Solvent effects on Diels-Alder reaction in ionic liquids:A reaction density functional study

Extensive experimental studies have been performed on the Diels-Alder(DA)reactions in ionic liquids(ILs),which demonstrate that the IL environment can significantly influence the reaction rates and selectivity.However,the underlying microscopic mechanism remains ambiguous.In this work,the multiscale reaction density functional theory is applied to explore the effect of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate([BMIM][PF_(6)])solvent on the reaction of cyclopentadiene(CP)with acrolein,methyl acrylate,or acrylonitrile.By analyzing the free energy landscape during the reaction,it is found that the polarization effect has a relatively small influence,while the solvation effect makes both the activation free energy and reaction free energy decrease.In addition,the rearrangement of local solvent structure shows that the cation spatial distribution responds more evidently to the reaction than the anion,and this indicates that the cation plays a dominant role in the solvation effect and so as to affect the reaction rates and selectivity of the DA reactions.

Designer uniform Li plating/stripping through lithium–cobalt alloying hierarchical scaffolds for scalable high-performance lithium-metal anodes

Lithium metal anodes are of great interest for advanced high-energy density batteries such as lithiumair, lithium-sulfur and solid-state batteries, due to their low electrode potential and ultra-high theoretical capacity. There are, however, several challenges limiting their practical applications, which include low coulombic efficiency, the uncontrollable growth of dendrites and poor rate capability. Here, a rational design of 3D structured lithium metal anodes comprising of in-situ growth of cobalt-decorated nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes on continuous carbon nanofibers is demonstrated via electrospinning.The porous and free-standing scaffold can enhance the tolerance to stresses resulting from the intrinsic volume change during Li plating/stripping, delivering a significant boost in both charge/discharge rates and stable cycling performance. A binary Co-Li alloying phase was generated at the initial discharge process, creating more active sites for the Li nucleation and uniform deposition. Characterization and density functional theory calculations show that the conductive and uniformly distributed cobalt-decorated carbon nanotubes with hierarchical structure can effectively reduce the local current density and more easily absorb Li atoms, leading to more uniform Li nucleation during plating. The current work presents an advance on scalable and cost-effective strategies for novel electrode materials with 3D hierarchical microstructures and mechanical flexibility for lithium metal anodes.

Recurrent orbital space-occupying lesions:a clinicopathologic study of 253 cases

Objective：To analyze the clinical features,histopathologic classification and frequencies of various types of recurrent orbital space-occupying lesions.Methods：A retrospective study was carried out in 253 consecutive patients with recurrent orbital spaceoccupying lesions treated by surgical excision in the Institute of Orbital Diseases,the General Hospital of the Armed Police Force from January 2009 to December 2010.Results：The patients included 123 males and 130 females aged 2 to 78 years（mean,36.2 years）,and the last recurrence interval after operation ranged from 1 month to 40 years（median,4.75 years）.Of all the cases,159（62.8%）,65（25.7%）,20（7.9%）,8（3.2%） and 1（0.4%） had previously experienced once,twice,three,four and six times of surgeries,respectively.Among them,29（11.5%） cases had recurred 3 times or over,and 37（14.6%） cases got recurrence in 10 or more years postoperatively.Most of the patients with local recurrence presented with various clinical manifestations,while 31（12.3%） cases were symptom-free.Two hundred and thirty-one（91.3%） cases underwent surgical removal of the recurrent orbital lesions,and another 22（8.7%） cases had to receive the exenteration of orbit.Categories of these recurrent orbital lesions after operation were as follows：lacrimal gland tumors,65（25.7%） cases;vasogenic diseases,54（21.3%） cases;neurogenic tumors,42（16.6%） cases;secondary tumors,24（9.5%） cases;orbital inflammation,21（8.3%） cases;myogenic tumors,14（5.5%） cases;fibrous and adipose tumors,12（4.7%） cases;lympho-hematopoietic tumors,7（2.8%） cases;bone or cartilage tumors,7（2.8%） cases;orbital cysts,6（2.4%） cases;and indefinitely differentiated tumor,1（0.4%） case.The 10 top histopathologic diagnoses were lacrimal gland pleomorphic adenoma,hemangiolymphangioma,lacrimal gland adenoid cystic carcinoma,meningioma,inflammatory pseudotumor,neurofibroma,sebaceous gland carcinoma,vascular malformation,rhabdomyosarcoma and hemangioma.Conclusions：The variety of recurrent orbital lesions after operation includes mainly of tumors except for vascular malformation and orbital inflammatory lesions.The lacrimal gland epithelial tumor is most prone to relapse after resection,and early and longer-term postoperative follow-up is needed.

A reaction density functional theory study of solvent effect in the nucleophilic addition reactions in aqueous solution

Whereas the proper choice of reaction solvent constitutes the cornerstone of the green solvent concept,solvent effects on chemical reactions are not mechanistically well understood due to the lack of feasible molecular models.Herein,by taking the case study of nucleophilic addition reaction in aqueous solution,we extend the proposed multiscale reaction density functional theory(RxDFT)method to investigate the intrinsic free energy profile and total free energy profile,and study the solvent effect on the activation and reaction free energy for the nucleophilic addition reactions of hydroxide anion with methanal and carbon dioxide in aqueous solution.The predictions of the free energy profile in aqueous solution for these two nucleophilic addition reactions from RxDFT have a satisfactory agreement with the results from the RISM and MD-FEP simulation.Meanwhile,the solvent effect is successfully addressed by examining the difference of the free energy profile between the gas phase and aqueous phase.In addition,we investigate the solvent effect on the reactions occurred near solid-liquid interfaces.It is shown that the activation free energy is significantly depressed when reaction takes place in the region within 10A distance to the substrate surface owing to the decrease of hydration free energy at the solid-liquid interface.

A reaction density functional theory study of solvent effects on keto-enol tautomerism and isomerization in pyruvic acid

It is important to study the solvent effect on keto-enol tautomerism that has applications in many areas of chemical engineering.In this work,we use a multiscale reaction density functional theory(Rx DFT)to study the keto-enol tautomerism and isomerization of pyruvic acid.The results show that both effects of solvation and water assistance could reduce the reaction barriers.The water molecule participates the reaction as a catalyst to accept/give the protons with forming a hexagonal ring in the transition state.As a result of this temporary and intermediate hexagonal ring,the solute configuration undergoes a small variation during the reaction,giving a diminished contribution to the intrinsic reaction free energy.The solvent distribution shows a local ordering behavior near the solute that also reduces the contribution of solvation effect to the reaction barrier.Water assistance plays a major role in both pre-reaction and postreaction process.In terms of the driving force for the reaction,the effects of both solvation and water assistance are important.

Efficient solar cells based on cosensitizing porphyrin dyes containing a wrapped donor, a wrapped π-framework and a substituted benzothiadiazole unit

Three new porphyrin dyes XW45-XW47 have been synthesized employing a dialkoxy-wrapped phenothiazine donor, a tetraalkoxy-wrapped porphyrin π-framework, a benzothiadiazole(BTD)-based auxiliary acceptor, and an anchoring benzoic acid group. On the basis of our previously reported dye XW36, XW45 was synthesized by introducing a BTD unit to broaden the absorption spectrum, further introducing a hexyl-substituent into the BTD unit afforded XW46, and an additional fluorine atom was introduced to the carboxyphenyl acceptor to afford XW47. As expected, the BTD unit obviously broadens and red-shifts the absorption threshold of XW45-XW47 to ca.750 nm. Dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs) were fabricated based on a cobalt electrolyte using chenodeoxycholic acid(CDCA) as the coadsorbent. Under full sun illumination, XW45 exhibits an efficiency of 9.73%, which is slightly lower than that of 10.19% obtained for the reference dye SM315. By contrast, XW46 and XW47 show higher efficiencies than SM315 owing to the improved anti-aggregation ability associated with the hexyl group on the BTD unit and better ICT effect induced by the fluorine atom on the carboxyphenyl unit. Thus, XW47 exhibits the highest efficiency of 10.41% among the porphyrin dyes. Furthermore, PT-C6 was used as the cosensitizer to improve the light harvesting ability and efficiencies of the cells due to its broad absorption within 350–560 nm. Thus, high efficiencies of 10.32%, 11.38% and 10.90% were achieved for the cosensitized solar cells based on XW45–XW47, respectively, owing to the obviously enhanced photocurrent density(JSC). In addition, under 30% full sun illumination, XW46+PT-C6 exhibits a high efficiency of 13.08%. These results give an effective method for building high performance DSSCs through the cosensitization of porphyrin dyes containing a wrapped donor, a wrapped porphyrin framework and a properly substituted auxiliary benzothiadiazole unit.

Selective and sensitive fluorescence"turn-on"Zn^2+probes based on combination of anthracene,diphenylamine and dipyrrin

Two fluorescence "turn-on" Zn^(2+) probes were developed by introducing an anthracenyl fluorophore through the linkage of a diphenylamino moiety at the 5-position of a dipyrrin moiety.Thus,two compounds with weak fluorescence were designed,synthesized,and employed as CHEF(chelation enhanced fluorescence) type fluorescence "turn-on" Zn^(2+) probes,which exhibit dramatic fluorescence enhancement upon addition of Zn^(2+),showing high sensitivities and impressive detection limits of 13 and12 nM,respectively,better than their analogues containing simple aryl substituents at the 5 positions of a di-or tripyrrin moiety.In addition,both of the probes exhibit good selectivity,short response time of less than 10 s and wide applicable pH ranges.Furthermore,the weak fluorescence nature of the probes was rationalized based on viscosity dependence measurements and theoretical calculations.These results provide further insight into the development of selective and sensitive zinc probes.