Zhaomin Hou

Bio: Zhaomin Hou is an academic researcher from Dalian University of Technology. The author has contributed to research in topics: Polymerization & Catalysis. The author has an hindex of 67, co-authored 327 publications receiving 15010 citations. Previous affiliations of Zhaomin Hou include Peking University & Chiba University.

π-Conjugated Aromatic Enynes as a Single-Emitting Component for White Electroluminescence

Abstract: By use of the organolanthanide catalysts Me2Si(C5Me4)(NAr)Lu(CH2SiMe3)(THF) and (C5Me5)2LaCH(SiMe3)2, carbazole-substituted phenyl enynes (Z)-CPEY and (E)-CPEY were synthesized, respectively, with excellent regio- and stereoselectivity through the catalytic dimerization of the corresponding terminal alkyne. These new pi-conjugated compounds, in particular, the (E)-enyne isomer (E)-CPEY, act as an excellent single-emitting component for white organic light-emitting devices (WOLEDs), as a result of combination of the blue emission from an isolated molecule with the longer-wavelength emissions (green and orange-red) from excimers. The (E)-CPEY-based double-layer device emitted almost pure white light with CIE coordinates of (0.32, 0.33), maximum brightness of 1395 cd m-2, and maximum current efficiency of 2.07 cd A-1. This is perhaps the purest white emission ever reported for a single-emitting-component WOLED. The quality of the white emission remained almost unchanged under varying driving voltages, demonstrating an advantageous potential of single-emitting-component WOLEDs.

Carboxylation of Organoboronic Esters Catalyzed by N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Copper(I) Complexes

Abstract: Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an attractive, cheap, and nontoxic C1 source. However, because of its high thermodynamic stability and low reactivity, the use of CO2 as a C1 source for C C bond formation usually requires highly nucleophilic organometallic reagents, such as alkyllithium compounds and Grignard reagents. Less nucleophilic organoboron compounds, though easily available, usually do not react with CO2. Recently, transition-metal-catalyzed addition of carbon nucleophiles to CO2 has attracted much attention. [2,3] In this context, Iwasawa and co-workers have reported the catalytic carboxylation of aryland alkenylboronic esters with CO2 in the presence of a rhodium(I) compound and additives. This reaction is potentially useful for the synthesis of functionalized carboxylic acid derivatives because of the easy availability of various functionalized organoboronic esters. Unfortunately, however, the Rh catalyst systems showed only limited tolerance toward functional groups. Although carbonyl and cyano groups survived the reaction conditions, more reactive functional moieties, such as bromo, iodo, and vinyl groups, seemed intolerant. Moreover, little information about the active catalyst species and the reaction mechanism was available because of the complexity of the catalyst systems. These difficulties have limited the application scope of the Rh catalyst systems. The search for new catalysts for more efficient, selective CO2 transformation as well as the clarification of the catalytic process is therefore of interest and importance. We report herein an excellent N-heterocyclic carbene copper(I) catalyst system for the carboxylation of aryland alkenylboronic esters with CO2. This Cu catalyst system not only showed higher functional-group tolerance, but could also afford structurally characterizable active catalyst species, thus offering unprecedented insight into the mechanistic aspects of the catalytic process. Copper complexes bearing N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands have been reported to act as efficient catalysts for the transformation of various carbonyl compounds, such as conjugate reduction of a,b-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, hydrosilylation of ketones, and also for the reduction of CO2. [7] In addition, many copper compounds have also been reported to promote nucleophilic addition of organoboron compounds to electrophiles, such as a,b-unsaturated carbonyls and allylic carbonates. These results encouraged us to examine the carboxylation of organoboronic esters with CO2 by use of N-heterocyclic carbene copper complexes as catalysts. At first we examined the reaction of 4methoxyphenylboronic acid 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol ester (1a) with CO2 using N-heterocyclic carbene copper species generated in situ from CuCl, IPr·HCland tBuOK. In

N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC)–copper-catalysed transformations of carbon dioxide

Abstract: This minireview gives an overview of the chemical transformations of carbon dioxide (CO2) catalysed by N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)–copper complexes. NHC–copper complexes can serve as excellent catalysts for the carboxylation of various substrates with CO2 and the reduction of CO2 to CO or formic acid derivatives. In addition, NHC ligands enable the isolation of structurally characterisable key reaction intermediates, thus helping in understanding the mechanistic details of the catalytic processes. The related reactions catalysed by other metal complexes with NHC ligands are also briefly described.

Novel polymerization catalysts and hydride clusters from rare-earth metal dialkyls

Abstract: This Review gives an overview on recent progress in the synthesis and chemistry of rare-earth metal dialkyl complexes bearing monoanionic ancillary ligands, with an emphasis on novel polymerization catalysts. These structurally well-defined and highly reactive compounds are prepared either by alkane elimination reactions between trialkyl rare-earth complexes and acidic neutral ligands, or by the metathetical reactions of rare-earth trihalides with the alkali metal salts of the corresponding ligands. On treatment with an appropriate borate compound, the dialkyl complexes are converted into the corresponding cationic monoalkyl species, which serve as excellent catalysts for the polymerization and copolymerization of a variety of olefins to yield a series of new polymer materials that exhibit novel properties. Alternatively, hydrogenation of the dialkyl rare-earth complexes with H(2) affords a new class of rare-earth polyhydride complexes with unique features in terms of both their structure and reactivity.

Transformation of carbon dioxide.

Abstract: 4.3. Reaction Mechanism 2373 4.4. Asymmetric Synthesis 2374 4.5. Outlook 2374 5. Alternating Polymerization of Oxiranes and CO2 2374 5.1. Reaction Outlines 2374 5.2. Catalyst 2376 5.3. Asymmetric Polymerization 2377 5.4. Immobilized Catalysts 2377 6. Synthesis of Urea and Urethane Derivatives 2378 7. Synthesis of Carboxylic Acid 2379 8. Synthesis of Esters and Lactones 2380 9. Synthesis of Isocyanates 2382 10. Hydrogenation and Hydroformylation, and Alcohol Homologation 2382

Secondary building units, nets and bonding in the chemistry of metal–organic frameworks

Abstract: This critical review presents a comprehensive study of transition-metal carboxylate clusters which may serve as secondary building units (SBUs) towards construction and synthesis of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). We describe the geometries of 131 SBUs, their connectivity and composition. This contribution presents a comprehensive list of the wide variety of transition-metal carboxylate clusters which may serve as secondary building units (SBUs) in the construction and synthesis of metal–organic frameworks. The SBUs discussed here were obtained from a search of molecules and extended structures archived in the Cambridge Structure Database (CSD, version 5.28, January 2007) which included only crystals containing metal carboxylate linkages (241 references).