133Cs NMR Study of Cs+ Ion Complexes with?Aza-18-crown-6, Diaza-18-crown-6 and?Dibenzyldiaza-18-crown-6 in Binary Acetonitrile?CNitromethane Mixtures

Cesium-133 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used as a sensitive probe to investigate the stoichiometry and stability of Cs⁺ ion complexes with aza-18-crown-6 (A18C6), diaza-18-crown-6 (DA18C6) and dibenzylediaza-18-crown-6 (DBzDA18C6) in different binary acetonitrile?Cnitromethane mixtures. In all cases, the exchange between free and complexed cesium ion was fast on the NMR time scale and only a single population average resonance was observed. The ¹³³Cs chemical shift?Cmole ratio data indicated that the cesium ion forms 1:1 cation?Cligand complexes with the investigated aza-crowns in all acetonitrile?Cnitromethane mixtures. The formation constants of the resulting complexes were evaluated from computer fitting of the chemical shift?Cmole ratio data. The stability of the resulting 1:1 complexes with Cs⁺ were found to vary in the order A18C6 > DBzDA18C6 > DA18C6. In all cases, there is the inverse relationship between the complex stability constants and the amount of acetonitrile in the mixed solvent.     

Estimation of homogeneous rate constants of reaction of electrochemically generated ortho‐benzoquinones with 1,3‐indandione

Electrochemical oxidation of some catechol derivatives has been studied in the presence of 1,3‐indandione as nucleophile in aqueous solution, by means of cyclic voltammetry and controlled‐potential coulometry. The results indicate the participation of electrochemically produced o‐benzoquinones in the Michael reaction with 1,3‐indandione to form the corresponding new catechol derivatives. On the basis of the EC mechanism, the observed homogeneous rate constants (k_obs) of reaction of produced o‐benzoquinones with 3‐indandione were estimated by comparing the experimental cyclic voltammograms with the digitally simulated results. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 39: 605–613, 2007     

Results on Varextropy Measure of Random Variables

In 2015, Lad, Sanfilippo and Agrò proposed an alternative measure of uncertainty dual to the entropy known as extropy. This paper provides some results on a dispersion measure of extropy of random variables which is called varextropy and studies several properties of this concept. Especially, the varextropy measure of residual and past lifetimes, order statistics, record values and proportional hazard rate models are discussed. Moreover, the conditional varextropy is considered and some properties of this measure are studied. Finally, a new stochastic comparison method, named varextropy ordering, is introduced and some of its properties are presented.     

Three-component synthesis and antibacterial evaluation of some novel 1,2-dihydroisoquinoline derivatives

Isoquinoline reacts with dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates in the presence of kojic acid or8-hydroxyquinoline to generate 1,2-dihydroisoquinoline derivatives. The simplicity, mild reaction conditions and high yields of products make it an interesting process compared to other approaches. The compounds have been analyzed for antibacterial activity against Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria. The results indicated that 1,2-dihydroisoquinolines derived from kojic acid are effective against all of the studied bacteria especially against Bacillus subtilis, while the products obtained from8-hydroxyquinoline are active only against Gram positive bacteria.     

Li–Yorke chaos and synchronous chaos in a globally nonlocal coupled map lattice

This paper investigates a globally nonlocal coupled map lattice. A rigorous proof to the existence of chaos in the scene of Li–Yorke in that system is presented in terms of the Marotto theorem. Analytical sufficient conditions under which the system is chaotic, and has synchronous behaviors are determined, respectively. The wider regions associated with chaos and synchronous behaviors are shown by simulations. Spatiotemporal chaos, synchronous chaos and some other synchronous behaviors such as fixed points, 2-cycles and 2²-cycles are also shown by simulations for some values of the parameters.     

Current applications of organocatalysts in asymmetric aldol reactions: An update

The aldol reaction is one of the most important carbon–carbon bond formations in synthetic organic chemistry. An enantioselective aldol reaction should provide an enantioenriched product. The organocatalytic asymmetric aldol reaction via an in situ generated enamine intermediate is one of the most powerful synthetic tools to achieve enantiomerically pure products. This approach is often used to obtain chiral β-hydroxycarbonyl compounds with excellent enantioselectivity. In this report, we update our previous review regarding the applications of organocatalysts in asymmetric aldol reactions leading to chiral β-hydroxycarbonyl compounds as versatile synthetic motifs frequently found in pharmaceutically desired intermediates and biologically active naturally occurring compounds.     

Solving multi-objective optimization formulation for fleet planning in a railway industry

In this paper, we propose a novel three-objective mathematical model and a solution procedure for optimizing fleet planning for rail-cars in a railway industry. These objectives are to: (1) minimize the sum of the cost related to service quality, (2) maximize profit calculated as the difference between revenues generated by serving customer demand and the combined costs of rail-car ownership and rail-car movement and, (3) minimize the sum of the rail-car fleet sizing, simultaneously. The Pareto optimal set is depicted and used for a trade-off analysis. A number of numerical examples are given to illustrate the presented model and solution methodology.     

Degradation kinetics of electron beam irradiated poly(propylene-co-ethylene) heterophasic copolymer

This study considers the effects of electron beam radiation on degradation kinetics of a poly(propylene-co-ethylene) heterophasic copolymer. Polypropylene heterophasic copolymers are composed of ethylene–propylene rubbery phase dispersed in crystalline polypropylene homopolymer matrix. Electron beam radiation can affect both polypropylene homopolymer matrix and ethylene–propylene dispersed phases simultaneously. Both phases undergo degradation and crosslinking reactions, but degradation is more probable in the polypropylene homopolymer matrix. The aim of this work is to study kinetics of degradation in this material. A high power electron accelerator irradiated raw samples under nitrogen atmosphere. The samples are analyzed using TGA in non-isothermal mode, and the degradation kinetic parameters were determined using Kissinger, Flynn–Wall–Ozawa and Coats–Redfern methods. The kinetic parameters resulted from these methods are compared. Results of kinetics studies show that orders of degradation reactions occurring in nitrogen atmosphere are all less than one. It indicates degradation takes place due to thermal dissociation of the chemical bonds.     

Electroreduction of CO2 on Single‐Site Copper‐Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Material: Selective Formation of Ethanol and Reversible Restructuration of the Metal Sites

It is generally believed that CO₂ electroreduction to multi‐carbon products such as ethanol or ethylene may be catalyzed with significant yield only on metallic copper surfaces, implying large ensembles of copper atoms. Here, we report on an inexpensive Cu‐N‐C material prepared via a simple pyrolytic route that exclusively feature single copper atoms with a CuN₄ coordination environment, atomically dispersed in a nitrogen‐doped conductive carbon matrix. This material achieves aqueous CO₂ electroreduction to ethanol at a Faradaic yield of 55 % under optimized conditions (electrolyte: 0.1 m CsHCO₃, potential: ?1.2 V vs. RHE and gas‐phase recycling set up), as well as CO electroreduction to C₂‐products (ethanol and ethylene) with a Faradaic yield of 80 %. During electrolysis the isolated sites transiently convert into metallic copper nanoparticles, as shown by operando XAS analysis, which are likely to be the catalytically active species. Remarkably, this process is reversible and the initial material is recovered intact after electrolysis.