Synthesis and characterization of a magnetic semiconductor Na(2)RuO(4) containing one-dimensional chains of Ru(6+)

A new ternary ruthenium oxide Na(2)RuO(4) was prepared and shown to crystallize with a new structure type. Single crystal X-ray diffraction measurements reveal that Na(2)RuO(4) consists of RuO(4) chains made up of RuO(5) trigonal bipyramids by sharing axial corners. Na(2)RuO(4) is a magnetic semiconductor with a variable range hopping behavior, and its molar magnetic susceptibility chi(mol) has a broad maximum at approximately 74 K. The derivative d(chi(mol).T)/dT exhibits a peak at 37.7 K which has been confirmed by heat capacity measurement to be due to long-range antiferromagnetic ordering.     

Fundamental Aspects of Ionic Dissociations: The Fragmentation Pathways of Excited Bicyclobutane Cations

A most recently developed method to quantify the fragmentation pathways of excited radical cations is presented. Using bicyclobutane cation as an illustrative example, the RRKM analysis of the breakdown diagram determined by He-Iα photoelectron-photoion coincidence spectroscopy is outlined. The results imply complete isomerization to 1,3-butadiene cation preceding the dissociative processes. The rate-energy functions of four competitive primary fragmentation reactions, leading to C₃H, C₄H, C₄H and C₂H are established. There is compelling evidence that the production of C₂H fragment ions does not compete effectively with these four reactions. The extent of kinetic and competitive shift effects is determined. The derived enthalpies of formation are in excellent accord with the available high quality reference data. The relative importance of different fragmentation pathways which ultimately lead to fragment ions of identical mass to charge ratio is assessed.     

Stable conformations of tripeptides in aqueous solution studied by UV circular dichroism spectroscopy

Determination of the precise solution structure of peptides is of utmost importance to the understanding of protein folding and peptide drugs. Herein, we have measured the UV circular dichroism (UVCD) spectra of tri-alanine dissolved in D(2)O, H(2)O, and glycerol. The results clearly show the coexistence of a polyproline II or 3(1)-helix and a somewhat disordered flat beta-strand conformation, in complete agreement with recent predictions from spectroscopic data (Eker et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 14 330-14 341). A thermodynamic analysis revealed that enthalpic contributions of about 11 and 17 kJ/mol stabilize polyproline II in D(2)O and H(2)O, respectively, but at room temperature they are counterbalanced by entropic contributions, which clearly favor the more disordered beta-strand conformation. It is hypothesized that this delicate balance is the reason for the variety of structural propensities of amino acid residues in the absence of nonlocal interactions. The isotope effect yielding a higher occupation of polyproline II in H(2)O with respect to D(2)O strongly suggests that a hydrogen-bonding network involving the peptide and water molecules in the hydration shell plays a major role in stabilizing this conformation. The equilibrium between polyproline II and beta-strand is practically maintained in glycerol, which suggests that glycerol can substitute water as stabilizing solvent for the polyproline II conformation. We also measured the UVCD spectra of tri-valine and tri-lysine (both at acidic pD) in D(2)O and found them to adopt a flat beta-strand and left-handed turn structure, respectively, in accordance with recent analyses of vibrational spectroscopy data. Generally, the present study adds substantial evidence to the notion that the so-called random coil state of peptides is much more structured than generally assumed.     

Polyhedral clathrate hydrates of a strong base: Phase relations and crystal structures in the system tetramethylammonium hydroxide-water

The tetramethylammonium hydroxide-water system has been studied by low-temperature differential thermal analysis and X-ray powder diffraction. The melting diagram was constructed for concentrations between 66.7 and 100 mol% H₂O. It shows the existence and stability ranges of as many as eight crystalline hydrate phases:- and-Me₄NOH·2H₂O (phase transition at –85°C, decomposition atca. 105°C), Me₄NOH·4 H₂O (melting point 44°C, incongruent), and-Me₄NOH·5 H₂O (phase transition at 42°C, melting point 68°C, congruent),- and-Me₄NOH·7.5 H₂O (phase transition at 6°C, melting point 16°C, incongruent), and Me₄NOH·10 H₂O (melting point –20°C, incongruent). The structures of all these phases, except the already known one of-Me₄NOH·5 H₂O, were determined from single-crystal MoK diffractometer data. The decahydrate and the high-temperature forms of the 7.5-hydrate and the pentahydrate are genuinepolyhedral clathrate hydrates, the first ones reported of a strong base. Their mostly novel three-dimensional anionic host structures, formed by the hydrogen-bonded OH^– ions and H₂O molecules, arefour-connected throughout, in spite of their proton deficiency which is apparently leveled by disorder. Disorder also affects the enclosed cationic Me₄N⁺ guest species. Like the low-temperature form of the pentahydrate, that of the 7.5-hydrate has a clathrate-related, but not fully polyhedral structure, some of the oxygen atoms being three-connected only. The tetrahydrate presents the rare case of both a hydrogen bond of the type OH^–...OH₂ and a (deprotonated) water-channel structure. This is fully ordered and apart from that can be derived from the polyhedral one of the-pentahydrate just by removing the appropriate number of water molecules from certain positions. The structures of- and-Me₄NOH·2 H₂O contain identical one-dimensionalspiro chains [HO^–(HOH)_/42] with the hydroxide protonnot participating in the hydrogen bonding. The Me₄N⁺ ion is ordered in the and disordered in the phase.Supplementary Data relating to this article are deposited with the British Library as Supplementary Publication No. SUP 82076 (66 pages).Dedicated to Dr D. W. Davidson in honor of his great contributions to the sciences of inclusion phenomena.     

Observation of two diffusive relaxation modes in microemulsions by dynamic light scattering

Water-in-oil microemulsions stabilized by AOT and dispersed in n-alkane oils with a constant molar water-to-surfactant ratio were studied by dynamic light scattering. A dilution series (in the range of volume fraction of water plus surfactant, phi approximately 0.02-0.52) was used, which allowed us to extract information about droplet sizes, diffusion coefficients, interactions, and polydispersity from experimental data. We report the observation of two diffusive relaxation modes in a concentrated microemulsion (0.20 < phi < 0.5) due to density (collective diffusion) and concentration or polydispersity (self-diffusion) fluctuations. Below this concentration it was difficult to resolve two exponentials unambiguously, and in this case one apparent relaxation mode was observed. It was found that for a given composition self-diffusion is more pronounced in apparent relaxation mode for a shorter chain length alkane. The concentration dependence of these diffusion coefficients reflects the effect of hard sphere and the supplementary attractive interactions. It was observed that the attractive part becomes more pronounced in the case of a large alkane chain oil at a given temperature. This explains the shift of the region of microemulsion stability to lower temperatures for higher chain length alkanes. Increase in hydrodynamic radius, Rh, obtained from the diffusion coefficient extrapolated to infinite dilution was observed with increase of alkane chain length. The polydispersity in microemulsion systems is dynamic in origin. Results indicate that the time scale for local polydispersity fluctuations is at least 3 orders of magnitude longer than the estimated time between droplet collisions.     

Simultaneous acquisition of X-ray spectra using a multi-wire, position-sensitive gas flow detector

A multi-wire, gas-filled position-sensitive detector has been developed for the simultaneous recording of wavelength-dispersed X-ray signals that enables X-ray fluorescence spectrometry with a limited multi-element capability in the low Z element range. Details of the modular construction of the detector are given. The detector performance was characterized using Al–K radiation and a variable slit system. The detector has been applied in a laboratory spectrometer equipped with an electron source and a double multilayer mirror device as the wavelength-dispersing element. Spectra from Al and Si obtained in the simultaneous acquisition mode show good agreement with calculations performed using a ray-tracing model.     

Intramolecular charge transfer with the planarized 4-aminobenzonitrile 1-tert-butyl-6-cyano-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline (NTC6)

Fast and efficient intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) and dual fluorescence is observed with the planarized aminobenzonitrile 1-tert-butyl-6-cyano-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline (NTC6) in a series of solvents from n-hexane to acetonitrile and methanol. Such a reaction does not take place for the related molecules with 1-isopropyl (NIC6) and 1-methyl (NMC6) groups, nor with the 1-alkyl-5-cyanoindolines with methyl (NMC5), isopropyl (NIC5), or tert-butyl (NTC5) substituents. For these molecules, a single fluorescence band from a locally excited (LE) state is found. The charge transfer reaction of NTC6 is favored by its relatively small energy gap DeltaE(S(1),S(2)), in accordance with the PICT model for ICT in aminobenzonitriles. For the ICT state of NTC6, a dipole moment of around 19 D is obtained from solvatochromic measurements, similar to micro(e)(ICT) = 17 D of 4-(dimethylamino)benzonitrile (DMABN). For NMC5, NIC5, NTC5, NMC6, and NIC6, a dipole moment of around 10 D is determined by solvatochromic analysis, the same as that of the LE state of DMABN. For NTC6 in diethyl ether at -70 degrees C, the forward ICT rate constant (1.3 x 10(11) s(-1)) is much smaller than that of the back reaction (5.9 x 10(9) s(-1)), showing that the equilibrium is on the ICT side. The results presented here make clear that ICT can very well take place with a planarized molecule such as NTC6, when DeltaE(S(1),S(2)) is sufficiently small, indicating that a perpendicular twist of the amino group relative to the rest of the molecule is not necessary for reaching an ICT state with a large dipole moment. The six-membered alicyclic ring in NMC6, for example, prevents ICT by increasing DeltaE(S(1),S(2)) relative to that of DMABN.     

Functions of translation type and functorial properties of Segal algebras II

In this paper we investigate functorial properties of the Segal algebra which consists of all functionsf in Wiener's algebra onG with Fourier transform in Wiener's algebra on the dual group . Especially may serve as a very large and natural domain for Poisson's formula. Moreover, there is introduced a Segal algebraE ₀(G) containing as a subspace, but still eachfE ₀(S) satisfies Poisson's formula.