Theoretical study of cyclization of 2′-hydroxychalcone

The isomerization mechanism of 2′(OH)chalcone (1) in flavanone (2) was studied. The calculations were performed with the semiempirical method AM1, using totally optimized molecular geometries. A 6-step mechanism including several equilibrium states was proposed. It was concluded that: (a) At the conformational equilibrium of 1 there could be 43.9% of s-cis conformer; (b) The acid dissociation of 1 trans-s-trans is considerable; (c) The E_E, ΔH_f and net charges show that the rotation of ring A of 1 and the formation of ring C of 2 occurs without greater impairments; (d) Although the keto structure is the most stable one, the enolate of 2 is present in the reaction medium; (e) The conversion of enol of 2 in the keto form would be the limiting step of the analyzed isomerization rate.     

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of La, Ho, Mn 5-Br-PADAP complexes using multivariate calibration with partial least-squares (PLS) data evaluation

A simple and fast analytical pocedure is proposed for the simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of lanthanum, holmium and manganese in synthetic ceramics, (La(0.8-x) Hox Sr0.2 MnO3), by using the partial least-squares (PLS) method. As chromogenic agent 5-Br-PADAP [2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol] was used, which form colored complexes with the three elements studied. To avoid metal hydrolysis, a mixture of ethanol and Triton X-100 at pH 9.5 was used for all experiments. A set of 17 calibration solutions measured throughout the 400-700 nm wavelength range was used in the calibration step. The concentration range for Mn(II) was 1-12 x 10(-6) mol L-1, while the range for the rare earth elements La(III) and Ho(III) was 2-8 x 10(-6) mol L-1. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method, a set of artificial samples containing the three analytes in variable proportions was prepared and analyzed. The analytical results obtained were quite acceptable with relative errors not greater than 7% in most cases.     

A Titration Microcalorimetric Study of the Effects of Halide Counterions on Vesicle-Forming Aggregation in Aqueous Solution of Branched-Chain Alkylpyridinium Surfactants

Titration microcalorimetry is used to study the influences of iodide, bromide, and chloride counterions on the aggregation of vesicle-forming 1-methyl-4-(2-pentylheptyl)pyridinium halide surfactants. Formation of vesicles by these surfactants was characterised using transmission electron microscopy. When the counterion is changed at 303 K through the series iodide, bromide, to chloride, the critical vesicular concentration (cvc) increases and the enthalpy of vesicle formation changes from exo- to endothermic. With increase in temperature to 333 K, vesicle formation becomes strongly exothermic. Increasing the temperature leads to a decrease in enthalpy and entropy of vesicle formation for all three surfactants. However the standard Gibbs energy for vesicle formation is, perhaps surprisingly, largely unaffected by an increase in temperature, as a consequence of a compensating change in both standard entropy and standard enthalpy of vesicle formation. Interestingly, standard isobaric heat capacities of vesicle formation are negative, large in magnitude but not strikingly dependent on the counterion. We conclude that the driving force for vesicle formation can be understood in terms of overlap of the thermally labile hydrophobic hydration shells of the alkyl chains. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.