Effect of Calcination Atmosphere on the Performance of Cu/Al2O3 Catalyst for the Selective Hydrogenation of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol.

The selective hydrogenation of the biomass platform molecule furfural (FAL) to produce furfuryl alcohol (FA) is of great significance to alleviate the energy crisis. Cu-based catalysts are the most commonly used catalysts, and their catalytic performance can be optimized by changing the preparation method. This paper emphasized the effect of calcination atmosphere on the performance of a Cu/Al2O3 catalyst for the selective hydrogenation of FAL. The precursor of the Cu/Al2O3 catalyst prepared by the ammonia evaporation method was treated with different calcination atmospheres (N2 and air). On the basis of the combined results from the characterizations using in situ XRD, TEM, N2O titration, H2-TPR and XPS, the Cu/Al2O3 catalyst calcined in the N2 atmosphere was more favorable for the dispersion and reduction of Cu species and the reduction process could produce more Cu+ and Cu0 species, which facilitated the selective hydrogenation of FAL to FA. The experimental results showed that the N2 calcination atmosphere improved the FAL conversion and FA selectivity, and the FAL conversion was further increased after reduction. Cu/Al2O3-N2-R exhibited the outstanding performance, with a high yield of 99.9% of FA after 2 h at 120 °C and an H2 pressure of 1 MPa. This work provides a simple, efficient and economic method to improve the C=O hydrogenation performance of Cu-based catalysts.

High-Enantioselectivity Adsorption Separation of Racemic Mandelic Acid and Methyl Mandelate by Robust Chiral UiO-68-Type Zr-MOFs.

Mandelic acid and its analogues are highly valuable medical intermediates and play an important role in the pharmaceutical industry, biochemistry, and life sciences. Therefore, effective enantioselective recognition and separation of mandelic acid are of great significance. In this study, two of our recently reported chiral amine-alcohol-functionalized UiO-68-type Zr-HMOFs 1 and 3 with high chemical stability, abundant binding sites, and large chiral pores were selected as chiral selectors for the enantioselective separation of mandelic acid (MA), methyl mandelate (MM), and other chiral molecules containing only one phenyl. Materials 1 and 3 exhibited excellent enantioselective separation performance for MA and MM. Especially for the separation of racemate MA, the enantiomeric excess values reached 97.3 and 98.9%, which are the highest reported values so far. Experimental and density functional theory (DFT) computational results demonstrated that the introduction of additional phenyls on the chiral amine alcohol pendants in 3 had somewhat impact on the enantioselective adsorption and separation of MA or MM compared with 1, but it was not significant. Further research on the enantioselective separation of those chiral adsorbates containing only one phenyl by material 1 indicated the crucial role of the groups directly bonded to the chiral carbons of the adsorbates in the selective separation of enantiomers, especially showing higher enantioselectivity for the adsorbates with two hydrogen-bonding groups directly bonded to its chiral carbon.

Engineering UiO-68-Typed Homochiral Metal-Organic Frameworks for the Enantiomeric Separation of Fmoc-AAs and Mechanism Study.

Homochiral metal-organic frameworks (HMOFs) have been widely investigated in the application of enantiomeric separation. Nonetheless, it remains a significant challenge to explore the effect of multiple weak interactions between HMOF adsorbents and chiral adsorbates on enantiomeric separation performance still. In this work, robust chiral amine-alcohol-functionalized UiO-68-typed Zr-HMOFs 1-3 with the same hydrogen-bonding sites but slightly different π-binding sites were prepared for the enantioseparation of amino acid derivatives (Fmoc-AAs) with large π-binding groups. As a consequence of multiple host-guest interactions, these Zr-HMOFs exhibit speedy adsorption and high adsorption capacity for Fmoc-L/D-AAs and dissimilar enantioselectivity for the adsorption of their enantiomers. Materials 1 and 2 exhibit excellent enantioselective separation performance for Fmoc-valine with a single terminal π-binding group, while material 3 displays excellent enantioselective separation performance for Fmoc-phenylalanine and Fmoc-tryptophan with π-binding groups at both ends. As evidently demonstrated by our experimental and density functional theory (DFT) computational results, when the number of π-binding groups preset in the confined chiral space of adsorbents matches the number of π-binding groups of chiral adsorbates, the synergism of π-π or σ-π interactions will increase enantioselectivity; otherwise, the competition interactions from redundant identical binding sites will weaken enantioselectivity. Our case not only provides a tremendously typical system for investigating the collaborative discrimination of multiple weak interactions and exploring the impact of relatively excessive binding sites of HMOF adsorbents or chiral adsorbates on the enantioselective separation performance but also provides guidance for targeted functional modifications of high-performance chiral porous materials.

Preparation and Analyses of the Multifunctional Properties of 2D and 3D MOFs Constructed from Copper(I) Halides and Hexamethylenetetramine.

In this article, two two-dimensional and three-dimensional metal-organic frameworks are synthesized by the self-assembly of copper(I) halide and the hexamethylenetetramine (hmt) ligand. Compound 1 is a two-dimensional metal-organic framework composed of a pyramidal Cu4I5 cluster and hexamethylenetetramine, in which hmt-bridged Cu clusters form a two-dimensional (4,4)-connected net with a point symbol of (44·62) (44·62). Compound 2 is a homochiral three-dimensional metal-organic framework material generated through an unusual spontaneous crystallization from achiral precursors. The two compounds were characterized by a series of analyses such as infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and powder X-ray diffraction. Both of them exhibit unexpected stability under a wide range of conditions of acid and base. In addition, the fluorescence intensity changes regularly under acid-base conditions. Stokes shift shows a good linear relationship with -log [H+], which makes them become promising acid-base sensors. Compounds 1 and 2 also display selective adsorption and a significant degradation effect on the organic dye methylene blue. In addition, the fluorescence study indicated that compound 2 could be used as a sensor to detect Cr3+.

Color tuning and white light emission by codoping in isostructural homochiral lanthanide metal-organic frameworks.

Four lanthanide-based homochiral metal-organic frameworks (Ln-HMOFs), {[Ln2(HL)2(H2O)4]·2Cl·5H2O} n [Ln = Gd (1), Eu (2), Tb (3) and Dy (4)], have been synthesized through solvothermal reactions of chiral ligand (S)-5-(((1-carboxyethyl)amino)methyl)isophthalic acid (H3L) with corresponding LnCl3·6H2O. They are binodal (3,6)-connected frameworks with kgd nets based on binuclear cluster units and zwitterionic (HL)2- linkers. Considering the isostructuralism of these Ln-HMOFs as well as the blue emission of compound 1 and the strong typical Eu3+ and Tb3+ emissions of compounds 2 and 3, single-phase mixed-lanthanide HMOFs have been prepared by doping of Ln3+ into the Ln-HMOFs to modulate light-emitting color. Interestingly, the bimetallic doped Eu/Tb-HMOFs [(Eu x Tb1-x )2(HL)2(H2O)4]·2Cl·5H2O display a fluent change of light-emitting color among green, yellow, orange, orange-red, and red by adjusting the doping concentration of Eu3+ ions into the Tb-HMOF. Very importantly, the trimetallic doped Eu/Gd/Tb-HMOF [(Eu0.1388Gd0.6108Tb0.2504)2(HL)2(H2O)4]·2Cl·5H2O emits white light upon excitation at 355 nm, whose emission can also be switched between different colors when excited with different ultraviolet light. Furthermore, the fluorescence response of Tb-HMOF to various usual metal ions, and especially fluorescent sensing behaviours to Fe3+, Cr3+ and Al3+ have been preliminarily investigated.

1,3-Bis{[5-(pyridin-2-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]sulfan-yl}propan-2-one.

In the distorted W-shaped mol-ecule of the title compound, C(17)H(12)N(6)O(3)S(2), a twofold axis passes through the carbonyl group. The mol-ecules stack in the crystal through π-π inter-actions [centroid-centroid distance = 3.883 Å] and weak C-H⋯N hydrogen-bonding inter-actions, forming a three-dimensional architecture.

Hierarchical assembly of extended coordination networks constructed by novel metallacalix[4]arenes building blocks.

Five interesting metal-organic nanostructures and networks, [Ni(4)(HL)(4)(bpy)(py)(H(2)O)(5)](2) x 0.5 H(2)O (1), [Co(4)(HL)(4)(bpy)(py)(H(2)O)(5)](2) x 0.5 H(2)O (2), [Ni(4)(HL)(4)(H(2)O)(7)](n) x nH(2)O (3), [Ni(4)(HL)(4)(bpy)(2)(H(2)O)(4)](n) (4), and [Cd(4)(HL)(4)(H(2)O)](n) (5), were synthesized hydrothermally [H(3)L = 2-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-imidazole-4,5-dicarboxylate acid, py = pyridine, and bpy = 4,4'-bipyridine]. Intriguingly, all compounds consist of novel metallacalix[4]arene building blocks M(4)(HL)(4), where doubly deprotonated HL in the same bichelating fashion of mu-kN,N':kO,N'' displays a strong coordination orientation by cooperation of the 4,5-imidazoledicarboxylate and 2-pyridyl groups. Very interestingly, the symmetry of M(4)(HL)(4) and the linkage styles between metal nodes and HL in M(4)(HL)(4) are sensitive to the reaction conditions, and the resulting structural motifs vary with secondary ligands and metal nodes. In 1 and 2, two C(1)-symmetric M(4)(HL)(4) units are bpy-bridged into dimeric chiral nanomolecules with two different cavities. As deprotonated with NaOH, the combination of Ni(II) and HL forms a pseudo-S(4)- or S(4)-symmetric M(4)(HL)(4), which further assembles into 1D chiral crystals 3 or rare 3D crystals 4 of bpy-bridged 5-fold interpenetrating diamondoid architecture with metallacalix[4]arene building blocks as novel 4-connecting nodes, and the combination of Cd(II) and HL forms an 8-connected C(2)-symmetric M(4)(HL)(4) that fabricates the alpha-Po net of 5. Notably, those large M(4)(HL)(4) units are potentially highly connected building blocks in a hierarchical assembly of metal-organic networks. Magnetic studies disclose antiferromagnetic interactions in M(4)(HL)(4) of 1-4. The magnetic data for 1, 3, and 4, all containing isomeric Ni(4)(HL)(4) units, are analyzed by an equilateral quadrangle isotropic model combined with the molecular-field approximation with J = -4.00(2), -3.39(2), and -2.72(3) cm(-1), respectively, presenting a stronger comparison between the structure and magnetism. The emission of 5 is odd, which perhaps is relative to the bichelating fashion of ligand HL and a rare coordination geometry of Cd(II). Moreover, the thermal stability and gas sorption properties of these compounds were measured.

trans-Diaqua-bis-[5-carb-oxy-4-carboxyl-ato-2-(4-pyridinio)-1H-imidazol-1-ido-κN,O]zinc(II).

In the title complex, [Zn(C(10)H(6)N(3)O(4))(2)(H(2)O)(2)], the Zn(II) atom is located on a twofold rotation axis and is coordinated by two trans-positioned N,O-bidentate and zwitterionic 5-carb-oxy-4-carboxyl-ato-2-(4-pyridinio)-1H-imidazol-1-ide (H(2)PIDC(-)) ligands and two water mol-ecules, defining a distorted octa-hedral environment. The complete solid-state structure can be described as a three-dimensional supra-molecular framework, stabilized by extensive hydrogen-bonding inter-actions involving the coordinated water mol-ecules, uncoordin-ated imidazole N atom, protonated pyridine N and carboxyl-ate O atoms of the H(2)PIDC(-) ligands.

trans-Diaqua-bis[5-carb-oxy-4-carboxyl-ato-2-(4-pyridinio)-1H-imidazol-1-ido-κN,O]iron(II).

In the title complex, [Fe(C(10)H(6)N(3)O(4))(2)(H(2)O)(2)], the Fe(II) atom is located on a twofold rotation axis and is coordinated by two trans-positioned N,O-bidentate and zwitterionic 5-carboxy-2-(pyridinium-4-yl)-1H-imidazol-1-ide-4-carboxylate H(2)PIDC(-) ligands and two water mol-ecules in a distorted environment. In the crystal packing, a three-dimensional network is constructed via hydrogen-bonding involving the water mol-ecules, uncoordinated imidazole N atom, protonated pyridine N and carboxyl-ate O atoms.

trans-Diaqua-bis[5-carb-oxy-2-(3-pyrid-yl)-1H-imidazole-4-carboxyl-ato-κN,O]iron(II).

In the title complex, [Fe(C(10)H(6)N(3)O(4))(2)(H(2)O)(2)], the Fe(II) atom is located on an inversion centre and is trans-coordinated by two N,O-bidentate 5-carb-oxy-2-(3-pyrid-yl)-1H-imidazole-4-carb-oxy-l-ate ligands and two water mol-ecules, defining a distorted octa-hedral environment. A two-dimensional network of N-H⋯O and O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds extending parallel to (110) helps to stabilize the crystal packing.

The first 1D twofold interpenetrating metal-organic network generated by 1D triple helical chains with nanosized cages.

Reaction of AgPF(6) with the asymmetric ligand 1,6-dihydro-2-methyl-6-oxo-(3,4'-bipyridine)-5-carbonitrile (1), afforded a significant silver coordination polymer {[Ag(2)(1)(3)](2).(CH(3)OH)(3).(PF(6))(4)}(n) (2) with unique 1D twofold interpenetrating metal-organic frameworks constructed by 1D triple helical chains with nanosized cages hosting counterions as guests. This compound exhibits high thermal stability and blue-shift emission with large intensity enhancement compared with that of the free ligand.

New lanthanide hybrid as clustered infinite nanotunnel with 3D Ln-O-Ln framework and (3,4)-connected net.

A series of new lanthanide hybrids [Ln3(mu-OH)4 (2,5-pydc)(2,5-Hpydc)3(H2O)4]n (Ln = Gd (1), Dy (2), Er (3), Eu (4), Sm (5), Yb (6), Y (7); 2,5-pydc=pyridine-2,5-dicarboxylate), as clustered lanthanide oxide ring tunnels with helical dodecahedral chains and fully 3D Ln-O-Ln connectivity, has been hydrothermally synthesized and characterized. The inorganic skeleton of the hybrid can be specified by the Schläfli symbol (6210)2 (64102) as a single 3D (3,4)-connected net. The luminescence properties have been studied, and the results showed that the Dy(III) (2) and Eu(III) (4) complexes exhibited sensitized luminescence in the visible region. Variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements of 1-6 showed that the complexes 1-3 are nearly paramagnets, whereas the depopulation of the Stark levels in complexes 4-6 leads to a continuous decrease in mu(eff) when the sample is cooled from 300 to 2 K.

Dynamic formation of coordination polymers versus tetragonal prisms and unexpected magnetic superexchange coupling mediated by encapsulated anions in the cobalt(II) 1,3-bis(pyrid-4-ylthio)propan-2-one series.

The reactions of cobalt(II) halides and flexible ligand L [L=1,3-bis(pyrid-4-ylthio)propan-2-one] under different conditions generated a series of complexes with various structural motifs ranging from tetragonal-prismatic cages to 1-3D coordination polymers. The layer diffusion of cobalt(II) chloride and L in methanol/acetone at 25 degrees C gave rise to a 3D polymer, [Co(L)2Cl2].Me2CO. At 30 degrees C, the slow diffusion of diethyl ether into the blue dimethylformamide (DMF) solution of complex 1 afforded a 1D polymer, Co(L)Cl2(DMF)2. However, at 10 degrees C, the diffusion of diethyl ether into the DMF solution of complex 1 produced a tetragonal-prismatic cage, [Co2(L)4Cl2]Cl2.Et2O.DMF.2MeOH.4H2O. The reaction of cobalt(II) bromide and L in DMF at 10 degrees C yielded a dimer, [Co2(L)4Br2]Br2.6DMF.2H2O, with a cage structure similar to. The preparation of the series of compounds indicates the subtle relationship between structures and tunable reaction conditions. It is also found that the structural motifs vary according to the ligand conformations and that the formation of tetragonal-prismatic cages and may be templated by anionic guests. Magnetic studies on complexes in a temperature range 4-300 K disclose that L is unfavorable for a long-range magnetic interaction; however, intramolecular spin-coupling constants of -19.6 and -21.5 cm-1 for and indicate rather strong magnetic superexchanges arising from the overlap of the dz2 orbitals of the cobalt(II) and pz orbitals of the encapsulated halide anions. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of complexes 3 and 4 in solution and solid give information that both complexes are high-spin cobalt(II) compounds with a rhombic distortion of the axial zero-field splitting. Interestingly, the intramolecular magnetic-exchange coupling in 3 and 4 mediated by the encapsulated anion Cl- or Br- is also reflected by the EPR spectra.

Red luminescent polymeric cuprous organosulfide generated by solvothermal redox reaction.

A new polymeric metal organosulfide [Cu(I)3(pymt)3]n(pymt = pyrimidine-2-thiolate) with strong red photoluminescence was synthesized through solvothermal redox reaction, and crystallographically characterized to be a one-dimensional chiral structure containing metal-metal interactions.