Parts-Per-Million of Soluble Pd0 Catalyze the Semi-Hydrogenation Reaction of Alkynes to Alkenes

Pd "Kills Two Birds with One Stone" for the Synthesis of Catalyst: Dual Active Sites of Pd Triggers the Kinetics of O2 Electrocatalysis

Noble metal-based catalyst, despite their exorbitant cost, are the only successful catalyst for bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysis owing to their capability to drive forward the reaction rate kinetically. Therefore, it is desirable to diminish the noble metal loading without any compromise in the catalyst performance. In this study, the aim to achieve two goals with one action via a single-step route to have ultra-low loading of Pd in the catalyst. The Pd is used as a catalyst for C─C bond formation followed by complexation reactions or vice versa, in conventional Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling (SMCC) reaction, which yields a Pd-based porous organic polymer. Interestingly, it is found that dispersed Pd nanocluster (PdNC ) is present together with Pd single atom doped into nanocarbon (Pd-NC) matrix in the catalyst (PdNC /Pd-NC800 ) that obtained after pyrolysis of the porous polymer. The catalyst exhibits remarkable bifunctional activity and durability towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Further, it is studied that the in situ attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy at different electrochemical potentials during ORR and OER to observe the reaction intermediates. The homemade zinc-air battery with the catalyst displayed great performance, establishing the significance of PdNC /Pd-NC800 as a bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst.

Stereoselective Reduction of Steroidal 4-Ene-3-ketones in the Presence of Biomass-Derived Ionic Liquids Leading to Biologically Important 5β-Steroids

The stereoselective reduction of the steroidal 4-ene-3-ketone moiety (enone) affords the 5β-steroid backbone that is a key structural element of biologically important neuroactive steroids. Neurosteroids have been currently studied as novel and potent central nervous system drug-like compounds for the treatment of, e.g., postpartum depression. As a green methodology, we studied the palladium-catalyzed hydrogenation of steroidal 4-ene-3-ketones in the presence of ionic liquids derived from natural carboxylic acids. The hydrogenation proceeds with improved 5β-selectivity in the presence of tetrabutylammonium carboxylates as additives compared to the exclusive use of an organic solvent. Under optimal conditions, using tetrabutylammonium d-mandelate, the reduction of testosterone led to 5β-dihydrotestosterone in high yield and stereoselectivity and no byproduct formation was observed. Moreover, the catalyst could be recycled. The presence of additional substituents on the steroid backbone showed a significant effect on the 5β-selectivity.

Biomimetic Control over Bimetallic Nanoparticle Structure and Activity via Peptide Capping Ligand Sequence

The controlled design of bimetallic nanoparticles (BNPs) is a key goal in tailoring their catalytic properties. Recently, biomimetic pathways demonstrated potent control over the distribution of different metals within BNPs, but a direct understanding of the peptide effect on the compositional distribution at the interparticle and intraparticle levels remains lacking. We synthesized two sets of PtAu systems with two peptides and correlated their structure, composition, and distributions with the catalytic activity. Structural and compositional analyses were performed by a combined machine learning-assisted refinement of X-ray absorption spectra and Z-contrast measurements by scanning transmission electron microscopy. The difference in the catalytic activities between nanoparticles synthesized with different peptides was attributed to the details of interparticle distribution of Pt and Au across these markedly heterogeneous systems, comprising Pt-rich, Au-rich, and Au core/Pt shell nanoparticles. The total amount of Pt in the shells of the BNPs was proposed to be the key catalytic activity descriptor. This approach can be extended to other systems of metals and peptides to facilitate the targeted design of catalysts with the desired activity.

Construction of β-Acetoxy or β-Hydroxyl Disulfides via Highly Regioselective Ring-Opening of Epoxides with Acetyl Masked Disulfide Nucleophiles

In the organic or water phase, acetyl masked disulfide nucleophiles were used as the disulfide source to react with a wide range of epoxides, affording various β-acetoxy or β-hydroxyl disulfides in good yields with high regioselectivity. This method features transition-metal-free, simple experimental conditions, high atom economy, and scalable potential, which make it attractive and practical.

Diastereoisomeric enrichment of 1,4-enediols and H2-splitting inhibition on Pd-supported catalysts

Pd-supported catalysts are fundamental tools in organic reactions involving H2 splitting. Here we show that 1,4-enediols enriched in one diastereoisomer are produced from the classical Pd-catalyzed semi-hydrogenation reaction with H2, starting from the corresponding, widely available 1,4-diacetylenic diols. The semi-hydrogenation reaction proceeds concomitantly with the desymmetrization of the meso/racemic form of the enediol. We also show that these products, if added in advance to H2, completely inactivate the Pd catalyst (only when added before H2). These results provide a simple way not only to produce 1,4-enediols enriched in one diastereoisomer by a classical catalytic method but also to stop H2 dissociation on Pd nanoparticles.

Electron-Poor Phosphines Enable the Selective Semihydrogenation Reaction of Alkynes with Pd on Carbon Catalysts

An alternative to the Lindlar catalyst for the semihydrogenation reaction of alkynes to alkenes is of high interest. Here we show that palladium on carbon (Pd/C), i.e., a widely available supported Pd catalyst, is converted from an unselective to a chemoselective catalyst during the semihydrogenation reaction of alkynes, after the addition of catalytic amounts of commercially available electron-poor phosphines. The catalytic activity is ≤7 times greater, and the selectivity is comparable to that of the industrial benchmark Lindlar catalyst.