Regulating the radical intermediates by conjugated units in covalent organic frameworks for optimized lithium ion storage

Organic active units often transform into radical intermediates during the redox processes but exhibit poor cycling stability due to the uncontrollable redox of the radicals. Herein, we report a facile and efficient strategy to modulate the molecular orbital energies, charge transport capacities, and spin electron densities of the active units in covalent organic frameworks(COFs) via regulating the conjugated unit size to optimize the redox activity and stability of the organic radicals. COFs based on different imide conjugated units exhibit tunable discharge voltages, rate performance and cycling stabilities. Detailed characterizations and theoretical calculation reveal that imide radicals are the important active intermediates during the redox processes of these COFs. Specifically, increasing the size of the imide conjugated units could effectively delocalize the radical electrons and improve the stability of the COFs electrodes. This study offers a very effective strategy to modulate the redox chemistry of organic materials for electrochemical energy storage.

FREE RADICAL INTERMEDIATES THEIR POLARIZATION DURING REDOX PROCESSES OF BILE PIGMENTS

The investigation of bile pigments (bilirubin (BR), biliverdin (BV), purpurin (Pu), choletelin (Ch) etc.) by cyclic voltammetry, in-situ rapid scanning thin layer spectroelectrochemistry and ESR spectroscopy indicates that many free radical intermediates and polymers are produced during oxidation and reduction processes.

Palladium-catalyzed carbonylation of activated alkyl halides via radical intermediates

Palladium-catalyzed carbonylation is an efficient approach to prepare carbonyl-containing compounds with high atomic economy in synthetic organic chemistry.However,in comparison with aryl halides,carbonylation of alkyl halides is relatively challenging due to the decreased stability of the palladium intermediates.Carbonylation of activated alkyl halides is even more difficult,as nucleophilic substitution reactions with nucleophiles occur more easily with them.In this article,we summarize and discuss recent achievements in palladium-catalyzed carbonylative reactions of activated alkyl halides.The transformations proceed through radical intermediates which are generated in various manners.Under a relatively high pressure of carbon monoxide,the corresponding aliphatic carboxylic acid derivates were effectively prepared with various nucleophiles as the reaction partners.Besides alcohols,amines and organoboron reagents,four-component reactions in combination with alkenes or alkynes were also developed.Case-by-case reaction mechanisms are discussed as well and a personal outlook has also been provided.

C–F bond functionalizations of trifluoromethyl groups via radical intermediates

Selective functionalization of C-F bonds in trifluoromethyl groups has recently received a growing interest, as it offers atom- and step-economic pathways to access highly valuable mono- and difluoroalkyl-substituted organic molecules using simple and inexpensive trifluoromethyl sources as the starting materials. In this regard, impressive progress has been made on the defluorinative functionalization reactions that proceed via radical intermediates. Nevertheless, it is still a great challenge to precisely control the defluorination process, due to the continuous decrease of the C-F bond strength after the replacement of one or two fluorine atoms with various functionalities. This review article is aimed to provide a brief overview of recently reported methods used to functionalize C-F bonds of CF_(3) groups via radical intermediates. An emphasis is placed on the discussion of mechanistic aspects and synthetic applications.

ESR study of the free radical intermediates formed during the electrolytic process——III. Electrooxidation of substituted anilines

Active free radicals formed by the electrooxidation of substituted anilines RC_6H_4NH_3 (R=H, p-Br, p-Cl, p-I, p-Me, p-COOH, p-MeCO, p-NO_2, m-CO_2H, and m-Cl) are trapped by spin trap 2-methyl-2-nitroso propane (MNP). A multiple ESR signal of the solution containing electrolytic aniline and MNP is identified with the spin adduct of MNP and radical cation 1 by theore- tical simulation of observed spectrum. Furthermore, ESR spectra of para- or meta-substituted anilines give a reasonable explanation about spin adducts of MNP and the cation 2 or 3 by the same method.

PHOTOCHEMICAL[2+2]CYCLOADDITION VIA RADICAL ION INTERMEDIATES.A CIDNP EVIDENCE

The photochemical[2+2]cycloaddition reaction of carbonyl compunds and alkenes was studied by photochemical induced dynamic nuclear spin polarization.

RADICAL POLYMERIZATION OF N, N-DI(2-2'-METHYL-ACRYLOYLOXY-PROPYL)-PARA-TOLUIDINE FUNCTIONAL MONOMER

Functional monomer (MP)_2PT having tertiary aromatic amino group was systhesized from the reaction of N, N-di (2-hydroxypropyl)-p-toluidine with 2-methyl acryloyl chloride. In the presence of organic peroxide, the radical polymerization of (MP)_2PT in toluene took place. The kinetics of (MP)_2PT polymerization and the ESR spectra of LPO-(MP)2PT-MNP systems were determined respectively.

REACTION MECHANISM OF BENZOPHENONE-PHOTOINITIATED CROSSLINKING OF POLYETHYLENE

The radical intermediates, the crosslink microstructures, and the reaction mechanism of benzophenone (BP)-photoinitiated crosslinking of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and model compounds (MD) have been reviewed in detail. The spin-trapping electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra obtained from the LDPE/BP systems with spin-trap agents show that two kinds of polymer radical intermediates are mainly formed: tertiary carbon and secondary carbon radicals. The spin-trapping ESR studies of MD/BP systems give further evidence that photocrosslinking reactions of PE predominantly take place a sites of tertiary carbon, secondary carbon, and especially allylic carbon when available. The high resolution C-13-NMR spectra obtained from LDPE and MD systems show that the crosslink microstructures have H- and Y-type links and that their concentrations are of the same order. The fluorescence, ESR, C-13 and H-1-NMR spectra from the PE and MD systems demonstrate that the main photoreduction product of BP (PPB) is benzpinacol formed by the recombination of two diphenylhydroxymethyl (K-.) radical intermediates. Two new PPB products: an isomer of benzpinacol with quinoid structure, 1-phenylhydroxymethylene-4-diphenylhydroxymethyl-2,5-cyclobexadiene and three kinds of alpha-alkyl-benzhydrols have been detected and identified. These results provide new experimental evidence for elucidating the reaction mechanism in the BP-photoinitiated crosslinking of polyethylene.

Intrinsic chemiluminescence production from the degradation of haloaromatic pollutants during environmentally-friendly advanced oxidation processes:Mechanism,structure-activity relationship and potential applications

The ubiquitous distribution of halogenated aromatic compounds（XAr） coupled with their carcinogenicity has raised public concerns on their potential risks to both human health and the ecosystem. Recently, advanced oxidation processes（AOPs） have been considered as an＂environmentally-friendly＂ technology for the remediation and destruction of such recalcitrant and highly toxic XAr. During our study on the mechanism of metal-independent production of hydroxyl radicals（UOH） by halogenated quinones and H_2O_2, we found, unexpectedly, that an unprecedented UOH-dependent two-step intrinsic chemiluminescene（CL） can be produced by H_2O_2 and tetrachloro-p-benzoquinone, the major carcinogenic metabolite of the widely used wood preservative pentachlorophenol. Further investigations showed that, in all UOH-generating systems, CL can also be produced not only by pentachlorophenol and all other halogenated phenols, but also by all XAr tested. A systematic structure–activity relationship study for all 19 chlorophenolic congeners showed that the CL increased with an increasing number of Cl-substitution in general. More importantly, a relatively good correlation was observed between the formation of quinoid/semiquinone radical intermediates and CL generation. Based on these results, we propose that UOH-dependent formation of quinoid intermediates and electronically excited carbonyl species is responsible for this unusual CL production; and a rapid, sensitive,simple, and effective CL method was developed not only to detect and quantify trace amount of XAr, but also to provide useful information for predicting the toxicity or monitoring real-time degradation kinetics of XAr. These findings may have broad chemical, environmental and biological implications for future studies on halogenated aromatic persistent organic pollutants.