Photocatalytic C–H activation and the subtle role of chlorine radical complexation in reactivity

Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 372 (6544) ◽  
pp. 847-852
Author(s):  
Qiaomu Yang ◽  
Yu-Heng Wang ◽  
Yusen Qiao ◽  
Michael Gau ◽  
Patrick J. Carroll ◽  
...  

The functionalization of methane, ethane, and other alkanes derived from fossil fuels is a central goal in the chemical enterprise. Recently, a photocatalytic system comprising [CeIVCl5(OR)]2− [CeIV, cerium(IV); OR, –OCH3 or –OCCl2CH3] was disclosed. The system was reportedly capable of alkane activation by alkoxy radicals (RO•) formed by CeIV–OR bond photolysis. In this work, we present evidence that the reported carbon-hydrogen (C–H) activation of alkanes is instead mediated by the photocatalyst [NEt4]2[CeCl6] (NEt4+, tetraethylammonium), and RO• are not intermediates. Spectroscopic analyses and kinetics were investigated for C–H activation to identify chlorine radical (Cl•) generation as the rate-limiting step. Density functional theory calculations support the formation of [Cl•][alcohol] adducts when alcohols are present, which can manifest a masked RO• character. This result serves as an important cautionary note for interpretation of radical trapping experiments.

Catalysts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 666
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Meng ◽  
Yuyuan Xue ◽  
Chuanmin Ding ◽  
Xiaofeng Gao ◽  
Kan Zhang ◽  
...  

A dimer model Pd2 was established to study the adsorption of CHx (x = 1–4) and CH4 dehydrogenation, as well as syngas formation using density functional theory (DFT) at the atomic level. Meanwhile, insight into understanding the role of the oxygen atom on the partial oxidation of methane (POM) was also calculated based on a trimer model of Pd2O. For the adsorption of CHx, results showed that the presence of an oxygen atom was a disadvantage to the adsorption of CHx (x = 1–3) species. For CH4 dissociation, the process of CH2→CH + H was found to be the rate-limiting step (RSD) on both Pd2 and Pd2O. H2 was formed by the reaction of CH2 + 2H→CH2 + H2. For CO formation, it was primarily formed in the process of CH + O→CHO→CO + H on both the Pd2 and the Pd2O catalyst. Thermodynamic and kinetic calculations revealed that formation and maintainance of the oxygen atom on the Pd surface could promote a POM reaction to achieve high H2 and CO yield and selectivity. Our study provides a helpful understanding of the effect of an adsorbed oxygen atom on a POM reaction with a Pd catalyst.


RSC Advances ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (39) ◽  
pp. 20290-20296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. G. Jiang ◽  
Z. M. Ao ◽  
S. Li ◽  
Z. Wen

The energy barrier of the CO oxidation for the rate limiting step on Al-embedded graphene is only 0.32 eV.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1032
Author(s):  
Anirban Naskar ◽  
Rabi Khanal ◽  
Samrat Choudhury

The electronic structure of a series perovskites ABX3 (A = Cs; B = Ca, Sr, and Ba; X = F, Cl, Br, and I) in the presence and absence of antisite defect XB were systematically investigated based on density-functional-theory calculations. Both cubic and orthorhombic perovskites were considered. It was observed that for certain perovskite compositions and crystal structure, presence of antisite point defect leads to the formation of electronic defect state(s) within the band gap. We showed that both the type of electronic defect states and their individual energy level location within the bandgap can be predicted based on easily available intrinsic properties of the constituent elements, such as the bond-dissociation energy of the B–X and X–X bond, the X–X covalent bond length, and the atomic size of halide (X) as well as structural characteristic such as B–X–B bond angle. Overall, this work provides a science-based generic principle to design the electronic states within the band structure in Cs-based perovskites in presence of point defects such as antisite defect.


2017 ◽  
Vol 72 (12) ◽  
pp. 1131-1138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Aramideh ◽  
Mahmoud Mirzaei ◽  
Ghadamali Khodarahmi ◽  
Oğuz Gülseren

AbstractCancer is one of the major problems for so many people around the world; therefore, dedicating efforts to explore efficient therapeutic methodologies is very important for researchers of life sciences. In this case, nanostructures are expected to be carriers of medicinal compounds for targeted drug design and delivery purposes. Within this work, the graphene (Gr)-functionalised derivatives of capecitabine (CAP), as a representative anticancer, have been studied based on density functional theory calculations. Two different sizes of Gr molecular models have been used for the functionalisation of CAP counterparts, CAP-Gr3 and CAP-Gr5, to explore the effects of Gr-functionalisation on the original properties of CAP. All singular and functionalised molecular models have been optimised and the molecular and atomic scale properties have been evaluated for the optimised structures. Higher formation favourability has been obtained for CAP-Gr5 in comparison with CAP-Gr3 and better structural stability has been obtained in the water-solvated system than the isolated gas-phase system for all models. The CAP-Gr5 model could play a better role of electron transferring in comparison with the CAP-Gr3 model. As a concluding remark, the molecular properties of CAP changed from singular to functionalised models whereas the atomic properties remained almost unchanged, which is expected for a carrier not to use significant perturbations to the original properties of the carried counterpart.


2005 ◽  
Vol 862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayur S. Valipa ◽  
Tamas Bakos ◽  
Eray S. Aydil ◽  
Dimitrios Maroudas

AbstractDevice-quality hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films grown under conditions where the SiH3 radical is the dominant deposition precursor are remarkably smooth, as the SiH3 radical is very mobile and fills surface valleys during its diffusion on the a-Si:H surface. In this paper, we analyze atomic-scale mechanisms of SiH3 diffusion on a-Si:H surfaces based on molecular-dynamics simulations of SiH3 radical impingement on surfaces of a-Si:H films. The computed average activation barrier for radical diffusion on a-Si:H is 0.16 eV. This low barrier is due to the weak adsorption of the radical onto the a-Si:H surface and its migration predominantly through overcoordination defects; this is consistent with our density functional theory calculations on crystalline Si surfaces. The diffusing SiH3 radical incorporates preferentially into valleys on the a-Si:H surface when it transfers an H atom and forms a Si-Si backbond, even in the absence of dangling bonds.


2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-240
Author(s):  
Jun Hu ◽  
Xiao-yong Fan ◽  
Chao-Ming Wang

The absorption and possible reaction paths during corrosion have been systematically identified at the molecular level by us-ing density functional theory calculations. The results show that the co-adsorbed water molecule has a two-fold impact on the corrosive kinetics process. The one is the solvation effect, where water molecule affects the various reactions through ion dipole interaction, without bond fracture and formation. Another is the H-transfer mediator, where the bond of co-adsorbed water molecule breaks and regenerates in order to transfer hydrogen atoms.


RSC Advances ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (103) ◽  
pp. 101216-101225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renan Augusto Pontes Ribeiro ◽  
Sergio Ricardo de Lazaro ◽  
Carlo Gatti

In this study, ab initio density functional theory calculations were performed on ATiO3 (A = Mn, Fe, Ni) materials for multiferroic applications.


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