Nitrite and Nitrate Production by NO and NO2 Dissolution in Water Utilizing Plasma Jet Resembling Gas Flow Pattern

This study investigated the reactive dissolution of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) mixtures in deionized water. The dissolution study was carried out in a flat surface type gas–liquid reaction chamber utilizing a gas flow-pattern resembling plasma jets which are often used in biomedical applications. The concentration of NO and NO₂ in the gas mixtures was varied in a broad range by oxidizing up to 800 ppm of nitric oxide in Ar carrier gas with variable amount of ozone. The production of nitrite (NO₂^?) and nitrate (NO₃^?) in the water was proportional to treatment time up to 50 min. The concentration of NO₃^? was a power function of gas phase NO₂ while the concentration of NO₂^? increased approximately linearly with gas phase NO₂. The formation of NO₂^? and NO₃^? could be described by reactions between dissolved NO₂ and NO in the water while the production rate was determined by diffusion-limited mass transport of nitrogen oxides to the bulk of the liquid. At higher NO₂ concentrations, the formation of dinitrogen tetraoxide (N₂O₄) increased the formation rate of NO₂^? and NO₃^?. The identified mass transport limitation by diffusion suggests that convection of water created by the gas jet is insufficient and dissolution of nitrogen oxides can be increased by additional mixing. In respect of practical applications, the ratio of NO₂^? /NO₃^? in water could be varied from 0.8 to 5.3 with treatment time and gas phase NO₂ and NO concentrations.

     

Partial agonists and subunit selectivity at NMDA receptors

Subunit-selective ligands for glutamate receptors remains an area of interest as glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and involved in a number of diseased states in the central nervous system (CNS). Few subtype-selective ligands are known, especially among the N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor class. Development of these ligands seems to be a difficult task because of the conserved region in the binding site of the NMDA receptor subunits. A few scaffolds have been developed showing potential to differentiate between the NMDA receptors.     

Investigation of the interaction of Mercurochrome® constituents with proteins using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

The interaction of Mercurochrome®, a medical preparation based on the mercuryorganic compound merbromin, with free thiols in low molecular weight peptides and in proteins has been investigated by means of liquid chromatography (LC) and electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). β-Lactoglobulin A (β-LGA) from bovine milk (18.4 kDa) has been used as the model protein. It was found that, in contrast to assumptions in literature, the commercial product itself is a heterogeneous mixture of moderate chemical stability, which may contain precipitated Hg salts depending on storage time and conditions. Further variability results from different degrees of bromination of the fluorescein backbone of the compound. The formation of mercury compound–protein adducts was detected. The peptide sequence T13 containing a free thiol residue was identified as the binding site for mercury species after tryptic digestion of β-lactoglobulin A. While fresh Mercurochrome® tends to the formation of a Hg(II)-β-LGA adducts due to excess Hg²⁺ in solution, investigations after precipitation of Hg salts yield Hg(merbromin)(β-LGA) as the major product.     

First application of supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) catalysis for continuous methanol carbonylation

A solid, silica-supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) rhodium iodide Monsanto-type catalyst system, [BMIM][Rh(CO)2I2]-[BMIM]I-SiO2, exhibits excellent activity and selectivity towards acetyl products in fixed-bed, continuous gas-phase methanol carbonylation.     

Reversible physical absorption of SO2 by ionic liquids

Ionic liquids can reversibly absorb large amounts of molecular SO(2) gas under ambient conditions with the gas captured in a restricted configuration, possibly allowing SO(2) to probe the internal cavity structures in ionic liquids besides being useful for SO(2) removal in pollution control.     

Tight-binding parameterization of α-Sn quasiparticle band structure

The diamond structure of tin (α-Sn) can be stabilized in nanocrystals embedded in a suitable host. We developed highly accurate parameterizations for tight-binding simulation of such structures incorporating strain and spin-orbit interaction. Parameters are obtained by fitting to ab initio GW quasiparticle band structures of unstrained α-Sn as well as geometries under uniform compressive or tensile strain. The optical response calculated from this fit is in excellent agreement with experiments. As an application, confinement induced band gaps in strained and unstrained 3 nm nanocrystals are computed. It is found that compressive and tensile strain raises and lowers the gap, respectively.     

Revelation of the nature of the reducing species in titanocene halide-promoted reductions

The fundamental nature of Ti(III) complexes generated in tetrahydrofuran by reduction of Cp(2)TiCl(2) has been clarified by means of cyclic voltammetry and kinetic measurements. While the electrochemical reduction of Cp(2)TiCl(2) leads to the formation of Cp(2)TiCl(2)(-), the use of metals such as Zn, Al, or Mn as reductants affords Cp(2)TiCl and (Cp(2)TiCl)(2) in a mixture having a dimerization equilibrium constant of 3 x 10(3) M(-)(1), independent of the metal used. Thus, we find it unlikely that the trinuclear complexes or ionic clusters known from the solid phase should be present in solution as previously suggested. The standard potentials determined for the redox couples Cp(2)TiCl(2)/Cp(2)TiCl(2)(-), (Cp(2)TiCl)(2)(+)/(Cp(2)TiCl)(2), Cp(2)TiCl(+)/Cp(2)TiCl, and Cp(2)Ti(2+)/Cp(2)Ti(+) increase in the order listed. However, the reactivity of the different Ti(III) complexes is assessed as (Cp(2)TiCl)(2) greater, similar Cp(2)TiCl approximately Cp(2)Ti(+) > Cp(2)TiCl(2)(-) in their reactions with benzyl chloride and benzaldehyde. None of the reactions proceed by an outer-sphere electron transfer pathway, and clearly the inner-sphere character is much higher in the case of Cp(2)Ti(+) than for (Cp(2)TiCl)(2), Cp(2)TiCl, and in particular Cp(2)TiCl(2)(-). As to the electron acceptor, the inner-sphere character increases, going from benzyl chloride to benzaldehyde, and it is suggested that the chlorine atom in benzyl chloride and the oxygen atom in benzaldehyde may function as bridges between the reactants in the transition state.     

The crystal structure determinations and refinements of K2S2O7, KNaS2O7 and Na2S2O7 from X-ray powder and single crystal diffraction data

The crystal structures of K₂S₂O₇, KNaS₂O₇ and Na₂S₂O₇ have been solved and/or refined from X-ray synchrotron powder diffraction data and conventional single-crystal data. K₂S₂O₇: From powder diffraction data, monoclinic C2/c, Z=4, a=12.3653(2), b=7.3122(1), , β=93.0792(7)°, R_Bragg=0.096. KNaS₂O₇: From powder diffraction data; triclinic , Z=2, a=5.90476(9), b=7.2008(1), , α=101.7074(9), β=90.6960(7), γ=94.2403(9)°, R_Bragg=0.075. Na₂S₂O₇: From single-crystal data; triclinic , Z=2, a=6.7702(9), b=6.7975(10), , α=116.779(2), β=96.089(3), γ=84.000(3)°, R_F=0.033. The disulphate anions are essentially eclipsed. All three structures can be described as dichromate-like, where the alkali cations coordinate oxygens of the isolated disulphate groups in three-dimensional networks. The K-O and Na-O coordinations were determined from electron density topology and coordination geometry. The three structures have a cation-disulphate chain in common. In K₂S₂O₇ and Na₂S₂O₇ the neighbouring chains are antiparallel, while in KNaS₂O₇ the chains are parallel. The differences between the K₂S₂O₇ and Na₂S₂O₇ structures, with double-, respectively single-sided chain connections and straight, respectively, corrugated structural layers can be understood in terms of the differences in size and coordinating ability of the cations.