Surface Reconstruction of LaCuO during the Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Ethylene and Its Benefits for Enhanced Performance.

Electrochemical reduction (ECR) of CO to CH has a potential key role in realizing the carbon neutral future, which ultimately relies on the availability of an efficient electrocatalyst that can exhibit a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) for CH production and robust, long-term operational stability. Here, for the first time, we report that upon applying reductive potential and electrolyte to the benchmark LaCuO catalyst, surface reconstruction occurred, i.e.

A lost piece of the puzzle of the alkane cracking mechanism: a carbanion pathway on a solid base catalyst.

The alkane cracking mechanism has been a subject of intense scrutiny, with carbonium and free radical mechanisms being two well-established pathways which correlate to solid acid catalysis and thermal cracking, respectively. However, despite an understanding of these two mechanisms, certain intricacies remain unexplored, especially when it comes to alternative reaction routes over solid base materials. This gap in the knowledge hinders optimization of the desired product selectivity of alkane cracking processes.

From bench to industry, the application of all-inorganic solid base materials in traditional heterogeneous catalysis: a mini review.

Acids and bases generally occur in pairs as concepts, and a large number of catalytic reactions can be considered as interactions between acids and bases. Many chemical reactions are a combination of acid-catalyzed processes and base-catalyzed processes, and thus it is particularly important to study and explain the mechanisms of acid-base synergy or acid-base interactions. However, compared to the in-depth research on acid catalysts, there is a lack of research on solid bases.

Effect of Polymer Removal on the Morphology and Phase of the Nanoparticles in All-Inorganic Heterostructures Synthesized via Two-Step Polymer Infiltration.

Polymer templates play an essential role in the robust infiltration-based synthesis of functional multicomponent heterostructures with controlled structure, porosity, and composition. Such heterostructures are be used as hybrid organic-inorganic composites or as all-inorganic systems once the polymer templates are removed. Using iron oxide/alumina heterostructures formed by two-step infiltration of polystyrene-block-polyvinyl pyridine block copolymer with iron and aluminum precursors from the solution and vapor-phases, respectively, we show that the phase and morphology of iron oxide nanoparticles dramatically depend on the approach used to remove the polymer.

Revealing the Effects of the Non-solvent on the Ligand Shell of Nanoparticles and Their Crystallization.

When nanoparticles (NPs) are assembled from solution, a common assembly method of choice is either solution destabilization or solvent evaporation technique. The destabilization of the NP solution by non-solvents results in the formation of faceted supercrystals (SCs) while periodic film-like assemblies are typically formed by solvent evaporation. Here, we reveal the effect of non-solvents in washing, dispersing, and crystallizing NPs.

XANES/EPR Evidence of the Oxidation of Nickel(II) Quinolinylpropioamide and Its Application in Csp -H Functionalization.

An in situ generated oxidation species of nickel quinolinylpropioamide intermediate was produced. Characterization by X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and EPR provides complementary insights into this oxidized nickel species. With aliphatic amides and isocyanides as substrates, a nickel-catalyzed facile synthesis of structurally diverse five-membered lactams could be achieved.

Pd/Cu-catalyzed dual C-H bond carbonylation towards the synthesis of fluorazones.

Pd/Cu catalyzed oxidative dual C-H bond activation/carbonylation still remains a great challenge due to the generation of by-products via C-C bond formation. Herein we developed a straightforward Pd/Cu-catalyzed oxidative dual C-H bond carbonylation process to access biologically and pharmaceutically important fluorazones from easily available N-aryl pyrroles and CO. A wide range of functional groups were well tolerated in this transformation, and O could be utilized as the only terminal oxidant to promote the oxidative carbonylation process.

(E)-α,β-unsaturated amides from tertiary amines, olefins and CO via Pd/Cu-catalyzed aerobic oxidative N-dealkylation.

A novel Pd/Cu-catalyzed chemoselective aerobic oxidative N-dealkylation/carbonylation reaction has been developed. Tertiary amines are utilized as a "reservoir" of "active" secondary amines in this transformation, which inhibits the formation of undesired by-products and the deactivation of the catalysts. This protocol allows for an efficient and straightforward construction of synthetically useful and bioactive (E)-α,β-unsaturated amide derivatives from easily available tertiary amines, olefins and CO.

Palladium/copper-catalyzed oxidative C-H alkenylation/N-dealkylative carbonylation of tertiary anilines.

C-H/C-N activation: The first palladium/copper-catalyzed aerobic oxidative C-H alkenylation/N-dealkylative carbonylation of tertiary anilines has been developed. Various functional groups were tolerated and acrylic ester could also be suitable substrates. This transformation provided efficient and straightforward synthesis of biologically active 3-methyleneindolin-2-one derivatives from cheap and simple substrates.