Structure of a fluorinated azoxy compound: fluoro(trifluoromethyl)-diazene-2-oxide,CF3N(O)NF

A gas-phase electron diffraction study of the azoxy compound which was synthesized by the reaction of CF3NO with N2F4 in a Pyrex glass vessel results in a trans CF3N(O)NF structure (F trans to CF3), although quantum chemical calculations (MP2 and B3LYP) predict a greater stability of the cis CF3NN(O)F isomer by about 12 kcal/mol. The CF3 group eclipses the N=N double bond. The following skeletal geometric parameters (r(a) values with 3sigma uncertainties) were obtained: N=N 1.287(15) A; N=O 1.231(6) A; N-F 1.380(6) A; N-C 1.498(6) A; N=N=O 131.2(13) degrees; N=N-F 103.5(13) degrees; N=N-C 114.0(12) degrees. The bond lengths in CF3N(O)NF are compared to those in azo, nitryl, and nitrosyl compounds with fluorine and/or CF3 substituents.     

Structure and conformations of N-(fluoroformyl)imidosulfurous dichloride,FC(O)N=SCl2

The IR (gas) and Raman (liquid) spectra of FC(O)NSCl(2) demonstrate the presence of a conformational mixture in both phases. According to a gas electron diffraction study, the main conformer (94(8)%) possesses a syn-syn structure (C(O)F group synperiplanar with respect to the SCl(2) bisector and the C=O bond synperiplanar to the N=S bond). Quantum chemical calculations (HF, B3LYP and MP2 with 6-31G basis set, and MP2/6-311(2df)) predict a syn-anti structure for the second conformer. Analysis of the IR (gas) spectrum results in a contribution of 5(1)% of the minor form, corresponding to a Gibbs free energy difference DeltaG degrees = G degrees (syn-anti) - G degrees (syn-syn) = 1.75(15) kcal/mol. This value is reproduced very well by quantum chemical calculations, which include electron correlation effects (DeltaG degrees = 1.28-1.56 kcal/mol). The HF approximation overestimates this energy difference (DeltaG degrees = 3.24 kcal/mol).     

Excess Molar Volumes and Liquid–Liquid Equilibria of the Ionic Liquid 1-Methyl-3Octyl-Imidazolium Tetrafluoroborate Mixed with Butan-1-ol and Pentan-1-ol

Experimental densities were measured for the system 1-methyl-3-octyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate [OMIM][BF₄] + butan-1-ol, + pentan-1-ol at 298.15 K and ambient pressure using a vibrating tube densimeter, taking into account the influence of the viscosity correction. Excess molar volumes V^E have been determined. V^E is quite small and negative in the alcohol-rich range of the mixture composition and positive in the alcohol-poor range. LLE data of [OMIM][BF₄] + pentan-1-ol have been measured using a laser light scattering cell for detecting cloud points at different compositions in the temperature range of 282–292 K. A miscibility gap with an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) of 292 K has been found.     

Influence of dipolar interactions on radical pair recombination reactions subject to weak magnetic fields

Monte Carlo simulations of the effects of weak magnetic fields on the recombination of interacting radical pairs undergoing free diffusion in solution have been performed, with the aim of determining the influence on the low field effect of the magnetic dipolar coupling between the radicals. The suppression of singlet-triplet interconversion in the radical pair by the dipolar interaction is found to be pronounced at magnetic field strengths comparable to the hyperfine interactions in the radicals, to the extent that the low field effect is completely abolished. The averaging of the dipolar coupling by the translational diffusion of the radicals around one another is relatively efficient in the presence of strong magnetic fields but becomes ineffective in weak applied fields where the strength of the dipolar interaction is independent of the orientation of the inter-radical vector. Low field effects are only likely to be observed if the motion of the radical pair is restricted in some way so as to increase the likelihood that, having separated to the large distance required for the dipolar interaction to have a negligible effect, the radicals subsequently encounter and have the opportunity to recombine.     

Efficient cross-coupling of functionalized arylzinc halides catalyzed by a nickel chloride-diethyl phosphite system

[reaction: see text] The combination of diethyl phosphite and DMAP as ligands for nickel in an 8:1 THF-N-ethylpyrrolidinone (NEP) mixture allows a very efficient cross-coupling reaction to be performed between various functionalized arylzinc halides and aryl bromides, triflates and activated chlorides. The reaction proceeds at 25 degrees C within 1-48 h and requires only 0.05 mol % of the nickel catalyst.     

Element determination in medieval soil samples by total reflection X-ray fluorescence analysis

An aqua regia extraction procedure for heavy metals in soils optimised for total reflection X-ray fluorescence analysis is presented. The procedure is applied to 92 soil samples of medieval layers from the city area of Dortmund. Sixteen elements (P, S, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Ag, Sn, and Pb) were used to characterise 17 sample sites. The results are projected onto the medieval urban structure of Dortmund. Two sites loaded with non-ferrous heavy metal could be detected and correlated with archaeological data. The efficiency and repeatability of the proposed extraction procedure is discussed.     

Purification and characterization of a laccase from the white-rot fungus Trametes multicolor

The wood-degrading fungus Trametes multicolor secretes several laccase isoforms when grown on a simple medium containing copper in the millimolar range for stimulating laccase synthesis. The main isoenzyme laccase II was purified to apparent homogeneity from the culture supernatant by using anion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. Laccase II is a monomeric glycoprotein with a molecular mass of 63 kDa as determined by sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, contains 18% glycosylation, and has a pI of 3.0. It oxidizes a variety of phenolic substrates as well as ferrocyanide and iodide. The pH optimum depends on the substrate employed and shows a bell-shaped pH activity profile with an optimum of 4.0 to 5.0 for the phenolic substrates, while the nonphenolic substrates ferrocyanide and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonate) show a monotonic pH profile with a rate decreasing with increasing pH.     

New reaction of formation of the fused tricyclic bispyrroloquinone ring system

A one-pot procedure to difunctionalized fused tricyclic bispyrroloquinone derivatives involving the condensation of N-tosylindoledione and α-ketoamines is described.     

Coexistence of Two Different Distorted Octahedral [MnF6]3− Sites in K3[MnF6]: Manifestation in Spectroscopy and Magnetism

As a consequence of the static Jahn-Teller effect of the ⁵E ground state of Mn^III in cubic structures with octahedral parent geometries, their octahedral coordination spheres become distorted. In the case of six fluorido ligands, [MnF₆]³⁻ anions with two longer and four shorter Mn−F bonds making elongated octahedra are usually observed. Herein, we report the synthesis of the compound K₃[MnF₆] through a high-temperature approach and its crystallization by a high-pressure/high-temperature route. The main structural motifs are two quasi-isolated, octahedron-like [MnF₆]³⁻ anions of quite different nature compared to that met in ideal octahedral Mn^III Jahn-Teller systems. Owing to the internal electric field of C_i symmetry dominated by the next-neighbour K⁺ ions acting on the Mn^III sites, both sites, the pseudo-rhombic (site 1) and the pseudo-tetragonally elongated (site 2) [MnF₆]³⁻ anions are present in K₃[MnF₆]. The compound was characterized by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, and magnetometry as well as by FTIR, Raman, and ligand field spectroscopy. A theoretical interpretation of the electronic structure and molecular geometry of the two Mn sites in the lattice is given by using a vibronic coupling model with parameters adjusted from multireference ab-initio cluster calculations.