Pyridine Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes: Unveiling the Role of External Pyridinic Nitrogen Sites for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Pyridinic nitrogen has been recognized as the primary active site in nitrogen-doped carbon electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which is a critical process in many renewable energy devices. However, the preparation of nitrogen-doped carbon catalysts comprised of exclusively pyridinic nitrogen remains challenging, as well as understanding the precise ORR mechanisms on the catalyst. Herein, a novel process is developed using pyridyne reactive intermediates to functionalize carbon nanotubes (CNTs) exclusively with pyridine rings for ORR electrocatalysis. The relationship between the structure and ORR performance of the prepared materials is studied in combination with density functional theory calculations to probe the ORR mechanism on the catalyst. Pyridinic nitrogen can contribute to a more efficient 4-electron reaction pathway, while high level of pyridyne functionalization result in negative structural effects, such as poor electrical conductivity, reduced surface area, and small pore diameters, that suppressed the ORR performance. This study provides insights into pyridine-doped CNTs-functionalized for the first time via pyridyne intermediates-as applied in the ORR and is expected to serve as valuable inspiration in designing high-performance electrocatalysts for energy applications.

Safety Assessment of Benzyne Generation from a Silyl Triflate Precursor

Silyl triflate precursors to benzyne and related intermediates have emerged as valuable synthetic building blocks. However, data addressing the safety of employing these silyl triflate precursors are lacking. We report the calorimetric analysis of a typical Kobayashi procedure for forming and trapping benzyne using a silyl triflate precursor. Our findings suggest that, unlike benzenediazonium carboxylate precursors to benzyne, silyl triflates may be employed under mild conditions without severe concern for runaway reaction.

The anionic Fries rearrangement: a convenient route to ortho-functionalized aromatics

The scope and mechanism of anionic (hetero-) Fries rearrangements are summarized for various migrating groups and arenes, including applications and computational studies.

N-Doped graphene/C60 covalent hybrid as a new material for energy harvesting applications

N-Doped graphene (N-G) was chemically functionalized by N-alkylation with the well-known electron acceptor C60. The degree of functionalization and the key structural features of the N-G/C60 hybrid were systematically investigated by a number of techniques including thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopies and transmission electron and atomic force microscopies. Absorption and electrochemical studies revealed interactions between the N-G and C60 while the fluorescence of C60 within the hybrid was found to be fully quenched. Evidence for the occurrence of excited state charge transfer from the singlet excited C60 to N-G in the hybrid was obtained from femtosecond transient absorption studies covering the visible-near-IR regions. Electron-pooling experiments performed in the presence of a sacrificial electron donor and a second electron acceptor, methyl viologen, revealed the accumulation of the one-electron reduced product of methyl viologen upon continuous irradiation of the N-G/C60 nanohybrid, thus revealing the utility of this material in photocatalytic energy harvesting applications.

Regioselectivity of the Pauson-Khand reaction in single-walled carbon nanotubes

Chemical functionalization of nanotubes, in which their properties can be combined with those of other classes of materials, is fundamental to improve the physicochemical properties of nanotubes for potential technological applications. In this work, we theoretically and experimentally examine the Pauson-Khand reaction (PKR) on zig-zag, armchair, and chiral single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). Our benchmarked density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that an alternative pathway to the widely accepted Magnus reaction pathway has significantly lower energy barriers, thus suggesting the use of this alternative pathway to predict whether a PKR on SWCNTs is favored or hampered. Accessible energy barriers of up to 16 kcal mol-1 are estimated and our results suggest that semiconducting SWCNTs react faster than metallic ones, although both types can be functionalized. Guided by our theoretical predictions, cyclopentenones are successfully attached to SWCNTs by heating and are, subsequently, characterized in the laboratory.

Microwave-induced covalent functionalization of few-layer graphene with arynes under solvent-free conditions

A non-conventional modification of exfoliated few-layer graphene (FLG) with different arynes under microwave (MW) irradiation and solvent-free conditions is reported. The described approach allows reaching fast, efficient and mild covalent functionalization of FLG.

Palladium-catalyzed cocyclotrimerization of arynes with a pyramidalized alkene

A pyramidalized alkene and diverse arynes are generated in the presence of a Pd-catalyst to afford [2+2+2] cocycloaddition products.

Ultrafast electron transfer in all-carbon-based SWCNT-C60 donor-acceptor nanoensembles connected by poly(phenylene-ethynylene) spacers

Building all-carbon based functional materials for light energy harvesting applications could be a solution to tackle and reduce environmental carbon output. However, development of such all-carbon based donor-acceptor hybrids and demonstration of photoinduced charge separation in such nanohybrids is a challenge since in these hybrids part of the carbon material should act as an electron donating or accepting photosensitizer while the second part should fulfil the role of an electron acceptor or donor. In the present work, we have successfully addressed this issue by synthesizing covalently linked all-carbon-based donor-acceptor nanoensembles using single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as the donor and C60 as the acceptor. The donor-acceptor entities in the nanoensembles were connected by phenylene-ethynylene spacer units to achieve better electronic communication and to vary the distance between the components. These novel SWCNT-C60 nanoensembles have been characterized by a number of techniques, including TGA, FT-IR, Raman, AFM, absorbance and electrochemical methods. The moderate number of fullerene addends present on the side-walls of the nanotubes largely preserved the electronic structure of the nanotubes. The thermodynamic feasibility of charge separation in these nanoensembles was established using spectral and electrochemical data. Finally, occurrence of ultrafast electron transfer from the excited nanotubes in these donor-acceptor nanohybrids has been established by femtosecond transient absorption studies, signifying their utility in building light energy harvesting devices.

A C60-aryne building block: synthesis of a hybrid all-carbon nanostructure

Covalent all-carbon few layer graphene and [60]fullerene conjugates can be easily formed from a versatile [60]fullerene-benzyne building block.

The Covalent Functionalization of Graphene on Substrates

The utilization of grown or deposited graphene on solid substrates offers key benefits for functionalization processes, but especially to attain structures with a high level of control for electronics and "smart" materials. In this review, we will initially focus on the nature and properties of graphene on substrates, based on the method of preparation. We will then analyze the most relevant literature on the functionalization of graphene on substrates. In particular, we will comparatively discuss radical reactions, cycloadditions, halogenations, hydrogenations, and oxidations. We will especially address the question of how the reactivity of graphene is affected by its morphology (i.e., number of layers, defects, substrate, curvature, etc.).

Double-wall carbon nanotube-porphyrin supramolecular hybrid: synthesis and photophysical studies

Double-wall carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) with pyridyl units covalently attached to the external wall through isoxazolino linkers and carboxylic groups that have been esterified by pentyl chains are synthesized. The properties of these modified DWCNTs are then compared with an analogous sample based on single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). Raman spectroscopy shows the presence of characteristic radial breathing mode vibrations, confirming that the samples partly retain the integrity of the nanotubes in the case of DWCNTs, including the internal and external nanotubes. Quantification of the pyridyl content for both samples (DWCNT and SWCNT derivatives) is based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermogravimetric profiles, showing very similar substituent load. Both pyridyl-containing nanotubes (DWCNTs and SWCNTs) form a complex with zinc porphyrin (ZnP), as evidenced by the presence of two isosbestic points in the absorption spectra of the porphyrin upon addition of the pyridyl-functionalized nanotubes. Supramolecular complexes based on pyridyl-substituted DWCNTs and SWCNTs quench the emission and the triplet excited state identically, through an energy-transfer mechanism based on pre-assembly of the ground state. Thus, the presence of the intact inner wall in DWCNTs does not influence the quenching behavior, with respect to SWCNTs, for energy-transfer quenching with excited ZnP. These results sharply contrast with previous ones referring to electron-transfer quenching, in which the double-wall morphology of the nanotubes has been shown to considerably reduce the lifetime of charge separation, owing to faster electron mobility in DWCNTs compared to SWCNTs.

Benzyne cycloaddition onto carbon nanohorns

A facile approach for the covalent functionalization of carbon nanohorns (CNHs) based on the benzyne cycloaddition reaction is presented. The benzynes were in situ generated from either anthranilic acid by decomposition of the internal benzenediazonium-2-carboxylate or from 2-(trimethylsilyl)-phenyl triflate by fluoride ion attack at the silicon atom followed by displacement of the trimethylsilyl group under mild conditions. Moreover, the functionalization reaction was tested and performed under conventional conditions as well as under microwave irradiation. Modified CNHs possessing fused rings onto their graphitic skeleton were fully characterized by means of complementary spectroscopic techniques, thermogravimetric analysis, electron microscopy and light scattering. Moreover, Sonogashira coupling with propargyl alcohol followed by condensation with thioctic acid, to the iodo-modified CNHs obtained from the cycloaddition reaction of 2-amino-5-iodobenzoic acid with CNHs, resulted in the preparation of a new CNH-based material in which endocyclic disulfides are extended from the fused rings onto CNHs. The latter moieties were used to immobilize gold nanoparticles, furnishing the CNH-Au(nano) hybrid material, in which the former were identified with the aid of UV-Vis and EDX spectroscopy.

Benzyne-functionalized graphene and graphite characterized by Raman spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis

The benzyne functionalization of chemical vapor deposition grown large area graphene and graphite was performed using a mixture of o-trimethylsilylphenyl triflate and cesium fluoride that react with the carbon surface. The reaction requires at least 2 days of treatment before the appearance of Raman and energy-dispersive X-ray spectral signatures that verify modification. Raman spectra of modified graphene and graphite show a rich structure of lines corresponding to C=C-C, C-H, and low frequency modes of surface-attached benzyne rings.

Chemistry at the Dirac point: Diels-Alder reactivity of graphene

Most of the interesting physics of graphene results from the singular electronic band structure at the so-called Dirac point, where the conduction and valence bands cross in momentum space. Although graphene is very stable thermodynamically, the electronic structure at the Dirac point facilitates basal plane chemistry including pericyclic reactions such as the Diels-Alder reaction. We have discovered a series of facile Diels-Alder reactions in which graphene can function either as a diene when paired with tetracyanoethylene and maleic anhydride or as a dienophile when paired with 2,3-dimethoxybutadiene and 9-methylanthracene. In this Account, we seek to rationalize these findings using simple arguments based on considerations of orbital symmetry and the frontier molecular orbital theory. The graphene conduction and valence bands (HOMO and LUMO) cross at the Dirac point, which defines the work function (W = 4.6 eV). Thus, the HOMO and LUMO form a degenerate pair of orbitals at this point in momentum space with the same ionization potential (IP) and electron affinity (EA). Based on the importance of the energies of the HOMO (-IP) and LUMO (-EA) in frontier molecular orbital (FMO) theory, graphene should be a reactive partner in Diels-Alder reactions due to the very high-lying HOMO and low-lying LUMO (energies of -4.6 eV). Inspection of the orbital symmetries of the degenerate pair of half-occupied band orbitals at the Dirac point confirms that with the appropriate orbital occupancies, both diene and dienophile reaction partners should undergo concerted Diels-Alder reactions with graphene that are allowed based on the Woodward-Hoffmann principles of orbital symmetry.