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Fokin, Andrey A.

Publications and source records attributed to Fokin, Andrey A..

Palladium‐Catalyzed C2−H Arylation of Unprotected (N−H)‐Indoles “On Water” Using Primary Diamantyl Phosphine Oxides as a Class of Primary Phosphine Oxide Ligands

Abstract We present the Pd‐catalyzed arylation of (N−H)‐indoles with functionalized haloarenes “on water” using hitherto untested primary diamantyl phosphine oxides (PPO) as ligands. Remarkable C2−H arylation selectivity was achieved by employing functionalized iodoarenes and N‐unprotected indoles. We provide evidence that the in situ generated oxide of (9‐hydroxydiamant‐4‐yl)phosphine L1 is key for the reaction efficiency by comparing a set of diamantane‐based compounds structurally related to L1 . Our results demonstrate the power of the new PPO ligands for the C−H functionalization of unprotected (N−H)‐heterocycles.

Moncea, Oana↗

Sterically controlled mechanochemistry under hydrostatic pressure

Mechanical stimuli can modify the energy landscape of chemical reactions and enable reaction pathways, offering a synthetic strategy that complements conventional chemistry. These mechanochemical mechanisms have been studied extensively in one-dimensional polymers under tensile stress using ring-opening and reorganization, polymer unzipping and disulfide reduction as model reactions. In these systems, the pulling force stretches chemical bonds, initiating the reaction. Additionally, it has been shown that forces orthogonal to the chemical bonds can alter the rate of bond dissociation. Furthermore, these bond activation mechanisms have not been possible under isotropic, compressive stress (that is, hydrostatic pressure). Here we show that mechanochemistry through isotropic compression is possible by molecularly engineering structures that can translate macroscopic isotropic stress into molecular-level anisotropic strain.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Nanodiamond‐Palladium Core–Shell Organohybrid Synthesis: A Mild Vapor‐Phase Procedure Enabling Nanolayering Metal onto Functionalized sp 3 ‐Carbon

Abstract A novel approach for the bottom‐up construction of hybrid organic–inorganic nanocomposites with an intimate arrangement between sp 3 ‐carbon 3D molecular‐size nanodiamonds (diamondoids) and a coated palladium surface as nanolayer is reported. The construction process is conducted stepwisely from the gas phase, using first controlled vapor‐phase self‐assembly of tailor‐made functionalized diamantane derivatives, followed by low‐temperature (45 °C) chemical vapor deposition of an organometallic complex in a reducing H 2 atmosphere over the self‐assembled diamondoid scaffold. The use of self‐assemblies of primary diamantane phosphine and phosphine oxide, which are produced with high structural uniformity and reproducibility, yields new hybrid diamondoid‐palladium materials incorporating PdOPHdiamantane bonding motifs. Additional investigations provide evidence for a very challenging issue in the intimate construction of sp 3 ‐C/metal scaffolds. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy microscopies combined with X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy surface analysis and EDX bulk analysis confirm the formation of diamondoid‐palladium organohybrids with unique surface layering. The vapor phase‐controlled mild synthetic process allows excellent control over nanocomposite formation and morphology from molecular‐level modifications. As such, this bottom‐up composite building process bridges scales from the molecular (functionalized diamondoids) over nanoscopic (self‐assemblies) to microscopic regime (hybrids), in the challenging association of transition metals with an electronically saturated sp 3 ‐carbon organic host material.

Gunawan, Maria A.↗

Monochromatic Photocathodes from Graphene-Stabilized Diamondoids

The monochromatic photoemission from diamondoid monolayers provides a new strategy to create electron sources with low energy dispersion and enables compact electron guns with high brightness and low beam emittance for aberration-free imaging, lithography, and accelerators. However, these potential applications are hindered by degradation of diamondoid monolayers under photon irradiation and electron bombardment. Here, we report a graphene-protected diamondoid monolayer photocathode with 4-fold enhancement of stability compared to the bare diamondoid counterpart. The single-layer graphene overcoating preserves the monochromaticity of the photoelectrons, showing 12.5 meV ful width at half-maximum distribution of kinetic energy. Importantly, the graphene coating effectively suppresses desorption of the diamondoid monolayer, enhancing its thermal stability by at least 100 K. Furthermore, by comparing the decay rate at different photon energies, we identify electron bombardment as the principle decay pathway for diamondoids under graphene protection. As a result, this provides a generic approach for stabilizing volatile species on photocathode surfaces, which could greatly improve performance of electron emitters.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Hybrid metal–organic chalcogenide nanowires with electrically conductive inorganic core through diamondoid-directed assembly

Controlling inorganic structure and dimensionality through structure-directing agents is a versatile approach for new materials synthesis that has been used extensively for metal–organic frameworks and coordination polymers. However, the lack of ‘solid’ inorganic cores requires charge transport through single-atom chains and/or organic groups, limiting their electronic properties. Here, we report that strongly interacting diamondoid structure-directing agents guide the growth of hybrid metal–organic chalcogenide nanowires with solid inorganic cores having three-atom cross-sections, representing the smallest possible nanowires. The strong van der Waals attraction between diamondoids overcomes steric repulsion leading to a cis configuration at the active growth front, enabling face-on addition of precursors for nanowire elongation. These nanowires have band-like electronic properties, low effective carrier masses and three orders-of-magnitude conductivity modulation by hole doping. Furthermore, this discovery highlights a previously unexplored regime of structure-directing agents compared with traditional surfactant, block copolymer or metal–organic framework linkers.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗