2+). These 2D structures may be readily fabricated and are expected to be stable under normal atmospheric conditions. From first principles calculations and tight-binding model simulations carried out to characterize the bulk band structures, edge states, spin Chern numbers, and the Z2 topological invariants, we were able to identify candidates with non-trivial topological properties that may serve as topological insulators in real world applications.

FTIR studies of O(3P) atom reactions with CSe2, SCSe, and OCSe.

The overall rate coefficients of the reactions of CSe2, SCSe, and OCSe with O(3P) atom have been determined to be k(CSe2) = (1.4 +/- 0.2) x 10(-10) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1), k(SCSe) = (2.8 +/- 0.3) x 10(-11) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1), and k(OCSe) = (2.4 +/- 0.3) x 10(-11) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1) at 301-303 K using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) absorption spectroscopy. The measurements have been accomplished by calibrating against the literature value of the rate coefficient for O(3P) with CS2 (4 x 10(-12) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1)). A product channel giving OCSe in 32.0 +/- 4.2% yield has been found for the O + CSe2 reaction. Although CO was also detected, its generation could be attributed to subsequent reactions of OCSe with O atoms. The corresponding reaction for O + SCSe gives OCS and OCSe as observable products, with their yields given as 32.2 +/- 4.5 and 30.2 +/- 3.3%, respectively. Computational studies using UB3LYP/aug-cc-PVTZ methods have been used particularly to determine the reaction pathways for the channels in which OCS or OCSe is produced.