Direct ladderization of cyclooctatetraene-containing, processable conjugated ladder polymers from annulated bis-zirconacyclopentadienes.

Conjugated ladder polymers (CLPs) are difficult yet captivating synthetic targets due to their fully unsaturated fused backbones. Inherent challenges associated with their synthesis often lead to low yields, structural defects, and insoluble products. Here a new method to form CLPs is demonstrated, utilizing a high-yielding dimerization of annulated zirconacyclopentadienes to form cyclooctatetraene (COT) monomer units.

Expanded [23]-Helicene with Exceptional Chiroptical Properties via an Iterative Ring-Fusion Strategy.

Expanded helicenes are an emerging class of helical nanocarbons composed of alternating linear and angularly fused rings, which give rise to an internal cavity and a large diameter. The latter is expected to impart exceptional chiroptical properties, but low enantiomerization free energy barriers (Δ) have largely precluded experimental interrogation of this prediction. Here, we report the syntheses of expanded helicenes containing 15, 19, and 23 rings on the inner helical circuit, using two iterations of an Ir-catalyzed, site-selective [2 + 2 + 2] reaction.

High current density electroreduction of CO into formate with tin oxide nanospheres.

In this study, we demonstrate three-dimensional (3D) hollow nanosphere electrocatalysts for CO conversion into formate with excellent H-Cell performance and industrially-relevant current density in a 25 cm membrane electrode assembly electrolyzer device. Varying calcination temperature maximized formate production via optimizing the crystallinity and particle size of the constituent SnO nanoparticles. The best performing SnO nanosphere catalysts contained ~ 7.

Zwitterions Raise the Dielectric Constant of Soft Materials.

Materials exhibiting high dielectric constants (ϵ_{s}) are critical for energy storage and actuators. A successful approach to increase ϵ_{s} is to incorporate polar additives (with high ϵ_{s}) but controlling the resulting dispersion state is difficult. Here, we show that significant ϵ_{s} increases are realized by adding zwitterions, which are small molecules with a cation and an anion separated by covalent bonds.