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.

Hydrogen evolution reaction between small-sized Zr_(n)(n=2–5)clusters and water based on density functional theory

Density functional theory(DFT)is used to calculate the most stable structures of Zr_(n)(n=2-5)clusters as well as the adsorption energy values of Zr_(n)(n=2-5)clusters after adsorbing single water molecule.The results reveal that there is a significant linear relationship between the adsorption energy values and the energy gaps of the Zr_(n)(n=2-5)clusters.Furthermore,the calculations of the reaction paths between Zr_(n)(n=2-5)and single water molecule show that water molecule can react with Zr_(n)(n=2-5)clusters to dissociate,producing hydrogen,and O atoms mix with the clusters to generate Zr_(n)O(n=2-5),all of which are exothermic reactions.According to the released energy,the Zr4 cluster is the most efficient in Zr_(n)(n=2-5)clusters reacting with single water molecule.The natural population analysis(NPA)and density of states(DOS)demonstrate the production of hydrogen and orbital properties in different energy ranges,respectively,jointly forecasting that Zr_(n)O(n=2-5)will probably continue to react with more water molecules.Our findings contribute to better understanding of Zr's chemical reactivity,which can conduce to the development of effective Zr-based catalysts and hydrogen-production methods.

Direct atomic-level insight into oxygen reduction reaction on size-dependent Pt-based electrocatalysts from density functional theory calculations

Developing novel oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)catalysts with high activity is urgent for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.Herein,we investigated a group of size-dependent Pt-based catalysts as promising ORR catalysts by density functional theory calculations,ranging from single-atom,nanocluster to bulk Pt catalysts.The results showed that the ORR overpotential of these Pt-based catalysts increased when its size enlarged to the nanoparticle scale or reduced to the single-atom scale,and the Pt_(38)cluster had the lowest ORR overpotential(0.46 V)compared with that of Pt_(111)(0.57 V)and single atom Pt(0.7 V).Moreover,we established a volcano curve relationship between the ORR overpotential and binding energy of O*(ΔE_(O*),confirming the intermediate species anchored on Pt38cluster with suitable binding energy located at top of volcano curve.The interaction between intermediate species and Pt-based catalysts were also investigated by the charge distribution and projected density of state and which further confirmed the results of volcano curve.

The action mechanisms and structures designs of F-containing functional materials for high performance oxygen electrocatalysis

Non-renewable fossil fuels have led to serious problems such as global warming,environmental pollution,etc.Oxygen electrocatalysis including oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and oxygen evolution reaction(OER)plays a central role in clean energy conversion,enabling a number of sustainable processes for future air battery technologies.Fluorine,as the most electronegative element(4.0)not only can induce more efficient regulation for the electronic structure,but also can bring more abundant defects and other novel effects in materials selection and preparation for favorable catalysis with respect to the other nonmetal elements.However,an individual and comprehensive overview of fluorine-containing functional materials for oxygen electrocatalysis field is still blank.Therefore,it is very meaningful to review the recent progresses of fluorine-containing oxygen electrocatalysts.In this review,we first systematically summarize the controllable preparation methods and their possible development directions based on fluorine-containing materials from four preparation methods.Due to the strong electron-withdrawing properties of fluorine,its control of the electronic structure can effectively enhance the oxygen electrocatalytic activity of the materials.In addition,the catalytic enhancement effect of fluorine on carbonbased materials also includes the prevent oxidation and the layer peeling,and realizes the precise atomic control.And the catalytic improvement mechanism of fluorine containing metal-based compounds also includes the hydration of metal site,the crystal transformation,and the oxygen vacancy induction.Then,based on their various dimensions(0D–3D),we also have summarized the advantages of different morphologies on oxygen electrocatalytic performances.Finally,the prospects and possible future researching direction of F-containing oxygen electrocatalysts are presented(e.g.,novel pathways,advanced methods for measurement and simulation,field assistance and multi-functions).The review is considered valuable and helpful in exploring the novel designs and mechanism analyses of advanced fluorine-containing electrocatalysts.

Oxygen Atom Transfer Reaction of Manganese-oxo Corrole toward Dimethyl Sulfide: a Density Functional Study

The effects of axial ligand on the oxygen atom transfer(OAT)reaction from 5,10,15-tris(pentafluorophenyl)corrole((tpfc)MnVO)to dimethyl sulfide(DMS)have been investigated by density functional theory(DFT)calculations.Imidazole(Im),4-methylimidazole(4-MI)and pyridine(Py)were selected as the axial ligands.The results revealed that the axial ligand can form coordinate bond with(tpfc)MnVO in the transition state(TS)of the OAT reaction.The axial coordination favored charge transferring from(tpfc)MnVO to DMS,and weakened the Mn≡O bond in both singlet and triplet states.Furthermore,axial coordination can reduce the energy barrier of neutral(tpfc)MnVO from 23.62 kJ·mol^-1 to less than 3 kJ·mol^-1 in the triplet state,which is significantly lower than in the singlet state.This makes(tpfc)MnVO tend to direct the OAT reaction via triplet state pathway.On the other hand,the energy barriers of[(tpfc)MnVIO]+species from disproportionation pathway increased from 1.26 to 33.95 kJ·mol^-1 in a doublet state.This suggests axial ligands were conducive for direct(tpfc)MnVO OAT reaction pathway.

Addition Reaction of Fe(CO)_n (n = 3～5) on Fullerene C_(50), C_(60), and C_(70): A Density Functional Theory Study

The electronic structure and reactivities of Fe（CO）n （n = 3~5） addition to different fullerenes have been investigated through the first-principles calculations, and the results indicate that Fe（CO）3 and Fe（CO）4 can be adsorbed to the outside network of fullerene via hollow and bridge sites, respectively. Both of them have larger binding energy, but when Fe（CO）5 is adsorbed via the top site, the binding energy is relatively smaller. According to the directional curvature theory, the reactivities of Fe（CO）3 addition to the fullerenes are determined by KM of the ring center, and those of Fe（CO）4 addition by KD of the C–C bond curvature; while for Fe（CO）5, it presents weak reactivities in the addition reaction because of the larger volume effect. No matter whether the addition reaction takes place on the hollow or bridge site, the binding energies show a linear relationship with KD. This work further enriched the directional curvature theory and applied the isolobel analogy theory in the fullerene addition reactions.

Shock-induced reaction behaviors of functionally graded reactive material

In this paper,the ballistic impact experiments,including impact test chamber and impact double-spaced plates,were conducted to study the reaction behaviors of a novel functionally graded reactive material(FGRM),which was composed of polytetrafluoroethylene/aluminum(PTFE/Al)and PTFE/Al/bismuth trioxide(Bi_(2)O_(3)).The experiments showed that the impact direction of the FGRM had a significant effect on the reaction.With the same impact velocity,when the first impact material was PTFE/Al/Bi_(2)O_(3),compared with first impact material PTFE/Al,the FGRM induced higher overpressure in the test chamber and larger damaged area of double-spaced plates.The theoretical model,which considered the shock wave generation and propagation,the effect of the shock wave on reaction efficiency,and penetration behaviors,was developed to analyze the reaction behaviors of the FGRM.The model predicted first impact material of the FGRM with a higher shock impedance was conducive to the reaction of reactive materials.The conclusion of this study provides significant information about the design and application of reactive materials.

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.

Adsorption and Reaction of CN +O→OCN on Cu(100) Surface: A Density Functional Theory Study

The adsorption and reaction of O ＋ CN → OCN on Cu（100） are studied by using density functional theory and cluster model. Cu14 cluster model is used to simulate the surface. The calculated results show that the OCN species with the molecule perpendicular to the surface via N atom （N-down） is more favorable than other adsorption models, and the N-down at the bridge site is the most favorable. For N-down, calculated OCN symmetric and asymmetric stretching frequencies are all blue-shifted compared with the calculated values of free and in good agreement with the experiments. The charge transfer from the surface to the OCN species leads to that the bonding of OCN to the metal surface is largely ionic. The present studies also show that CN with the molecule perpendicular to the surface via C atom （NC-down） at the top site is the most stable. Except NC-down at the top site, the calculated CN stretching frequencies are all red-shifted. With O coadsorbed at the hollow site, the adsorption of NC-down at the next nearest bridge or top site is energetically more favorable than that at the adjacent hollow site. The reaction of O ＋ CN → OCN on Cu（100） has no energy barrier via both Eley-Rideal and Langmuir-Hinshelwood processes.

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.

Branched Polyamines Functionalized with Proposed Reaction Pathways Based on ¹H-NMR, Atomic Absorption and IR Spectroscopies

Three novel branched polyamines N,N,N’,N’-tetrakis-[3((pyridine-2-methyl)-amine) propyl]-1,4- butanediamine (1), N,N,N’,N’-tetrakis-[N-((2-methylpyridine)ethyl)propanamide]ethylenediamine (2) and N,N,N’,N’-tetrakis-[3((2-hidroxibenziliden)-amine)propyl]-1,4-butanediamine (3), were synthesized starting from 2-pyridinecarboxaldeyde with DAB-Am-4 for 1, PAMAM G0 for 2 and from salicylaldehyde with DAB-Am-4 for 3. The pathway reactions have been proposed by 1H-NMR, IR and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. The optimal reaction time was set by IR spectroscopy following aldehyde? peak modification. 1 and 2 were obtained as both hydrochlorides and as free amines and 3 only as free imine. These polyamines were characterized by UV-Vis, IR, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR and Mass Spectrometry.

Changes in brain activation patterns according to cross-training effect in serial reaction time task An functional MRI study

Cross-training is a phenomenon related to motor learning, where motor performance of the untrained limb shows improvement in strength and skill execution following unilateral training of the homologous contralateral limb. We used functional MRI to investigate whether motor performance of the untrained limb could be improved using a serial reaction time task according to motor sequential learning of the trained limb, and whether these skill acquisitions led to changes in brain activation patterns. We recruited 20 right-handed healthy subjects, who were randomly allocated into training and control groups. The training group was trained in performance of a serial reaction time task using their non-dominant left hand, 40 minutes per day, for 10 days, over a period of 2 weeks. The control group did not receive training. Measurements of response time and percentile of response accuracy were performed twice during pre- and post-training, while brain functional MRI was scanned during performance of the serial reaction time task using the untrained right hand. In the training group, prominent changes in response time and percentile of response accuracy were observed in both the untrained right hand and the trained left hand between pre- and post-training. The control group showed no significant changes in the untrained hand between pre- and post-training. In the training group, the activated volume of the cortical areas related to motor function （i.e., primary motor cortex, premotor area, posterior parietal cortex） showed a gradual decrease, and enhanced cerebellar activation of the vermis and the newly activated ipsilateral dentate nucleus were observed during performance of the serial reaction time task using the untrained right hand, accompanied by the cross-motor learning effect. However, no significant changes were observed in the control group. Our findings indicate that motor skills learned over the 2-week training using the trained limb were transferred to the opposite homologous limb, and motor skill acquisition of the untrained limb led to changes in brain activation patterns in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum.

Poly (N-Isopropyl Acrylamide-<i>Co</i>-Vanillin Acrylate) Dual Responsive Functional Copolymers for Grafting Biomolecules by Schiff’s Base Click Reaction

This article reports on the synthesis of acrylate monomer from renewable material. Vanillin was selected to be the start material to produce new monomer called vanillin acrylate and abbreviated by (VA). It has been successfully investigated by 1H, 13C NMR, IR and UV and all results were in logic state. The next step was to synthetize three different thermo-responsive functional copolymers by incorporation of three different molar ratios of vanillin acrylate (10, 20, 30 mol%) with N-Isopropylacrylamide via free radical polymerization by AIBN as initiator in solution. All copolymers were deduced by 1NMR and IR and all showed the presence of aldehyde group. The copolymer was used for grafting of tryptophan and β-alanine through the chemical link between amino group and the active aldehyde group by click reactions to form Schiff’s base imine compounds. Moreover, polymers were also elucidated by 1HNMR, IR and UV, Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC) was used for the molecular weight determination, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) for glass temperature of solid polymers, XRD for crystallinity. UV-vis Spectroscopy was used for the determination of phase separation or the lower critical solution temperature (Tc) of polymers solution not only in deionized water but in pH5 and pH11. The mount of conversation and linked amino acid was determined by UV-vis Spectroscopy.

SYNTHESIS OF FUNCTIONAL MACROMOLECULE INTERMEDIATE THROUGH COUPLING REACTION CATALYZED BY [bmim]Cl/FeCl_3 IONIC LIQUID

To obtain new functional aromatic polymer material, 3,3’-biacenaphthene, which is used as macromolecule intermediate of function aromatic polymer material, was synthesized through the coupling reaction of acenaphthene catalyzing by ionic liquid ([bmim]Cl/FeCl3) at mild reaction condition. Pure 3,3’-biacenaphthene was obtained by recrystalling and column chromatography from the reaction mixture and was determined by GC/MS, 1HNMR and FTIR analysis. The influence of various reaction conditions on the yield of 3,3’-biacenaphthene were studied by GC analysis. The result shows that the optimum synthesis conditions of the coupling reaction are as following: the molar ratio of FeCl3 to [Bmim]Cl being 3, the mole ratio of FeCl3 in [Bmim]Cl/FeCl3 to acenaphthene being 4, the reaction temperature being 20 ℃, the reaction time being 4h and the solvent of the reaction system being PhNO2. Under those conditions, the yield of the 3,3’-biacenaphthene will be 48.71 % and selectivity of that will be 78.56 %. Further more, [bmim]Cl/FeCl3 has no pollution to environments and can be reused.

ASYMPTOTIC PROPERTIES OF FUNCTIONAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS IN BANACH SPACES

The paper is devoted to the asymptotic properties of functional differential equations in Banach spaces.The criteria of the invariant and attracting sets are obtained.Particularly, the sufficient condition of asymptotic stability of the equilibrium point is given as the system has an equilibrium point.Several examples are also worked out to demonstrate the validity of the results.

Active disturbance rejected predictive functional control for space vehicles with RCS

Reaction control system(RCS) is a powerful and efficient actuator for space vehicles attitude control, which is typically characterized as a pulsed unilateral effector only with two states(off/on). Along with inevitable internal uncertainties and external disturbances in practice, this inherent nonlinear character always hinders space vehicles autopilot from pursuing precise tracking performance. Compared to most of pre-existing methodologies that passively suppress the uncertainties and disturbances, a design based on predictive functional control(PFC) and generalized extended state observer(GESO) is firstly proposed for three-axis RCS control system to actively reject that with no requirement for additional fuel consumption. To obtain a high fidelity predictive model on which the performance of PFC greatly depends, the nonlinear coupling multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) flight dynamics model is parameterized as a state-dependent coefficient form. And based on that, a MIMO PFC algorithm in state space domain for a plant of arbitrary orders is deduced in this paper.The internal uncertainties and external disturbances are lumped as a total disturbance, which is estimated and cancelled timely to further enhance the robustness. The continuous control command synthesised by above controller-rejector tandem is finally modulated by pulse width pulse frequency modulator(PWPF) to on-off signals to meet RCS requirement. The robustness and feasibility of the proposed design are validated by a series of performance comparison simulations with some prominent methods in the presence of significant perturbations and disturbances, as well as measurement noise.

Ultrasmall Pt_(2)Sr alloy nanoparticles as efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and hydrogen evolution in acidic media

Electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)in acidic media are vital for the applications of renewable energy electrolyzers.However,the low mass activity of noble Pt urgently needs to be improved due to the strong binding energetics of oxygen species(*O)with Pt sites.Here we report fine PtxSr alloy(-2 nm)supported on N-doped carb on(NC)pyrolyzing from ZIF-8 as bifunctional electrocatalysts toward ORR and HER in acidic media.The representative Pt_(2)Sr/NC exhibits an onset potential of 0.94 V vs.RHE and half-wave potential of 0.84 V toward ORR,and a low over-potential of 27 mV(10 mA cm^(-2))toward HER,respectively.Significantly,the mass activities of Pt_(2)Sr/NC are 6.2 and 2.6 times higher than that of Pt/C toward ORR(at 0.9 V)and HER(at-30 mV),respectively.Simultaneously,Pt_(2)Sr/NC possesses a retention rate of 90.97%toward acidic ORR after 35000 s of continuous operation.Through density functional theory(DFT)calculations and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis,the incorporation of Sr into Pt forming Pt_(2)Sr alloy redistributes the electronic structures of Pt-Pt bonds,changing the rate-determining step for the ORR on Pt sites from the formation of*OH from*O to the generation of*OOH along with decreasing the energy barrier,which is also confirmed by the downshift of d band center.Meanwhile,the downshift of d band center also leads to the optimization of the adsorption energy(H*)with Pt,significantly improving Pt_(2)Sr/NC toward HER.

Molecule functionalization to facilitate electrocatalytic oxygen reduction on graphdiyne

Chemical doping is verified to be a promising strategy to regulate local electron distribution and further promote the poor intrinsic catalytic activity of graphdiyne.However,the current doping approach still faces problems such as precise doping for creating active sites and the destruction of graphdiyne skeleton calling for high temperature.Here,we achieved charge redistribution on graphdiyne surface through molecule functionalization.A p-type molecule–F4 TCNQ(2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodime thane)was introduced and the site-defined functionalization was accomplished.Theoretical calculations showed that the charge transfer ability is improved and graphdiyne becomes positively charged.The oxygen reduction electrocatalysis was conducted as a proof of principle,where the electronic states of sp hybridized C active site was tuned toward favorable reaction intermediates’adsorption.Such work from both theoretical prediction and experimental validation,found that molecule functionalization is effective to promote the electrocatalytic oxygen reduction,which creates new possibilities for graphdiyne’s applications in different electrochemical reactions.