Phosphine is conformationally stable because of the high inversion energy barrier of the phosphorus atom, which allows the phosphorus atom to become a chiral center. Thus, enantiopure P-stereogenic 12-, 15-, 18-, and 21-membered aliphatic phosphines "diphosphacrowns" were synthesized from secondary P-stereogenic bisphosphine as a chiral building block. Their complexation behaviors with alkali m...

The binary intermetallic clathrates K8-xSi46 (x = 0.4; 1.2), Rb6.2Si46, Rb11.5Si136 and Cs7.8Si136 were prepared from M₄Si₄ (M = K, Rb, Cs) precursors by spark-plasma route (SPS) and structurally characterized by Rietveld refinement of PXRD data. The clathrate-II phase Rb11.5Si136 was synthesized for the first time. Partial crystallographic site occupancy of the alkali metals, particularly for ...

The results of our infrared reflectance studies of single and mixed alkali borate glasses are reviewed and discussed in the context of the network structure and the interactions between alkali cations and their sites in the glass. In particular, we focus on the strong influence of the alkali cation type, content, and alkali subsitution on the structure of the network building units. The dominan...

It is well known that graphite has a low capacity for Na but a high capacity for other alkali metals. The growing interest in alternative cation batteries beyond Li makes it particularly important to elucidate the origin of this behavior, which is not well understood. In examining this question, we find a quite general phenomenon: among the alkali and alkaline earth metals, Na and Mg generally ...

Thin films of ferric ferrocyanide (Prussian Blue) were electrochemically deposited on interdigitated array (IDA) electrodes yielding systems which can be considered as chemiresistors in sensing alkali ion concentrations in an adjacent electrolyte. From the dependence of the steady-state current on the electrode (bias) potential at variable cation concentrations for different alkali ions and for...

An ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) consisting of a thin perfluorinated ionomer (usually, Nafion or Flemion) strip, platinum, and/or gold plated on both faces and neutralized by a certain amount of appropriate cations undergoes large bending motion when, in a hydrated state, a small electric field is applied across its thickness. When the same membrane is suddenly bent, a small voltage of t...

Can cyclen (1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane) bind alkali metal azides? This question is addressed by studying the geometric and electronic structures of the alkali metal azide-cyclen [M(cyclen)N3] complexes using density functional theory (DFT). The effects of adding a second cyclen ring to form the sandwich alkali metal azide-cyclen [M(cyclen)2N3] complexes are also investigated. N3(-) is found...

Black phosphorus (BP) exhibits thickness-dependent band gap and high electronic mobility. The chemical intercalation of BP with alkali metal has attracted attention recently due to the generation of universal superconductivity regardless of the type of alkali metals. However, both ultrathin BP, as well as alkali metal-intercalated BP, are highly unstable and corrode rapidly under ambient condit...

Binding of metal cations to the nucleobases can influence base pairing, base stacking and nucleobase tautomerism. Gas-phase condensation of dc discharge generated alkali metal cations and thermally vaporized cytosine (DC/FT) has been found to produce kinetically trapped excited tautomeric conformations of the M(+)(cytosine) complexes, which influences the threshold collision-induced dissociatio...

Porphyrins are a group of tetrapyrrole pigments. Physical and chemical properties of porphyrins are often related to their compositions and structures. We conducted 1H solution NMR and UV-visible spectral analysis to characterize the structural feature of a water-soluble, synthetic porphyrin i.e. tetrakis (p-sulfonatophenyl) porphyrin, TPPS4, and its interaction with different metal ions in aqu...