Water and ethanol stabilities of the crystal structure of the Cu-based metal–organic framework (MOF) HKUST-1 have been investigated. Vapour (water and ethanol) sorption isotherms and cyclability were measured by a dynamic strategy. The ethanol sorption capacity of HKUST-1 at 303 K remained unchanged contrasting water sorption (which decreased along with the sorption experiment time). Considering the binding energy of each sorbate with the open Cu(II) sites, obtained by the use of diffusion coefficients, we showed the superior crystal stability of the HKUST-1 framework towards ethanol. Finally, a small quantity of ethanol (pre-adsorbed) slightly enhanced CO₂ capture without crystal structure degradation.

The geometrical structures of the ground states of triniobium monoxide, Nb₃O, and its cation, Nb₃O⁺, have been determined by an experimental and theoretical study. Vibrationally resolved photoelectron spectra of an Nb₃O cluster beam were obtained at 100 and 300 K using the pulsed field ionization‐zero electron kinetic energy technique. The spectra were simulated by calculating multidimensional Franck–Condon factors using the geometries and harmonic vibrational frequencies obtained from density functional theory for the minimum energy structures of the ion and neutral molecule. The rather remarkable agreement between the experiment and the simulated spectra establishes that Nb₃O and Nb₃O⁺ have planar C_2v structures with the oxygen atom bridging two niobium atoms. These are the most complex transition metal cluster structures to date to be characterized by gas phase spectroscopic techniques.

The electron transfer (ET) reaction between carotenoids and the superoxide radical anion is found to be not only a viable process but also a very unique one. The nature of the O₂˙⁻ inverts the direction of the transfer, with respect to ET involving other ROS: the O₂˙⁻ becomes the electron donor and carotenoids (CAR) the electron acceptor. Therefore the “antioxidant” activity of CAR when reacting with O₂˙⁻ lies in their capacity to prevent the formation of oxidant ROS. This peculiar charge transfer is energetically feasible in non-polar environments but not in polar media. In addition the relative reactivity of CAR towards O₂˙⁻ is drastically different from their reactivity to other ROS. Asthaxanthin (ASTA) is predicted to be a better O₂˙⁻ quencher than LYC and the other CAR. The CAR + O₂˙⁻ reactions were found to be diffusion controlled. The agreement with available experimental data supports the density functional theory results from the present work.