Phase Engineering of Metastable Transition Metal Dichalcogenides via Ionic Liquid Assisted Synthesis.

Metallic group VIB transition metal dichalcogenides (1T-TMDs) have attracted great interest because of their outstanding performance in electrocatalysis, supercapacitors, batteries, and so on, whereas the strict fabrication conditions and thermodynamical metastability of 1T-TMDs greatly restrict their extensive applications. Therefore, it is significant to obtain stable and high-concentration 1T-TMDs in a simple and large-scale strategy. Herein, we report a facile and large-scale synthesis of high-concentration 1T-TMDs via an ionic liquid (IL) assisted hydrothermal strategy, including 1T-MoS (the obtained MoS sample was denoted as MoS-IL), 1T-WS, 1T-MoSe, and 1T-WSe.

Ionic liquid-hydroxide-mediated low-temperature synthesis of high-entropy perovskite oxide nanoparticles.

High-entropy perovskite oxides (HEPOs) are attracting significant attention due to their unique structures, unprecedented properties and great application potential in many fields, while available synthetic methods have many shortcomings; so it is still a challenge to develop a simple, low-cost and environment-friendly synthetic strategy for HEPOs. Herein, a novel synthetic strategy is reported for HEPOs using an ionic liquid (IL)-hydroxide-mediated technique at a low temperature and normal atmospheric pressure. The synthesized HEPOs, including Ba(FeNbTiZrTa)O, Ba(MnNbTiZrTa)O, Ba(FeSnTiZrTa)O and Ba(FeVTiZrTa)O, exhibit a cubic structure and a dispersed nanoparticle morphology (particle size of 20-60 nm).

Controllable Synthesis of a Loofah-Like Cobalt-Nickel Selenide Network as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

The rational design and construction of noble metal-free electrocatalysts featuring high efficiency and low cost are important for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). A significant development in the synthesis of a loofah-like CoNiSe architecture (expressed as CoNiSe-LN) electrocatalyst on carbon cloth through a three-step method is reported. Both the ionic liquid 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (IL, [CMIm]Ac) and the molar ratio of Co to Ni play a pivotal role in the synthesis of CoNiSe-LN with 3D hierarchical architecture.

Supramolecular Recognition of Three Way Junction DNA by a Cationic Calix[3]carbazole.

DNA three-way junctions (TWJ-DNA) are intermediate structures in DNA replication and/or recombination. They play very important roles in biological processes, but more subtle functions are still unknown due partially to the lack of a fluorescent ligand. In this study, a cationic calix[3]carbazole (2) has been synthesized and its properties of interacting with TWJ-DNA have been evaluated by UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD), gel electrophoresis, and H NMR studies.

Calix[3]carbazole: A C-symmetrical receptor for barium ion.

The binding ability of calix[3]carbazole (1) to metal ions has been investigated. It is found that 1 could serve as a non crown ether based, C-symmetrical receptor for Ba via the marriage of cation-π and cation-dipole interactions. FID assay further illustrates that 1 could selectively interact with Ba over Pd.

Engineering 1,3-Alternate Calixcarbazole for Recognition and Sensing of Bisphenol F in Water.

Herein, we report a carbazolyl tubular macrocycle (3), which possesses a "π-tube" capable of encapsulating and sensing bisphenol F (BPF), which is a toxic industrial material. In this work, the synthesis of 3, its conformation in solution as well as its binding property to BPF have been investigated. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), ultraviolet-visible light (UV-vis), fluorescence spectra, and molecular modeling studies reveal that the "π-tube" of 3 in 1,3-alternate conformation could encapsulate BPF with 1:1 binding stoichiometry in water, with its orthogonal tweezers sandwiching the two phenol units of BPF.

Calix[3]carbazole: One-Step Synthesis and Host-Guest Binding.

The one-step synthetic strategy for the preparation of the hitherto unknown calix[3]carbazole from readily available starting materials is described. Calix[3]carbazole is obtained in 20% yield, and it could selectively bind the N(C2H5)4(+) cation (tetraethylammonium, TEA) via cation-π interactions. The experimental and modeling results indicate that calix[3]carbazole possesses a larger π-cavity as well as a better chromophoric property than the traditional phenol-based macrocycles, and thus is capable of binding to and optically responding to the relatively large guest TEA.