Stimulated Raman scattering measurements of H2 vibration–vibration transfer

We present a new set of V–V rate coefficients for vibrational levels 0–5 in H₂ at 300 K, measured using a stimulated Raman–spontaneous Raman pump/probe apparatus. The measured rate of the non-resonant process, H₂(v = 1) + H₂(v = 1) → H₂(v = 0) + H₂(v = 2), is consistent with the previously reported experimental value of Kreutz et al. However, semi-classical predictions of such non-resonant processes, using the identical inter-molecular potential and methodology to that given by Cacciatore and Billing, results in rates which are too slow, by a factor of approximately 3. For the “resonant” V–V process, H₂(v = 1) + H₂(v = 0) → H₂(v = 0) + H₂(v = 1), the semi-classical rate is found to be too slow by an even larger factor, of approximately 30, compared to the experimental rate, but consistent with the previously reported experimental result of Farrow and Chandler. Further, unlike the semi-classical model prediction in which the (1, 1 → 2, 0) process rate is predicted to exceed that of the (1, 0 → 0, 1) process, the experimental data shows it to be a factor of approximately 2.5 less, suggesting that semi-classical methods that treat the rotational motion classically are unsuitable for the highly anharmonic H₂ molecule. The ratio of pure rotation and rotation–vibration Raman cross sections for scattering from levels 0 and 1 is also determined, with results which agree with calculations of Schwartz and LeRoy, but are somewhat larger than previous experimental results of Cureton.     

Efficient chemoselective deprotection of silyl ethers using catalytic 1-chloroethyl chloroformate in methanol

Fast and chemoselective desilylation of silyl-protected alcohols was achieved using a catalytic amount of 1-chloroethyl chloroformate in methanol. With a minimal amount of 1-chloroethyl chloroformate as the source for anhydrous HCl, extremely efficient cleavage of silyl ethers of primary and secondary alcohols was accomplished, and chemoselective deprotection of one silyl ether in the presence of another silyl or other acid-labile group was possible through controlling the amount of the chloroformate and reaction time.     

2-[3-(Trifluoromethyl)phenyl]furo[3,2-b]pyrroles: synthesis and reactions

The synthesis and reactions of methyl 2-[3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-4H-furo[3,2-b]pyrrole-5-carboxylate (1a) are described. Upon reaction with methyl iodide, benzyl chloride, or acetic anhydride, this compound gave N-substituted products 1b-d. By hydrolysis of compounds 1a-c, the corresponding acids 2a-c were formed, or by reaction with hydrazine-hydrate, the corresponding carbohydrazides 3a-c were formed. By heating 2-[3-(trifluoromethyl)phenly]-4H-furo[3,2-b]pyrrole-5-carboxylic acid (2a) in acetic anhydride, 4-acetyl-2-[3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]furo[3,2-b]pyrrole (4) was formed. By hydrolysis of 4, 2-[3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-4H-furo[3,2-b]pyrrole (5a) was formed, and reactions with methyl iodide or benzyl chloride gave N-substituted products 5b-c. The reaction of 4 with dimethyl butynedioate gave substituted benzo[b]furan 6. Compound 3a reacted with triethyl orthoesters giving 7a-c, which afforded with phosphorus (V) sulphide the corresponding thiones 8a-c. The thiones 8a-c reacted with hydrazine hydrate to form hydrazine derivatives 9a-c. The reaction of triethyl orthoformiate with compounds 9a-c led to furo[2′,3′: 4,5]pyrrolo[1,2-d][1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-f][1,2,4]triazines 10a-c. Hydrazones 11a-c were formed from 3a-c and 5-[3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]furan-2-carboxaldehyde. The effect of microwave irradiation on some condensation reactions was compared with “classical” conditions. The results showed that microwave irradiation shortens the reaction time while affording comparable yields.     

A serpentine laminating micromixer combining splitting/recombination and advection

Mixing enhancement has drawn great attention from designers of micromixers, since the flow in a microchannel is usually characterized by a low Reynolds number (Re) which makes the mixing quite a difficult task to accomplish. In this paper, a novel integrated efficient micromixer named serpentine laminating micromixer (SLM) has been designed, simulated, fabricated and fully characterized. In the SLM, a high level of efficient mixing can be achieved by combining two general chaotic mixing mechanisms: splitting/recombination and chaotic advection. The splitting and recombination (in other terms, lamination) mechanism is obtained by the successive arrangement of "F"-shape mixing units in two layers. The advection is induced by the overall three-dimensional serpentine path of the microchannel. The SLM was realized by SU-8 photolithography, nickel electroplating, injection molding and thermal bonding. Mixing performance of the SLM was fully characterized numerically and experimentally. The numerical mixing simulations show that the advection acts favorably to realize the ideal vertical lamination of fluid flow. The mixing experiments based on an average mixing color intensity change of phenolphthalein show a high level of mixing performance was obtained with the SLM. Numerical and experimental results confirm that efficient mixing is successfully achieved from the SLM over the wide range of Re. Due to the simple and mass producible geometry of the efficient micromixer, SLM proposed in this study, the SLM can be easily applied to integrated microfluidic systems, such as micro-total-analysis-systems or lab-on-a-chip systems.     

Numerical simulation of DNA sample preconcentration in microdevice electrophoresis

A numerical model is presented for the accurate and efficient prediction of preconcentration and transport of DNA during sample introduction and injection in microcapillary electrophoresis. The model incorporates conservation laws for the different buffer ions, salt ions, and DNA sample, coupled through a Gaussian electric field to account for the field modifications that cause electromigration. The accuracy and efficiency required to capture the physics associated with such a complex transient problem are realized by the use of the finite element-flux corrected transport (FE-FCT) algorithm in two dimensions. The model has been employed for the prediction of DNA sample preconcentration and transport during electrophoresis in a double-T injector microdevice. To test its validity, the numerical results have been compared with the corresponding experimental data under similar conditions, and excellent agreement has been found. Finally, detailed results from a simulation of DNA sample preconcentration in electrophoretic microdevices are presented using as parameters the electric field strength and the other species concentrations. The effect of the Tris concentration on sample stacking is also investigated. These results demonstrate the great potential offered by the model for future optimization of such microchip devices with respect to significantly enhanced speed and resolution of sample separation.     

The system K2SO4-K2S

A new experimental technique has been developed to determine the phase equilibrium diagram for the system K₂SO₄-K₂S.The technique involves isothermal thermogravimetry of potassium sulphate during reduction to potassium sulphide at elevated temperatures in a stream of dry oxygen-free hydrogen gas. Several abrupt changes in the rate of weight loss occur in each curve and these can be related to phase changes in the phase diagram for the system.On the basis of such results the liquidus and solidus (solid solution) boundaries can be located.Simple thermal analysis is used to confirm the eutectic temperature and various liquidus temperatures.The diagram K₂SO₄-K₂S is a simple eutectic system with the eutectic at 610 and 23 mole % K₂S. The limits of solid solubility of K₂S in K₂SO₄ and K₂SO₄ in K₂S at the eutectic temperature are 11 % and 36 mole% respectively.The odd shape of the liquidus curves on each side of the eutectic suggests the possibility of phase changes in both K₂SO₄ and K₂S solid solutions. No evidence for this was obtained from thermal analysis.

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Zusammenfassung Eine neue experimentelle Technik wurde zur Bestimmung des Phasengleichgewichtsdiagramms des Systems K₂SO₄-K₂S entwickelt.Die Technik umfasst die isotherme Gravimetrie von Kaliumsulfat wÄhrend der Reduktion zu Kaliumsulfid bei erhöhten Temperaturen in strömenden trockenen und Sauerstoff-freien Wasserstoff. Verschiedene plötzliche Änderungen der Geschwindigkeit des Gewichtsverlustes treten bei jeder Kurve auf und können mit den PhasenÄnderungen im Phasendiagramm des Systems in Zusammenhang gebracht werden.Durch diese Ergebnisse können die GrenzflÄchen der flüssigen und der Festphasenlösung festgestellt werden.Die einfache Thermoanalyse wird zur BestÄtigung der eutektischen Temperatur und verschiedener Liquidus-Temperaturen herangezogen.Das Diagramm K₂SO₄-K₂S ist ein einfaches eutektisches System mit dem Eutektikum bei 610 und 23 Mol % K₂S. Die Grenzwerte einer festen Lösung von K₂S in K₂SO₄ und K₂SO₄ in K₂S betragen bei der eutektischen Temperatur 11% bzw. 36 Mol %.Die aussergewöhnliche Form der Liquidus-Kurven zu beiden Seiten des Eutektikums lÄsst auf die Möglichkeit von PhasenÄnderungen in den Festlösungen von sowohl K₂SO₄ wie auch von K₂S schliessen Hierzu ergab jedoch die Thermoanalyse keine BestÄtigung.

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Résumé Une nouvelle technique expérimentale a été développée afin de déterminer le diagramme d'équilibre des phases dans le système K₂SO₄-K₂S.La technique fait appel à la thermogravimétrie isotherme du sulfate de potassium lors de sa réduction en sulfure de potassium à températures élevées dans un courant de gaz hydrogène sec exempt d'oxygène. Plusieurs changements abrupts de vitesse de perte de poids ont lieu sur chaque courbe et ces changements peuvent Être rapportés aux changements de phases dans le diagramme de phases du système.A partir de tels résultats on peut déterminer les limites du liquidus et du solidus (solution solide).L'analyse thermique simple a été utilisée pour confirmer la température eutectique etdiverses températures du liquidus.Le diagramme K₂SO₄-K₂S forme un système eutectique simple à 610 et 23 p.c. molaires de K₂S. Les limites de la solubilité en phase solide de K₂S dans K₂SO₄ et de K₂SO₄ dans K₂S sont, à la température eutectique, respectivement de 11 et 36 mol %.La forme particulière des courbes du liquidus de chaque cÔté de l'eutectique fait penser à la possibilité de changements de phases dans les solutions solides tant de K₂SO₄ que de K₂S, mais l'analyse thermique n'en a pas donné de preuve.

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K₂SO₄-K₂S . , . , . ( ). . K₂SO₄-K₂S 610 23% K₂S. K₂S K₂SO₄ K₂SO₄ K₂S , , 11 36 . K₂SO₄ K₂S . , .

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The authors would like to thank the National Research Council of Canada for their financial support.     

Enantioseparation of chiral aromatic amino acids by capillary electrophoresis in neutral and charged cyclodextrin selector modes

Simultaneous enantioseparations of 15 racemic aromatic amino acids and L-mimosine for their chiral discrimination were achieved by neutral selector-modified capillary electrophoresis (CE) and by charged selector-modified CE. Among the diverse cyclodextrins (CDs) examined, hydroxypropyl (HP)-alpha-CD as the neutral selector and highly sulfated (HS)-gamma-CD as the charged selector provided best chiral environments of different enantioselectivities. Fairly good enantiomeric resolutions were achieved with the HP-alpha-CD mode except for racemic 6-hydroxy-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, threo-3,4-dihydroxyphenylserine and homophenylalanine while high-resolution separations of all the enantiomeric pairs were achieved in the HS-gamma-CD mode except that L-mimosine was not detected and a partial resolution (0.6) for threo-3,4-dihydroxyphenylserine enantiomers. Relative migration times to that of internal standard under the respective optimum conditions were characteristic of each enantiomer with good precision (% RSD: 0.7-3.8), thereby enabling to cross-check the chemical identification of aromatic amino acids and also their chiralities. The method linearity was found to be adequate (r> 0.99) for the chiral assay of the aromatic amino acids investigated. When applied to extracts of three plant seeds, nonprotein amino acids such as L-mimosine (42 nug/g) from Mimosa pudica Linné, and L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (268 nug/g) from Vicia faba were positively detected along with L-tryptophan, L-phenylalanine and L-tyrosine.     

Excitation-energy migration in self-assembled cyclic zinc(II)-porphyrin arrays: a close mimicry of a natural light-harvesting system

The excitation-energy-hopping (EEH) times within two-dimensional cyclic zinc(II)-porphyrin arrays 5 and 6, which were prepared by intermolecular coordination and ring-closing metathesis reaction of olefins, were deduced by modeling the EEH process based on the anisotropy depolarization as well as the exciton-exciton annihilation dynamics. Assuming the number of energy-hopping sites N = 5 and 6, the two different experimental observables, that is, anisotropy depolarization and exciton-excition annihilation times, consistently give the EEH times of 8.0 +/- 0.5 and 5.3 +/- 0.6 ps through the 1,3-phenylene linkages of 5 and 6, respectively. Accordingly, the self-assembled cyclic porphyrin arrays have proven to be well-defined two-dimensional models for natural light-harvesting complexes.     

Porphyrin boxes constructed by homochiral self-sorting assembly: optical separation, exciton coupling, and efficient excitation energy migration

meso-Pyridine-appended zinc(II) porphyrins Mn and their meso-meso-linked dimers Dn assemble spontaneously, in noncoordinating solvents such as CHCl3, into tetrameric porphyrin squares Sn and porphyrin boxes Bn, respectively. Interestingly, formation of Bn from Dn proceeds via homochiral self-sorting assembly, which has been verified by optical separations of B1 and B2. Optically pure enantiomers of B1 and B2 display strong Cotton effects in the CD spectra, which reflect the length of the pyridyl arm, thus providing evidence for the exciton coupling between the noncovalent neighboring porphyrin rings. Excitation energy migration processes within Bn have been investigated by steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopic methods in conjunction with polarization anisotropy measurements. Both the pump-power dependence on the femtosecond transient absorption and the transient absorption anisotropy decay profiles are directly associated with the excitation energy migration process within the Bn boxes, where the exciton-exciton annihilation time and the polarization anisotropy rise time are well described in terms of the F?rster-type incoherent energy hopping model by assuming a number of hopping sites of N = 4 and an exciton coherence length of L = 2. Consequently, the excitation energy hopping rates between the zinc(II) diporphyrin units have been estimated for B1 (48 ps)(-1), B2 (98 +/- 3 ps)(-1), and B3 (361 +/- 6 ps)(-1). Overall, the self-assembled porphyrin boxes Bn serve as a well-defined three-dimensional model for the light-harvesting complex.