Electrochemical reduction of NO catalyzed by boron-doped C fullerene: a first-principles study.

The electrochemical reduction of nitrogen monoxide (NO) is one of the most promising approaches for converting this harmful gas into useful chemicals. Using density functional theory calculations, the work examines the potential of a single B atom doped C fullerene (CB) for catalytic reduction of NO molecules. The results demonstrate that the NO may be strongly activated over the B atom of CB, and that the subsequent reduction process can result in the formation of NH and NO molecules at low and high coverages, respectively.

Tuning of chalcogen bonds by cation-π interactions: cooperative and diminutive effects.

The tunability of Y···N chalcogen bond via formation of a cation-π interaction in ternary complexes M(+)-PhYH-NH3, M(+)-PhYH-NCH, and M(+)-PhCCCN-YHF (M = Li, Na; Y = Se, Te) is investigated at MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ computational level. Our results indicate that the strength of Y···N and cation-π interactions in the ternary complexes depends on the role of the aromatic molecule. That is, a cooperative effect is evident if aromatic molecule acts as the Lewis acid and Lewis base, simultaneously, while a diminutive effect is observed when the aromatic molecule acts only as the Lewis base in both Y···N and cation-π interactions.