Scientists engaged in heterogeneous catalysis often cite enzymes as their model catalysts. Enzymes can efficiently catalyze multistep processes that give various types of biomolecules. Remarkably, many enzymes combine two antagonistic catalytic functions, such as acid and base functions. Attracted by this challenge, several groups synthesized homogeneous catalysts that can successfully combine ...

an organosuperbase (n,n-dimethylbiguanide) immobilized on mesoporous and magnetically separable silica supports, was found for the first time, to act as a highly-stable, scalable and efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the henry reaction under mild and neutral condition. several factors such as catalyst amount, solvent and reaction time concerning the reactivity were also discussed. the proced...

In-situ synthesis of Ti-incorporated MCM-41 nano catalyst was carried out by the hydrothermal method to prepare a mesoporous catalyst for the oxidative desulfurization reaction (ODS). Oxidative reaction of dibenzothiophene (DBT) as a heavy sulfur compound was evaluated in a solution of n-decane as a model of liquid fuel. The synthesized catalysts were characterized by XRD, FESEM, EDX, TEM, FTIR...

the transesterification process of trimethylphosphate with ethanol and isopropanol is examined. it is found that the reaction does not proceed in the absence of base even at temperature up to 100°c, whereas in the presence of sodium alkoxide as a catalyst it takes place at room temperature leading to a mixture of mono-,bi-, tri-substitute esters as well as the minor by-products resulting from t...

Aligned carbon nanotubes have been grown using microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The carbon nanotubes are nucleated from iron catalyst particles which, during growth, remain adherent to the silicon substrates. By analysis with high-resolution electron microscopy, we observe iron silicide roots penetrating into the silicon substrate at the interface of the catalyst par...

Summarization of electronic discussion fora is a unique challenge; techniques that work startlingly well on monolithic documents tend to fare poorly in this informal setting. Additionally, conventional techniques ignore much of the structures that have the potential to serve as valuable features in the summarization task. We present several novel examples of such features, including the catalys...

In the ribozyme from the hepatitis delta virus (HDV) genomic strand RNA, a cytosine side chain is proposed to facilitate proton transfer in the transition state of the reaction and, thus, act as a general acid-base catalyst. Mutation of this active-site cytosine (C75) reduced RNA cleavage rates by as much as one million-fold, but addition of exogenous cytosine and certain nucleobase or imidazol...