A combined experimental and theoretical study on vibrational spectra of 2-acetylpyridine

Electrochemical Reduction of the Carbonyl Functional Group: The Importance of Adsorption Geometry, Molecular Structure, and Electrode Surface Structure

This paper studies the electrochemical hydrogenation of the carbonyl functional group of acetophenone and 4-acetylpyridine at platinum single-crystal electrodes. Comparison with results obtained for the hydrogenation of acetone featuring an isolated carbonyl functional group reveals the influence of the phenyl ring and the pyridine ring, respectively. Lack of acetone adsorption at Pt(111) and Pt(100) due to a weak interaction between surface and carbonyl functional group renders these surfaces inactive for the hydrogenation of acetone. Adsorption through a strong interaction with the phenyl ring of acetophenone activates the Pt(111) and Pt(100) surfaces for hydrogenation of the acetyl substituent. In agreement with previous results for acetone reduction, the Pt(100) surface is specifically active for the hydrogenolysis reaction, breaking the C–O bond, whereas the other surfaces only hydrogenate the carbonyl functionality. In contrast to the phenyl ring, the pyridine ring has a very different effect: due to the dominant interaction of the N atom of the pyridine ring with the platinum electrode, a vertical adsorption mode is realized. The resulting large physical distance between the carbonyl functional group and the electrode surface inhibits the hydrogenation at all platinum surfaces. This also holds for the Pt(110) electrode, which is otherwise active for the electrochemical hydrogenation of the isolated carbonyl functional group of aliphatic ketones. Our results show how the combination of molecular structure of the reactant and surface structure of the catalyst determine the selective electroreduction of functionalized ketones.

Experimental and theoretical studies on the vibrational spectra of trans-3-phenylacryloyl chloride

The infrared and Raman spectra of trans-3-phenylacryloyl chloride (TPC) were reported and compared with the theoretical results calculating at B3LYP/6-311++G (d, p) level. Both wavenumbers and intensities obtained from the experimental and theoretical spectra were in good agreement. A complete spectral assignment was made with the aid of potential energy distribution (PED) based on the scaled quantum mechanical (SQM) force field method. This study provided valuable insight for understanding the observed spectral features of TPC. Additionally, the HOMO-LUMO gap, molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) atomic charge distribution, and natural bond orbitals (NBO) were studied theoretically on the same basis set.