An unexpected tautomer: synthesis and crystal structure of N-[6-amino-4-(methyl-sulfan-yl)-1,2-di-hydro-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl-idene]benzenesulfonamide

The title compound, C10H11N5O2S2, consists of an unexpected tautomer with a protonated nitro-gen atom in the triazine ring and a formal exocyclic double bond C=N to the sulfonamide moiety. The ring angles at the unsubstituted nitro-gen atoms are narrow, at 115.57 (12) and 115.19 (12)°, respectively, whereas the angle at the carbon atom between these N atoms is very wide, 127.97 (13)°. The inter-planar angle between the two rings is 79.56 (5)°. The mol-ecules are linked by three classical hydrogen bonds, forming a ribbon structure. There are also unusual linkages involving three short contacts (< 3 Å) from a sulfonamide oxygen atom to the C-NH-C part of a triazine ring.

K3C6N7O3·2H2O: A Multifunctional Nonlinear Optical Cyamelurate Crystal with Colossal π-Conjugated Orbitals

The delocalized π-conjugated units are considered as an advantageous gene for improving the optical nonlinearity of acentric crystals. For the first time, we synthesized a new acentric SHG-active metal cyamelurate crystal K₃C₆N₇O₃·2H₂O (I) by a facile solution method, containing a colossal planar π-conjugated (C₆N₇O₃)^3- unit. It displays a strong second-order harmonic generation (SHG) of 4 × KDP and a giant anisotropic birefringence of 0.446 at 1064 nm. The theoretical calculations reveal that such substantial improvement is contributed from the strong molecular susceptibility of (C₆N₇O₃)^3- units and their near-perfect coplanar arrangement. Moreover, I exhibits a broadband ultraviolet photoluminescence at 366 nm, suggesting its multifunctional capacity and great potential for compact highly integrated optoelectronic devices.

Rational design of carbon nitride photocatalysts by identification of cyanamide defects as catalytically relevant sites

The heptazine-based polymer melon (also known as graphitic carbon nitride, g-C₃N₄) is a promising photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution. Nonetheless, attempts to improve its inherently low activity are rarely based on rational approaches because of a lack of fundamental understanding of its mechanistic operation. Here we employ molecular heptazine-based model catalysts to identify the cyanamide moiety as a photocatalytically relevant ‘defect'. We exploit this knowledge for the rational design of a carbon nitride polymer populated with cyanamide groups, yielding a material with 12 and 16 times the hydrogen evolution rate and apparent quantum efficiency (400 nm), respectively, compared with the unmodified melon. Computational modelling and material characterization suggest that this moiety improves coordination (and, in turn, charge transfer kinetics) to the platinum co-catalyst and enhances the separation of the photogenerated charge carriers. The demonstrated knowledge transfer for rational catalyst design presented here provides the conceptual framework for engineering high-performance heptazine-based photocatalysts.

Graphitic carbon nitride is a promising hydrogen evolution photocatalyst, although there is limited understanding of its mechanistic operation. Here, the authors employ molecular heptazine-based model catalysts to identify catalytically relevant defects and to rationally design a highly active carbon nitride photocatalyst.