One-electron redox reactions of troxerutin in aqueous solutions

The oxidation of flavonoids is of great interest because of their action as antioxidants with the ability to scavenge radicals by means of electron-transfer processes. The redox reactions of the flavonoid derivative troxerutin, (2-[3,4-bis-(2-hydroxyethoxy) phenyl]-3[[6-deoxy-α-L-manno-pyranosyl)-β-(D-glucopyranosyl]-oxy]-5-hydroxy-7-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-4H-1-benzo-pyran-4-one), were investigated over a wide range of conditions, using pulse radiolysis and cyclic voltammetry. The oxidation mechanism proceeds in sequential steps. One-electron redox potentials for troxerutin were found to be +1.196, +0.846 and −0.634 V vs. NHE.     

Extraction of tri- and tetravalent actinides with dihexyl N,N-diethylcarbamoylmethyl phosphonate (DHDECMP) and TBP from nitric acid solutions

Extraction of trivalent (Pu³⁺, Am³⁺, actinides and Eu³⁺, a representative of lanthanides) and tetravalent (Np⁴⁺ and Pu⁴⁺) actinides has been studied with dihexyl N,N-di-ethylcarbamoylmethyl phosphonate (DHDECMP) in combination with TBP in benzene from 2M nitric acid. The stoichiometries of the species extracted were found to be M(NO₃)₃·(3–n) TBP·n DHDECMP (for trivalent ions) and M(NO₃)₄·(2–n) TBP·n DHDECMP (for tetravalent ions) by the slope ratio method. The extraction constants evaluated (from the distribution data) indicate that for tetravalent ions (with solvation number two) the extraction constant increases when TBP (Kh=0.17) molecules are successively replaced by more basic DHDECMP (Kh=0.34) molecules. However, for trivalent ions (with solvation number three) when TBP molecules are totally replaced by DHDECMP molecules stereochemical factors appear and instead of increase, a substantial decrease in extraction constants is observed for Eu³⁺ and Am³⁺, a lesser decrease being observed for Pu³⁺ (larger ion).     

Methyl rotational tunneling dynamics of p-xylene confined in a crystalline zeolite host

The methyl rotational tunneling spectrum of p-xylene confined in nanoporous zeolite crystals has been measured by inelastic neutron scattering (INS) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and analyzed to extract the rotational potential energy surfaces characteristic of the methyl groups in the host-guest complex. The number and relative intensities of the tunneling peaks observed by INS indicate the presence of methyl-methyl coupling interactions in addition to the methyl-zeolite interactions. The INS tunneling spectra from the crystals (space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with four crystallographically inequivalent methyl rotors) are quantitatively interpreted as a combination of transitions involving two coupled methyl rotors as well as a transition involving single-particle tunneling of a third inequivalent rotor, in a manner consistent with the observed tunneling energies and relative intensities. Together, the crystal structure and the absence of additional peaks in the INS spectra suggest that the tunneling of the fourth inequivalent rotor is strongly hindered and inaccessible to INS measurements. This is verified by proton NMR measurements of the spin-lattice relaxation time which reveal the tunneling characteristics of the fourth inequivalent rotor.     

Derivatized vancomycin stationary phases for LC chiral separations

In this work, synthetic and natural chiral selectors were combined to form two different chiral stationary phases (CSPs). These were made by bonding R- or S-(1-naphthylethyl) carbamate (R-NEC or S-NEC)-derivatized vancomycin molecules to a silica gel support. The two CSPs were evaluated using a set of 60 enantiomeric pairs. The results were compared to the ones obtained with the commercial underivatized vancomycin CSP. Three Chromatographic modes were used: (i) the normal-phase mode using a nonpolar mobile phase with different ratios of hexane and ethanol; (ii) the reversed-phase mode with hydro-organic mobile phases; and (iii) the polar aprotic organic mode with nonaqueous acetonitrile plus small amounts of methanol and an acid and/or base to control retention and selectivity. It is shown that the polarity of the underivatized vancomycin phase is higher than that of the two R- and S-NEC-derivatized CSPs. In the pH range 4-7, there is no ionization change of the chiral selector for the three CSPs. 43% of the studied compounds were resolved by the NEC-derivatized phases when they could not be resolved by the vancomycin CSP. However, the enantiorecognition for 12% of the compounds on the native vancomycin CSP was lost upon NEC derivatization. 45% of the studied compounds were resolved by the NEC-derivatized and native CSPs. The NEC derivatization procedure may block some useful active sites on the vancomycin molecule. Also, the R- and S-NEC moieties are chiral themselves and can contribute additional interaction sites not available on the native vancomycin molecule.     

On the convergence of the LJ search method

The convergence of the Luus-Jaakola search method for unconstrained optimization problems is established.Notation E _n Euclideann-space - f Gradient off(x) - ² f Hessian matrix - (·) ^T Transpose of (·) - I Index set {1, 2, ...,n} - [x _i1 ^*(j) ] Point around which search is made in the (j + 1)th iteration, i.e., [x _1l ^*(j) ,x _2l ^*(j) ,...,x _n1 ^*(j) ] - r _i ⁽ⁱ⁾ Range ofx _il ^*(i) in the (j + 1)th iteration - l ₁ min_i {r _i ⁽⁰⁾ } - l ₂ min_i {r _i ⁽⁰⁾ } - A _j Region of search in thejth iteration, i.e., {x E _n:x _il ^*(j-1) –0.5r _i ^(j-1) x _ix _il ^*(j-1) +0.5r _i ^(j-1) ,i I} - S _j Closed sphere with center origin and radius _j - Reduction factor in each iteration - 1– - (·) Gamma function Many discussions with Dr. S. N. Iyer, Professor of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Trivandrum, India, are gratefully acknowledged. The author has great pleasure to thank Dr. K. Surendran, Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, P.S.G. College of Technology, Coimbatore, India, for suggesting this work.     

Separation of rare earths by reverse phase partition chromatography

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Individual separation of rare earth isotopes from lanthanum to lutetium has been carried out using reverse phase partition chromatography and...     

A Novel Synthesis of 5-Aryltropoxe Derivatives

The reaction of substituted arylboronic acids with 5-bromo-2-methoxytropone catalyzed by palladium(0) complex furnished 5-arylated tropone derivatives in good yield.