Christopher W. Bielawski

The chemistry of graphene oxide is discussed in this critical review. Particular emphasis is directed toward the synthesis of graphene oxide, as well as its structure. Graphene oxide as a substrate for a variety of chemical transformations, including its reduction to graphene-like materials, is also discussed. This review will be of value to synthetic chemists interested in this emerging field of materials science, as well as those investigating applications of graphene who would find a more tho

Graphene-based materials are single- or few-layer platelets that can be produced in bulk quantities by chemical methods. Herein, we present a survey of the literature on polymer nanocomposites with graphene-based fillers including recent work using graphite nanoplatelet fillers. A variety of routes used to produce graphene-based materials are reviewed, along with methods for dispersing these materials in various polymer matrices. We also review the rheological, electrical, mechanical, thermal, a

Our understanding of the fundamental structure and bonding of graphene oxide (GO) as well as the scope of its utility have grown tremendously over the past decade. As a result, the pace of research efforts directed toward this carbon material continues to increase. Contemporary application now intersects a variety of disciplines and includes heterogeneous catalysis, flow reactor technologies, biomedicine and biotechnology, polymer composites, energy storage, and chemical sensors. Advances in the

There has been an intense surge in interest in graphene during recent years. However, graphene-like materials derived from graphite oxide were reported in 1962, and related chemical modifications of graphite were described as early as 1840. In this detailed account of the fascinating development of the synthesis and characterization of graphene, we hope to demonstrate that the rich history of graphene chemistry laid the foundation for the exciting research that continues to this day. Important c

Carbocatalysis the intersection of carbon materials and catalysis—is the use of large-area, metal-free carbon to facilitate chemical reactions. In their Communication on page 6813 ff., C. Bielawski and co-workers demonstrate that graphene-based materials may be used as carbocatalysts to facilitate a number of synthetically useful transformations, including the oxidation of alcohols and alkenes into their respective aldehydes and ketones, as well as the hydration of alkynes.

A new synthetic route to cyclic polymers has been developed in which the ends of growing polymer chains remain attached to a metal complex throughout the entire polymerization process. The approach eliminates the need for linear polymeric precursors and high dilution, drawbacks of traditional macrocyclization strategies, and it effectively removes the barrier to producing large quantities of pure cyclic material. Ultimately, the strategy offers facile access to a unique macromolecular scaffold t

Up to one hundred thousand equivalents of a variety of low-strain cyclic olefins, such as cyclooctadiene, cyclooctene, and several functionalized and sterically hindered derivatives, were polymerized by using highly active ruthenium-based ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) catalysts [Eq. (1)]. Efficient syntheses of other polymeric structures were also accomplished.

A method for reducing graphite oxide using a variety of commercially available alcohols is described. The carbon products were found to exhibit high C : O ratios (up to 30 : 1, as determined by elemental combustion analysis), high conductivities (up to 4600 S m−1), and good specific capacitances (up to 35 F g−1) when tested as electrode materials in ultracapacitors.

In this minireview, we discuss the utility of heterogeneous carbons as catalysts for facilitating a broad range of synthetic transformations. While such materials are commonly used as supports for transition metals that are catalytically active, carbons that are free of metals are also capable of enabling useful chemical reactions. Carbon catalysts hold promise in the development of sustainable alternatives to existing metal-dependent processes, as well as the discovery of mechanisms and transfo

Main-chain organometallic polymers utilize transition metal-organic ligand complexes as primary components of their backbones. These hybrid materials effectively integrate the physical and electronic properties of organic polymers with the physical, electronic, optical, and catalytic properties of organometallic complexes. Combined with the rich and continuously growing array of ligands for transition metals, these materials have outstanding potential for use in a broad range of applications. Th

Nützlicher Kohlenstoff: Graphenoxid katalysiert in guten bis ausgezeichneten Ausbeuten die Oxidation von vielen Alkoholen und Alkenen sowie die Hydrierung von Alkinen zu den entsprechenden Aldehyden und Ketonen. Es genügen relativ milde Reaktionsbedingungen, und einfaches Filtrieren erwies sich als bequeme und effektive Methode, um den Katalysator zurückzugewinnen.

The selective oxidation of thiols to disulfides and sulfides to sulfoxides using graphite oxide (GO), a heterogeneous carbocatalyst obtained from low cost, commercial starting materials is described. The aforementioned oxidation reactions were found to proceed rapidly (as short as 10 min in some cases) and in good yield (51-100%) (19 examples). No over-oxidation of the substrates was observed, and GO's heterogeneous nature facilitated isolation and purification of the target products.

Organometallic catalysts are traditionally designed and optimized to mediate a single reaction. As the number of applications that require combinatorial and other high-speed synthetic protocols increases, it will become desirable for catalysts to mediate multiple, mechanistically distinct transformations directly or upon simple modification. As an example of such a system, we demonstrate the ability of a single component precatalyst to mediate three different reactions to form well-defined block