Distortion Files

Calculated distortion files </p

Reactants

Optimized reactants</p

Supporting Information of Computational results for Experimental and Theoretical Elucidation of SPAAC Kinetics for Strained Alkyne-Containing Cycloparaphenylenes

Supporting Information of Computational results for Experimental and Theoretical Elucidation of SPAAC Kinetics for Strained Alkyne-Containing Cycloparaphenylenes</p

Supporting Information of Computational results for Experimental and Theoretical Elucidation of SPAAC Kinetics for Strained Alkyne-Containing Cycloparaphenylenes

Supporting Info for a manuscript</p

Experimental and Theoretical Elucidation of SPAAC Kinetics for Strained Alkyne-Containing Cycloparaphenylenes

Tuning strained alkyne reactivity via organic synthesis has evolved into a burgeoning field of study largely focused on cyclooctyne, wherein physical organic chemistry helps guide rational molecular design to produce molecules with intriguing properties. Concurrent research in the field of carbon nanomaterials has produced new types of strained alkyne macrocycles, such as cycloparaphenyleneacetylenes, that possess uniquely curved aromatic π systems but hover on the edge of stability. In 2018, we introduced a strained alkyne scaffold that marries the synthetic accessibility and stability of cyclooctyne with the curved π system of carbon nanomaterials. These molecules are strained alkyne-containing cycloparaphenylenes (or [n+1]CPPs), which have been shown to possess size-dependent reactivity as well as the classic characteristics of the unfunctionalized parent CPP, such as a tunable HOMO-LUMO gap and bright fluorescence for large sizes. Herein, we elaborate further on this scaffold, introducing two modifications to the original design and fully characterizing the kinetics of the strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) for each [n+1]CPP with a model azide. Additionally, we explain how electronic (the incorporation of fluorine atoms) and strain (a meta linkage which heightens local strain at the alkyne) modulations affect SPAAC reactivity via the distortion-interaction computational model. Altogether, these results indicate that through a modular synthesis and rational chemical design, we have developed a new family of tunable and inherently fluorescent strained alkyne carbon nanomaterials

Transition States

optimized transition states</p

Understanding hydrogen electrocatalysis by probing the hydrogen-bond network of water at the electrified Pt/solution interface

A grand challenge in electrochemistry is to understand and promote electrochemical processes by exploring and exploiting the interface. Herein, we promoted the hydrogen evolution and oxidation reactions (HER/HOR) of platinum (Pt) in base by introducing N-methylimidazoles into the Pt-water interface. In situ spectroscopic characterization of the interface together with Quantum Mechanics computations showed that this promotion is caused by the N-methylimidazoles facilitating diffusion of hydroxides across the interface by holding the second layer water close to Pt surfaces. We accordingly propose that the HER/HOR kinetics of Pt in acid and base is governed by diffusion of protons and hydroxides, respectively, through the hydrogen-bond network of interfacial water by the Grotthuss mechanism, which accounts for the pH-dependent HER/HOR kinetics of platinum, a long-standing puzzle. Moreover, we demonstrated a 40% performance improvement of an anion exchange membrane electrolyzer by adding 1,2-dimethylimidazole into the alkaline solution fed into its platinum cathode