A chromatographic comparison of the pore structure of zirconia high performance liquid chromatographic materials made by the polymerization induced colloidal aggregation and the Oil Emulsion methods

Summary The pore structures of zirconium oxide particles prepared by two different methods (PICA and Oil Emulsion processes) are compared. Nitrogen sorptometry and size exclusion chromatography are used to characterize the two different types of particles. Significant and unexpected differences were found in the accessible pore volumes and the bed packing densities of the two materials. The PICA material was found to have a higher totally included and totally excluded volume than would be normally expected. The chromatographic method provides results which are more useful for the application of these materials to separation sciences.     

1,2,4-Triazoles—XXXIII: Photodimerization of some sym-di(3-s-triazolo-[4,3-a]pyridyl)-alkanes and related derivatives

Irradiation of 3,3'-[ethane-1,2-diyl]bis-[1,2,4-triazolo-[4,3-a]pyridine] at 300 nm gave the cisoid-fused cyclobutane dimer 5aα,5bα-10bα,10cα-tetrahydro-1,10-ethano-2,3,8,9,10a,10d-hexaazadicyclopenta[a,i]biphenylene. Under the same conditions 3,3'-[propane-1,3-diyl]bis-[1,2,4-triazolo[4,3-a]pyridine] gave the corresponding cyclobutane dimer, 5aα,5bα,10bα,10cα-tetrahydro-1,10-propano-2,3,8,9,10a,10d-hexaazadicyclopenta[a,i]biphenylene whereas at 254 nm the photoproduct obtained had the “cage-like” structure 3b,3c,3d,3e,6b,6c,6d,6e-octahydro-3, 4-propano-1,2,3a,3f,5,6-hexaazadicyclobuta[def,jkl]dicyclopenta[b,h]biphenylene. Replacement of the hydrocarbon linkage with the oxybis(methylene) or a thiobis(methylene) unit and irradiation at 300 nm gave the corresponding cisoid-fused, cyclobutane dimers only. The effect of methyl substituents in the pyridine ring of the bicyclic system on the dimerization process was also studied.     

Solvents showing the external heavy atom effect in phosphorimetry

Ten solvents containing heavy atoms were examined for suitability for use in the external heavy atom effect for routine phosphorimetry. In previous work only iodine-containing solvent systems have been used, and the incongruity of enhancement results for structurally similar compounds suggests that the ultraviolet transmission characteristics of the solvent systems may be responsible for fractional enhancements. In this study the effect of chlorine-, bromine-, and iodine-containing solvent systems on phosphorescence and fluorescence intensities was investigated. Generally, chlorine-, and bromine-containing solvent systems showed a significant improvement in phosphorimetric enhancements with slightly longer lifetimes than in solvent systems containing iodine. As expected from their smaller spin-orbit coupling, chlorine-containing solvent systems yield smaller enhancements than bromine-containing solvent systems. Solvent systems containing bromine seem to offer the best compromise between ultraviolet transmission characteristics and large spin-orbit coupling constants.     

Thermosensitive hairy hybrid nanoparticles synthesized by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization

This article reports on the synthesis of thermosensitive polymer brushes on silica nanoparticles by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and the study of thermo-induced phase transitions in water. Silica nanoparticles were prepared by the St?ber process and the surface was functionalized by an ATRP initiator. Surface-initiated ATRPs of methoxydi(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (DEGMMA) and methoxytri(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (TEGMMA) were carried out in THF at 40 degrees C in the presence of a free initiator, benzyl 2-bromoisobutyrate. The polymerizations were monitored by 1H NMR spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography. The hairy hybrid nanoparticles were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy, and the thermoresponsive properties were investigated by variable temperature 1H NMR spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. The cloud points of free poly(DEGMMA) and poly(TEGMMA) in water were around 25 and 48 degrees C, respectively. The thermo-induced phase transitions of polymer brushes on silica nanoparticles began at a lower temperature and continued over a broader range (4-10 degrees C) than those of free polymers in water (< 2 degrees C).     

Dipole moments from atomic-number-dependent potentials in analytic density-functional theory

Molecular dipole moments of analytic density-functional theory are investigated. The effect of element-dependent exchange potentials on these moments are examined by comparison with conventional quantum-chemical methods and experiment for the subset of the extended G2 set of molecules that have nonzero dipole moment. Fitting the Kohn-Sham [Phys. Rev. 140, A1133 (1965)] potential itself makes a mean absolute error of less than 0.1 D. Variation of alpha (Slater's [Phys. Rev. 81, 385 (1951)] exchange parameter) values has far less effect on dipole moments than on energies. It is argued that in variable alpha methods one should choose the smaller of the two rather than the geometric mean of the two alpha values for the heteroatomic part of the linear-combination-atomic-orbital density. Calculations on the dipole moment of NH(2)(CH)(24)NO(2) are consistent with earlier calculations and show that varying the differences between alpha values for atoms with different atomic numbers has only short-ranged electrostatic effects.