Nucleophilic Substitution in Dipolar Aprotic Solvents: Hexamethylphosphoric triamide

The rate of the reaction between ethyl tosylate and chloride as well as bromide ion has been measured in hexamethylphosphoric triamide in the presence of several counterions. Rate constants for the free ions at 25.0° are 14.4 mole^?1 for chloride and 2.0 mole^?1min^?1 for bromide, both independent of the cation used. The equilibrium constants for ion pair dissociation of lithium-, ammonium- and tetra-n-butylammonium chloride are 3.97 × 10^?2, 1.52 × 10^?3 and 6.36 × 10^?3 mole, and for the corresponding bromides 3.30 × 10^?2, 9.65 × 10^?3, and 9.62 × 10^?3 mole.     

Zur Bestimmung der gesamten und freien schwefligen S?ure im Wein

Zusammenfassung Ein Vergleich der Methoden von Weinmann u. Deibner zur Bestimmung der gesamten schwefligen Säure zeigte, daß die letzte Methode zu exakteren Werten führt,vor allem dadurch bedingt, daß das überdestillierte Schwefeldioxyd in einer sauren gekühlten Vorlage aufgefangen wird. Ein Nachteil der Methode ist, daß bei der Titration der Vorlage mit Jodlösung der p_H-Wert mehrfach geändert werden muß. Es gelang uns, diesen Mangel ohne Einbuße an Analysengenauigkeit dadurch zu beseitigen, daß wir als Auffanglösung ein Puffergemisch (p_H 3,5) benutzen und nicht in saurem, sondern in schwach alkalischem Milieu mit Jodlösung titrieren. In dieser Form kann das Verfahren zur Bestimmung der gesamten schwefligen Säure im Wein empfohlen werden.Zur genauen Bestimmung der freien schwefligen Säure arbeiteten wir ein polarographisches Verfahren aus, bei dem im Gegensatz zur jodometrischen Methode die koordinativ gebundene schweflige Säure nicht miterfaßt wird. Der verhältnismäßig große apparative Aufwand bei der Polarographie spricht jedoch gegen die Anwendung dieses Verfahrens in der routinemäßigen Weinanalyse. Es wird deshalb eine vereinfachte, aber recht genaue jodometrische Methode zur Bestimmung der freien schwefligen Säure vorgestellt, die geeignet ist, Aufnahme in die neue Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift für die Untersuchung von Wein und ähnlichen alkoholischen Erzeugnissen sowie von Fruchtsäften zu finden, die an die Stelle der alten Amtlichen Anweisung getreten ist.Für die Untersuchungen wurden Mittel des Bundesernährungsministeriums zur Verfügung gestellt, wofür auch an dieser Stelle bestens gedankt sei.Die Arbeit stellt einen Ausschnitt dar aus der Diplomarbeit von D. Hess: Beitrag zur Bestimmung der schwefligen Säure im Wein (Universität Frankfurt/M. 1957) und der Dissertation von D. Hess: Über den Einfluß von schwefliger Säure und l-Ascorbinsäure bei der Weinbereitung (Frankfurt/M. 1960).     

Activation energies for nucleation and growth and critical cluster size dependence in JMAK analyses of kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations of precipitation

Kinetic Monte-Carlo (KMC) methods are used as an approach to simulate precipitation in Cu-alloyed bcc Fe. In order to characterize the process, transformed fractions, that is, the precipitated atoms, are related to Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov theory. However, simulated data often deviate from corresponding fit curves and so does the resulting growth exponent when compared to theoretical expectations. Furthermore, some data may suggest the development of a metastable phase. In our study, we show that the characteristics of the transformed fraction and, as a consequence, the derived growth exponents sensitively depend on the number of atoms that are considered to form a particle and hence contribute to the transformed fraction. With a temperature dependence of the critical cluster size and additionally accounting for severe impingement of the particles, we obtain growth exponents which lie close to the expected range between n = 1.5 and n = 2.5 for pre-existing nuclei or continuous nucleation, respectively. From these, we obtain activation energies for nucleation and growth of precipitates. In this way, atomistic KMC simulations yield thermodynamical quantities, which can be valuable input parameters for larger length scale simulation methods, for example, for Phase Field Method simulations.     

Metabolism of levamisole and kinetics of levamisole and aminorex in urine by means of LC-QTOF-HRMS and LC-QqQ-MS

The antihelminthic drug Levamisole can enhance cocaine effects by conversion into the amphetamine-like drug aminorex. We describe an LC-MS method for the determination of levamisole and its metabolite aminorex in human urine. Selectivity is given, calibration curves were linear within the calibration range 2.5–250 ng/mL; limits of the method were LoD 0.51 ng/mL, LoQ 1.02 ng/mL for levamisole and LoD 0.65 ng/mL, LoQ 0.76 ng/mL for aminorex. Precision data was in accordance with the guidelines (intraday precision for aminorex ranged between 5.75 and 11.0 % for levamisole between 8.36 and 10.9 %; interday precision for levamisole 10.9–16.9 % and for aminorex 7.64–12.7 %; accuracy data for levamisole ?1.96 to –14.3 % and for aminorex?11.9 to–18.5 %). The validated method was successfully applied to study the urinary excretion of levamisole after the administration of 100 mg of levamisole orally. Levamisole and aminorex could be detected in post-administration urine samples. Levamisole could be detected up to 39 h after ingestion, while aminorex was detectable up to 54 h. Maximum aminorex concentrations were 45 ng/mL urine. Further metabolites of levamisole after oral ingestion by means of liquid chromatography hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-HRMS) were identified. Only 0.5 % of the ingested drug was quantified as unchanged levamisole in urine. Besides aminorex, five isomers of aminorex and 4 hydroxy-metabolites of aminorex or its isomers were found. Furthermore, levamisole is also hydroxylated and eliminated free or conjugated with sulfate or glucuronide into urine.     

A new level‐dependent coarse grid correction scheme for indefinite Helmholtz problems

In this paper, we construct and analyze a level‐dependent coarse grid correction scheme for indefinite Helmholtz problems. This adapted multigrid (MG) method is capable of solving the Helmholtz equation on the finest grid using a series of MG cycles with a grid‐dependent complex shift, leading to a stable correction scheme on all levels. It is rigorously shown that the adaptation of the complex shift throughout the MG cycle maintains the functionality of the two‐grid correction scheme, as no smooth modes are amplified in or added to the error. In addition, a sufficiently smoothing relaxation scheme should be applied to ensure damping of the oscillatory error components. Numerical experiments on various benchmark problems show the method to be competitive with or even outperform the current state‐of‐the‐art MG‐preconditioned Krylov methods, for example, complex shifted Laplacian preconditioned flexible GMRES. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Brodie's or Hummers’ Method: Oxidation Conditions Determine the Structure of Graphene Oxide

Synthesis and studies of graphite oxide started more than 150 years ago and turned into a boom by the measurements of the outstanding physical properties of graphene. A series of preparation protocols emanated trying to optimize the synthesis of graphene oxide in order to obtain a less defective material, as source for graphene. However, over-oxidation of the carbon framework hampered establishing structure-property relationships. Here, the fact that two different synthetic methods for graphene oxide preparation lead to very similar types of graphene oxide with a preserved graphene lattice is demonstrated. Either sodium chlorate in nitric acid (similar to Brodie's method) or potassium permanganate in sulfuric acid (similar to Hummers’ method) treatment are possible; however, reaction conditions must be controlled. With a preserved carbon lattice analytical differences between the samples relate to the altered on-plane functionality. Consequently, terming preparation protocols “according to Brodie's/Hummers’ method” is not sufficient.