Phosphane-free Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of aryl imidazolesulfonates with arylboronic acids and potassium aryltrifluoroborates under aqueous conditions

Aryl imidazole-1-sulfonates are efficiently cross-coupled with arylboronic acids and potassium aryltrifluoroborates using only 0.5 mol % of oxime palladacycles 1 under aqueous conditions at 110 °C. Under these simple phosphane-free reaction conditions a wide array of biaryl derivatives has been prepared in high yields. This methodology allows in situ phenol sulfonation and one-pot Suzuki arylation as well as the employment of microwave irradiation conditions.

Heterocyclic carbene–metal-catalyzed Csp2–Csp2 and Csp–Csp2 couplings using nonmetallic substrates

The use of carbene ligands for transition-metal complexes has been developed in the last decades, being of special interest those carbenes derived from a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic system. An interesting variety of carbene-metal complexes has been tested in the Mizoroki-Heck reaction. In comparison, few examples can be found for the Matsuda-Heck version of this coupling reaction. Additionally, the Sonogashira coupling has been also catalyzed with different carbene-metal catalysts.

Growth of Carbon Nanotubes on Surfaces: The Effects of Catalyst and Substrate

We report a study of synthesising air-stable, nearly monodispersed bimetallic colloids of Co/Pd and Fe/Mo of varying compositions as active catalysts for the growth of carbon nanotubes. Using these catalysts we have investigated the effects of catalyst and substrate on the carbon nanostructures formed in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) process. We will show how it is possible to assess the influence of both the catalyst and the support on the controlled growth of carbon nanotube and nanofiber arrays. The importance of the composition of the catalytic nuclei will be put into perspective with other results from the literature. Furthermore, the influence of other synthetic parameters such as the nature of the nanoparticle catalysts will also be analysed and discussed in detail.

La elaboración del informe científico: los artículos científicos como referencia para la elaboración de informes de prácticas

El análisis, elaboración y presentación de resultados tanto experimentales como teóricos es una parte extremadamente importante en la investigación científica. Según nuestra experiencia docente, existe una notable carencia entre los estudiantes en su capacidad para la preparación de informes a partir de los trabajos experimentales realizados en el laboratorio. A veces esa carencia se agrava por no disponer de unos criterios claros de lo que debe aparecer en un informe científico. Por tanto, el trabajo de esta red será la búsqueda de metodologías para incentivar la obtención de competencias por parte del alumnado en lo que respecta a la preparación de informes de resultados de trabajos científicos, sean experimentales o de cálculo teórico. Se tomarán como guía los modelos universalmente utilizados en la bibliografía científica. De esta forma se logrará también familiarizar al alumnado en los cauces habituales de publicación de la investigación, usando ejemplos relacionados con el ámbito de la asignatura escogida (Cinética Química, 3er curso del Grado de Química).