Silver cages with encapsulated acetylenediide as building blocks for hydrothermal synthesis of supramolecular complexes with n-cyanopyridine and pyridine-n-carboxamide (n = 3, 4)

Facile Synthesis of 2-Methylnicotinonitrile through Degenerate Ring Transformation of Pyridinium Salts

Nucleophilic recyclization of pyridinium salts involving a CCN interchange ring transformation for the synthesis of 2-methylnicotinonitrile derivatives was herein developed. 3-Aminocrotononitrile (3-ACN) produced in situ from CH₃CN acted as a C-nucleophile, as well as the source of CH₃ and CN groups, which was supported by isotope-labeling and control experiments.

Optimizing small conjugated molecules for solar-cell applications using an inverse-design method

Small organic conjugated molecules are key elements for low-cost photovoltaic devices. One example is cyanopyridone molecules. By modifying these molecules, for instance through optimally chosen functional groups attached to the backbone, their properties can be improved. However, the very large number of possible modifications makes it difficult to identify the best performing molecules. In the present work, we have used a computational inverse-design approach (PooMa) to identify the positions and types of functional groups attached to a modified cyanopyridone that lead to the best performance in solar-energy harvesting. A QSPR model based on five electronic descriptors has been used to determine the properties of solar cells. Our approach uses a genetic algorithm to search the chemical space containing 18⁴ (104,976) substituted cyanopyridone systems and predicts out of those the best 20 molecules with optimal performance efficiencies (PCE). PooMa uses the Density-Functional Tight-Binding (DFTB) method for calculating the electronic properties. DFTB is a fast method with acceptable accuracy and, therefore, can be used on a normal desktop without expensive hard- or software. In order to get further information about our suggested systems, a DFT method and its derivative TD-DFT are applied.

4-Cyanopyridine complexes [MX2(4-CNpy)x]n (with X = Cl, Br and x = 1, 2): crystal structures, thermal properties and a comparison with [MX2(3-CNpy)x]n complexes

Crystal structures of [MX₂(4-CNpy)_x] with X = Cl and Br, M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn, and x = 1 and 2 were determined by X-ray powder diffraction. 4-Cyanopyridine can build chain and net structures.

Coordination compounds built up from MIICl2 and 3-cyanopyridine: double chains, single chains and isolated complexes

Crystal structures of [M^IICl₂(3-CNpy)_x], with M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and x = 1, 2, were determined by X-ray powder diffraction. Surprisingly, 3-cyanopyridine coordinates monodentately only.

Impacts of the counter ions on 4,5-dicyano-1-methylimidazole silver coordination

The counter ion regulates the coordination in silver dicyanoimidazole derivatives.

3-Cyanopyridine as a bridging and terminal ligand in coordination polymers

Crystal structures of [M^IIBr₂(3-CNpy)_x]_(n) with M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni and x = 1, 2, 4 were determined by powder diffraction. For x = 1, the 3-cyanopyridine ligand is bridging two metal atoms.

4-Cyanopyridine, a versatile mono- and bidentate ligand. Crystal structures of related coordination polymers determined by X-ray powder diffraction

4-Cyanopyridine (4-CNpy) as a monodentate ligand in single or double chains or as a bidentate ligand in two-dimensional networks.

Silver nanoparticles in aquatic environments: Physiochemical behavior and antimicrobial mechanisms

Nanosilver (silver nanoparticles or AgNPs) has unique physiochemical properties and strong antimicrobial activities. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the physicochemical behavior (e.g., dissolution and aggregation) and antimicrobial mechanisms of nanosilver in aquatic environments. The inconsistency in calculating the Gibbs free energy of formation of nanosilver [ΔGf(AgNPs)] in aquatic environments highlights the research needed to carefully determine the thermodynamic stability of nanosilver. The dissolutive release of silver ion (Ag(+)) in the literature is often described using a pseudo-first-order kinetics, but the fit is generally poor. This paper proposes a two-stage model that could better predict silver ion release kinetics. The theoretical analysis suggests that nanosilver dissolution could occur under anoxic conditions and that nanosilver may be sulfidized to form silver sulfide (Ag2S) under strict anaerobic conditions, but more investigation with carefully-designed experiments is required to confirm the analysis. Although silver ion release is likely the main antimicrobial mechanism of nanosilver, the contributions of (ion-free) AgNPs and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation to the overall toxicity of nanosilver must not be neglected. Several research directions are proposed to better understand the dissolution kinetics of nanosilver and its antimicrobial mechanisms under various aquatic environmental conditions.

Polyhedral C2@Agn cages distorted by ancillary pyridine N-oxide ligands in silver-acetylenediide complexes

Reactions of the pyridine N-oxide ligands L, L2 and L3 with the silver acetylenediide-containing system under hydrothermal conditions gave rise to four silver-acetylenediide complexes bearing interesting C2@Agn motifs: (Ag2C2)2(AgCF3CO2)8(L1)3.5 (1), (Ag2C2)2(AgCF3CO2)8(L2)2 (2), (Ag2C2)(AgCF3CO2)4(L3) (3) and [(Ag7(C2)(CF3SO3)3(L3)2(H2O)2] x 2CF3SO3 (4) (L = nicotinic acid N-oxide, L(1) = pyridine N-oxide, L2 = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane N,N'-dioxide, L3 = 1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)propane N,N'-dioxide), which exhibit new distorted polyhedral C2@Agn cage motifs. Complex 1 has a pair of acetylenediide dianions encapsulated in a Ag(14) aggregate composed of three polyhedral parts, whereas 2 contains an irregular (C2)2@Ag13 double cage. In 3, the basic building unit is a centrosymmetric (C2)2@Ag12 double cage with each component single cage taking the shape of a highly distorted triangulated dodecahedron with one missing vertex. As to complex 4, the core is a C2@Ag7 single cage in the form of a slightly distorted monocapped trigonal prism with four cleaved edges that include all three vertical sides. Furthermore, in the silver-rich environment, the pyO-type ligands are induced to exhibit unprecedented coordination modes, such as the mu(5)-O,O,O,O',O' ligation mode of L2 in 2 and the mu4-O,O,O',O' mode of L3 in 3 and 4.