Investigations of low- and high-spin states of <Superscript>132</Superscript>La

The fusion evaporation reaction ¹²²Sn(¹⁴N, 4n)¹³²La was used to populate the high-spin states of ¹³²La at the beam energy of 60 MeV. A new band consisting of mostly E2 transitions has been discovered. This band has the interesting links to the ground state 2^- and the isomeric state 6^-. A new transition of energy 351 keV connecting the low-spin states of the positive-parity band based on the πh _11/2 ⊗ νh _11/2 particle configuration, has been found. This has played a very important role in resolving the existing ambiguities and inconsistencies in the spin assignment of the band head. Received: 12 August 2002 / Accepted: 18 March 2003 / Published online: 7 May 2003     

Preparation of MgB<Subscript>2</Subscript>/Fe superconductor wire by electrical self-heating

MgB₂/Fe wires were prepared by electrical self-heating of in situ powder-in-tube wires for the first time at ambient conditions. Characterization of the wires processed at 750 °C, 800 °C and 850 °C for 15 min by XRD, SEM, ϱ–T, susceptibility and J_C measurements shows that the MgB₂ formed is of high quality particularly with respect to phase purity and transport J_C. The method considerably reduces the overall energy consumption vis-à-vis the production cost, simplifies the complexity of the fabrication procedure and is promising for manufacture of high-quality MgB₂ superconducting wires. PACS 74.70.Ad; 74.62.Bf; 74.25.Fy; 74.25.Ha; 81.20.Hy     

Tuning size and catalytic activity of nano-clusters of cobalt oxide

Cobalt oxides were prepared by three different methods: (1) by reacting cobalt nitrate with oxalic acid, (2) co-precipitating cobalt nitrate with sodium carbonate, and (3) using sodium dodecyl sulphate as organic surfactant. All three samples were characterized before and after calcination by solvent extraction and the resulting products examined by IR spectroscopy. In the case of method 3, the removal of surfactant was followed by TGA studies. Products from all three methods were identified by XRD. Peaks in low angle XRD indicate the porous nature of the oxides. The morphology of the pores was studied by transmission electron microscopy. Some irregular pore structures were obtained for samples from methods 1 and 2, with an average size of 4–6 nm. Only the product from method 3 using SDS as template showed ordered structure and optimum size, and Brunauer-Emmet-Teller surface areas of the as-prepared, as well as the treated samples, exhibited H3 type hysteresis. The samples from the three methods were used as catalysts in the oxidation reaction of cyclohexane under mild conditions and the catalytic efficiency of the cobalt oxide was comparable with mesoporous cobalt oxides.     

Synthesis and spectral studies on nickel(II) complexes of amide group-containing ligands

Summary Complexes of nickel(II) with N-(2-carboxyphenyl)benzamide (CPBH), 2-amino-N-(2-carboxyphenyl)benzamide (ACPBH), N-isoxazolyl benzamide (IB), N-anilinobenzamide (AB), N-(2-pyridyl)-3-carboxypropanamide (PCPA) and N-(2-pyridyl)-2-carboxybenzamide (PCBA) have been isolated and characterized by elemental analyses, magnetic susceptibility measurements, thermal studies, i.r. and electronic spectral studies. The electrochemical behaviour of some complexes has also been investigated.     

(1-Adamantanethio)pyridines and tetrahydropyridines from the reaction of 1-adamantanethiol with pyridine I-oxide in acetic anhydride

The reaction of pyridine 1-oxide with 1-adamantanethiol in acetic anhydride produced a mixture of 2- and 3-(1-adamantanethio)pyridines, 1-aeetyl-2-(1-adamantanethio)-3-hydroxy-4-acetoxy-1,2,3,4-telrahydropyridine and the corresponding 3-acetoxyderivative. Pure substances were separated by means of column chromatography on alumina. The tetrahydropyridines were identified by means of their proton magnetic and mass spectra. 4-(1-Adamantanethio)pyridine was synthesized from 4-chloropyridinc and 1-adamantanethiol. The three isomeric (1-adamantanethio)-pyridines were, each, cleaved by concentrated hydrochloric acid to give 1-chloroadamantane and the corresponding pyridinethiol.     

Studies in oxidation-reduction reactions: Oxidation with chloramine-b indirect determinations

Chloramine-B has been used as an oxidizing agent in hydrochloric acid medium for the indirect volumetric estimations of hydrogen peroxide, lead dioxide, manganese dioxide, selenium dioxide, sodium formate, sodium sulphide, sodium metavanadate, potassium iodate and copper sulphate using iodine monochloride as a catalyst and pre-oxidiser. Chloroform is used as an indicator. It is coloured pink owing to the liberation of iodine during the titration and becomes light pale yellow at the end-point because of the formation of iodine monochloride.     

Ammonium tetraphenylborate-naphthalene adsorbent for the preconcentration and trace determination of iron in alloys and biological samples using 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol by third derivative spectrophotometry

A solid ion-pair material produced from ammonium tetraphenylborate on naphthalene (ATPB-naphthalene) provides a simple, rapid, economical and selective technique for preconcentrating iron from approximately 500 ml of aqueous solution of standard alloys and biological samples. Iron reacts with 2-(5-bromo-2-pryidlazo)-5-diethylaminophenol (5-Br-PADAP) to form a water-soluble cationic complex. When the aqueous solution of this cationic species in the pH range 3.2-8.5 is passed over the adsorbent ATPB-naphthalene at a flow rate of 1 ml min(-1), it is quantitatively retained on naphthalene as an uncharged ion-associated complex. The solid mass from the column was dissolved out with 5 ml of dimethylformamide (DMF) and iron is determined by third derivative spectrophotometry by measuring the signal d(3)A/ dlambda(3) between lambda(2)(773 nm) and lambda(3)(737 nm). The calibration curve is linear over the concentration range 0.10-25.0 mug of iron in 5 ml of DMF solution. Eight replicate determinations of 5 mug of iron gave a mean intensity (peak-to-peak signal between lambda(2) and lambda(3)) of 1.534 with a relative standard deviation of 0.90%. The sensitivity of the method is 0.307 (d(3)A/dnm(3) )/mug found from the slope of the calibration curve. The interference of a large number of anions and cations has been studied and the optimized conditions developed were utilized for the trace determination of iron in various standard alloys and biological samples.     

Total synthesis of (-)- and (+)-lentiginosine

Total synthesis of (-)-lentiginosine was achieved from D-mannitol using highly stereoselective reactions. Similarly, (+)-lentiginosine was synthesized from L-tartaric acid.     

One-Pot Convenient and High Yielding Synthesis of Dithiocarbamates

Summary. A convenient and high yielding method for the synthesis of diverse dithiocarbamates having various substituents including alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, and alkylaryl at the thiol chain or at the amine chain or at both thiol and amine chains were developed by the one-pot reaction of mercaptans, amines, and bis(benzotriazolyl)methanethione in presence of amidine base under mild reaction conditions.