Ultrafine Pt-based catalyst decorated with oxygenophilic Ni-sites accelerating alkaline H2O dissociation for efficient hydrogen evolution

Although Pt is a widely adopted commercial catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), its practical application is greatly limited by its prohibitive cost and high energy barrier for H2O dissociation in alkaline media. Herein, an ultrafine Pt-based catalyst decorated with oxygenophilic Ni-sites is rationally designed and successfully synthesized with Pt5(GS)10 (HGS = l-reduced glutathione) nanocluster precursor. The optimized Ni-decorated Pt catalyst (Ni-Pt-C-500) with ultrafine nanoparticles (about 1.6 nm) exhibits a low overpotential (14.0 mV) at 10 mA cm-2 and a mild Tafel slope of 20.8 mV dec-1 in the HER, which is superior to its undecorated counterpart (Pt-C-500), the commercial 20 wt% Pt/C catalyst and most of the previously reported Pt-based electrocatalysts. Experimental observations and theoretical calculations indicate that H2O could be spontaneously adsorbed to Ni-sites of the Ni-Pt-C-500 catalyst. Mechanistic studies reveal that Ni-sites promote HER by accelerating the kinetic of H2O cleavage and optimizing the electronic structure of Pt. This work paves a new avenue for designing other ultrafine hybrid electrocatalysts based on metal nanoclusters to enhance catalytic reaction kinetics.

Enantioselective Alkynylation of 2-Aryl-3H-indol-3-ones via Cooperative Catalysis of Copper/Chiral Phosphoric Acid

A facile enantioselective alkynylation of cyclic ketimines attached to a neutral functional group utilizing the dual Cu(I)-CPA catalysis is described. The strategy of the alkynylation of 2-aryl-3H-indol-3-one directly to chiral propargylic amines containing indolin-3-one moiety in good yields and enantioselectivities. Moreover, gram-scale synthesis of chiral propargylamines based C2-quaternary indolin-3-ones was performed. The synthetic applications were confirmed by transformations of the products with no decrease in the yield and enantioselectivity.

An Iridium/Aluminum Cooperative Strategy for the β-C(sp3)-H Borylation of Saturated Cyclic Amines

Despite the widespread success in the functionalization of C(sp2)-H bonds, the deliberate functionalization of C(sp3)-H bonds in a highly site- and stereoselective manner remains a longstanding challenge. Herein, we report an iridium/aluminum cooperative catalyst system that enables the β-selective C-H borylation of saturated cyclic amines and lactams. Furthermore, we have accomplished an enantioselective variant using binaphthol-derived chiral aluminum catalysts to forge C-B bonds with high levels of stereocontrol. Computational studies suggest that the formation of a Lewis pair with the substrates is crucial to lower the energy of the transition state for the rate-determining reductive elimination step.

Structure-property-performance relationship of transition metal doped WO3 mixed oxides for catalytic degradation of organic pollutants

Transition metal doped WO₃ mixed oxides (named as W-M-O, M = Nb, Fe, Cr, Cu, Ti or Sn, respectively) with high structure stability were synthesized by modified sol-gel method using citric acid as organic crosslinking agent, and were evaluated for catalytic elimination of low-concentration toluene, monochlorobenzene and 1,2-dichloroethance with high toxicity and relatively stable molecule structure, as the typical examples for the pollutants of various volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Results of the structure-property-performance relationship research showed that mesoporous structure and nanocrystalline/amorphous state were formed, and binary metal components were dispersed into each other, which contributed to promoting the metal/metal electron interaction and adjusting the physicochemical properties of mixed metal oxides. The sequence of apparent catalytic activity for toluene degradation was: W-Nb-O＞W-Fe-O＞W-Cr-O, W-Cu-O＞W-Ti-O＞W-Sn-O＞WO₃, and the sequence for monochlorobenzene degradation was: W-Nb-O＞W-Fe-O＞W-Cr-O, W-Ti-O＞W-Cu-O＞W-Sn-O＞WO₃. There existed cooperative catalytic effect: mesopore and surface acid sites of catalysts facilitated adsorption, activation and breakage of the C-X bond, and then redox sites of catalysts promoted deep oxidation of a series of reaction intermediates to transform into CO₂ and H₂O. Especially, the optimized W-Nb-O catalyst deserved more attention, since it represented remarkable catalytic activity, selectivity and durability for three typical VOCs degradation along with good resistance to water vapor and corrosion of HCl.

Cooperative Catalysis of Ru(III)-Porphyrin in CO2 -Involved Synthesis of Oxazolidinones

CO₂ -transformations into high value-added products have become a fascinating area in green chemistry. Herein, a Ru(III)-porphyrin catalyst (RuCl₃  ⋅ 3H₂ O-H₂ TPP) was found highly efficient in the three-component reaction of CO₂ , aliphatic amines and dichloroethane (or its derivative) for synthesis of oxazolidinones in the yields of 71∼91%. It was indicated by means of the control experiments and UV-vis spectra that CO₂ was stoichiometrically activated by the involved aliphatic amine substrates to form a stable carbamate salt while 1,2-dichloroethane (or its derivative) was independently activated by the involved Ru(III)-porphyrin catalyst. The combination of CO₂ -activation by aliphatic amines with 1,2-dichloroethane activation by Ru(III)-porphyrin catalyst cooperatively contributed to this successful transformation.

Tertiary Amine Lewis Base Catalysis in Combination with Transition Metal Catalysis

The cooperation between two orthogonal catalytic events during the formation of carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds has emerged as an effective strategy for enantioselective chemical synthesis. In recent years, a number of pioneering investigations have described useful chemical synthesis methods whereby the reactivity or nucleophile-electrophile combinations can be fine-tuned or extended far beyond the effect and influence of a single catalyst. The recognition of this has had profound implications for the development cooperative catalysis as a field and has provided a foundation for the development of broadly useful chemical synthesis methods. This chapter focuses on the combination of tertiary amine Lewis base and transition metal catalysts, which the authors hope will simulate further developments and advances.

A bio-inspired O2-tolerant catalytic CO2 reduction electrode

The electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to give CO in the presence of O₂ would allow the direct valorization of flue gases from fossil fuel combustion and of CO₂ captured from air. However, it is a challenging task because O₂ reduction is thermodynamically favored over that of CO₂. 5% O₂ in CO₂ near catalyst surface is sufficient to completely inhibit the CO₂ reduction reaction. Here we report an O₂-tolerant catalytic CO₂ reduction electrode inspired by part of the natural photosynthesis unit. The electrode comprises of heterogenized cobalt phthalocyanine molecules serving as the cathode catalyst with >95% Faradaic efficiency (FE) for CO₂ reduction to CO coated with a polymer of intrinsic microporosity that works as a CO₂-selective layer with a CO₂/O₂ selectivity of ∼20. Integrated into a flow electrolytic cell, the hybrid electrode operating with a CO₂ feed gas containing 5% O₂ exhibits a FE_CO of 75.9% with a total current density of 27.3 mA/cm² at a cell voltage of 3.1 V. A FE_CO of 49.7% can be retained when the O₂ fraction increases to 20%. Stable operation for 18 h is demonstrated. The electrochemical performance and O₂ tolerance can be further enhanced by introducing cyano and nitro substituents to the phthalocyanine ligand.

B(C6F5)3-Catalyzed α-Deuteration of Bioactive Carbonyl Compounds with D2O

An efficient deuteration process of α-C-H bonds in various carbonyl-based pharmaceutical compounds has been developed. Catalytic reactions are initiated by the action of Lewis acidic B(C₆F₅)₃ and D₂O, converting a drug molecule into the corresponding boron-enolate. Ensuing deuteration of the enolate by in situ-generated D₂O⁺-H then results in the formation of α-deuterated bioactive carbonyl compounds with up to >98% deuterium incorporation.

Cobalt(II) and (I) Complexes of Diphosphine-Ketone Ligands: Catalytic Activity in Hydrosilylation Reactions

The hydrosilylation of unsaturated compounds homogeneously catalyzed by cobalt complexes has gained considerable attention in the last years, aiming at substituting precious metal-based catalysts. In this study, the catalytic activity of well-characterized CoII and CoI complexes of the pToldpbp ligand is demonstrated in the hydrosilylation of 1-octene with phenylsilane. The CoI complex is the better precatalyst for the mentioned reaction under mild conditions, at 1 mol-% catalyst, 1 h, room temperature, and without solvent, yielding 84 % of octylphenylsilane. Investigation of the substrate scope shows lower performance of the catalyst in styrene hydrosilylation, but excellent results with allylbenzene (84 %) and acetophenone (> 99 %). This catalytic study contributes to the field of cobalt-catalyzed hydrosilylation reactions and shows the first example of catalysis employing the dpbp ligand in combination with a base metal.

Si-Directed regiocontrol in asymmetric Pd-catalyzed allylic alkylations using C1-ammonium enolate nucleophiles

Cooperative catalysis enables the direct enantioselective α-allylation of linear prochiral esters using Si-substituted allyl electrophiles. The Si-substituent directs the regioselectivity of enantioselective bond formation and provides products containing synthetically versatile pentafluorophenyl ester and vinylsilane moieties. Critical to the efficacy of this process was the recognition that the ancillary ligand on palladium could be altered to prevent formation of a deleterious ether by-product, whilst retaining enantioselectivity through the Lewis base catalyst. Flexibility such as this is unique to cooperative catalysis events and provides efficient access to an array of enantioenriched products that are orthogonally functionalized and easily modified.

Mechanistic Studies of Gold and Palladium Cooperative Dual-Catalytic Cross-Coupling Systems

Double-label crossover, modified-substrate, and catalyst comparison experiments in the gold and palladium dual-catalytic rearrangement/cross-coupling of allenoates were performed in order to probe the mechanism of this reaction. The results are consistent with a cooperative catalysis mechanism whereby 1) gold activates the substrate prior to oxidative addition by palladium, 2) gold acts as a carbophilic rather than oxophilic Lewis acid, 3) competing olefin isomerization is avoided, 4) gold participates beyond the first turnover and therefore does not serve simply to generate the active palladium catalyst, and 5) single-electron transfer is not involved. These experiments further demonstrate that the cooperativity of both gold and palladium in the reaction is essential because significantly lower to zero conversion is achieved with either metal alone in comparison studies that examined multiple potential gold, palladium, and silver catalysts and precatalysts. Notably, employment of the optimized cocatalysts, PPh3AuOTf and Pd2dba3, separately (i.e., only Au or only Pd) results in zero conversion to product at all monitored time points compared to quantitative conversion to product when both are present in cocatalytic reactions.