Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of isomerically pure functional monomers and acyclic diene metathesis depolymerization (retro-ADMET) of functionalized polyalkenamers

ROMP and retro-acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET) were used for the synthesis of new functional polymers and functional oligomers, respectively. Purely exo and enantiomerically pure norbornene and 7-oxanorbornene derivatives were prepared using stereospecific synthesis, effective fractionation and high yield condensation reactions. Successful ROMPs of those monomers were performed using either the new carbenic Schrock’s or Grubb’s catalysts or in some cases a classical bicomponent catalyst. New functional polymers such as optically active poly(norbornene-2-carboxylic acid), reactive poly(norbornene-2-azlactone), and side-chain liquid crystal polyoxanorbornenes were fully characterized. On the other hand, successful depolymerizations of 1,4-polyisoprene and of epoxidized 1,4-polybutadiene via cross-metathesis with 4-octene were performed using a stabilized bicomponent catalyst and the Grubb’s catalyst, respectively. Conditions for the controlled synthesis of epoxidized oligobutadienes and of epoxydienic monomers via retro-ADMET were clearly defined.     

Relativistic all electron configuration interaction calculation of ground and excited states of the gold hydride molecule

We present relativistic configuration interaction calculations with the spin-free no-pair hamiltonian on the gold hydride molecule, treating the ground state as well as the eleven lowest excited states. The calculations provide a picture of the bonding in theX ¹Σ⁺ ground state consistent with previous work on this species using four-component spinors: compared to non-relativistic calculations, the dipole moment is reduced by a factor of two, hybridization (and thus participation ofd orbitals at the bonding) is greatly enhanced, the bond length is shortened by 20 pm, and the dissociation energy is increased by 50%. Comparison of the spin-averaged potential curves of the excited states with experiment suggests a reinterpretation of theC ¹Σ⁺ as the 0⁺ fine structure component of 2³Π and the prediction of a weakly bound³Σ⁺ state with weak transitions to the ground state in the range of 2.9–3.1 eV.     

A facility for the production of iodine-123 by spallation of caesium

A facility for the continuous production of iodine-123 by spallation of elemental caesium by 482 MeV protons has been in operation at a TRIUMF beam dump for about 2 years. Radioxenon from the target is efficiently trapped on alumina which is subsequently used to remove the¹²¹Te decay product. The yield is 100 mCi/h from a 20 gm/cm² target at 10 μA. Impurities are¹²⁵I<2% and¹²¹Te<0.2% at 27 hours after end of production. The¹²³I consists mainly of iodide along with significant iodate impurity. The product is used extensively in Canadian clinics for thyroid analyses and for labelling radiopharmaceuticals.     

Droplet evaporation study applied to DNA chip manufacturing

DNA chips are potentially powerful technologies for genotyping and gene expression profiling that rely on comparative analyses of up to thousands of "spots of analysis" on a glass support. The spot quality throughout the support influences spot-to-spot variations within an array and the repeatability of data across experiments. For glass slide DNA microarrays, droplets of DNA solution are deposited on functionalized glass slides and left to react through complete evaporation of the droplet. On hydrophobic flat surfaces, different modes of droplet evaporation can be attained. Under atmospheric pressure, water droplets tend to evaporate under two main regimes. Initially, the droplet flattens with a constant contact area, and then the droplet shrinks at a constant contact angle. As a result, the diameter and morphology of thousands of spots on microarrays are not uniform. This leads to poor and unreliable data processing results. In this work, we report the evaporation of an aqueous solution under a constant contact area mode. Evaporation under reduced pressure and the effect of reagent additives to the solution have been investigated. Video microscopy and digital image analysis techniques were applied to monitor the evaporation of the droplets. A mixture of surfactants was developed to maintain a constant area regime during evaporation and to form homogeneous spots. The control of some physicochemical properties (wetting, evaporation rate) of the droplet allows the formation of well-controlled spots compatible with DNA grafting. The influence of surfactant molecules on the mechanisms of evaporation is also discussed.     

Über Reaktionen von Nitrosophenolen, 4. Mitt.: Reaktion von Nitrosonaphtholen mit Naphtholen

Zusammenfassung Die Reaktion von 1-Nitroso-2-naphthol mit 1-und 2-Naphthol sowie die Reaktion von 2-Nitroso-1-naphthol mit 2-Naphthol in Äthanol und in Äther bei Anwesenheit von HNO₃ gibt 5H-Dibenzo[a,j]phenoxazon-(5) (I), 5H-Dibenzo[a,j]phenoxazon-(5)-14-oxid (II), 5H-Dibenzo[a,h]phenoxazon-(5) (III) sowie 5H-Dibenzo[a,h]phenoxazon-(5)-14-oxid (IV). Es wurde ein Reaktionsmechanismus vorgeschlagen und die Konstitution der hergestellten Verbindungen spektrophotometrisch und potentiometrisch bestimmt.

---

The reaction of 1-nitroso-2-naphthol with 2-and 2-naphthol and the reaction of 2-nitroso-1-naphthol with 2-naphthol in ethanol or ether in the presence of nitric acid have been studied. The main reaction products isolated were the dibenzophenoxazones I–IV. The reaction mechanism for their formation is proposed.

---

---

Mit 4 Abbildungen     

Stereoselective synthesis of a new perhydroindole derivative of chiral iminodiacid,a potent inhibitor of angiotensin converting enzyme

The stereoselective synthesis of N-[(s) 1 - carbethoxybutyl)] (s) alanine and of (2S, 3aS, 7aS) 2-t.butoxycarbonyl perhydroindole are described. Their coupling produces the title compound     

Reactivity of peroxo forms of the vanadium haloperoxidase cofactor. A DFT investigation

Density functional theory has been used to investigate structural, electronic and reactivity properties of complexes related to the peroxo forms of vanadium haloperoxidases (VHPO). In particular, the reactivity of the cofactor as a function of protonation state and environment, which are two factors thought to be crucial in modulating the activity of the enzyme, has been examined. In full agreement with experimental data, results highlight the role of protonation in the activation of the peroxo-vanadium complexes and show that the oxo-transfer step involves the unprotonated axial peroxo oxygen atom, which is easily accessible to substrates in the peroxo form of the enzyme. The role of Lys353, which in the X-ray structure of the peroxide-bound form of vanadium chloroperoxidase is hydrogen bonded to the equatorial oxygen atom of the peroxo group, has been also explored. It is concluded that Lys353 can play a role similar to a H+ in the activation of the peroxo form of the cofactor.     

Potential energy surfaces for HenNe+ ions: ab initio and diatomics-in-molecule results

The potential energy surface of He2Ne+ has been reinvestigated using a combination of ab initio and diatomics-in-molecule (DIM) calculations. In contrast to the reports of two recent studies the ion is found to have an asymmetric linear He-Ne-He structure, with no barrier to formation from the separated atoms on the ground-state surface. The He-Ne+ bond lengths at the potential minimum are 1.51 and 1.81 A, and the total bonding energy is 0.717 eV. Comparing the He2Ne+ energy to that of HeNe+, the bonding energy for the second helium atom is 0.06 eV, about 10% of that of the first He atom. The saddle point between the two equivalent minima is a symmetric structure, 0.0074 eV above the potential minimum. A symmetric geometry becomes the overall potential minimum if the 2s hole on the Ne is excluded from the reference states of a multireference configuration interaction calculation. A DIM potential was created for the HenNe+ family of ions. The DIM potential is consistent with the asymmetric He2Ne+ ion serving as a core; it predicts a slightly more asymmetric geometry than the ab initio results. Additional helium atoms form five-membered rings around the bonds of the core ion to fill the first shell and then add to the ends of the cluster. The asymmetric core ion and the highly compact structure help to account for the lack of apparent shell structure in the mass spectrometry of HenNe+ clusters. Finally, we recommend that the value De=0.63+/-0.04 eV be adopted for the ground state of HeNe+.     

The unexpected rearrangement of 1,5‐benzodiazepin‐2,4‐dione to a benzimidazol‐2‐one derivative during N,N'‐diglucosylation

Reaction of 1,5‐benzodiazepin‐2,4‐dione with 3‐O‐substituted‐5,6‐anhydro‐1,2‐isopropylidene‐α‐D‐glucofuranose gave the unexpected N,N'‐di‐glucofuranosyl benzimidazol‐2‐one by a novel rearrangement and ring closure reaction. A mechanism is proposed.     

Polystyrene nanoparticles based on poly(butyl methacrylate-g-methoxypoly(ethylene glycol)) and poly(methyl methacrylate-g-methoxypoly(ethylene glycol)) graft copolymers

The solubilization of styrene by poly(butyl methacrylate-g-methoxypoly(ethylene glycol)) and poly(methyl methacrylate-g-methoxypoly(ethylene glycol)) graft copolymers has been examined. From turbidity measurements the solubility limit of the monomer in the micelles was obtained and the distribution coefficients were evaluated. Dynamic light scattering revealed that below the solubility limit, solubilization leads to a slight increase in micelle size, while above the solubility limit, there is a dramatic increase in particle size and turbidity as oil-in-water emulsions are formed through coalescence of monomer-swollen micelles. Polymerizations carried out below the solubility limit using the graft copolymer micelles as templates resembled microemulsion polymerizations in nature and led to very fine sterically stabilized polystyrene latex particles. Through careful control of the monomer concentration and the polymerization temperature it was possible to obtain spherical nanosize latex particles with similar size to those of the micelle precursors (10 nm) up to 11% monomer by weight. Polymerizations above the solubility limit, on the other hand, showed similarities with emulsion polymerizations and resulted in larger particles with higher polydispersity.