Five silica samples (four precipitated silicas provided by commercial suppliers and one with the MCM-41 structure) have been studied by infrared spectroscopy and by a homemade thermogravimetry-infrared spectrum (TG-IR) setup. The silanol amount, accessibility to water, and different alcohols, and the affinity to water of these various silicas were compared and quantified. TG-IR measurements allowed the precise determination of the integrated molar absorption coefficient of the (nu+delta)OH band, epsilon(nu+delta)OH=(0.16+/-0.01) cm micromol(-1). It is independent of the sample origin and the concentration of silanol groups on silicas. For the precipitated dried samples evacuated at room temperature, the silanol concentration COH varies between 3.6 and 7.0 mmol g(-1). It is 5.3 mmol g(-1) in the case of the MCM-41 sample. Exchange experiments with D2O, followed by back-exchanges with different alcohols (methanol, propan-2-ol, 2-methyl-propan-2-ol, and 3-ethyl-pentan-3-ol) have been followed by infrared spectroscopy. All of the silanols of the MCM-41 sample are accessible to water and alcohol molecules. By contrast, about 20% of the silanols in precipitated samples are not exchanged by D2O (internal silanols). Accessibility decreases with alcohol size; the main effect is relative to methanol. Taking into account the sample specific surface areas and the silanol accessibility to D2O, the surface silanol density of precipitated silicas is close to 8 OH per nm2, at maximum coverage. At variance, the silanol surface density of the MCM silica is much lower, 4 OH per nm2. The TG-IR setup has also been used to determine the amount of water adsorbed on silicas through the intensity of the deltaH2O band. It varies linearly with the concentration of adsorbed water, whatever the silica sample. The integrated molar absorption coefficient of two bands, epsilondeltaH2O=(1.53+/-0.03) cm micromol(-1) and epsilon(nu+delta)H2O=(0.22+/-0.01) cm micromol(-1), have been determined. The number of H2O molecules adsorbed per nm2 has been compared on the five samples under an equilibrium pressure of 13 hPa at room temperature. Taking into account the number of silanols accessible to D2O for each sample, the silica-water affinity has been defined by the H2O/(SiOHsurf) ratio. It is close to 0.8-0.9 for the precipitated samples but lower (0.7) in the case of the MCM one. This result is explained by the more important amount of isolated silanol groups presented by this sample.

Six-membered cyclic carbonates, namely trimethylene carbonate (TMC), 3,3-dimethoxytrimethylene carbonate (DMTMC) and 3-benzyloxytrimethylene carbonate (BTMC), undergo controlled "immortal" ring-opening polymerization (iROP) under mild conditions (bulk, 60-150 °C), by using organocatalysts, including an amine [4-N,N-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP)], a guanidine [1,5,7-triazabicyclo-[4.4.0]dec-5-ene (TBD)], or a phosphazene [2-tert-butylimino-2-diethylamino-1,3-dimethylperhydro-1,3,2-diazaphosphorine (BEMP)], in the presence of an alcohol [benzyl alcohol (BnOH), 1,3-propanediol (PPD), glycerol (GLY)] that acts as both a co-initiator and a chain-transfer agent. Remarkably, such organocatalysts remain highly active in the iROP of technical-grade, unpurified TMC. Under optimized conditions, as much as 100,000 equivalents of TMC were fully converted by as little as 10 ppm of BEMP with the simultaneous growth of as many as 200 polymer chains, allowing the preparation of high molar mass poly(trimethylene carbonate)s (up to 45,800 g mol(-1)). These catalyst systems enable among the highest activities (TOF=55,800 h(-1)) and productivities (TON=95,000) ever reported for the ROP of TMC.

The primary insertion (or 1,2-insertion) of propylene into (C 5 Me 5 ) 2 YCH 2 CH 2 CH(Me) 2 , as well as the primary and secondary (or 2,1) insertions of propylene into the activated ansa-zirconocene complex [{Ph(H)C-(3,6-tBu 2 Flu)(3-tBu-5-Me-C 5 H 2 )}ZrMe] + were calculated with several DFT methods to find the most adequate methodology for the computation of metallocene-catalyzed olefin polymerization reactions. For the yttrium system, both solvent corrections and dispersion corrections are needed to determine energies of coordination and activation barriers in agreement with experimental data. Dispersion corrections were included directly via the use of specific functionals like B97D and M06 or were added as empirical corrections (GD3BJ) to the B3PW91 calculations. For the zirconocene system, the best method is a combination of B3PW91 with solvent corrections incorporated with the SMD continuum model. The dispersion corrections, included via both GD3BJ and M06, tend to overestimate the stabilization of the adducts because of the high steric bulk of the zirconocene system. The addition of dispersion corrections shifts the energy profiles toward lower values but does not affect the relative activation barriers. Implementation of entropy corrections counterbalances almost perfectly the dispersion corrections. The same observations arise from the study of the C−H activations of propylene induced by the zirconocene complex.

Gold‐catalyzed C(sp)–C(sp2) and C(sp2)–C(sp2) cross‐coupling reactions are accomplished with aryldiazonium salts as the coupling partner. With the assistance of bpy ligand, gold(I) species were oxidized to gold(III) by diazonium without any external oxidants. Monitoring the reaction with NMR and ESI‐MS provided strong evidence for the nitrogen extrusion followed by AuIII reductive elimination as the key step.

The controlled “immortal” ring‐opening polymerization of trimethylene carbonate (TMC) using a two‐component catalyst system based on a metal Lewis acid, such as a metal triflate M(OTf)n (M=Ca, Sc, Zn, Al, Bi; OTf=CF3SO3−) or the metallic salt Fe(acac)3, (acac=acetylacetonate) and an alcohol (ROH) as co‐initiator and chain‐transfer agent, is carried out in bulk at 110–150 °C. As a result of the water‐tolerance of these systems, experimental operating conditions do not require any special care. The approach, valorized both with various ROH transfer agents and with either purified or unpurified monomer sources, is highly versatile. Functional telechelic polycarbonates HPTMCOR, devoid of decarboxylation sequences, are obtained [PTMC=poly(trimethylene carbonate)]. The molar mass of the PTMCs can be readily predicted by a simple model, taking into account the [TMC]0/[ROH]0 ratio and the amount of transferring impurities present in the raw/unpurified reagents. Such simple, air‐ and moisture‐robust catalytic systems, which display quite high activities (TOF up to 28 200 h−1) and productivities (TON up to 45 000) are thus extremely valuable, especially industrially. The performances of these systems are described in comparison to the previously established valuable inorganic and organometallic catalytic systems, namely metal amido complexes ([M{N(SiMe3)2}3]) and [(BDI)Zn{N(SiMe3)2}] (BDI=β‐diiminate ligand) derivatives.