From clusters to ionic complexes: structurally characterized thallium titanium double alkoxides

A series of sterically varied titanium alkoxides [[Ti(OR)(4)](n)(), n = 4, OR = OCH(2)CH(3) (OEt); n = 1, OCH(CH(3))(2) (OPr(i)); n = 2, OCH(2)C(CH(3))(3) (ONep); n = 1, OC(6)H(3)(CH(3))(2)-2,6 (DMP)] were reacted with a series of thallium alkoxides [[Tl(OR)](x) (x = 4, OR = OEt, ONep; n = infinity, DMP)]. The resultant products of the [Tl(mu(3)-OEt)](4)-modified [Ti(OR)(4)](n)() (OR = OEt, OPr(i), ONep) were found by X-ray analysis to be Tl(4)Ti(2)(mu-O)(mu(3)-OEt)(8)(OEt)(2) (1), Tl(4)Ti(2)(mu-O)(mu(3)-OPr(i))(5)(mu(3)-OEt)(3)(OEt)(2) (2), and TlTi(2)(mu(3)-OEt)(2)(mu-OEt)(mu-ONep)(2)(ONep)(4) (3), respectively. The reaction of [Tl(mu(3)-OEt)](4), 12HOEt, and 4[Ti(mu-ONep)ONep)(3)](2) to generate 3 in a higher yield resulted in the isolation of TlTi(2)(mu(3)-OEt)(mu(3)-ONep)(mu-OEt)(mu-ONep)(2)(ONep)(4) (4). Compounds 1 and 2 possess an octahedral (Oh) arrangement of two Ti and four Tl metal atoms around a mu-O central oxide atom (the Tl-O distance is too long to be considered a bond). For both compounds, each Ti atom adopts a distorted Oh geometry with one terminal OEt ligand. The Tl atoms are formally 4-coordinated, adopting a distorted pyramidal geometry using four mu(3)-OR (OR = OEt or OPr(i)) ligands to complete their coordination sphere. The Tl atoms reside approximately 1.4 A below the basal plane of oxygens. In contrast to these structures, both 3 and 4 utilize ONep ligands and display reduced oligomerization yielding trinuclear complexes without oxo formation. The two Ti cations are Oh, and the single Tl cation is in a formal distorted pyramidal (PYD) arrangement. If the lone pair of the Tl cations are considered in the geometry, each Tl adopts a square base pyramidal geometry. Two terminal ONep ligands are bound to each Ti with the remainder of the molecule consisting of mu(3)- and mu-ONep ligands. The reaction of [Tl(mu(3)-ONep)](4) with two equivalents of [Ti(mu-ONep)(ONep)(3)](2) also led to the isolation of the homoleptic trinuclear complex TlTi(2)(mu(3)-ONep)(2)(mu-ONep)(3)(ONep)(4) (5) which is analogous in structure to the mixed ligand species of 3 and 4. Each Ti is Oh coordinated with six ONep ligands, and the single Tl is PYD bound by ONep ligands. A further increase in the steric bulk of the pendant ligands, using [Tl(mu-DMP)](infinity) and [Ti(mu-ONep)(ONep)(3)](2), resulted in a further decrease in the nuclearity yielding the dinuclear species TlTi(mu-DMP)(mu-ONep)(DMP)(ONep)(2) (6). For 6, the two metals are bound by a mu-ONep and a mu-DMP ligand. The Tl metal center was solved in a bent geometry while the Ti adopted a distorted trigonal bipyramidal (TBP) geometry using three ONep and two DMP ligands to fill its coordination sphere. Further increasing the steric bulk of the ancillary ligands using Ti(DMP)(4) and [Tl(mu-DMP)](infinity) led to the formation of [Tl(+)][(-)(eta(2-3)-DMP)Ti(DMP)(4)] (7). The Ti metal center is in a TBP geometry, and the "naked" Tl cation resides unencumbered by solvent molecules but was found to have a strong pi-interaction with four DMP ligands of neighboring Ti(DMP)(5)(-) anions. For this novel set of compounds, (205)Tl NMR spectroscopy was used to investigate the solution behavior of these compounds. Multiple (205)Tl resonances were observed for the solution spectra of the crystalline material of 1-6, and a broad singlet was observed for 7. The large number of minor resonances noted for these compounds was attributed to sensitivity of the Tl cation based on small variations due to ligand rearrangement. However, the major resonance noted in the (205)Tl NMR solution spectra of 1-7 are in agreement with their respective solid-state structures.     

Dissociation constants of carboxymethyloxysuccinic acid

The dissociation constants of carboxymethyloxysuccinic acid (CMOS) have been measured at 25° and an ionic strength of 0·1M in sodium perchlorate. The values found were: pK₁ = 2·52, pK₂ = 3·77 and pK₃ = 5·00. CMOS is thus seen to be rather stronger than its isomer citric acid.     

Activation of gold on titania: adsorption and reaction of SO(2) on Au/TiO(2)(110)

Synchrotron-based high-resolution photoemission and first-principles density-functional slab calculations were used to study the interaction of gold with titania and the chemistry of SO(2) on Au/TiO(2)(110) surfaces. The deposition of Au nanoparticles on TiO(2)(110) produces a system with an extraordinary ability to adsorb and dissociate SO(2). In this respect, Au/TiO(2) is much more chemically active than metallic gold or stoichiometric titania. On Au(111) and rough polycrystalline surfaces of gold, SO(2) bonds weakly and desorbs intact at temperatures below 200 K. For the adsorption of SO(2) on TiO(2)(110) at 300 K, SO(4) is the only product (SO(2) + O(oxide) --> SO(4,ads)). In contrast, Au/TiO(2)(110) surfaces (theta;(Au) < or = 0.5 ML) fully dissociate the SO(2) molecule under identical reaction conditions. Interactions with titania electronically perturb gold, making it more chemically active. Furthermore, our experimental and theoretical results show quite clearly that not only gold is perturbed when gold and titania interact. The adsorbed gold, on its part, enhances the reactivity of titania by facilitating the migration of O vacancies from the bulk to the surface of the oxide. In general, the complex coupling of these phenomena must be taken into consideration when trying to explain the unusual chemical and catalytic activity of Au/TiO(2). In many situations, the oxide support can be much more than a simple spectator.     

Simultaneous determination of iron, cobalt, nickel and copper by UV-visible spectrophotometry with multivariate calibration

A method for the simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of the divalent ions of iron, cobalt, nickel and copper based on the formation of their complexes with 1,5-bis(di-2-pyridylmethylene) thiocarbonohydrazide (DPTH) is proposed. The resolution of quaternary mixtures of these metallic ions was accomplished by several chemometric approaches. A comparative study of the results obtained for simultaneous determinations in mixture by using principal component regression (PCR) and partial least-squares regression (PLS-1 and PLS-2) for absorbance, first-derivative and second-derivative data is presented. In general, the best recovery values are obtained by the PLS-2 method for absorbance data. This procedure allows the simultaneous determination of the cited ions in alloys and biological materials Good reliability of the determination was proved.     

Oxidative additions of alkynyl/vinyl iodides to gold and gold-catalyzed vinylation reactions triggered by the MeDalphos ligand

The hemilabile Ad₂P(o-C₆H₄)NMe₂ ligand promotes fast, quantitative and irreversible oxidative addition of alkynyl and vinyl iodides to gold. The reaction is general. It works with a broad range of substrates of various electronic bias and steric demand, and proceeds with complete retention of stereochemistry from Z and E vinyl iodides. Both alkynyl and vinyl iodides react faster than aryl iodides. The elementary step is amenable to catalysis. Oxidative addition of vinyl iodides to gold and π-activation of alkenols (and N-alkenyl amines) at gold have been combined to achieve hetero-vinylation reactions. A number of functionalized heterocycles, i.e. tetrahydrofuranes, tetrahydropyranes, oxepanes and pyrrolidines were obtained thereby (24 examples, 87% average yield). Taking advantage of the chemoselectivity for vinyl iodides over aryl iodides, sequential transformations involving first a hetero-vinylation step and then a C–N coupling, a C–C coupling or an heteroarylation were achieved from a vinyl/aryl bis-iodide substrate.

The hemilabile Ad₂P(o-C₆H₄)NMe₂ ligand promotes fast, quantitative and irreversible oxidative addition of alkynyl and vinyl iodides to gold.     

(Z)-3-p-tolylsulfinylacrylonitrile as a chiral dienophile: diels-alder reactions with furan and acyclic dienes

The behavior of (Z)-3-p-tolylsulfinylacrylonitrile (1) as a chiral dienophile has been evaluated from its reactions with furan and acyclic dienes. Electrostatic interactions of the cyano group with the sulfinyl one restrict the conformational mobility around the C-S bond, thus controlling the pi-facial selectivity, which is almost complete in all cases, the approach of the diene from the less-hindered face of the dienophile (that bearing the lone electron pair) in the predominant rotamer being the favored one. The regioselectivity is also completely controlled by the cyano group. Additionally, the reactivity of compound 1 as well as its endo-selectivity are both higher than those observed for the corresponding (Z)-3-sulfinylacrylates, thus proving the potential of sulfinylnitriles as chiral dienophiles.     

Matching unknown empirical formulas to chemical structure using LC/MS TOF accurate mass and database searching: example of unknown pesticides on tomato skins

Traditionally, the screening of unknown pesticides in food has been accomplished by GC/MS methods using conventional library searching routines. However, many of the new polar and thermally labile pesticides and their degradates are more readily and easily analyzed by LC/MS methods and no searchable libraries currently exist (with the exception of some user libraries, which are limited). Therefore, there is a need for LC/MS approaches to detect unknown non-target pesticides in food. This report develops an identification scheme using a combination of LC/MS time-of-flight (accurate mass) and LC/MS ion trap MS (MS/MS) with searching of empirical formulas generated through accurate mass and a ChemIndex database or Merck Index database. The approach is different than conventional library searching of fragment ions. The concept here consists of four parts. First is the initial detection of a possible unknown pesticide in actual market-place vegetable extracts (tomato skins) using accurate mass and generating empirical formulas. Second is searching either the Merck Index database on CD (10,000 compounds) or the ChemIndex (77,000 compounds) for possible structures. Third is MS/MS of the unknown pesticide in the tomato-skin extract followed by fragment ion identification using chemical drawing software and comparison with accurate-mass ion fragments. Fourth is the verification with authentic standards, if available. Three examples of unknown, non-target pesticides are shown using a tomato-skin extract from an actual market place sample. Limitations of the approach are discussed including the use of A + 2 isotope signatures, extended databases, lack of authentic standards, and natural product unknowns in food extracts.     

Separation of proteins with a molecular mass difference of 2 kDa utilizing preparative double-inverted gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under nonreducing conditions: application to the isolation of 24 kDa human growth hormone

A method for separating proteins with a molecular mass difference of 2 kDa using SDS-PAGE under nonreducing conditions is presented. A sample mixture containing several human growth hormone (hGH) isoforms was initially separated on a weak anion-exchange column. Fractions rich in 24 kDa hGH as determined by analytical SDS-PAGE were pooled and further separated by cation-exchange chromatography. The fractions pooled from the cation-exchange chromatography contained two hGH isoforms with a 2 kDa molecular mass difference according to SDS-PAGE analysis, 22 and 24 kDa hGH. The 22 and 24 kDa hGH were separated using continuous-elution preparative double-inverted gradient PAGE (PDG-PAGE) under nonreducing conditions. The preparative electrophoresis gel was composed of three stacked tubular polyacrylamide matrices, a 4% stacking gel, a 13-18% linear gradient gel, and a 15-10% linear inverted gradient gel. Fractions containing purified 24 kDa hGH were pooled and Western blot analysis displayed immunoreactivity to antihGH antibodies. PDG-PAGE provides researchers with an electrophoretic technique to preparatively purify proteins under nonreducing conditions with molecular mass differences of 2 kDa.     

MNDO calculations applied to structural changes in 1,2,4-oxadiazole substituents

MNDO calculations on several substituted 1,2,4-oxadiazole compounds are discussed. Changes in geometry, atomic charge distribution, rotational barriers and molecular orbital energies are examined. A correlation exists between the thermal stability of the heterocycle and the excess electronic charge accumulated inside the ring as well as its distribution. For the case of phenylated derivatives, the nonplanar conformation is energetically more stable than the corresponding planar one, which might explain the relative decrease in thermal stability of phenylated derivatives. It is observed that as the planar conformation starts being populated, a greater amount of electrons are donated to the 1,2, 4-oxadiazole ring.     

Gas‐phase functionalized carbon‐carbon coupling reactions catalyzed by Ni (II) complexes

Gas‐phase C―C coupling reactions mediated by Ni (II) complexes were studied using a linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer. Ternary nickel cationic carboxylate complexes, [(phen)Ni (OOCR¹)]⁺ (where phen = 1,10‐phenanthroline), were formed by electrospray ionization. Upon collision‐induced dissociation (CID), they extrude CO₂ forming the organometallic cation [(phen)Ni(R¹)]⁺, which undergoes gas‐phase ion‐molecule reactions (IMR) with acetate esters CH₃COOR² to yield the acetate complex [(phen)Ni (OOCCH₃)]⁺ and a C―C coupling product R¹‐R². These Ni(II)/phenanthroline‐mediated coupling reactions can be performed with a variety of carbon substituents R¹ and R² (sp³, sp², or aromatic), some of them functionalized. Reaction rates do not seem to be strongly dependent on the nature of the substituents, as sp³‐sp³ or sp²‐sp² coupling reactions proceed rapidly. Experimental results are supported by density functional theory calculations, which provide insights into the energetics associated with the C―C bond coupling step.