Intramolecular Dynamics and Molecular Structure of Europium(III) Chelate Complexes with Crown Ethers as Studied by NMR Spectroscopy

Earlier the intramolecular inversion of the 18-crown-6 molecules was found in the complex ion pairs [Ln(ptfa)₂ (18-crown-6)]⁺ [Ln(ptfa)₄]⁻ (H₂O)₄ where Ln = La(1), Ce (2), Pr (3), Nd (4), and ptfa is 1,1,1-trifluoro-5,5-dimethyl-2,4-hexanedione. In this work the peculiarities of the molecular structure and dynamics were studied for [Eu(ptfa)₂ (18-crown-6)]⁺ [Eu(ptfa)₄]⁻ (H₂O)₄ (5) by NMR spectroscopy techniques. Through VT-NMR spectra analysis the temperature dependence was obtained for the rate constant. The free energy ΔG^‡(320) of 18-crown-6 ring inversion activation was found to be 65 ± 5 kJ mol⁻¹ for 5 in CDCl₃. This result is comparable with the earlier data [S.P. Babailov and D.A. Mainichev: J. Inclusion Phenom. Macrocyclic Chem. 43, 187–193 (2002)] for complexes 2, 3, 4 in deuterated toluene (ΔG^‡(320)=65 ± 9, 64 ± 9, 64 ± 9 kJ mol⁻¹ respectively). It was found by relaxation NMR spectroscopy that the effective distance between Ln and protons of the crown molecule is 4.5 ± 0.2 Å. The analysis of structural parameters testifies that the crown ether and chelated anions are in the first coordination sphere of a Ln cation. Obtained geometrical parameters show that the complex cations of Eu, Ce and Pr have similar spatial structures.This revised version was published online in July 2005 with a corrected issue number.     

Adiabatic squeezing of molecular wave packets by laser pulses

Strong pulse sequences can be used to control the position and width of the molecular wave packet. In this paper we propose a new scheme to maximally compress the wave packet in a quasistatic way by freezing it at a peculiar adiabatic potential shaped by two laser pulses. The dynamic principles of the scheme and the characteristic effect of the different control parameters are presented and analyzed. We use two different molecular models, electronic potentials modeled by harmonic oscillators, with the same force constants, and the Na(2) dimer, to show the typical yield that can be obtained in compressing the initial (minimum width) molecular wave function.     

UV-VIS spectroscopic study of interaction and transformation of allyl alcohol on zeolites HZSM-5

Formation of alkenylcarbenium ions has been proved during transformation of allyl alcohol on zeolite HZSM-5.

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HZSM-5.

     

Some new aspects of a HPLC-method for the determination of traces of formaldehyde in air

Summary A practicable method was developed for the routine determination of formaldehyde in air. Formaldehyde is sampled in small sampling tubes filled with Chromosorb P, coated with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (= DNPH). The sorbent is extracted with acetonitrile, and the different DNPhydrazones were separated by reversed-phase HPLC. UV-detection at = 345 nm was compared with electrochemical detection. The detection limit was 100 pg for UV- and 50 pg for electrochemical detection with a linear range of more than 3 decades, respectively. For the determination of formaldehyde in air the detection limit is 10 ppb with an average recovery of 99.3% and an estimated relative standard deviation S of 1.5%. This method was compared with the sampling by impingers using the same separation and detection method.

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Einige neue Aspekte einer HPLC-Methode zur Spurenbestimmung von Formaldehyd in Luft

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Dedicated to Prof. Dr. G. Tölg on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Hexa-Coordinate phosphorus Chemistry and Life Chemistry

The amino acids' side chains were acting as the relay device to regulate the chemical reactivi-ties of the N-phosphoryl amino acids. These modulation effects were performed through the partici-pation of the phosphoryl group.     

New 2D graphical representation of DNA sequences

We consider a 2D graphical representations of DNA sequences, which avoids loss of information associated with crossing and overlapping of the corresponding curve. We outline an approach, which is based on the construction of a three-component vector whose components are the normalized leading eigenvalues of the L/L matrices associated with DNA. The examination of similarities/dissimilarities among the coding sequences of the first exon of beta-globin gene of different species illustrates the utility of the approach.     

Assembly of well-aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes in confined polyacrylonitrile environments: electrospun composite nanofiber sheets

Highly oriented, large area continuous composite nanofiber sheets made from surface-oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) were successfully developed using electrospinning. The preferred orientation of surface-oxidized MWNTs along the fiber axis was determined with transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction. The surface morphology and height profile of the composite nanofibers were also investigated using an atomic force microscope in tapping mode. For the first time, it was observed that the orientation of the carbon nanotubes within the nanofibers was much higher than that of the PAN polymer crystal matrix as detected by two-dimensional wide-angle X-ray diffraction experiments. This suggests that not only surface tension and jet elongation but also the slow relaxation of the carbon nanotubes in the nanofibers are determining factors in the orientation of carbon nanotubes. The extensive fine absorption structure detected via UV/vis spectroscopy indicated that charge-transfer complexes formed between the surface-oxidized nanotubes and negatively charged (-CN[triple bond]N:) functional groups in PAN during electrospinning, leading to a strong interfacial bonding between the nanotubes and surrounding polymer chains. As a result of the highly anisotropic orientation and the formation of complexes, the composite nanofiber sheets possessed enhanced electrical conductivity, mechanical properties, thermal deformation temperature, thermal stability, and dimensional stability. The electrical conductivity of the PAN/MWNT composite nanofibers containing 20 wt % nanotubes was enhanced to approximately 1 S/cm. The tensile modulus values of the compressed composite nanofiber sheets were improved significantly to 10.9 and 14.5 GPa along the fiber winding direction at the MWNT loading of 10 and 20 wt %, respectively. The thermal deformation temperature increased with increased MWNT loading. The thermal expansion coefficient of the composite nanofiber sheets was also reduced by more than an order of magnitude to 13 x 10(-6)/ degrees C along the axis of aligned nanofibers containing 20 wt % MWNTs.     

Diastereoselective addition of dimethyl phosphite to 3,3′,4,4′-tetramethyl-1,1′-diphosphaferrocene-2-carboxaldehyde

Addition of dimethyl phosphite to racemic 3,3′,4,4′-tetramethyl-1,1′-diphosphaferrocene-2-carboxaldehyde gives almost exclusively one diastereomer of the corresponding α-hydroxyphosphonate (d.r. ?96:4). Its absolute configuration (S, R_p)-(R, S_p) was established by X-ray diffraction.     

Monodisperse thermosensitive particles prepared by emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization with microwave irradiation

The emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization of styrene (St) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) was successfully carried out with microwave irradiation, and the monodisperse thermoresponsive poly(styrene-co-N-isopropylacrylamide) (poly(St-co-NIPAAm)) particles with diameters in the range 100–130 nm were prepared. The morphology, size and size distribution of the poly(St-co-NIPAAm) particles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS), respectively. The results showed that poly(St-co-NIPAAm) particles had spherical morphology, and the poly(St-co-NIPAAm) particles prepared by emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization with microwave irradiation were smaller, more uniform than those obtained with conventional heating. The hydrodynamic diameters of poly(St-co-NIPAAm) particles were decreased as the temperature increased from 25 °C to 40 °C, and poly(St-co-NIPAAm) particles collapsed remarkably at 32 °C, which is the lower critical solution temperature of the poly(N-isopropylacrylamide). The morphology of the assembled poly(St-co–NIPAAm) particles was observed by SEM, it was found that monodisperse poly(St-co-NIPAAm) particles could assemble to form the two-dimensional order structures.     

Spin crossover studies in tris(N,N′-dialkyldithiocarbamato)iron(III) complexes

A series of fifteen complexes of the type [Fe(RRNCS₂)₃] with symmetric (R=R=n- C₆H₁₃, n-C₈H₁₇, CH₂–CH=;CH₂, C₆H₅, C₆H₁₁ and C₆H₅CH₂), unsymmetric (R = CH₃; R = n-C₄H₉, C₆H₁₁, C₆H₅ and R = C₂H₅; R = n-C₄H₉, C₆H₁₁, C₆H₅ and i-C₃H₇) and ring substituents (RNR=pyrrolidyl and piperidyl) have been synthesized and their magnetic moments and Mössbauer spectra recorded from room temperature (RT) to liquid nitrogen temperature (LNT). Room temperature Mössbauer spectra of all the complexes exhibit an asymmetric doublet, which could be resolved into two doublets, each corresponding to low and high spin states in equilibrium. The crystal structure of tris(N, N-diallyldithiocarbamato)iron(III) shows it to be monoclinic with trigonally distorted octahedral geometry and space group C2/c. Fe–S stretching vibrations in the far i.r. region also show equilibria, HS LS. Depending on the nature of the alkyl group substituent, variable temperature magnetic moment and Mössbauer spectral studies, all the complexes may be divided into three groups; high spin complexes exhibiting spin-crossover (⁶A_1g ²T_2g), high spin complexes exhibiting spin transition (⁶A_1g ⁴T_1g) and intermediate spin complexes showing spin transition (⁴A_1g ²T_2g). On the basis of areas of the two doublets corresponding to high and low spin states, their percent contributions were calculated. Furthermore, magnetic moments of the equilibrium mixture calculated on the basis of respective areas compare well with the experimentally determined _eff values. E_Q values for both high and low spin states show linear decrease with increasing temperature.