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A synthetic strategy was developed for the preparation of porphyrins containing between one and four stereogenic centers, such that their molecular weights vary only as a result of methyl groups which give the chiral forms. The low-dimensional nanoscale aggregates of these compounds reveal the profound effects of this varying molecular chirality on their supramolecular structure and optical activity. The number of stereogenic centers influences significantly the self-assembly and chiral structure of the aggregates of porphyrin molecules described here. A scanning tunneling microscopy study of monolayers on graphite shows that the degree of structural chirality with respect to the surface increases almost linearly with the number of stereogenic centers, and only one handedness is formed in the monolayers, whereas the achiral compound forms a mixture of mirror-image domains at the surface. In solution, four hydrogen bonds induce the formation of an H-aggregate, and circular dichroism measurements and theoretical studies indicate that the compounds self-assemble into helical structures. Both the chirality and stability of the aggregates depend critically on the number of stereocenters. The chiral porphyrin derivatives gelate methylcyclohexane at concentrations dependent on the number and position of chiral groups at the periphery of the aromatic core, reflecting the different aggregation forces of the molecules in solution. Increasing the number of stereogenic centers requires more material to immobilize the solvent, in all likelihood because of the greater solubility of the porphyrins. The vibrational circular dichroism spectra of the gels show that all compounds have a chiral environment around the amide bonds, confirming the helical model proposed by calculations. The morphologies of the xerogels (studied by scanning electron microscopy and scanning force microscopy) are similar, although more fibrous features are present in the molecules with fewer stereogenic centers. Importantly, the presence of only one stereogenic center, bearing a methyl group as the desymmetrizing ligand, in a molecule of considerable molecular weight is enough to induce singlehanded chirality in both the one and two-dimensional supramolecular self-assembled structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a process to obtain monodispersed, nanoscale and superparamagnetic magnetite or polystyrene spheres. By uniquely combining modified miniemulsion/emulsion polymerization and the sol-gel technique, the surfaces of monodispersed nanospheres functionalized to be hydrophilic through silica coating. Aside from also serving as a buffer, the silica coating protected the magnetite nanoparticles from dissolving in the application environments.

The pre-designable porous structures found in covalent organic frameworks (COFs) render them attractive as a molecular platform for addressing environmental issues such as removal of toxic heavy metal ions from water. However, a rational structural design of COFs in this aspect has not been explored. Here we report the rational design of stable COFs for Hg(II) removal through elaborate structural design and control over skeleton, pore size, and pore walls. The resulting framework is stable under strong acid and base conditions, possesses high surface area, has large mesopores, and contains dense sulfide functional termini on the pore walls. These structural features work together in removing Hg(II) from water and achieve a benchmark system that combines capacity, efficiency, effectivity, applicability, selectivity, and reusability. These results suggest that COFs offer a powerful platform for tailor-made structural design to cope with various types of pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various well-defined Ni-Pt(111) model catalysts are constructed at atomic-level precision under ultra-high-vacuum conditions and characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. Subsequent studies of CO oxidation over the surfaces show that a sandwich surface (NiO1-x/Pt/Ni/Pt(111)) consisting of both surface Ni oxide nanoislands and subsurface Ni atoms at a Pt(111) surface presents the highest reactivity. A similar sandwich structure has been obtained in supported Pt-Ni nanoparticles via activation in H2 at an intermediate temperature and established by techniques including acid leaching, inductively coupled plasma, and X-ray adsorption near-edge structure. Among the supported Pt-Ni catalysts studied, the sandwich bimetallic catalysts demonstrate the highest activity to CO oxidation, where 100% CO conversion occurs near room temperature. Both surface science studies of model catalysts and catalytic reaction experiments on supported catalysts illustrate the synergetic effect of the surface and subsurface Ni species on the CO oxidation, in which the surface Ni oxide nanoislands activate O2, producing atomic O species, while the subsurface Ni atoms further enhance the elementary reaction of CO oxidation with O. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure and stability of a set of (CF)60 isomers have been computed at the B3LYP/6-31G-(d) density functional theory level. The most stable isomer (6, F4@C60F56) has tube-like structure with four endo C-F bonds and fused five-membered rings at the end of the tube, while the reported most stable cage structure (2, F8@C60F52) with eight endo C-F bonds is higher in energy by 22.6 kcal/mol. This is in contrast to the isolated pentagon rule for the stability of fullerenes. The mean bond dissociation energy of 6 is larger than those of the experimental known C60F36, C60F48, and graphite fluoride. The relative energy per CF unit of 6 to graphite fluoride (CF)n is 3.7 kcal/mol, which is smaller than that of C60 fullerene per carbon to graphite (about 9-10 kcal/mol). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (2D COFs) locked with intralayer hydrogen-bonding (H-bonding) interactions were synthesized. The H-bonding interaction sites were located on the edge units of the imine-linked tetragonal porphyrin COFs, and the contents of the H-bonding sites in the COFs were synthetically tuned using a three-component condensation system. The intralayer H-bonding interactions suppress the torsion of the edge units and lock the tetragonal sheets in a planar conformation. This planarization enhances the interlayer interactions and triggers extended π-cloud delocalization over the 2D sheets. Upon AA stacking, the resulting COFs with layered 2D sheets amplify these effects and strongly affect the physical properties of the material, including improving their crystallinity, enhancing their porosity, increasing their light-harvesting capability, reducing their band gap, and enhancing their photocatalytic activity toward the generation of singlet oxygen. These remarkable effects on the structure and properties of the material were observed for both freebase and metalloporphyin COFs. These results imply that exploration of supramolecular ensembles would open a new approach to the structural and functional design of COFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the aim of achieving surface-mediated enantioselective adsorption, the self-assembly of chiral oligo(p-phenylenevinylene) (OPV3T) with nucleosides is investigated at the liquid/solid interface by means of scanning tunneling microscopy and molecular modeling. OPV3T enantiomers form mirror related hexameric rosette patterns. The DNA nucleoside, thymidine, does not self-assemble into stable adlayers but coadsorbs with OPV3T on the surface, leading to a pattern transformation of OPV3T from rosettes to dimers, and a change in chiral expression as well. Diastereoselective recognition between OPV3T and thymidine enantiomers can be used to resolve thymidine enantiomers at an achiral surface with an OPV3T enantiomer as the resolving agent. The impact of molar ratio and concentration on the self-assembly and chiral resolution is systematically investigated. Because there is no interaction between OPV3T and thymidine in solution, the liquid/solid interface acts as the platform for the chiral resolution of thymidine enantiomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of DNA nucleoside-assisted π-conjugated nanostructures was studied by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and force field simulations. Upon adsorption of the achiral oligo(p-phenylenevinylene) (OPV) derivative at the liquid/solid interface, racemic conglomerates with mirror related rosettes are formed. Addition of the DNA nucleosides d- and l-thymidine, which act as "chiral handles", has a major effect on the supramolecular structure and the expression of chirality of the achiral OPV molecules. The influence of these "chiral handles" on the expression of chirality is probed at two levels: monolayer symmetry and monolayer orientation with respect to the substrate. This was further explored by tuning the molar ratio of the building blocks. Molecular modeling simulations give an atomistic insight into the monolayer construction, as well as the energetics governing the assembly. Thymidine is able to direct the chirality and the pattern of OPV molecules on the surface, creating chiral lamellae of p-conjugated dimers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An oligo(p-phenylenevinylene) (OPV)-substituted hexaarylbenzene has been synthesized and fully characterized. Recycling gel permeation chromatography appeared to be a powerful technique to obtain the OPV molecules in a very pure form. X-ray analysis and polarization optical microscopy revealed that the OPV molecule is plastic crystalline at room temperature with an ordered columnar superstructure. In apolar solvents, the molecules self-assemble via a highly cooperative fashion into right-handed chiral superstructures, which are stable even at high temperatures and low concentration. Atomic force microscopy revealed right-handed fibers with a diameter of 6 nm, indicating π-stacked aggregates; on a silicon oxide substrate, supercoiled chiral structures were observed. STM studies on a liquid-solid interface showed that the star-shaped OPV molecule forms an organized monolayer having a chiral hexagonal lattice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a research which examines the structure of diarylethene dimers on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). After the application of a drop of solution of phenyloctane on HOPG, a well-ordered monolayer is formed. Results revealed that chiral domains are formed at the liquid/solid interface by a chiral diarylethenes. The molecules on the surface of HOPG with a locked helicity form dimers by shape complementarity.