Determination of acetaldehyde in fuel ethanol by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

The cyclic voltammetric behavior of acetaldehyde and the derivatized product with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPHi) has been studied at a glassy carbon electrode. This study was used to optimize the best experimental conditions for its determination by high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) separation coupled with electrochemical detection. The acetaldehyde-2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone (ADNPH) was eluted and separated by a reversed-phase column, C18, under isocratic conditions with the mobile phase containing a binary mixture of methanol/LiCl(aq) at a concentration of 1.0 x 10(-3) M (80:20 v/v) and a flow rate of 1.0 mL min(-1). The optimum condition for the electrochemical detection of ADNPH was +1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl as a reference electrode. The proposed method was simple, rapid (analysis time 7 min) and sensitive (detection limit 3.80 microg L(-1)) at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1. It was also highly selective and reproducible [standard deviation 8.2% +/- 0.36 (n = 5)]. The analytical curve of ADNPH was linear over the range of 3-300 mg L(-1) per injection (20 microL), and the analytical recovery was > 99%.     

Competitive Gold‐Promoted Meyer–Schuster and oxy‐Cope Rearrangements of 3‐Acyloxy‐1,5‐enynes: Selective Catalysis for the Synthesis of (+)‐(S)‐γ‐Ionone and (−)‐(2S,6 R)‐cis‐γ‐Irone

We report a simple, highly stereoselective synthesis of (+)‐(S)‐γ‐ionone and (‐)‐(2S,6R)‐cis‐γ‐irone, two characteristic and precious odorants; the latter compound is a constituent of the essential oil obtained from iris rhizomes. Of general interest in this approach are the photoisomerization of an endo trisubstituted cyclohexene double bond to an exo vinyl group and the installation of the enone side chain through a [(NHC)Au^I]‐catalyzed Meyer–Schuster‐like rearrangement. This required a careful investigation of the mechanism of the gold‐catalyzed reaction and a judicious selection of reaction conditions. In fact, it was found that the Meyer–Schuster reaction may compete with the oxy‐Cope rearrangement. Gold‐based catalytic systems can promote either reaction selectively. In the present system, the mononuclear gold complex [Au(IPr)Cl], in combination with the silver salt AgSbF₆ in 100:1 butan‐2‐one/H₂O, proved to efficiently promote the Meyer–Schuster rearrangement of propargylic benzoates, whereas the digold catalyst [{Au(IPr)}₂(μ‐OH)][BF₄] in anhydrous dichloromethane selectively promoted the oxy‐Cope rearrangement of propargylic alcohols.     

The role of Mg complexes in the degradation of InGaN-based LEDs

The electrical and optical properties of commercial blue InGaN-based LEDs after room temperature aging tests at DC-forward currents from 50 to 100 mA are studied by Current–Voltage, Capacitance–Voltage, Electroluminescence and Cathodoluminescence techniques. An increase of the reverse and low-bias forward currents, of the parasitic series resistance and a substantial optical intensity reduction are observed in all the devices investigated with or without heat sink. In addition, only in devices aged at 100 mA without heat sink, the onset of a broad optical band peaked at about 3.1 eV and an apparent doping decrease of about four times, as obtained by Capacitance–Voltage measurements, are found. Temperature-dependent luminescence analyses show the quenching of the 3.1 eV band above 200 K, suggesting its donor–acceptor-pair nature. The band onset is interpreted as a result of the Mg dopant instability in the p-type layers, correlated to the device self-heating inducing junction temperature above 300 C. The band is attributed to Mg-related metastable complexes, such as Mg–H₂, acting as shallow acceptors. Due to their unstable nature, the behaviour of the 3.1 eV emission is studied under controlled electron-beam irradiation in the SEM. Its time evolution during 60 min of irradiation reveals an almost complete quenching in the Cathodoluminescence spectra, which is attributed to the dissociation of the Mg–H₂ complexes.     

Measurement and DFT calculation of Fe(cp)(2) redox potential in molecular monolayers covalently bound to H-Si(100)

The electron transfer to self-assembled molecular monolayers carrying a ferrocene (Fc) center, grafted on a flat Si(100) surface, is a recent subject of experimental investigation. We report here the density functional theory (DFT) ab initio calculation of Fc-silicon hybrid redox potentials. The systems were modeled with a slab of H-terminated Si(100) 1 x 1 and 2 x 1 surfaces: geometries were optimized using the ONIOM method, and solute-solvent interactions were included through the polarizable continuum model (PCM) method. Two new routes for Si functionalization with ethyl- (EtFC) and ethynyl-Fc (EFC) differing only in the unsaturation degree of the anchoring arm have been successfully explored, and the redox potential of the resulting hybrids has been measured by cyclic voltammetry: 0.675 and 0.851 V versus NHE for the EtFC and EFC derivatives, respectively. These values, along with the previously measured potential (0.700 V) for the mono-unsaturated derivative, vinyl-Fc, allow the relation between the unsaturation degree and the adduct redox potential to be studied. The comparison among the measured and computed potentials allows one to discriminate between different adduct isomers for the saturated species and more importantly provides strong indications that the carbon-carbon unsaturation initially present in the molecular arm used for anchoring to the surface is preserved upon addition, in contrast with the commonly accepted reaction mechanism.     

Direct gem-Difluoroalkenylation of X−H Bonds with Trifluoromethyl Ketone N-Triftosylhydrazones for Synthesis of Tetrasubstituted Heteroatomic gem-Difluoroalkenes

The direct gem-difluoroalkenylation of X−H bonds represents the most straightforward approach to access heteroatomic gem-difluoroalkenes that, as the isostere of the carbonyl group, have great potency in drug discovery. However, the construction of tetrasubstituted heteroatomic gem-difluoroalkenes by this strategy is still an unsolved problem. Here, we report the first direct X−H bond gem-difluoroalkenylation of amines and alcohols with trifluoromethyl ketone N-triftosylhydrazones under silver (for (hetero)aryl hydrazones) or rhodium (for alkyl hydrazones), thereby providing a most powerful method for the synthesis of tetrasubstituted heteroatomic gem-difluoroalkenes. This method features a broad substrate scope, high product yield, excellent functional group tolerance, and operational simplicity (open air conditions). Moreover, the site-specific replacement of the carbonyl group with a gem-difluorovinyl ether bioisostere in drug Trimebutine and the post-modification of bioactive molecules demonstrates potential use in medicinal research. Finally, the reaction mechanism was investigated by combining experiments and DFT calculations, and disclosed that the key step of HF elimination occurred via five-membered ring transition state, and the difference in the electrophilicity of Ag- and Rh-carbenes as well as the multiple intermolecular interactions rendered the effectiveness of Rh catalyst selectively for alkyl hydrazones.     

Electrochemically deposited ZnO films: an XPS study on the evolution of their surface hydroxide and defect composition upon thermal annealing

Electrodeposition from ZnCl₂ aqueous solution was performed to grow ZnO thin films on the surface of polycrystalline copper plates. Electrochemical parameters for deposition were optimized by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV). The morphology of the deposits was studied via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and their chemical composition was ascertained by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The effects of changing the deposition bath temperature (T _bath) and the role played by post-deposition treatments, such as temperature and time of annealing in air, were studied. SEM images of freshly deposited vs. annealed samples have shown that in the former case the films display a rough morphology with mixed grain/hexagonal platelets structures and in the latter smaller but more uniformly dispersed cubic grains. T _bath is found to be the key parameter to induce the different morphology in the deposited films, which reflects in a different chemical reactivity of surface species, as found on the basis of the binding energies and relative quantitative ratios between Zn 2p and O 1s peaks. In fact, a higher T _bath favours a more efficient desorption of OH groups upon annealing, the O 1s peak resulting to much more drastically modified oxide/hydroxide intensity ratio with respect to the case of the sample deposited at lower T _bath.     

Bifunctional Ligand Enables Efficient Gold‐Catalyzed Hydroalkenylation of Propargylic Alcohol

Using the previously designed biphenyl‐2‐ylphosphine ligand, featuring a remote tertiary amino group, the first gold‐catalyzed intermolecular hydroalkenylation of alkynes has been developed. Synthetically valuable conjugated dienyl alcohols are formed in moderate to good yields. A range of alkenyltrifluoroborates are allowed as the alkenyl donor, and no erosion of alkene geometry and/or the propargylic configuration are detected. DFT calculations confirm the critical role of the remote basic group in the ligand as a general‐base catalyst for promoting this novel gold catalysis with good efficiency.     

Molecular Structure of 1-Substituted Bicyclo[2.2.0]hexanes: A Combined X-Ray Structural and Ab Initio Study

The synthesis and X-ray crystal structure of the p-bromoanilide derivative of bicyclo[2.2.0]hexane-l-carboxylic acid (1), N-(4-bromophenyl)-bicyclo[2.2.0]hexane-l-carboxamide (2), is reported. N-(4-Bromophenyl)-bicyclo[2.2.0]hexane-l-carboxamide is synthesized in good yield via the DCC coupling of bicyclo[2.2.0]hexane-l-carboxylic acid (1) with p-bromoaniline. Low-temperature X-ray analysis of 2 reveals that the bonds of the bicyclo[2.2.0]hexane skeleton vicinal to the amide group show a slight lengthening due to conjugative interaction with the -accepting amide group. Ab initio calculations at the 6-31G* level of theory on bicyclo[2.2.0]hexane-l-carboxamide, a model for 2, and for other 1-substituted bicyclo[2.2.0]hexanes are also reported.