Journal of Chemical Sciences最新文献

Growing environmental concerns have driven the development of the sustainable thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) from renewable resources. In this study, pristine starch (PS) was vinyl-functionalized (VFS), enhancing the grafting sites and subsequently grafted with methyl methacrylate (MMA, hard monomer) and butyl acrylate (BA, soft monomer) via ‘grafting through’ free radical polymerization. Three graft copolymers (VSG₁, VSG₂ and VSG₃) were prepared by varying the MMA/BA ratio, maintaining a starch-to-monomer ratio of 50:50 (w/w). The resulting films, prepared via solvent casting, were analysed for their thermal, mechanical, surface, and structural properties. FT-IR, PXRD, ¹H-NMR, SEM, TGA, and DSC confirmed successful functionalization and graft copolymer formation. DSC results revealed a substantial decrease in the glass transition temperature, indicating increased chain mobility and TPE-like behaviour. Contact angle analysis indicated that VSG₁ showed higher hydrophobicity (110.6°) than VSG₂ and VSG₃. Mechanical characterization revealed that VSG₁ exhibits a tensile strength of 6.06 MPa and an elongation at break of 67%, with its stress-strain curve indicating a ductile, elastomeric nature. Biodegradation testing demonstrated over 50% weight loss within a few weeks, confirming significant environmental degradability. Overall, the synthesized graft copolymers, particularly VSG₁, exhibit promising biodegradable and sustainable characteristics, making them suitable candidates for eco-friendly material applications.

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Graphical representation of grafting copolymer of MMA and BA on VFS via Grafting through approach to develop biodegradable TPE like material.

By freezing a class of heavy, deformed molecules to the brink of absolute zero, scientists are developing promising systems for precision measurements that hold great significance in quantum sensing and metrology, providing a powerful tool for exploring their use in fundamental physics. Hutzler and co-workers recently demonstrated the production and cryogenic cooling of radioactive molecules, namely RaF, RaOH and RaOD, using a compact tabletop apparatus (Conn C J et al. 2026 Science 393 319–323). This achievement opens new avenues for combining high-fidelity metrology and quantum probing protocols for short-lived radioactive molecules, offering new opportunities to track down fundamental physics beyond the Standard Model.

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Cryogenic cooling of short-lived radioactive molecules containing pear-shaped radium nuclei opens new opportunities for quantum sensing and metrology.

Substituted aroylhydrazone based novel nickel(II) complexes (1–4) were synthesized and well characterized using different spectroscopic studies, magnetic susceptibility and conductivity measurements. The SCXRD studies revealed that the complex 3a is bis-ligated and exhibits distorted octahedral geometry with both ligands in enolate forms. Magnetic susceptibility measurements suggest an octahedral geometry around Ni(II) center for complexes 1–3 whereas 4 adopts a tetrahedral structure. The molecular structures of the complexes are optimized in the gas phase at B3LYP/SDD/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory and quantum chemical descriptors were calculated via computational method. Furthermore, molecular docking studies were conducted to evaluate the in silico anticancer activity of the complexes with breast (6CZ2) and lung cancer cell lines (1X2J). These results underscore their versatility as candidates for supramolecular chemistry and potential pharmacological applications.

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A mesoporous SBA-15-supported spinel-type CoCr₂O₄ nanoparticle catalyst is reported for the mild and rapid oxidation of arylboronic acids to phenols. ICP-MS, SEM-EDS, TEM, XRD, XPS and BET characterizations confirmed the catalyst featured well-ordered mesoporous structure, large specific surface area, uniform pore size and homogeneous immobilization of CoCr₂O₄ nanoparticles. Under ambient conditions, the catalyst enabled smooth oxidation of various boronic acids in bio-derived 2-methyltetrahydrofuran using aqueous H₂O₂ as the green oxidant. Efficient conversion was achieved within several minutes. For sensitive substrates, side reactions were significantly suppressed when the reaction was carried out under cooled conditions. The catalyst exhibited excellent stability and reusability, maintaining excellent yield even after multiple recycling in the oxidation of 3-chlorophenylboronic acid. With its high efficiency, mild and environmentally benign conditions, and exceptional recyclability, this catalyst presents strong potential for the industrial synthesis of phenolic compounds.

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Herein, a simple, site-selective, and solvent-controllable mono and di-alkylation of indene with alcohols is demonstrated. An assortment of unactivated aliphatic and benzylic alcohols underwent alkylation, providing the desired mono or dialkylated products. Catalytic reactions carried out in toluene provided selective mono-C3 alkylation of indene using alcohols. Remarkably, reactions performed in hexane resulted in dialkylation of indene at the C1 and C3 positions. Both primary and secondary alcohols provided successful mono- and di-alkylation reactions. Water molecule is the only by-product obtained in this catalytic process. Mechanistic studies suggest the involvement of an aldehyde intermediate, hydrogenation and isomerization of the unsaturated intermediate by the ruthenium dihydride species. Kinetic isotopic effect studies indicate the oxidation of alcohol as the rate determining step.

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Solvent-controlled and site-selective alkylation of indene with alcohols is developed. Employing toluene and hexane provided the selective C3 monoalkylation and C1/C3 dialkylation, respectively. Primary and secondary alcohols are compatible, producing water as the only by-product. Involvement of an aldehyde intermediate, hydrogenation-isomerization of the unsaturated intermediate by Ru-H₂species is proposed.

We reported the synthesis of (E)-1-(2-((1,4-dioxan-2-yl)oxy)phenyl)-2-phenyldiazene by copper-catalyzed dehydrogenative C–O coupling reaction, which proceeded through the direct activation of the sp³ C–H bond of 1,4-dioxane. Under the optimized conditions, using 10 mol% Cu(OAc)₂ as the catalyst and 3 equivalents of TBHP as the oxidant in 1,4-dioxane at 100 °C for 3 hours, the desired product was obtained in good yield. This reaction proceeded under mild conditions with high yield and excellent atom economy.

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A copper-catalyzed dehydrogenative C-O coupling was developed to synthesize (E)-1-(2-((1,4-dioxan-2-yl)oxy)phenyl)-2-phenyldiazene. Utilizing 10 mol% Cu(OAc)₂ and 3 equivalents of TBHP in 1,4-dioxane at 100 °C, the protocol achieves direct sp² C-H bond activation, affording the desired product with high yield and excellent atom economy.

This study produced and characterized a new phosphotungstic acid-functionalized hybrid nanomaterial, Ni_0.5Co_0.5Fe₂O₄@SiO₂-PTA, using XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDS and TGA-DTA analysis. The Ni_0.5Co_0.5Fe₂O₄@SiO₂-PTA has been used as an effective catalyst for the synthesis of benzimidazole derivatives via condensation of aromatic aldehydes with o-phenylenediamine in water at ambient temperature. Furthermore, this methodology offers several advantages, such as high yield of product, shorter reaction time, use of green solvent and a magnetically recoverable nanocomposite that could be reused at least five times without substantial loss of efficiency. An additional synthesized catalyst was evaluated for antibacterial activity on Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis and Gram-negative Escherichia coli using the well diffusion method.

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