Study of the pseudo-steady-state kinetics of CO2 hydrate formation and stability

This article describes a dynamic model for formation and stability of CO₂-hydrate on the interface of liquid CO₂(LCO₂) and ocean water at large depths. Experimental results indicate that a thin film of hydrate naturally forms on the interfaces between LCO₂ and water, and inhibits diffusion between the two phases. Experiments further shows that the flux of CO₂ through the hydrate film is dependent of the CO₂-concentration in the ambient sea water. The model proposed here explains these phenomena by introducing four major mechanisms; diffusion of water to the LCO₂-phase, formation of hydrate in the LCO₂-hydrate interface, decay of hydrate in the water-hydrate interface, and diffusion of CO₂ through the water phase. The model explains the CO₂ flux not by diffusion through the hydrate film, but suggest a mechanism of continuous hydrate formation and decay. The overall effect is a “moving,” pseudo-steady-state hydrate film due to transport of CO₂ through the film. The film velocity is dependent of liquid-liquid diffusivity parameters and reaction constant, and lacking experimental values of these parameters, an order–of-magnitude analysis is done by fitting the model to experimentally obtained data for the overall film velocity. The motivation for this work is to elucidate options for CO₂ depositions in deep oceans, of which liquid CO2 sequestration is believed to be one of the most feasible. Spreading of CO₂ from a liquid CO₂-lake and associated lowering of pH in the ecosystem surrounding the lake is of large concern. The work presented here concludes that diffusion of CO₂ in the ocean is largely reduced by the hydrate film and suggests that hydrate formation may alleviate some of the environmental concerns regarding deep ocean sequestration of liquid CO₂. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Rational Design of [13C,D14]Tert‐butylbenzene as a Scaffold Structure for Designing Long‐lived Hyperpolarized 13C Probes

Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is a technique to polarize the nuclear spin population. As a result of the hyperpolarization, the NMR sensitivity of the nuclei in molecules can be dramatically enhanced. Recent application of the hyperpolarization technique has led to advances in biochemical and molecular studies. A major problem is the short lifetime of the polarized nuclear spin state. Generally, in solution, the polarized nuclear spin state decays to a thermal spin equilibrium, resulting in loss of the enhanced NMR signal. This decay is correlated directly with the spin‐lattice relaxation time T₁. Here we report [¹³C,D₁₄]tert‐butylbenzene as a new scaffold structure for designing hyperpolarized ¹³C probes. Thanks to the minimized spin‐lattice relaxation (T₁) pathways, its water‐soluble derivative showed a remarkably long ¹³C T₁ value and long retention of the hyperpolarized spin state.     

Microscopic structures of adsorbed cationic porphyrins on clay surfaces: molecular alignment in artificial light-harvesting systems

The intercalation behavior of cationic porphyrin derivatives within the interlayer spaces of nano-layered clay minerals has been investigated. The porphyrins were successfully intercalated by the newly adopted method of repeated freeze-thaw cycles. The absorption spectra of the porphyrins were compared in the solution phase, adsorbed onto the exfoliated clay nano-sheets, intercalated within the interlayer spaces of clay sheets dispersed in water and intercalated in dry films. Substantial red shifts of the λ_max values in the absorption spectra of the porphyrins were observed on the exfoliated clay sheets, and further red shifts were induced within the interlayer space. The dry films of the intercalated samples exhibited the largest red shifts. X-ray diffraction studies revealed that the clearance space between the layers in these intercalated hybrid compounds is only large enough for the porphyrins to be rigidly packed parallel to the clay layer. For the exfoliated clay nano-sheets, theoretical calculations were carried out on the correlation between the dihedral angle of the meso-substituted pyridiniumyl plane vs. the porphyrin ring and the λ_max of the porphyrin Soret band. An extrapolation of the experimental λ_max value to the correlation curve, afforded the dihedral angle to be 61.6°. The microscopic structure of the adsorbed state of the cationic porphyrins on the exfoliated clay nano-sheets was, thus, proposed to involve an orientation parallel to the clay surface, with a distance of 0.15 nm from the surface, which implies the expulsion of the solvent water molecules.     

Evaluation of photoinduced changes in stability constants for metal-ion complexes of crowned spirobenzopyran derivatives by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

The photoinduced changes of metal-ion complexing ability of crowned spirobenzopyran derivatives were studied by using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Stability constants for the complexation with various metal ions in methanol under visible-irradiation conditions were determined for the first time by ESI-MS. It was found that the stability constants of crowned bis(spirobenzopyran) derivatives with metal ions are decreased dramatically by visible irradiation due to the disappearance of powerful ionic interaction between phenolate anion(s) of the merocyanine form of their spirobenzopyran moiety and a metal ion bound to their crown ether moiety, and the decrease in the stability constants is more pronounced for the multivalent metal-ion complexes. A theoretical consideration was also made to attain reliable values of stability complexes for metal-ion complexes of crown compounds.     

Fully automated analysis of estrogens in environmental waters by in-tube solid-phase microextraction coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A simple, rapid and sensitive method for the determination of five estrogens, estrone, 17beta-estradiol, estriol, ethynyl estradiol, and diethylstilbestrol, was developed using a fully automated method consisting of in-tube solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). These estrogens were separated within 8 min by HPLC using an XDB-C8 column and 0.01% ammonia/acetonitrile (60/40, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min. Electrospray ionization conditions in the negative ion mode were optimized for MS/MS detection of the estrogens. The optimum in-tube SPME conditions were 20 draw/eject cycles of 40 microL of sample using a Supel-Q PLOT capillary column as an extraction device. The extracted compounds were easily desorbed from the capillary by passage of the mobile phase, and no carryover was observed. Using the in-tube SPME LC/MS/MS method, good linearity of the calibration curve (r > or = 0.9996) was obtained in the concentration range from 10 to 200 pg/mL for all compounds examined. The limits of detection (S/N= 3) of the five estrogens examined ranged from 2.7 to 11.7 pg/mL. The in-tube SPME method showed 34-90-fold higher sensitivity than the direct injection method (5 microL injection). This method was applied successfully to the analysis of environmental water samples without any other pretreatment and interference peaks. Several surface water and wastewater samples were collected from the area around Asahi River, and estriol was detected at 35.7 pg/mL in the effluent of a sewage treatment plant. The recoveries of estrogens spiked into river waters were above 86%, except for estriol, and the relative standard deviations were below 0.9-8.8%.     

Mild and efficient removal of hydroxyethyl unit from 2-hydroxyethyl ether derivatives leading to alcohols

[reaction: see text]. CAN is a good reagent for the transformation of 2-hydroxyethyl ether units to alcohols. Significantly, many functional groups can tolerate the reaction conditions, although they do not survive under many previously reported removal conditions. The reaction mechanism is clarified.     

The 4s electron densities of Fe impurity atoms in some transition and noble metals

From internal conversion experiments and the Mössbauer effect measurements, the 4s electron density and isomer shift for Fe impurity atoms in Cr, Ni, Cu, Pt and Au metals were studied. The M and N shell conversion electron spectra of the 14.4 keV transition of⁵⁷Fe were measured using a high resolution β-ray spectrometer and analyzed using a deconvolution methods. The Mössbauer effect measurements were performed by a standard spectrometer with a moving absorber. Most of the samples showed isomer shift values consistent with the published ones. It is concluded that the 4s electron density, \(\rho _{4_S} (0)\) , at the nucleus of⁵⁷Fe embedded is nearly equal in these host metals. The relation between \(\rho _{4_S} (0)\) and the isomer shift indicates that \(\rho _{3_S} (0)\) plays an important role in the variation of the isomer shift.     

Preparation of 6-O-(4-alkoxytrityl)celluloses and their properties

Cellulose was reacted with a series of 4-alkoxytrityl chlorides (C(n)TCl, n: number of carbon atoms in a saturated alkyl chain) under homogeneous reaction conditions in LiCl-N,N-dimethyl acetoamide to give a series of 6-O-(4-alkoxytrityl)celluloses (C(n)TC) with a high degree of substitution (DS), from 0.94 to 0.99, and with high regioselectivity at the 6-O position. Solubility of the C(n)TC in nonpolar solvents depended on the alkyl chain length: as the alkyl chain lengthens, cellulose derivatives become more hydrophobic and are readily soluble in nonpolar solvents, but not in polar solvents. Acetates of the C(4)-C(18)TC (C(4)-C(18)TCAc) showed anisotropic structures over melting temperatures (T(m)) examined under a polarized optical microscope (POM). Over isotropization temperatures (T(i)), flow birefringence were detected for C(12)-C(18)TCAc. The T(m) and T(i) decreased linearly with an increasing number of carbon atoms in the alkyl substituent. Wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) studies of C(n)TC indicated that the fully extended side chains were perpendicular to the polymer backbone and interdigitated. These C(n)TC with the improved solubility may be used as starting materials for further derivatization focused on the secondary hydroxyl groups at the C-2 and C-3 positions.     

Successive methyl migrations occurring in the acid treatment of 1-epoxyethyl-1,2,2-trimethyl-cyclopentane derivative

Acid treatment of (IR, 3S,1′S)-1-(1′,2′-Epoxyethyl)-1,2,2-trimethyl-3-acetoxymethyl-cyclopentane $\text{6}$) has been shown to yield three products ($\text{8}$, $\text{9}$, $\text{10}$), among which $\text{8}$ and $\text{9}$ are 1-oxa-bicyclo[3.3.0]octane derivatives formed $\text{via}$ successive methyl migrations followed by an oxorane ring closure.