Study of the conversion of methanol to dimethyl ether on zeolite HZSM-5 using in situ flow MAS NMR

The conversion of methanol to gasoline (MTG) range hydrocarbons on zeolite catalyst HZSM-5 has been studied extensively using solid-state NMR. We have studied the reaction under batch and flow conditions using an isolated flow variable-temperature (VT) MAS NMR probe. This probe was developed to study heterogeneous catalysis reactions in situ at temperatures greater than 300 degrees C with reactant flow. In the batch studies, when 13C-labeled methanol was adsorbed on zeolite HZSM-5, sealed, and heated to 250 degrees C, dimethyl ether was formed. Two-dimensional exchange NMR shows that dimethyl ether was in equilibrium with methanol at 250 degrees C. When 13C-methanol was flowed over HZSM-5 at temperatures > or = 200 degrees C, only dimethyl ether was observed. Between 160 degrees C and 200 degrees C, both methanol and dimethyl ether were observed. The flow results are significant in that they suggest that there is no equilibrium between methanol and dimethyl ether in the catalyst at high temperatures, and that surface methoxy groups do not exist on the catalyst at high temperatures.     

Kinetics and mechanisms of the sonolytic destruction of non-volatile organic compounds: investigation of the sonochemical reaction zone using several OH* monitoring techniques

This study investigates the sonolytic degradation mechanism of non-volatile organic compounds and reaction sites for its degradation using various tools that allow OH* to be monitored, such as: the spin-trapping method of OH* detection using non-volatile nitrone trap 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide (DMPO), the hydrogen peroxide analytical methods and the p-chlorobenzoic acid (pCBA)-probe method. These methods can successfully monitor OH* produced during sonochemical processes, and identify the major reaction sites involving OH* of the three proposed reaction zones--within the cavity, in the bulk solution, and at the gas-liquid interfacial (shell) region. The patterns of hydrogen peroxide accumulation under the various conditions suggest that peroxides pre-form at the interfacial region, but the self-scavenging reaction by hydrogen peroxide simultaneously takes place in the same region. The simultaneously measured peroxide concentration, in the absence and presence of DMPO, and that of the DMPO-OH adduct indicated the peroxide production and DMPO-OH adduct formation reaction occur at the shell region. The sonolytic destruction efficiency of ultrasound coupled with Fe(II) has been also investigated. The coupled Fe(II)/ultrasound process was found to enhance the OH* production rate by 70% compared to the ultrasound process alone due to the reaction of Fe(II) with sonochemically produced hydrogen peroxide (Fenton's reaction). This accelerated reaction was also found to occur at the shell region rather than in the bulk solution. The enhancement effect of Fe(II)/ultrasound was also examined using pCBA as a probe. 2.8-fold and 3.6-fold increases of the pCBA degradation rate were observed at Fe(II) concentrations of 10 and 20 microM, respectively.     

Effects of ultrasound on the reaction step of boric acid production process from colemanite

Colemanite is one of the most important boron minerals used for production of boric acid. Boric acid (H(3)BO(3)) is produced by the reaction of colemanite (2CaO.3B(2)O(3).5H(2)O) with sulfuric acid in a heterogeneous solid-liquid reaction leading to crystallization of gypsum as a byproduct.The influence of ultrasound on the dissolution of colemanite in H(2)SO(4) solution and on the precipitation of the gypsum during the reaction was investigated. Experiments have been carried out in a batch stirred vessel at 85 degrees C in the absence and presence of ultrasound. The stirring rates were chosen as 600 rpm (for 500-600 microm) and 800 rpm (for 1000-1180 microm) to provide a homogeneous suspension during the reaction. The boric acid and calcium ion concentrations in the solution were determined as a function of time. The results showed that ultrasound enhances the dissolution of colemanite and precipitation rate of the gypsum in the solution after 1h. It has been shown that the use of ultrasound decreases the size of gypsum crystals.     

催化荧光法测定痕量草酸

在硫酸介质中 ,草酸能催化重铬酸钾氧化罗丹明B褪色 ,使体系荧光猝灭 ,建立了催化荧光法测定草酸的新方法。催化反应在 50℃水浴中进行 1 0min ,为假零级反应。测定草酸的线性范围为 0 4～ 1 2 0mg·L- 1 ,其回归方程为ΔF =8 42c(mg·L- 1 ) 3 81 ,r=0 9983 ,检出限为 0 1 6mg·L- 1 。试验了 30种共存物质的干扰情况。此法用于生物样品中草酸含量的测定 ,结果满意。     

Ultrasound mediated alkaline hydrolysis of methyl benzoate--reinvestigation with crucial parameters

In the present work hydrolysis of methyl benzoate was carried out using aqueous sodium hydroxide solution at room temperature in the presence of ultrasound since otherwise the same reaction takes place at relatively high temperature. Also, the above hydrolysis reaction was investigated at a relatively larger scale with the variation in parameters influencing the emulsification process and hence the reaction rates. It has been observed that the position of ultrasound source on the liquid-liquid interface is a crucial parameter affecting the two-phase emulsification rates. The poor bulk mixing occurring in the presence of ultrasound alone with an increase in the volume of the reaction mixture and its consequent effect on the reaction kinetics has been conclusively established. These studies have shown that the use of ultrasound with mechanical stirring can result in substantial reduction in the overall power consumption, especially for reaction systems like hydrolysis that do not require very high temperatures and pressures generated by cavitation.     

Ethoxylation of p-chloronitrobenzene using phase-transfer catalysts by ultrasound irradiation: a kinetic study

Ethoxy-4-nitrobenzene was synthesized by the reaction of 4-chloronitrobenzene with potassium ethoxide in a homogeneous system using benzyltriethylammonium chloride (QCl) as a phase-transfer catalyst at 50 degrees C under ultrasound irradiation conditions. The use of phase-transfer catalysts and ultrasound has been compared and demonstrated in this nucleophilic substitution reactions. The kinetics of the reaction depends on the effect of amount of catalyst, quaternary ammonium salts, agitation speed, amount of potassium hydroxide, amount of ethanol, temperature and the frequency of the ultrasound waves on the conversion of the reaction.     

Sono-synthesis of imidazolidine-2-thione as a base compound of some pharmaceutical products

This work describes the results of investigations carried out to investigate the synthesis of imidazolidine-2-thione as a heterocyclic compound in the presence of ultrasound (sono-synthesis) and in the absence of ultrasound (conventional method). Instead of reflux in the conventional method, the mixture was sonicated indirectly in sono-synthetic method with 500 kHz at different temperatures. Some experiments were also carried out without catalyst with 500 and 900 kHz. In the conventional method, the yield of the reaction was increased by increasing the temperature but in sono-synthetic method, the thermal dependence was different in the range of temperature studied (10-50 degrees C). In the presence of ultrasound, the yield was reached to more than 93% after 1h but in the conventional method it reached only 27% under the same conditions. Comparison was carried out with and without catalyst. It is also possible to achieve a high yield of product under sonication without the use of a catalyst.     

Real time investigation of the growth of silicon carbide nanocrystals on Si(1 0 0) using synchrotron X-ray diffraction

The growth of silicon carbide nanocrystals on Si(1 0 0) is studied by synchrotron surface X-ray diffraction (SXRD) during annealing at high temperature. A chemisorbed methanol monolayer is used as carbon source, allowing to have a fixed amount of carbon atoms to feed the growth. At room temperature, minor changes in the 2 × 1 reconstruction of silicon are observed due to the formation of Si-O-CH₃ and Si-H bonds from methanol molecules. When annealed at 500 °C, carbon incorporation into the silicon leads only to local modifications of the surface structure. Above 600 °C, tri-dimensional silicon carbide nanocrystals growth takes place, together with surface roughening and sharp decrease of domain sizes of the 2 × 1 reconstruction. The different processes taking place at each temperature are clearly distinguished and identified during the real time SXRD measurements.     

Low-temperature epitaxial growth of the quaternary wide band gap semiconductor SiCAlN

Two compounds SiC and AlN, normally insoluble in each other below approximately 2000 degrees C, are synthesized as a single-phase solid-solution thin film by molecular beam epitaxy at 750 degrees C. The growth of epitaxial SiCAlN films with hexagonal structure takes place on 6H-SiC(0001) substrates. Two structural models for the hexagonal SiCAlN films are constructed based on first-principles total-energy density functional theory calculations, each showing agreement with the experimental microstructures observed in cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy images. The predicted fundamental band gap is 3.2 eV for the stoichiometric SiCAlN film.     

Temperature dependent photochemical cleavage of 2,5-dimethylphenacyl esters

The study of the temperature-sensitive photochemical release of a carboxylic acid from 2,5-dimethylphenacyl ester is reported. Quantum yields of the benzoate ester degradation in benzene increased from 0.22 at room temperature to 0.28 at 50 degrees C whereas a more significant increase (nearly by a factor of 3) was observed in methanol and ethanol, reaching a high reaction efficiency (0.25) typically found in non-polar solvents. The reaction proceeds predominantly via the triplet pathway and the E-photoenol in the whole temperature range in methanol solution. A higher quantum efficiency in heated methanol is explained by enhancing the E-photoenol population. This picture was partially confirmed by the quantum chemical calculations. The 2,5-dimethylphenacyl chromophore is proposed as an efficient photoremovable protecting group for carboxylic acids in solutions under conventional or microwave-assisted heating for applications in organic synthesis, such as the solid-phase synthesis.     

Ultrasound and polar homogeneous reactions

The effect of ultrasound on the rates of homogeneous heterolytic reactions not switched to a free radical pathway can be explained by the perturbation of the molecular organization of or the solvation in the reacting system. A quantitative analysis of the sonochemical acceleration on the basis of the microreactor concept was carried out. It was found that (1) the Diels-Alder reaction cannot be accelerated by ultrasound except when SET or free radical processes are promoted, (2) the rectified diffusion during cavitation cannot be responsible for the acceleration of reactions, and (3) the sonochemical acceleration of polar homogeneous reactions takes place in the bulk reaction medium. This implies the presence of a 'sound-field' sonochemistry besides the 'hot-spot' sonochemistry. The occurrence of a sonochemical deceleration effect can be predicted.     

The use of dosimeters to measure radical production in aqueous sonochemical systems

The use of two dosimeter systems for quantifying radical production during aqueous sonochemical processes has been investigated. The Fricke (Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺) system was found to be useful at higher concentrations but care must be taken in interpreting the results since radical production is not the only process taking place. There is some reaction even in the absence of ultrasound and this involves dissolved oxygen gas. The concentration of hydroxyl radicals formed was accurately monitored at low concentrations using the terephthalate dosimeter and the limits of its applicability were found. Both systems were used to investigate the effect of varying the ultrasound intensity.     

Understanding the molecular mechanism of the [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of benzonitrile oxide toward electron‐rich N‐vinylpyrrole: a DFT study

The [3 + 2] cycloaddition (32CA) reaction of benzonitrile oxide, BNO 2 , with an electron‐rich N‐vinylpyrrole derivative, NVP 3a , in the presence of dichloromethane, has been theoretically studied using density functional theory (DFT) methods at the B3LYP/6‐31G(d) level. This 32CA reaction presents a relatively high activation Gibbs free energy as a result of the low polar character of this zwitterionic‐type (zw‐type) reaction. Analyses of the calculated relative Gibbs free energies and transition state geometries indicate that the studied 32CA reaction, in excellent agreement with experimental outcomes, takes place in a complete regioselective manner as a consequence of the steric repulsions that appear at the most unfavorable transition state. An electron localization function (ELF) topological analysis of the bonding changes along this 32CA reaction supports a non‐concerted two‐stage one‐step molecular mechanism in which the formation of the O3‐ C5 single bond takes place at the end of the reaction after the complete formation of the C1‐C4 one. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ultrasound-assisted copper deposition on a polymer membrane and application for methanol steam reforming

Copper particles were electrolessly deposited on a palladium aerosol activated polymer membrane in the presence of ultrasound. An application of ultrasound introduced a faster deposition (220 μg min^?1 in deposition rate) and finer copper particles (9 nm in crystallite size) than those (11 and 41 μg min^?1; 27 and 32 nm) in the absence of ultrasound (i.e. respectively 20 and 45 °C in bath temperature with mechanical agitation). A better performance of methanol steam reforming (0.59 in mean conversion during 5 h operation; 1.3 and 1.6 times respectively higher than those from 20 to 45 °C cases) at a 300 °C reaction temperature was materialized for the ultrasound application, probably due to a finer (i.e. a more textured) copper particle deposition on a polymer membrane.     

Reaction beds for dry sorption machines

Periodically operating dry sorption machines utilize the reaction enthalpies of suitable reversible adsorption and absorption reactions for the generation of useful heat and cold. Typical working materials are ammoniated salts (chlorides in connection with ammonia), zeolites (with water), activated carbon (with methanol), metal hydrides (with hydrogen). The key elements of such machines are the reaction beds, typically cylindrical tubes, in which ad(ab)sorption and desorption takes place, or in which the ad(ab)sorbant is condensed and evaporated. The heat and mass transfer inside these reaction beds is decisive for the operational characteristics of respective machines. An overview is given of typical designs of the reaction beds. Special emphasis is given to heat transfer enhancement techiques inside the reaction beds. The external heat transfer from and to the reaction bed wall is also addressed.     

High intensity focused ultrasound-induced gene activation in sublethally injured tumor cells in vitro

Cultured human cervical cancer (HeLa) and rat mammary carcinoma (R3230Ac) cells were transfected with vectors encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the control of hsp70B promoter. Aliquots of 10-microl transfected cells (5 x 10(7) cells/ml) were placed in 0.2-ml thin-wall polymerase chain reaction tubes and exposed to 1.1-MHz high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) at a peak negative pressure P- = 2.68 MPa. By adjusting the duty cycle of the HIFU transducer, the cell suspensions were heated to a peak temperature from 50 to 70 degrees C in 1-10 s. Exposure dependent cell viability and gene activation were evaluated. For a 5-s HIFU exposure, cell viability dropped from 95% at 50 degrees C to 13% at 70 degrees C. Concomitantly, gene activation in sublethally injured tumor cells increased from 4% at 50 degrees C to 41% at 70 degrees C. A similar trend was observed at 60 degrees C peak temperature as the exposure time increased from 1 to 5 s. Further increase of exposure duration to 10 s led to significantly reduced cell viability and lower overall gene activation in exposed cells. Altogether, maximum HIFU-induced gene activation was achieved at 60 degrees C in 5 s. Under these experimental conditions, HIFU-induced gene activation was found to be produced primarily by thermal rather than mechanical stresses.     

Ultrasound assisted synthesis of nano-sized lithium cobalt oxide

Nano-sized HT-LiCoO(2) powders were prepared by sonochemical synthesis in an aqueous solution of lithium hydroxide containing cobalt hydroxide at approximately 80 degrees C without any further heat treatment at high temperature. The effects of the LiOH concentration, oxidation conditions, ultrasound irradiation time and temperature on the formation of the nano-sized HT-LiCoO(2) phase were investigated. The formation of the HT-LiCoO(2) phase was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The TEM images showed the presence of HT-LiCoO(2) aggregates with a mean particle diameter of approximately 20 nm. The reaction mechanism of the ultrasound assisted synthesis of nano-sized LiCoO(2) was proposed on the basis of the XRD, X-ray absorption spectroscopy analysis and TEM observation of the reaction products taken during the course of the synthesis.     

缺氧及富氧条件下CuFe2O4催化热解酸性红B的原位FTIR反射光谱研究

用原位红外漫反射光谱法研究了在缺氧及富氧条件下CuFe2O4催化热解酸性红B(ARB)的反应过程。结果表明，两种反应气氛对染料分子中磺酸基团的热分解没有影响，但对偶氮基团及芳环的氧化分解影响显。在空气中，ARB的热解更迅速，300℃时可完全氧化为CO2及硝酸盐。而在N2气氛中，加热至300℃时ARB难以完全氧化热解，此时即使再通空气也不易将其完全氧化，而要在更高温度下(500℃)才能快速、彻底氧化成CO2及硝酸盐。     

Dye effluent decolourisation using ultrasonically assisted electro-oxidation

Solutions of the acidic dye, Sandolan Yellow, were subjected to sonolysis, electrolysis and sonoelectrolysis. Decolourisation did not take place using ultrasound alone but was achieved using an electro-oxidation process. The rate of electro-chemical decolourisation in the absence of ultrasound was dependent on the type of electrode used, electrolyte concentration, reaction temperature and the current density. Electro-oxidation of Sandolan Yellow using platinum electrodes was enhanced using ultrasound when carried out in a semi-sealed cell, which minimised the effects of ultrasonic degassing.     

An efficient synthesis of 2-substituted benzothiazoles in the presence of FeCl3/Montmorillonite K-10 under ultrasound irradiation

2-Substituted benzothiazoles have been synthesized via one-pot reaction from aromatic aldehydes and o-aminothiophenol in the presence of FeCl₃/Montmorillonite K-10 in absolute methanol at 25–30 °C under ultrasound irradiation. The remarkable advantages are an inexpensive and easily available reagent, a simple procedure, mild conditions, short reaction times and moderate to good yields.