Chemical Communications Blog

Printable Nanoscale Catalysts with Controlled Nano-morphologies

05 Jun 2014

Iain Larmour is a guest web writer for ChemSci. He has researched a wide variety of topics during his years in the lab including nanostructured surfaces for water repellency and developing nanoparticle systems for bioanalysis by surface enhanced optical spectroscopies. He currently works in science management. In his spare time he enjoys reading, photography, art and inventing.

Nanoscale metal rings and dots could find potential use in a wide range of applications including catalysis. However, the impact the morphology differences have must be unambiguously ascertained before they can be used in practical applications. For this to be achieved there needs to be a simple and efficient fabrication process that can create arrays of nanoscale metal rings or dots for study.

Won Bae Kim and team, from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, report such a method in their new ChemComm paper. They make use of the powerful transfer printing technique, but importantly have created suitable stamps that can generate ring or dot arrays. These stamps use one dimensional carbon nanostructures that are supported within the hexagonal pores of anodic aluminium oxide, the tip shapes being controlled by ion milling conditions. After loading with a suitable catalytic metal they are then used in transfer printing onto indium tin oxide substrates.

SEM images of nanoring and nanodot stamps showing the supported one dimensional carbon structures within the AAO pores.

The team demonstrate the catalytic ability of the printed metal ring and dot arrays by studying methanol oxidation in acidic solution with platinum structures and carbon monoxide electrooxidation in alkaline solution with gold structures. With this approach they were able to study the effect of morphology on the catalytic activity – to find out which was better, rings or dots, you will have to read the ChemComm article today!

To read the details for free* check out the Chem Comm article in full:

Transfer printing of metal nanoring and nanodot arrays for use in catalytic reactions

Sang Ho Lee, Sung Mook Choi, Seungha Yoon, Huisu Jeong, Gun Young Jung, Beong Ki Cho and Won Bae Kim

DOI: 10.1039/C4CC02939A

*Access is free untill Friday 4th July through a registered RSC account – click here to register

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Top 25 most downloaded ChemComm articles Jan–Mar 2014

28 May 2014

By Bethany Johnson.

Read on to find out which ChemComm articles your colleagues were downloading most in the first quarter of 2014

Nanoporous metal formates for krypton/xenon separation
Keith V. Lawler, Zeric Hulvey and Paul M. Forster
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC44374D

MoS₂–MWCNT hybrids as a superior anode in lithium-ion batteries
Kartick Bindumadhavan, Suneel Kumar Srivastava and Sourindra Mahanty
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC38598A

Fe-Catalysed oxidative C–H/N–H coupling between aldehydes and simple amides
Jing Wang, Chao Liu, Jiwen Yuan and Aiwen Lei
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC01447B

Kinetic trapping of the host–guest association intermediate and its transformation into a thermodynamic inclusion complex
Oksana Danylyuk, Vladimir P. Fedin and Volodymyr Sashuk
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC37868C

A turn-on fluorescent Fe³⁺ sensor derived from an anthracene-bearing bisdiene macrocycle and its intracellular imaging application
Lin Qiu, Chengcheng Zhu, Huachao Chen, Ming Hu, Weijiang He and Zijian Guo
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC49482A

A one-step low temperature processing route for organolead halide perovskite solar cells
Matthew J. Carnie, Cecile Charbonneau, Matthew L. Davies, Joel Troughton, Trystan M. Watson, Konrad Wojciechowski, Henry Snaith and David A. Worsley
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC44177F

Preparation of conjugated 1,3-enynes by Rh(III)-catalysed alkynylation of alkenes via C–H activation
Karl D. Collins, Fabian Lied and Frank Glorius
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC01141D

A robust, catalytic metal–organic framework with open 2,2′-bipyridine sites
Honghan Fei and Seth M. Cohen
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC01607F

Copper-catalysed oxidative C–H/C–H coupling between olefins and simple ethers
Dong Liu, Chao Liu, Heng Li and Aiwen Lei
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC00867G

Graphene quantum dots: emergent nanolights for bioimaging, sensors, catalysis and photovoltaic devices
Jianhua Shen, Yihua Zhu, Xiaoling Yang and Chunzhong Li
DOI: 10.1039/C2CC00110A

Flexible, low-temperature, solution processed ZnO-based perovskite solid state solar cells
Mulmudi Hemant Kumar, Natalia Yantara, Sabba Dharani, Michael Graetzel, Subodh Mhaisalkar, Pablo P. Boix and Nripan Mathews
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC46534A

A sensitive colorimetric and fluorescent sensor based on imidazolium-functionalized squaraines for the detection of GTP and alkaline phosphatase in aqueous solution
Ningjie Wu, Jingbo Lan, Lipeng Yan and Jingsong You
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC00752B

Copper-mediated S–N formation via an oxygen-activated radical process: a new synthesis method for sulfonamides
Xin Huang, Jichao Wang, Zhangqin Ni, Sichang Wang and Yuanjiang Pan
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC01353K

Optical bleaching of perovskite (CH₃NH₃)PbI₃ through room-temperature phase transformation induced by ammonia
Yixin Zhao and Kai Zhu
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC48522F

Direct N-acylation of azoles via a metal-free catalyzed oxidative cross-coupling strategy
Jingjing Zhao, Pan Li, Chungu Xia and Fuwei Li
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC01587H

“Click”-extended nitrogen-rich metal–organic frameworks and their high performance in CO₂-selective capture
Pei-Zhou Li, Xiao-Jun Wang, Kang Zhang, Anjaiah Nalaparaju, Ruyi Zou, Ruqiang Zou, Jianwen Jiang and Yanli Zhao
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC49457H

Efficient photocatalytic hydrogen generation from water by a cationic cobalt(II) porphyrin
Mirco Natali, Alessandra Luisa, Elisabetta Iengo and Franco Scandola
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC48882A

ZnCl2-catalyzed chemoselective cascade reactions of enaminones with 2-furylcarbinols: a versatile process for the synthesis of cyclopenta[b]pyrrole derivatives
Chengyu Wang, Chunyi Dong, Lingkai Kong, Yanli Li and Yanzhong Li
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC49191A

Manganese-catalyzed intermolecular C–H/C–H coupling of carbonyls and heteroarenes
Keika Hattori, Asraa Ziadi, Kenichiro Itami and Junichiro Yamaguchi
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC01376J

A copper(I)/copper(II)–salen coordination polymer as a bimetallic catalyst for three-component Strecker reactions and degradation of organic dyes
Yun-Long Hou, Raymond Wai-Yin Sun, Xiao-Ping Zhou, Jun-Hao Wang and Dan Li
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC47996J

Aerobic oxidation catalysis with stable radicals
Qun Cao, Laura M. Dornan, Luke Rogan, N. Louise Hughes and Mark J. Muldoon
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC47081D

Reduction of graphene oxide viaL-ascorbic acid
Jiali Zhang, Haijun Yang, Guangxia Shen, Ping Cheng, Jingyan Zhang and Shouwu Guo
DOI: 10.1039/B917705A

Versatile ruthenium(II)-catalyzed C–H cyanations of benzamides
Weiping Liu and Lutz Ackermann
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC49502G

Revealing the metal-like behavior of iodine: an iodide-catalysed radical oxidative alkenylation
Shan Tang, Yong Wu, Wenqing Liao, Ruopeng Bai, Chao Liu and Aiwen Lei
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC00644E

Iodine-catalyzed three-component oxysulfenylation of alkenes with sulfonyl hydrazides and alcohols
Fu-Lai Yang, Fu-Xiang Wang, Ting-Ting Wang, Yi-Jie Wang and Shi-Kai Tian
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC48961B

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International Symposia on Advancing the Chemical Sciences 7-10 August 2014

16 May 2014

By Liz Bowley.

Don’t miss your chance to showcase your work – there are only 2 weeks left until the poster abstract deadline

ISACS 14 Challenges in Organic Chemistry will bring together world leading experts in the field of organic chemistry and synthesis.

The best contribution will be awarded a fantastic prize from Chemistry World so don’t delay, be sure to submit your poster abstract by 2 June 2014.

Themes for the ISACS 14, Shanghai China are:

Organic and metal based catalysis

Total Synthesis

New Synthetic methodologies

Physical organic chemistry

Bioorganic and medicinal chemistry

For more information on how to submit your poster abstract please visit our conferences and events homepage.

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Erwin Reisner 2014 RSC Award winner

15 May 2014

By Liz Bowley.

Please join us in congratulating Erwin Reisner on his achievement

Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize

ChemComm Advisory Board member Erwin Reisner is a Harrison-Meldona Memorial Prize winner. Erwin was awarded this prize for his work in combining molecular synthesis, chemical biology and materials chemistry to develop artificial photosynthesis.

Erwin’s communication ‘Al-doped ZnO inverse opal networks as efficient electron collectors in BiVO₄ photoanodes for solar water oxidation’ (C3EE44031A) is part of the ‘Celebrating the 2014 RCS Prize and Award Winners’ themed collection and is free* to access for a limited time only.

You can access papers by other 2014 RSC Prize and Award Winners for free* for a limited time. A full list of winners and more information about RSC Prizes and Awards can be found at: www.rsc.org/awards.

*Access is free until 06.06.14 through a registered RSC account – click here to register

Erwin recent tutorial review describes an emerging technique which allows for the light-dependent activity of Photosystem II adsorbed onto an electrode surface to be studied. This fascinating review can be accessed by clicking the link below.

Protein film photoelectrochemistry of the water oxidation enzyme photosystem II
Masaru Kato,Jenny Z. Zhang, Nicholas Paul and Erwin Reisner
DOI: 10.1039/C4CS00031E

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Congratulations to the Poster Prize winners at the Spring 2014 RSC Carbohydrate Group Meeting!

13 May 2014

By Bethany Johnson.

The Royal Society of Chemistry Carbohydrate Group held a successful meeting at the University of Bath from Wednesday 30 April–Thursday 1 May.

Three of our journals – ChemComm, Chemical Science and Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry – were delighted to sponsor a poster prize each and we would like to join in congratulating the winners. Jerry Turnbull, Chair of the RSC Carbohydrate Group, presented the prizes as follows:

ChemComm Poster Prize
‘Lactose as a ‘Trojan Horse’ for QD Cell Transport’
David Benito-Alifonso
University of Bristol

Chemical Science Poster Prize
‘The Biosynthesis of and Synthetic Approaches to Double C-glycosides’
Kevin Mahone
University of St. Andrews

Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry Poster Prize
‘L-glucose and D-idose from D-glucose’
Zilei Liu
Oxford University

Left to Right: David Benito-Alifonso; Kevin Mahoney; Zilei Liu; Jerry Turnbull

For more details about the meeting, visit the RSC Carbohydrate 2014 website.

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Betaine Bistriflimide: F-block chemistry enabled by a stabilizing Ionic Liquid

08 May 2014

By Kevin Murnaghan, web writer.

Kevin Murnaghan is a guest web-writer for Chemical Communications. He is currently a Research Chemist in the Adhesive Technologies Business Sector of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, based in Düsseldorf, Germany. His research interests focus primarily on enabling chemistries and technologies for next generation adhesives and surface treatments. Any views expressed here are his personal ones and not those of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA.

Due to their low volatility, favourable solvent properties and tunable phase behaviour, ionic liquid (IL) technology continues to attract interest in a wide variety of applications. Over the last few decades, the term ‘task specific ionic liquid’ (TSIL) has appeared, the meaning of which is that the application has been considered more carefully in the design and structure of one or both of the constituent IL ions.

In this ChemComm communciation, researchers from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, USA, describe advances in the application of ILs in the area of nuclear fuel reprocessing. The authors describe how neptunium may exist in solution in +III, +IV, +V and + VI oxidation states. The pentavalent state is the most stable and common, but interestingly, usually the most reluctant to coordinate with ligands, or take part in ion exchange processes.

Ionic liquid molecular structure and stabilizing behaviour towards Np(V) in aqueous solution

In aqeuous solution, in the presence of the ionic liquid betaine bistriflimide, the lifetime of the Np(IV) solution species is significantly increased. This is followed by the presence of a characteristic electronic adsorption at 970nm. Without the IL, an anti-oxidant is required to keep the metal from converting to its +V form. Np(V) has a rich and complex coordination chemistry at room temperature, so the authors repeated experiments with sources of Np(V) at 60^oC. After 3 days, 90% of the starting neptunium compound had been converted to the betaine complexed form, compared with a 15% conversion at room temperature. Again the material was stable in solution, not resulting in Np(IV) species unless a reducing agent such as hydrazine was deliberately added.

With this detailed study, the authors significantly add to the body of knowledge of competitive coordination chemistry of actinides in aqueous solutions of ionic liquids. This should, in turn, enable new separation technology R&D for the important task of nuclear fuel reprocessing.

Read this ChemComm communication for free* today!

Unusual redox stability of neptunium in the ionic liquid [Hbet][Tf₂N]
Kristy Long, George Goff and Wolfgang Runde
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC01835D

*Access is free untill Friday 6th June through a registered RSC account – click here to register

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Hot ChemComm articles for May

06 May 2014

By Bethany Johnson.

All of the referee-recommended articles below are free to access until 2nd June 2014

Surprising acidity of hydrated lithium cations in organic solvents
Haiqiang Deng, Pekka Peljo, T. Jane Stockmann, Liang Qiao, Tuomas Vainikka, Kyösti Kontturi, Marcin Opallo and Hubert H. Girault
Chem. Commun., 2014,50, 5554-5557
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC01892C, Communication

In situ generation of sulfoxides with predetermined chirality via a structural template with a chiral-at-metal ruthenium complex
Zheng-Zheng Li, Su-Yang Yao, Jin-Ji Wu and Bao-Hui Ye
Chem. Commun., 2014,50, 5644-5647
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC01907E, Communication

A triple-channel lab-on-a-molecule for triple-anion quantification using an iridium(III)–imidazolium conjugate
Kun Chen and Michael Schmittel
Chem. Commun., 2014,50, 5756-5759
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC01421A, Communication

A bromine-radical mediated three-component reaction comprising allenes, electron-deficient alkenes and allyl bromides: facile synthesis of 2-bromo-1,7-dienes
Takashi Kippo and Ilhyong Ryu
Chem. Commun., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC01597E, Communication

Photocatalytic CO2 reduction using a molecular cobalt complex deposited on TiO2 nanoparticles
Tong Jin, Chao Liu and Gonghu Li
Chem. Commun., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC00503A, Communication

Simulation of the self-assembly of simple molecular bricks into Sierpiński triangles
Pawel Szabelski and Damian Nieckarz
Chem. Commun., 2014, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC01344A, Communication
From themed collection Systems Chemistry

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ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2014: Winners announced

06 May 2014

By Jane Hordern, Deputy Editor.

On behalf of the ChemComm Editorial Board we are delighted to announce the winners of the ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2014.

To mark the 50th volume of ChemComm we have awarded three Lectureships this year. The 2014 winners are: Xinliang Feng, Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research (advanced organic materials), Tomislav Friščić, McGill University (organic chemistry) and Simon M. Humphrey, University of Texas (inorganic chemistry). Congratulations to the winners!

This annual lectureship recognises an emerging scientist in the early stages of their independent academic career. Further details of the Lectureship tours, including lecture locations, will be announced in due course. For information on previous winners see our website.

Also of interest: You can now read the 2014 Emerging Investigators Issue – which highlights research from outstanding up-and-coming scientists. There are a mix of Feature Articles and Communications, as well as an Editorial showcasing the authors – which includes some fun photos… look out for a giant pumpkin and R2D2!

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ChemComm Emerging Investigators Issue 2014

02 May 2014

By Jane Hordern, Deputy Editor.

We are delighted to announce the publication of the 2014 ChemComm Emerging Investigators issue.

Now in its fourth year, we have been overwhelmed by the community’s positive response to this issue. It showcases up-and-coming scientists who are internationally recognised for making outstanding contributions to their respective fields.

There are a mix of Feature Articles and Communications, as well as an Editorial showcasing the authors – which includes some fun photos… look out for a giant pumpkin and R2D2! You can also take a look at our previous issues in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

View the whole Emerging Investigators collection today.

We invite you to submit your next communication article to ChemComm.

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Stabilising a crystalline polymorph

24 Apr 2014

By Liz Bowley.

A ChemComm article by Anna Schenk and colleagues from the University of Leeds was selected as Editors choice for literature highlights in science magazine…

The mineral system CaCO₃ has three crystalline polymorphs, vaterite being the thermodynamically least-stable form. Vaterite does not appear geologically, is rare as a biomineral and single crystal vaterite is particularly rare. The micrometer-sized spicules of the ascidian Herdmania momus – also known as sea squirts – has been studied in detail, showing that the spicules are single crystals of vaterite. Schenk and colleagues, at the University of Leeds, explore the processes used by organisms to generate single crystals of vaterite.

Selected as Editors choice for literature highlights in science magazine, this communication explores the possibility that organisms use the confinement intrinsic to biomineralisation processes to generate single crystals of vaterite. CaCO₃was precipitated within the pores of track-etched membranes in the absence of additives. The membranes were purchased from different sources, Millipore and Sterlitech. Each membrane produced different results. Precipitation of CaCO₃with the Millipore membrane led to the formation of a high yield of intra-membrane particles exhibiting rod-like morphologies. Structural investigation confirmed that vaterite was the major polymorph. In contrast, the Sterlitech membranes yielded very little intra-membrane material under the same reaction conditions. The authors suggest that the differences in CaCO₃precipitation within the two different membranes must originate from variations in the environments offered by the different membrane pores. These results demonstrate that subtle changes in microenvironment can have significant effects of polymorph production. For example the selectively of vaterite over the more stable polymorph calcite, achieved in this research, is likely to derive from the contrasting nucleation environments provided within the pores.

To read the full article for free* click the link below:

Confinement stabilises single crystal vaterite rods

Anna S. Schenk, Eduardo J. Albarracin, Yi-Yeoun Kim, Johannes Ihli and Fiona C. Meldrum
DOI: 10.1039/C4CC01093K

*Access is free until the 23^rd May 2014 through a registered RSC account – click here to register

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Chemical Communications Blog

Printable Nanoscale Catalysts with Controlled Nano-morphologies

International Symposia on Advancing the Chemical Sciences 7-10 August 2014

Erwin Reisner 2014 RSC Award winner

Congratulations to the Poster Prize winners at the Spring 2014 RSC Carbohydrate Group Meeting!

Betaine Bistriflimide: F-block chemistry enabled by a stabilizing Ionic Liquid

Hot ChemComm articles for May

ChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2014: Winners announced

ChemComm Emerging Investigators Issue 2014

Stabilising a crystalline polymorph

Confinement stabilises single crystal vaterite rods

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