Birch reduction is a time-proven way to hydrogenate aromatic hydrocarbons (such as benzene), which relies on the reducing power of electrons released from alkali metals into liquid ammonia. We have succeeded to characterize the key intermediates of the Birch reduction process─the solvated electron and dielectron and the benzene radical anion─using cyclic voltammetry and photoelectron spectroscopy, aided by electronic structure calculations. In this way, we not only quantify the electron binding energies of these species, which are decisive for the mechanism of the reaction, but also use Birch reduction as a case study to directly connect the two seemingly unrelated experimental techniques.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jacs.2c09478 | DOI Listing |
Br J Dermatol
January 2025
The School of Translational Medicine, Monash University and Alfred Health, Melbourne VIC, Australia.
Background: Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a group of rare, severe, genetic disorders characterised by persistent skin fragility and open wounds. EB manifests as cutaneous and mucosal blistering, erosions and impaired wound healing.
Objectives: To determine the long-term efficacy, tolerability and safety of Oleogel-S10 (birch bark extract) in dystrophic (DEB) and junctional (JEB) EB in the 24-months open-label phase (OLP) of the EASE study.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada.
One of the key technical challenges before the widespread adoption of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is increasing the durability of the platinum catalyst layer to meet a target of 8000 operating hours with only a 10% loss of performance. Carbon corrosion, one of the primary mechanisms of degradation in fuel cells, has attracted attention from researchers interested in solving the durability problem. As such, the development of catalyst supports to avoid this issue has been a focus in recent years, with interest in hydrophobic supports such as highly graphitized carbons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChemistry
December 2024
Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, UK.
The Zincke reaction and Birch reduction have been one of the few reactions that allow for ring opening of pyridines ever since the discovery of pyridine more than a century ago. This paper presents a new addition to the list of pyridine ring-opening reactions, reductive Zincke reaction, which affords saturated δ-amino ketones. Under the catalysis of a simple rhodium complex, pyridinium salts with diverse substituents are reduced with formic acid, ring-opened with water, transaminated with a secondary amine and further reduced to afford a wide range of δ-amino ketones, including those in which the alkane chain of the ketones is selectively deuterated or fluorinated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
December 2024
Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7050, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.
Subarctic lakes are sentinels of climate change, showing responses in their physical, chemical, and biological properties. However, climate-induced changes in invertebrate diversity and their underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. We explored the relationship between past climate change and taxonomic composition of subfossil cladocerans in a subarctic lake during the last ca.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAngew Chem Int Ed Engl
January 2025
Department of Chemical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur, 741246, India.
An established concept to create radical intermediates is photoexcitation of a catalyst to a higher energy intermediate, subsequently leading to a photoinduced electron transfer (PET) with a reaction partner. The known concept of consecutive photoinduced electron transfer (con-PET) leads to catalytically active species even higher in energy by the uptake of two photons. Generally speaking, increased photon uptake leads to a more potent reductant.
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