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1. Medium‐Entropy Engineering of Magnetism in Layered Antiferromagnet Cu _x Ni _{2(1‐ x )} Cr _x P ₂ S ₆

   https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202418722  

   Upreti, Dinesh; Basnet, Rabindra; Sharma, M_M; Chhetri, Santosh_Karki; Acharya, Gokul; Nabi, Md_Rafique_Un; Sakon, Josh; Benamara, Mourad; Mortazavi, Mansour; Hu, Jin (December 2024, Advanced Functional Materials)

   Abstract Antiferromagnetic van der Waals‐typeM₂P₂X₆compounds provide a versatile material platform for studying 2D magnetism and relevant phenomena. Establishing ferromagnetism in 2D materials is technologically valuable. Though magnetism is generally tunable via a chemical way, it is challenging to induce ferromagnetism with isovalent chalcogen and bimetallic substitutions inM₂P₂X₆. Here, we report co‐substitution of Cu¹⁺and Cr³⁺for Ni²⁺in Ni₂P₂S₆, creating Cu_xNi_2(1‐x)Cr_xP₂S₆medium‐entropy alloys spanning a full substitution range (x= 0 to 1). Such substitution strategy leads to a unique evolution in crystal structure and magnetic phases that are distinct from traditional isovalent bimetallic doping, with Cu and Cr co‐substitution enhancing ferromagnetic correlations and generating a weak ferromagnetic phase in intermediate compositions. This aliovalent substitution strategy offers a universal approach for tuning layered magnetism in antiferromagnetic systems, which along with the potential for light‐matter interaction and high‐temperature ferroelectricity, can enable multifunctional device applications. 

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2. Hydrogenation reactions catalyzed by HN(CH ₂ CH ₂ PR ₂ ) ₂ -ligated copper complexes

   https://doi.org/10.1039/d1qi00776a  

   Ekanayake, Dewmi A.; Chakraborty, Arundhoti; Krause, Jeanette A.; Guan, Hairong (October 2021, Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers)

   null (Ed.)

   HN(CH 2 CH 2 PR 2 ) 2 -ligated copper borohydride complexes, ( R PN H P)Cu(BH 4 ) (R = i Pr, Cy, t Bu), which can be prepared from ( R PN H P)CuBr and NaBH 4 , are capable of catalyzing the hydrogenation of aldehydes in an alcoholic solvent. More active hydrogenation catalysts are ( R PN H P)CuBr mixed with KO t Bu, allowing various aldehydes and ketones to be efficiently reduced to alcohols except those bearing a nitro, N -unprotected pyrrole, pyridine, or an ester group, or those prone to aldol condensation ( e.g. , 1-heptanal). Modifying the catalyst structure by replacing the NH group in ( i Pr PN H P)CuBr with an NMe group results in an inferior catalyst but preserves some catalytic activity. The hexanuclear copper hydride cluster, ( i Pr PN H P) 3 Cu 6 H 6 , is also competent in catalyzing the hydrogenation of aldehydes such as benzaldehyde and N -methyl-2-pyrrolecarboxaldehyde, albeit accompanied by decomposition pathways. The catalytic performance can be enhanced through the addition of a strong base or i Pr PN H P. The three catalytic systems likely share the same catalytically active species, which is proposed to be a mononuclear copper hydride ( R PN H P)CuH with the NH group bound to copper. 

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3. Attraction versus Repulsion between Methyl and Related Groups: (CH ₃ NHCH ₃ ) ₂ and (CH ₃ SeBr ₂ CH ₃ ) ₂

   https://doi.org/10.1002/cphc.202400495  

   Michalczyk, Mariusz; Scheiner, Steve; Zierkiewicz, Wiktor (November 2024, ChemPhysChem)

   Abstract The starting point for this work was a set of crystal structures containing the motif of interaction between methyl groups in homodimers. Two structures were selected for which QTAIM, NCI and NBO analyses suggested an attractive interaction. However, the calculated interaction energy was negative for only one of these systems. The ability of methyl groups to interact with one another is then examined by DFT calculations. A series of (CH₃PnHCH₃)₂homodimers were allowed to interact with each other for a range of Pn atoms N, P, As, and Sb. Interaction energies of these C⋅⋅⋅C tetrel‐bonded species were below 1 kcal/mol, but could be raised to nearly 3 kcal/mol if the C atom was changed to a heavier tetrel. A strengthening of the C⋅⋅⋅C intermethyl bonds can also be achieved by introducing an asymmetry via an electron‐withdrawing substituent on one unit and a donor on the other. The attractions between the methyl and related groups occur in spite of a coulombic repulsion between σ‐holes on the two groups. NBO, AIM, and NCI tools must be interpreted with caution as they can falsely suggest bonding when the potentials are repulsive. 

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4. Enabling coherent BaZrO ₃ nanorods/YBa ₂ Cu ₃ O _7−x interface through dynamic lattice enlargement in vertical epitaxy of BaZrO ₃ /YBa ₂ Cu ₃ O _7−x nanocomposites

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6668/ac4aff  

   Wu, Judy Z; Ogunjimi, Victor; Sebastian, Mary Ann; Zhang, Di; Jian, Jie; Huang, Jijie; Zhang, Yifan; Gautam, Bibek; Haugan, Timothy; Wang, Haiyan (February 2022, Superconductor Science and Technology)

   Abstract One-dimensional c -axis-aligned BaZrO 3 (BZO) nanorods are regarded as strong one-dimensional artificial pinning centers (1D-APCs) in BZO-doped YaBa 2 Cu 3 O 7− x (BZO/YBCO) nanocomposite films. However, a microstructure analysis has revealed a defective, oxygen-deficient YBCO column around the BZO 1D-APCs due to the large lattice mismatch of ∼7.7% between the BZO (3a = 1.26 nm) and YBCO (c = 1.17 nm), which has been blamed for the reduced pinning efficiency of BZO 1D-APCs. Herein, we report a dynamic lattice enlargement approach on the tensile strained YBCO lattice during the BZO 1D-APCs growth to induce c -axis elongation of the YBCO lattice up to 1.26 nm near the BZO 1D-APC/YBCO interface via Ca/Cu substitution on single Cu-O planes of YBCO, which prevents the interfacial defect formation by reducing the BZO/YBCO lattice mismatch to ∼1.4%. Specifically, this is achieved by inserting thin Ca 0.3 Y 0.7 Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7− x (CaY-123) spacers as the Ca reservoir in 2–6 vol.% BZO/YBCO nanocomposite multilayer (ML) films. A defect-free, coherent BZO 1D-APC/YBCO interface is confirmed in transmission electron microscopy and elemental distribution analyses. Excitingly, up to five-fold enhancement of J c ( B ) at magnetic field B = 9.0 T// c -axis and 65 K–77 K was obtained in the ML samples as compared to their BZO/YBCO single-layer (SL) counterpart’s. This has led to a record high pinning force density F p together with significantly enhanced B max at which F p reaches its maximum value F p,max for BZO 1D-APCs at B // c -axis. At 65 K, the F p,max ∼158 GN m −3 and B max ∼ 8.0 T for the 6% BZO/YBCO ML samples represent a significant enhancement over F p,max ∼ 36.1 GN m −3 and B max ∼ 5.0 T for the 6% BZO/YBCO SL counterparts. This result not only illustrates the critical importance of a coherent BZO 1D-APC/YBCO interface in the pinning efficiency, but also provides a facile scheme to achieve such an interface to restore the pristine pinning efficiency of the BZO 1D-APCs. 

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5. Synthesis of [Os(bpy) ₂ (py)(OH ₂ )](PF ₆ ) _x substituted pyridine complexes; characterization of a singly bridged H ₃ O ₂ ⁻ ligand

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D5DT00419E  

   Sun, Jiangtian; Sun, Jingwen; Jolly, Brandon J; Riu, Martin-Louis Y; Kerr, Tyler A; Lai, Yi-An; Pung, Michael J; Liu, Chong; Nava, Matthew (March 2025, Dalton Transactions)

   In situelectrochemical analysis enables access to metal aquo PCET model complexes which are synthetically elaborated and speciation was determined. 

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