Reactions of an Isolable Dialkylsilylene with Carbon Dioxide and Related Heterocumulenes

An isolable dicoordinate dialkylsilylene, 2,2,5,5-tetrakis­(trimethylsilyl)­silacyclopentane-1,1-diyl (<b>6</b>), was found to react with CO₂ and ArNCX (X = O, S) smoothly to give the corresponding bis­(silyl)­carbonate, 4-imino-1,3-dioxasiletane and 4-imino-1,3-dithiasiletane derivatives in high yields, respectively. The molecular structures of these products were determined by X-ray crystallography. All these reactions are parallel to those of a hypercoordinate silylene with η⁵-pentamethylcyclopentadienyl ligands, decamethylsilicocene, reported by Jutzi et al. and are suggested to involve similarly the formation of the corresponding SiX doubly bonded compounds (X = O, S) at the initial steps. Mechanistic details of the multistep reaction of a model dialkylsilylene with CO₂ were investigated using DFT calculations

Locally Asymmetric BiOBr for Efficient Exciton Dissociation and Selective O₂ Activation toward Oxidative Coupling of Amines

Two-dimensional (2D) layered photocatalysts with highly ordered out-of-plane symmetry usually display robust excitonic effects, thus being ineffective in driving catalytic reactions that necessitate unchained charge carriers. Herein, taking 2D BiOBr as a prototype model, we implement a superficial asymmetric [Br–Bi–O–Bi] stacking in the out-of-plane direction by selectively stripping off the top-layer Br of BiOBr. This local asymmetry disrupts the diagnostic confinement configuration of BiOBr to urge energetic exciton dissociation into charge carriers and further contributes to the emergence of a surface dipole field that powers the subsequent separation of transient electron–hole pairs. Distinct from the symmetric BiOBr, which activates O2 into 1O2 via an exciton-mediated energy transfer, surface asymmetric BiOBr favors selective O2 activation into ·O2– for a broad range of amine-to-imine conversions. Our work here not only presents a paradigm for asymmetric photocatalyst design but also expands the toolkit available for regulating exciton behaviors in semiconductor photocatalytic systems

Oxalate-Promoted SO₂ Uptake and Oxidation on Iron Minerals: Implications for Secondary Sulfate Aerosol Formation

Mineral dust serves as a significant source of sulfate aerosols by mediating heterogeneous sulfur dioxide (SO2) oxidation in the atmosphere. Given that a considerable proportion of small organic acids are deposited onto mineral dust via long-range transportation, understanding their impact on atmospheric SO2 transformation and sulfate formation is of great importance. This study investigates the effect of oxalate on heterogeneous SO2 uptake and oxidation phenomenon by in situ FTIR, theoretical calculation, and continuous stream experiments, exploiting hematite (Fe2O3) as an environmental indicator. The results highlight the critical role of naturally deposited oxalate in mononuclear monodentate coordinating surface Fe atoms of Fe2O3 that enhances the activation of O2 for oxidizing SO2 into sulfate. Meanwhile, oxalate increases the hygroscopicity of Fe2O3, facilitating H2O dissociation into reactive hydroxyl groups and further augmenting the SO2 uptake capacity of Fe2O3. More importantly, other conventional iron minerals, such as goethite and magnetite, as well as authentic iron-containing mineral dust, exhibit similar oxalate-promoted sulfate accumulation behaviors. Our findings suggest that oxalate-assisted SO2 oxidation on iron minerals is one of the important contributors to secondary sulfate aerosols, especially during the nighttime with high relative humidity

Surface Boronizing Can Weaken the Excitonic Effects of BiOBr Nanosheets for Efficient O₂ Activation and Selective NO Oxidation under Visible Light Irradiation

The photocatalytic O2 activation for pollutant removal highly depends on the controlled generation of desired reactive oxygen species (ROS). Herein, we demonstrate that the robust excitonic effect of BiOBr nanosheets, which is prototypical for singlet oxygen (1O2) production to partially oxidize NO into a more toxic intermediate NO2, can be weakened by surface boronizing via inducing a staggered band alignment from the surface to the bulk and simultaneously generating more surface oxygen vacancy (VO). The staggered band alignment destabilizes excitons and facilitates their dissociation into charge carriers, while surface VO traps electrons and efficiently activates O2 into a superoxide radical (•O2–) via a one-electron-transfer pathway. Different from 1O2, •O2– enables the complete oxidation of NO into nitrate with high selectivity that is more desirable for safe indoor NO remediation under visible light irradiation. This study provides a facile excitonic effect manipulating method for layered two-dimensional photocatalysts and sheds light on the importance of managing ROS production for efficient pollutant removal