Preparation of ZnO nanoparticles in a reverse micellar system and their photoluminescence properties

ZnO nanoparticles with spherical morphology and narrow size distribution were obtained by calcination of Zn(OH)2 nanoparticles, which were prepared in a polyethylene glycol mono-4-nonylphenyl ether (NP-5)/cyclohexane reverse micellar system and incorporated into polyurea (PUA) via an in situ polymerization of hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI). The resulting ZnO nanoparticles demonstrated a near-UV emission and a green emission, the intensity ratio of which depended on calcination conditions. For the nanoparticles studied, the calcination atmosphere influenced remarkably the photoluminescence properties such as intensity ratio of the near-UV emission to green emission, rather than the size, morphology, and crystallinity of the ZnO nanoparticles. The green emission decreased by calcination in O2 flow but increased by calcination in N2 flow, as compared with the case calcined in air flow. This finding suggests that the green emission is enhanced with the increase of the number of oxygen vacancies of the ZnO nanoparticles and thus the photoluminescence properties of the nanoparticles were successfully controlled by the calcination condition, without changing the size and morphology.     

Synthesis of new peptidic glycoclusters derived from β-alanine

The synthesis of an asymmetric glycocluster 1 has been achieved by coupling of a sugar unit with the β-alanine polypeptide, the principal chain, and combining a carbohydrate chain with the side chain causing it to branch from the N terminal. The synthesis of this side chain multivalent ligands is based on the scaffolding of some ω-amino acid (glycine, β-alanine, and GABA) derivatives. This method facilitated the synthesis of the cluster, of which the length of each unit differs.     

Anion dependence of crown ether selectivities for alkali picrates and sulfonates in dioxane and toluene. A synergistic effect

The binding constants,K _N, of sodium and potassium 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonate (ANS) and of sodium 5-dimethylamino-1-naphthalenesulfonate (DNS) to benzo-18-crown-6 bound to a 2% cross-linked polystyrene network (RN18C6) were measured spectrophotometrically in dioxane and the results compared with those obtained for picrate salts. The network RN18C6 was then used to measure in dioxane and toluene by a competition method the equilibrium constant,K, of the reaction A^–M⁺N+CrA^–M⁺Cr+N.A^–M⁺N denotes the ionic solute (ANS, DNS, methyl orange or picrate salt) bound to the network RN18C6 (N) and A^–M⁺Cr is the solute bound to a soluble ligand Cr, where Cr represents a series of 18-crown-6 and 15-crown-5 compounds. Combining theK _N andK values the formation constants,K _L, of the crown ether complexes of the respective salts were obtained in dioxane. The data show a reversal in the complexation strength of the 18-crown-6 compounds in dioxane when sodium picrate is replaced by sodium ANS. The results were rationalized in terms of a synergistic effect exerted by dioxane, with dioxane forming a 1:1 dioxanate with the crown ion pair complex. This effect is especially strong with ANS and with a rigid planar crown ether like dibenzo-18-crown-6. The binding constants,K _N, of NaANS and NaDNS to RN18C6 in dioxane are nearly three times larger than for sodium picrate, and the same holds for the potassium salts. Differences in anion interactions with the network appear to be a plausible cause for the anion dependence ofK _N.     

Adsorption and reactions of NO on clean and CO-precovered Ir(111)

Adsorption and reactions of NO on clean and CO-precovered Ir(111) were investigated by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HR-EELS), infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRAS), and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). Two NO adsorption states, indicative of fcc-hollow sites and atop sites, were present on the Ir(111) surface at saturation coverage. NO adsorbed on hollow sites dissociated to Na and Oa at temperatures above 283 K. The dissociated Na desorbed to form N2 by recombination of Na at 574 K and by a disproportionation reaction between atop-NO and Na at 471 K. Preadsorbed CO inhibited the adsorption of NO on atop sites, whereas adsorption on hollow sites was not affected by the coexistence of CO. The adsorbed CO reacted with dissociated Oa and desorbed as CO2 at 574 K.     

Catalytic Active Site for NO Decomposition Elucidated by Surface Science and Real Catalyst

Comprehensive studies combining surface science and real catalyst were performed to get further insight into catalytic active site and reaction mechanism for NO decomposition over supported palladium and cobalt oxide-based catalysts. On palladium single-crystal model catalysts, adsorption, dissociation and desorption behavior of NO was found to be closely related to the surface structures, the stepped surface palladium being active for dissociation of NO. In accordance with this result, the activity of powder Pd/Al₂O₃ catalysts for NO decomposition was directly related to the number of step sites exposed on the surface, suggesting that the step sites act as the catalytic active site for NO decomposition on Pd/Al₂O₃. NO decomposition over cobalt oxide was found to be significantly promoted by addition of alkali metals. Surface science study and catalyst characterization led to the same conclusion that the interface between the alkali metal and Co₃O₄ serves as the catalytic active site. From the results of in situ Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and isotopic transient kinetic analysis, a reaction mechanism was proposed in which the reaction is initiated by NO adsorption onto alkali metals to form NO₂⁻ species and then NO₂⁻ species react with the adsorbed NO species to form N₂ over the interface between the alkali metal and Co₃O₄.     

Evidence of conformational equilibrium of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium in its ionic liquid salts: Raman spectroscopic study and quantum chemical calculations

Raman spectra of liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium (EMI+) salts, EMI(+)BF4-, EMI(+)PF6-, EMI(+)CF3SO3-, and EMI(+)N(CF3SO2)2-, were measured over the frequency range 200-1600 cm(-1). In the range 200-500 cm(-1), we found five bands originating from the EMI+ ion at 241, 297, 387, 430, and 448 cm(-1). However, the 448 cm(-1) band could hardly be reproduced by theoretical calculations in terms of a given EMI+ conformer, implying that the band originates from another conformer. This is expected because the EMI+ involves an ethyl group bound to the N atom of the imidazolium ring, and the ethyl group can rotate along the C-N bond to yield conformers. The torsion energy for the rotation was then theoretically calculated. Two local minima with an energy difference of ca. 2 kJ mol(-1) were found, suggesting that two conformers are present in equilibrium. Full geometry optimizations followed by normal frequency analyses indicate that the two conformers are those with planar and nonplanar ethyl groups against the imidazolium ring plane, and the nonplanar conformer is favorable. It elucidates that bands at 241, 297, 387, and 430 cm(-1) mainly originate from the nonplanar conformer, whereas the 448 cm(-1) band does originate from the planar conformer. Indeed, the enthalpy for conformational change from nonplanar to planar EMI+ experimentally obtained by analyzing band intensities of the conformers at varying temperatures is practically the same as that evaluated by theoretical calculations. We thus conclude that the EMI+ ion exists as either a nonplanar or planar conformer in equilibrium in its liquid salts.     

Synthesis of (±)‐Kempa‐6,8‐dien‐3‐ol (=(2aRS,3SR,4aSR,7RS,7aSR,10bSR,10cSR)‐2,2a,3,4,4a,5,6,7,7a,8,10b,10c‐Dodecahydro‐2a,7,10,10c‐tetramethylnaphth[2,18‐cde]azulen‐3‐ol)

The synthesis of kempa‐6,8‐dien‐3β‐ol ( 4a ), as a synthetic leading model of the natural product 4b , was carried out starting from intermediate 12 , the synthetic route of which has been developed previously (Scheme 1). The conversion of 12 to the model compound 4a involved the elaboration of three structure modifications by three processes, Tasks A, B, and C (see Scheme 2). Task A was achieved by epoxy‐ring opening of 41 with Me₃SiCl (Scheme 9), and Task B being performed by oxidation at the 13‐position, followed by hydrogenation, and then epimerization (Schemes 4 and 5). The removal of the 2‐OH group from 12 (Task C) was achieved via 30b according to Scheme 6, whereby 30b was formed exclusively from 30a / 31a 1 : 1 (Scheme 7). In addition, some useful reactions from the synthetic viewpoint were developed during the course of the present experiments.     

Theoretical calculation of structures and proton transfer in hydrated ammonia-hydrogen chloride clusters

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations have been performed to investigate the structures and quantum effects of the proton motion in NH(3):HCl:(H(2)O)(n) (n = 0-3) clusters using a MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory. Three new stable structures and one transition-state structure are investigated for these clusters. The detailed analyses of the intermolecular interactions suggest that three-body interactions play an important role to determine the relative stability in each size of cluster. The quantum effects of the proton motion result in frequency shifts for proton-stretching modes. Our one-dimensional and two-dimensional models fairly closely reproduce the experimental proton-stretching vibrational frequency of the NH(3):HCl cluster. The most stable isomer for n = 1 has a proton-transfer structure, which is weakened by the quantum effects of the proton motion.     

Vinyl polymerization. 179. Effects of substituents on chain transfer reaction of substituted cumenes toward poly(methyl methacrylate) radical

In order to study the effects of substituents on the chain transfer reaction to cumenes, the polymerization of methyl methacrylate in a series of nuclear-substituted cumenes with α,α′-azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator was carried out at 60°C. and the chain transfer constants C were determined. The C values obtained for all substituted cumenes were greater than that (C₀) for unsubstituted cumene, regardless of the electronattracting or -repelling nature of the substituents. Hence the plot of log (C/C₀) against the Hammett σ constants gave no linear relationship. When the plots were made by the modified Hammett equation including resonance effect of the substituents: log (C/C) = ρσ + γE_R, however, a straight line with ρ = 0.03 and γ = 0.9 was obtained. From these results, it may be concluded that the effect of the substitutents on the chain transfer reactivities of cumenes toward attack of a poly(methyl methacrylate) radical is attributable mainly to the resonance contribution in the transition state. These results are also compared with those for polystyryl radical reported previously and discussed.