Solvent effect on distribution ratio of Pd(II) in supercritical carbon dioxide extraction and solvent extraction using 2-methyl-8-quinolinol

The distribution ratio (D_M) of Pd(II) by the extraction with 2-methyl-8-quinolinol (HMQ) was determined using the supercritical carbon dioxide medium (SF-CO₂) and organic solvent media such as perfluoro-methylcyclohexane, heptane, cyclohexane, carbon tetrachloride and benzene. From experimental results of the slopes of log D_M versus pH plot and log D_M versus HMQ concentration plot, the extracted species both in the SF-CO₂ extraction (SFE) and the solvent extraction (SE) were determined to be Pd(MQ)₂. The distribution constant of HMQ (K_D,HMQ) in the SFE and SE systems were determined from the dependence of the distribution ratio of HMQ (D_HMQ) on the pH. A linear relationship was observed between log K_D,HMQ and the solubility parameter (δ) of the extraction medium based on the regular solution theory in both the SFE using SF-CO₂ at the pressure of 8.5–40 MPa and the SE systems. The difference in the slope of the log K_D,HMQ versus δ plot between the SFE and the SE systems is attributable to the extent of the specific interaction of the solute HMQ with the solvent molecules, i.e. CO₂ molecules and the organic solvent molecules. The D_M versus δ plot obtained under a given extraction condition using SF-CO₂ (11–40 MPa) and organic solvents showed clear linearity. The D_M obtained using SF-CO₂ at relatively low pressure range from 8.5 to 11 MPa was independent of the pressure and the δ of SF-CO₂, which coincides with the experimental fact that the solubility of Pd(MQ)₂ in the SF-CO₂ at 8.5–11 MPa was practically constant.     

Yield of fullerenes generated by contact arc method under He and Ar: dependence on gas pressure

The yields of toluene-soluble material from carbon soot depend on the buffer gas as well as the pressure. Helium was more effective for yielding fullerenes than argon, and the optimum pressure was 20 Torr, under which a maximum yield of about 13 wt% was obtained. C₆₀ showed a maximum abundance at 20 Torr, while C₇₀ and higher fullerenes (C₇₆, C₇₈ and C₈₄) at a slightly higher pressure between 20 and 50 Torr. Raw soot was also studied by electron microscopy. The pressure dependence of the fullerene yield is discussed in terms of the cooling rate and diffusion of carbon vapor around the evaporation source.     

Reduction behavior of Ru/CeO2 catalysts and their activity for wet oxidation

Three kinds of Ru/CeO₂ catalysts were prepared. The mobility of the oxygen on Ru and their catalytic activity in the wet oxidation of acetic acid was investigated. Ru was present in the form of RuO₂, and TPR experiment showed that the reaction, RuO₂ + 2H₂ Ru + 2H₂O, took place in different temperature ranges depending upon the kind of the catalysts. The catalyst with easily reducible oxygen on Ru had high activity in wet oxidation, and the importance of the release of oxygen from Ru to the reactant was suggested.     

Photoinduced intramolecular charge separation in a polymer solid below the glass transition temperature

Photoinduced intramolecular charge separation (CS) in a polar polymer glass, cyanoethylated pullulan (CN-PUL), was studied below the glass transition temperature (Tg=395 K). A series of three carbazole (Cz: donor)-cyclohexane (S: spacer)-acceptor (A: acceptor) molecules (Cz-S-A) was used as intramolecular donor-acceptor dyads. The photoinduced CS rate was evaluated by the fluorescence decay measurement at temperatures from 100 to 400 K. The CS rate (kCS) increased above 200 K even far below Tg where micro-Brownian motions of the whole polymer chain are frozen. Below 200 K, on the other hand, kCS showed weak dependence on temperature. The temperature dependence of kCS is discussed in terms of the dielectric relaxation time of the polymer matrix. Consequently, CS below Tg was well explained by a thermally nonequilibrium electron transfer (ET) formula above 200 K and by a two-mode quantum-mechanical ET formula below 200 K. The increase in kCS above 200 K is mainly caused by a thermally activated low-frequency matrix mode originating from the side-chain relaxation of polar cyano groups. The weak temperature dependence of kCS can be explained by a nuclear-tunneling effect caused by a high-frequency matrix mode (variant Planck's over 2piomegH=250 cm-1) and an intramolecular vibrational mode (variant Planck's over 2piomegaQ=1300 cm-1). The high-frequency mode of the polymer matrix was attributed to a vibrational or librational motion of polar groups in the CN-PUL glassy solid.     

Synthesis and photophysical properties of [3.3](3,9)carbazolophanes

Syn- And anti-[3.3](3,9)carbazolophanes, which are suitable model compounds for sandwich and partial-overlap excimers, respectively, have been synthesized and characterized; the structures of both singlet and triplet carbazole excimer have been described.     

Catalytic Effects of Metal-loaded Membrane-like Alumina Tubes on Ammonia Synthesis in Atmospheric Pressure Plasma by Dielectric Barrier Discharge

Plasma synthesis of ammonia was studied at atmospheric pressure using a dielectric-barrier-discharge-plasma reactor equipped with a metal-loaded membrane-like alumina tube as a catalyst between the electrodes. Introducing the pure alumina into N₂–H₂ plasma resulted in an increase in the ammonia yield and the further improvement was achieved by loading the alumina with Ru, Pt, Ni, and Fe. These results clearly demonstrate the catalytic effects of the alumina and the metals in the plasma reaction. Temperature-programmed desorption and isotope exchange reaction of nitrogen revealed that plasma-excited N₂ molecules were subjected to dissociative adsorptions mainly on the alumina to form atomic N(a) (The suffix “(a)” denotes adsorbed species) species, which were converted into ammonia by H₂ plasma. A role of the metals is considered to be acceleration of ammonia formation by the reaction of the alumina-adsorbed N(a) atoms with plasma-activated hydrogen species.     

Synthesis of a capillarisin sulfur-analogue possessing aldose reductase inhibitory activity by selective isopropylation

We describe the synthesis of 2-[(4-hydroxyphenyl)thio]-7-isopropoxy-5,6-dimethoxy-4H-chromen-4-one 2 from 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenol 6 via the key intermediate, 3-iodo-7-isopropoxy-5,6-dimethoxy-4H-chromen-4-one 3. An important feature of this synthetic scheme involves selective alkylation, which can be achieved by two different routes. One route involves the selective isopropylation of a triacetate derivative 4 under basic conditions. The second route employs the selective demethylation of a trimethoxy derivative 5 under acidic conditions followed by isopropylation. The product of these alternative routes, compound 3, is then converted to a capillarisin sulfur analogue 2 in a one-pot reaction via the imidazolyl intermediate 22.     

Regio- and stereoselective reactions of gem-difluorinated vinyloxiranes with heteronucleophiles

[Reaction: see text]. Regio- and stereoselectivity in reactions of gem-difluorinated vinyloxiranes with heteronucleophiles were successfully controlled. Halogen atoms were introduced regioselectively at the allylic epoxide carbon with an inversion in stereochemistry using MgBr2*Et2O or Li2CuCl4 to produce anti-vic-halohydrine. The other diastereomers were obtained selectively using LiBr/AcOH or BCl3, and SN2' type products were formed selectively with excellent E preference by changing the reaction temperature. Moreover, a further investigation led us to find that a regio- and stereoselective SN2' addition of several Brnsted acids was dependent on the pKa values of the acids. Under strong acidic conditions, we exclusively obtained E allylic alcohols.