- Design and tuning of photoswitches for solar energy storage
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Current energy demand makes it compulsory to explore alternative energy sources be-yond fossil fuels. Molecular solar thermal (MOST) systems have been proposed as a suitable technology for the use and storage of solar energy. Compounds used for this application need to fulfil a long series of requirements, being the absorption of sunlight and the energy stored some of the most critical. In this paper, we study different families of well‐known molecular photoswitches from the point of view of their potential use as MOST. Starting from basic structures, we use density functional theory (DFT) computational modelling to propose two different strategies to increase the energy difference between isomers and to tune the absorption spectrum. The inclusion of a mechanical lock in the structure, via an alkyl chain and the presence of a hydrogen bonding are shown to di-rectly influence the energy difference and the absorption spectra. Results shown here prove that these two approaches could be relevant for the design of new compounds with improved performance for MOST applications.
- Losantos, Raul,Sampedro, Diego
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- Synthesis and reactivity of 5-methylenehydantoins
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5-Methylenehydantoin, as well as the N-mono- and N,N-di-protected derivatives, can be obtained by different synthetic routes. These compounds can undergo a large variety of reactions, such as Diels-Alder, epoxidation, methanol addition and conjugate addition reactions of different types of nucleophiles, including carbon (cyanide), nitrogen (piperidine) and sulfur (thiols, thioacetate) nucleophiles. The reactivity with electrophilic reagents, such as m-CPBA or methanol in acidic medium, and the need for Lewis acids to promote the conjugate addition reactions indicate that hydantoin is a poor electron-withdrawing group.
- Fraile, José M.,Lafuente, Gustavo,Mayoral, José A.,Pallarés, Antonio
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experimental part
p. 8639 - 8647
(2011/11/30)
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