Arenophile‐Mediated Dearomative Reduction

A dearomative reduction of simple arenes has been developed which employs a visible‐light‐mediated cycloaddition of arenes with an N‐N‐arenophile and in situ diimide reduction. Subsequent cycloreversion or fragmentation of the arenophile moiety affords 1,3‐cyclohexadienes or 1,4‐diaminocyclohex‐2‐enes, compounds that are not synthetically accessible using existing dearomatization reactions. Importantly, this strategy also provides numerous opportunities for further derivatization as well as site‐selective functionalization of polynuclear arenes.     

All-cellulose material prepared using aqueous zinc chloride solution

Vulcanized fibers are all-cellulose materials made from cotton and/or wood cellulose after aqueous zinc chloride treatment. These materials were invented in the UK in the mid-nineteenth century and is widely used because of their excellent characteristics, such as impact resistance and electrical insulation. Recently the matured vulcanized fibers have been recognized as renewable and biodegradable materials and reevaluated with advanced cellulose technologies derived from cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) and all-cellulose composites. The microscopic analysis based on the improved freeze-drying method revealed that the strength of vulcanized fiber sheets can be attributed to the chemically defibrillated CNFs. The architecture is similar to all-cellulose composites made from the same raw materials in which the residual cellulose fibers serve as reinforcement, and the CNFs serve as adhesives or matrix components. In this report, we describe the history and structural characteristics of vulcanized fibers and introduce a new aspect in aqueous zinc chloride treatment of cellulose.

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Radioactive and stable cobalt concentrations in mussel in Kyushu islands, Japan

Two kinds of mussel, Septifer virgatus and Mytilus edulis, were collected from Kyushu island, Japan, in order to elucidate a background level of 60Co, which is one of the most significant radionuclide for environmental monitoring around a nuclear power plant. The mussels were collected from 7 locations in 1983 and classified 2 or 3 groups depending on their shell size at each location. Activities of 60Co were measured by a low-background beta counter after purified by means of chemical separation and electrodeposition. Stable cobalt concentrations were determined by colorimetric method. The concentrations of cobalt in Septifer virgatus are one order higher level than that in Mytilus edulis. There are not so large difference in cobalt content depending on shell size so long as comparing them at the same location. The radioactivities in mussels show the same trend as stable cobalt. It has become apparent that Septifer virgatus has a tendency to concentrate cobalt with growing but Mytilus edulis is opposite. The cobalt-60 introduced to sea from nuclear explosions seems to be relatively constant in coastal seawater since specific activities are distributed in a narrow range in spite of kind, shell size and location.