Group 4 Metallocenes Supported on Sulfated Zirconium Oxide Catalyze Benzene C–H Borylation C–H bond functionalization of arenes with boranes continues to be a challenge in catalysis, with late transition and rare earth metals shown to be catalytically active. In this study, group 4 metallocenes grafted onto acidic sulfated zirconia (SZO) are demonstrated to catalyze arene borylation with pinacolborane (HBpin). Catalysis studies at partial HBpin conversions (59–68%) using Cp2M(Me)/SZO (M = Ti, Zr, or Hf; Cp = cyclopentadienyl) catalysts reveal that Zr exhibits greater selectivity and activity than Ti and Hf. At 0.16 mol % of Zr, Cp2ZrMe/SZO achieves 332 turnovers at high HBpin conversion (86%), making this catalyst comparably active to previously reported Ir and Rh C–H borylation catalysts. At 160 °C, a maximum chemoselectivity of 82% for PhBpin was observed at 24% HBpin conversion. The superior activity of ionic Cp2ZrMe/SZO compared to neutral Cp2ZrMe/SiO2 demonstrates the borylation mechanism relies on the highly electrophilic, coordinatively unsaturated cationic sites stabilized by the weakly coordinating sulfated support. Furthermore, both catalysts significantly outperform their molecular analogues, Cp2ZrMe2 and [Cp2ZrMe][B(C6F5)4], suggesting that the support enhances catalytic performance by stabilizing the active species.

I’m excited to share our latest research now published in
@jacs.acspublications.org!
A huge thank you to the entire @amesnatlab.bsky.social team, for their hard work, and a special shoutout to my co-corresponding author, Long Qi, for his invaluable partnership.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

To clarify in the pulse programming manual it states the following which suggests power is scaled. I suggest the manual be updated to clarify the language:

Thank you. The manual is somewhat ambiguous on the matter and seems to suggest power. So I panicked for a moment that all shapes generated by the shapetool were wrong. Glad that they are not.

Thank you Clemens. Just to clarify, it is the value in Watts that is scaled, not the rf amplitude? So if you have a value of 25% in the file, the radiofrequency amplitude will only be reduced to 50%?

Does anyone know is the amplitude values in Bruker shaped pulse files are scaling the power (Watts) being applied, or the radiofrequency amplitudes? Documentation is vague but hints that it is the power, however, Bruker-generated shapes, like DFS, clearly modulate the radiofrequency amplitude.

I kid you not, I just gave copilot a screenshot of a Hamiltonian matrix and it immediately identified what it was and where I had made a mistake in my code. First time this thing has done something useful for me.

I don't think they are particularly common here either. We have a very nice local bike shop here and I went with the intention of buying a fatbike for the winter and the owner talked me out of it and told me to just get winter tires instead. Great guy.

I have winter tires on my bike. They have metal studs and a softer rubber compound to maintain traction on snow and ice. I never feel like I am slipping.

First tracks

Regioselective Hydrosilylation Catalysis with Supported Well-Defined Pt(0) Complexes: Effects of Surface Anions and Phosphenium Ligands Achieving stable, selective single-atom catalysts is challenging because localsurface-site structures are difficult to control. Surface organometallic chemistry and organic–inorganic hybrid materials ...

Our first publication of 2026 is available now! In this study, we introduce a new family of hybrid materials designed to support Pt(0) complexes for regioselective hydrosilylation catalysis.
Link: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Postdoctoral Research Associate - Ames National Laboratory Position Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate - Ames National Laboratory Appointment Type: Post Doc/Trainee Job Description: Summary of Duties and Responsibilities: As a U. S. Department of Energy (...

We are hiring a postdoc to join our team at @amesnatlab.bsky.social! If interested apply here: isu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/IowaSt...

Counterintuitively, here your peak shifts upfield as the magnetic field decreases. We should really avoid using these terms as they are evidently confusing and obviously antiquated.

I sent you an email.

In undergrad the University of Ottawa offered a scientific communication class for chemistry students. It covered how to read, organize, and write a scientific paper, what not to do, and how to communicate in general. It was fantastic. Dave had provided some NMR examples of particularly bad writing.

Biomolecular NMR Facility Manager Position Title: Biomolecular NMR Facility Manager Job Group: Professional & Scientific Required Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree and 5 years of related experience Preferred Qualifications...

Iowa State Dept of Molecular Biology is hiring for biomolecular solution NMR facility staff #NMRchat #Chemjobs #Chemsky

(I am NOT the hiring manager for this position, but I will refer any questions you have to the appropriate person.) isu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/IowaStateJob...

DFT calculations and theory do not support enantiospecificity in NMR J-coupling constants - Nature Communications Nature Communications - DFT calculations and theory do not support enantiospecificity in NMR J-coupling constants

Josef Zwanziger, @aaronrossini.bsky.social, and I published a rebuttal of a recent Nature Commun. paper claiming that enantiomers produce large differences in J coupling constants.

doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Falcon Space - Advanced Propulsion Research & Development Falcon Space is working to make the dream of advanced propulsion a reality through innovative experiments and UAP Reverse-Engineering.

Apparently, there is a company using DNP (yes, specifically DNP-NMR) for.... propulsion in warp drives?
www.falconspace.org

Those fits to the CP build-up curves are incredible. Very nice.

Lab director on building occupation: ‘Protesters are in mortal danger’ - Vox magazine The occupation of the Goudsmitpaviljoen could be life-threatening, warns lab director Arno Kentgens. He urges the campaigners to allow technicians access at all times. ‘The protesters could suffocate ...

Crazy event. Here is another article that is not pay-walled:
www.voxweb.nl/en/lab-direc...

We prepared a 17O-enriched boron monoxide material which allowed us to gain a greater clarity on the long-range structure of the material. Data seems to point at BO being a 1D polymer. Same structure as initially proposed in 1955.

doi.org/10.1039/D5CC...

Sorry to hear that. I hope you get better soon.

I will die on this hill; lacquer is the superior finish. Spray on, always perfect, ready to recoat basically after you are done spraying the last one.

DFT calculations with the ADF program can now 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗡𝗣 𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝘀. Computed hyperfine couplings and rotation barriers match experiments, showing computational chemistry can guide radical design before synthesis. zurl.co/7iJHH #matsky #compchemsky

Determining the Conformation of Supported Complexes Using an 17O TEDOR-like NMR Experiment Dynamic nuclear polarization surface-enhanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has enabled the determination of the three-dimensional configuration of surface sites, in particular supported metal complexes of relevance to single-site heterogeneous catalysis. These approaches have chiefly leveraged the application of NMR double-resonance experiments that either reveal the complex conformation via point-to-point intramolecular distances between spin-labeled atoms or the complex-surface orientation via distances between the spins and the surface plane. Either method typically requires expensive isotope labeling and each reports on different structural features. The application of an experiment that simultaneously reveals both types of distances with chemical resolution would be ideal. In this article, we describe an 17O{1H} pseudo-3D correlation experiment that achieves this goal. Specifically, Si–O–Si and Si–O–M oxygens are well-resolved by 17O NMR; therefore, distances can be simultaneously measured radially, between Si–17O–M and the 1H’s of the ligands, and vertically to the Si–17O–Si linkages of the silica support. We demonstrate the experiment using supported yttrium and zirconium complexes. Good agreement is obtained when comparing the experimental results to theoretical predictions from density functional theory calculations, highlighting the reliability of this relatively simple experiment.

Can you use DNP-enhanced 1H-17O D-RINEPT build-up curves to measure more or less "free" geometrical information in grafted metal complexes?

doi.org/10.1021/acs....

(Yes!)

For the second point, Ln(III) cations are largely chemically identical. Their f orbitals behave as core orbitals and do not participate in bonding. So while the total spin and orbital angular momentum will change, the bonding and spin density functions should be close to the same.

I am about as far from being an expert as there is, but regarding point 1, the Fermi contact interaction required spin density exactly on the nucleus. So it basically measures the amount of of the spin density function that is made up of that atom's s orbitals.

When performing spin dynamics simulations under MAS, it is necessary to do 3-angle averaging. Conventionally this is done with 2-angle averaging and a gamma-carousel average. We show that this convention should be avoided in favor of proper integrated 3-angle averaging.
doi.org/10.1016/j.jm...

Love it!

I am saddened and shocked to hear of the passing of Jean-Nicholas Dumez. I admired his work, and used it as inspiration for much of the work I am most proud of. The NMR community has lost one of its best young scientists.

Twitter used to be nice, and then most of the posts I was seeing were promoted posts and ads. When I quit "X" and created a bluesky account it was such a breath of fresh air and quite reminiscent of what Twitter was like when I decided to join to find and promote papers.