Oxidation of Aromatic Amines to Quinones by Iodic Acid under Microwave Irradiation in the Presence of Montmorillonite K10 and Silica Gel

A variety of aromatic amines are oxidized to their corresponding quinones in excellent yields by supported iodic acid under microwave irradiation and solvent free conditions.     

A convenient and regioselective oxidative bromination of electron-rich aromatic rings using potassium bromide and benzyltriphenylphosphonium peroxymonosulfate under nearly neutral reaction conditions

Regioselective oxidative bromination of electron-rich aromatic rings has been studied using potassium bromide as a bromine source in the presence of benzyltriphenylphosphonium peroxymonosulfate as oxidant under nearly neutral reaction conditions. In most cases we obtained monobrominated derivatives regioselectively and in good to high yields without the aid of strong acids.     

Preparation and some properties of a polyethyleneimine-agarose metal adsorbent

An adsorbent for metal ions has been prepared by reacting high molecular weight polyethyleneimine (PEI) with a crosslinked and activated agarose gel, Novarose. The synthesis variables, i.e. time, temperature, pH, PEI concentration and PEI/Novarose ratio, were optimized in order to obtain a high metal binding capacity of the adsorbent. The binding capacity for Cu(2+) is 500 micromol/ml packed adsorbent. A number of properties of the adsorbent relevant for metal ion accumulation has been investigated for Cu(2+), Ni(2+), Cd(2+) and Zn(2+). Adsorption capacities, adsorption isotherms, distribution coefficients, recoveries and relative rates of accumulation were determined. The adsorbent can be used for preconcentration and for separation of interfering alkali and alkaline earth metals in analytical applications.     

Decoupling the effects of hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties at the neuron–nanofibre interface

Peptide-based nanofibres are a versatile class of tunable materials with applications in optoelectronics, sensing and tissue engineering. However, the understanding of the nanofibre surface at the molecular level is limited. Here, a series of homologous dilysine–diphenylalnine tetrapeptides were synthesised and shown to self-assemble into water-soluble nanofibres. Despite the peptide nanofibres displaying similar morphologies, as evaluated through atomic force microscopy and neutron scattering, significant differences were observed in their ability to support sensitive primary neurons. Contact angle and labelling experiments revealed that differential presentation of lysine moieties at the fibre surface did not affect neuronal viability; however the mobility of phenylalanine residues at the nanofibre surface, elucidated through solid- and gel-state NMR studies and confirmed through tethered bilayer lipid membrane experiments, was found to be the determining factor in governing the suitability of a given peptide as a scaffold for primary neurons. This work offers new insights into characterising and controlling the nanofibre surface at the molecular level.

The mobility of hydrophobic moieties at a peptide nanofibre surface determines its suitability as a scaffold for sensitive primary cells.     

Novel coated-graphite membrane sensor based on N,N′-dimethylcyanodiaza-18-crown-6 for the determination of ultra-trace amounts of lead

A novel selective membrane electrode for determination of ultra-trace amount of lead was prepared. The PVC membrane containing N,N′-dimethylcyanodiaza-18-cown-6 (DMCDA18C6) directly coated on a graphite electrode, exhibits a Nernstian response for Pb²⁺ ions over a very wide concentration range (from 1.0×10⁻² to 1.0×10⁻⁷ M) with a limit of detection of 7.0×10⁻⁸ M (∼14.5 ppb). It has a fast response time of ∼10 s and can be used for at least 2 months without any major deviation in potential. The electrode revealed very good selectivity with respect to all common alkali, alkaline earth, transition and heavy metal ions. The proposed sensor was used as an indicator electrode in potentiometric titration of lead ions and in determination of lead in edible oil, human hair and water samples. The proposed sensor was found to be superior to the best Pb²⁺-selective electrodes reported in terms of detection limit and selectivity coefficient.     

Homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction method for the selective separation and preconcentration of ultra trace molybdenum

A new simple and efficient homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction method for the selective separation and preconcentration of molybdenyl ions was developed. α-Benzoin oxime (ABO) was investigated as a complexing ligand, and perfluorooctanoate ion (PFOA⁻) was applied as a phase-separator agent under strongly acidic conditions. Under the optimal conditions ([ABO] = 2.1 × 10⁻³ M, [PFOA⁻] = 1.8 × 10⁻² M, [HNO₃] = 1.7 M, [acetone] = 11.8% (v/v)), 10 μg of molybdenum in 5 ml aqueous phase could be extracted quantitatively into 40 μl of the sedimented phase. The maximum concentration factor was 125-fold. Thiocyanate was applied as a chromogenic reagent for the direct spectrophotometric determination of molybdenum in the sedimented phase. The reproducibility of the proposed method is at the most 2.4%.The influence of the type and concentration of acid solution, the concentration of ABO, the type and volume of the water-miscible organic solvent, the concentration of PFOA⁻, and the effect of different diverse ions on the extraction and determination of molybdenum(VI) were investigated. The proposed method was applied to the extraction and determination of molybdenum(VI) in natural water, Spinach, and Lucerne samples. A satisfactory agreement exists between the results obtained by the proposed method and those reported by GF-AAS.     

A new design of the elimination and choice translating reality method for multi-criteria group decision-making in an intuitionistic fuzzy environment

The purpose of this paper is to design a new extension of the ELECTRE, known as the elimination and choice translating reality method, for multi-criteria group decision-making problems based on intuitionistic fuzzy sets. This method is widely utilized when a set of alternatives should be identified and evaluated with respect to a set of conflicting criteria by reflecting decision makers’ (DMs’) preferences. However, handling the exact data and numerical measure is difficult to be precisely focused because the DMs’ judgments are often vague in real-life decision problems and applications. A more realistic and practical approach can be to use linguistic variables expressed in intuitionistic fuzzy numbers instead of numerical data to model DMs’ judgments and to describe the inputs in the ELECTRE method. The proposed intuitionsitic fuzzy ELECTRE utilizes the truth-membership function and non-truth-membership function to indicate the degrees of satisfiability and non-satisfiability of each alternative with respect to each criterion and the relative importance of each criterion, respectively. Then, a new discordance intuitionistic index is introduced, which is extended from the concept of the fuzzy distance measure. Outranking relations are defined by pairwise comparisons and a decision graph is depicted to determine which alternative is preferable, incomparable or indifferent in the intuitionistic fuzzy environment. Finally, a comprehensive sensitivity analysis is employed to further study regarding the impact of threshold values on the final evaluation, and a comparative analysis is demonstrated with an application example in flexible manufacturing systems between the proposed ELECTRE method and the existing intuitionistic fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (IF-TOPSIS) method.     

Silver nanoparticles immobilized onto poly(4‐vinylpyridine)‐functionalized magnetic nanoparticles: A robust magnetically recyclable catalyst for oxidant‐free alcohol dehydrogenation

A heterogeneous and recyclable catalyst with a high loading of silver nanoparticles was synthesized via the silver nanoparticles being supported onto the surface of magnetic nanoparticles coated with poly(4‐vinylpyridine). The synthesized catalyst was used in the dehydrogenation of alcohols to corresponding carbonyl compounds. A broad diversity of alcohols was converted into their corresponding carbonyl compounds in excellent yields. The catalyst was easily recovered by applying an external magnetic field and reused for seven reaction cycles without considerable loss of activity. The catalyst was fully characterized using various techniques.