Silver chloride supported on Vitamin B1 -Organometallic magnetic catalyst: synthesis,density functional theory study and application in A3-coupling reactions

A highly efficient Fe₃O₄@VitB₁–Ag(I) magnetic catalyst has been obtained using surface modification of Fe₃O₄. To this end, silver chloride was immobilized on Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles via vitamin B₁ biomolecules. The synthesized biocompatible magnetic catalyst was applied in an A³-coupling reaction in the presence of aldehyde, amine and phenyl acetylene under solvent-free conditions and afforded the desired products in excellent yields. Also, interactions between metal and ligand in the Fe₃O₄@VitB₁–Ag(I) were studied using theoretical calculations.     

Preconcentration and determination of methyl methacrylate by dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction

This article describes the preconcentration of methyl methacrylate in produced water by the dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction using extraction solvents lighter than water followed by gas chromatography. In the present experiments, 0.4 mL dispersive solvent (ethanol) containing 15.0 μL extraction solvent (toluene) was rapidly injected into the samples and followed by centrifuging and direct injection into the gas chromatograph equipped with flame ionization detector. The parameters affecting the extraction efficiency were evaluated and optimized including toluene (as extraction solvent), ethanol (as dispersive solvent), 15 μL and 0.4 mL (as the volume of extraction and dispersive solvents, respectively), pH 7, 20% ionic strength, and extraction's temperature and time of 20°C and 10 min, respectively. Under the optimum conditions, the figures of merits were determined to be LOD = 10 μg/L, dynamic range = 20–180 μg/L, RSD = 11% (n = 6). The maximum recovery under the optimized condition was determined to be 79.4%.     

Synthesis of New 2-Aryl Substituted 2,3-Dihydroquinazoline-4(1H)-ones Under Solvent-Free Conditions,Using Molecular Iodine as a Mild and Efficient Catalyst

A simple, inexpensive, and efficient one-pot synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazoline-4(1H)-one derivatives under solvent-free conditions using a catalytic amount of iodine with excellent product yields is reported. This methodology provides easy, quantitative access to various 2,3-dihydroquinazoline-4(1H)-one derivatives, using commercially available iodine as a catalyst.     

One-Pot Synthesis of 3,5-Disubstituted 1,2,4-Oxadiazoles Directly from Nitrile and Hydroxylamine Hydrochloride Under Solvent-Free Conditions Using Potassium Fluoride as Catalyst and Solid Support

A one-pot synthesis of 3,5-disubstituted 1,2,4-oxadiazoles with two identical substituents directly from the reaction of nitriles and hydroxylamine hydrochloride in the presence of potassium fluoride as catalyst and solid support under solvent-free condition is described. Moreover, the formation of products has been discussed, and a plausible mechanism has been presented. Simplicity of the process, workup in aqueous media, and excellent yields are some advantages of this method.     

Very sensitive differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetric determination of 4-nitrophenol at poly (diphenylamine)/multi-walled carbon nanotube-β-cyclodextrin-modified glassy carbon electrode

In this work, a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with poly (diphenylamine)/multi-walled carbon nanotubes-β-cyclodextrin (PDPA/MWCNT-β-CD) film was constructed and used for the determination of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). Diphenylamine was successfully electropolymerised onto MWCNT-β-CD-modified GCE by cyclic voltammetry in monomer solution and 5 mol L^?1 H₂SO₄. The surface morphology of PDPA/MWCNT-β-CD film was characterised using scanning electron microscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. After adsorption of 4-NP on PDPA/MWCNT-β-CD at 0.2 V for 150 s, it showed a well-defined reduction peak in phosphate buffer solution at pH = 7. The PDPA/MWCNT-β-CD film enhanced the reduction peak current due to the complex formation between β-CD and 4-NP, presence of conductive polymer film as electron transfer mediator and also ability of MWCNTs for strong adsorptive and catalytic effect. Peak current increased linearly with 4-NP concentration in the range of 0.1 to 13.9 µg L^?1. The detection limit was obtained as 0.02 µg L^?1, which is better than other reported detection limits for the determination of 4-NP. The results showed that modified electrode has good sensitivity and selectivity. This sensor was used for the determination of 4-NP in water samples.     

Composite Polybenzimidazole Membrane with High Capacity Retention for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

Currently, energy storage technologies are becoming essential in the transition of replacing fossil fuels with more renewable electricity production means. Among storage technologies, redox flow batteries (RFBs) can represent a valid option due to their unique characteristic of decoupling energy storage from power output. To push RFBs further into the market, it is essential to include low-cost materials such as new generation membranes with low ohmic resistance, high transport selectivity, and long durability. This work proposes a composite membrane for vanadium RFBs and a method of preparation. The membrane was prepared starting from two polymers, meta-polybenzimidazole (6 μm) and porous polypropylene (30 μm), through a gluing approach by hot-pressing. In a vanadium RFB, the composite membrane exhibited a high energy efficiency (~84%) and discharge capacity (~90%) with a 99% capacity retention over 90 cycles at 120 mA·cm⁻², exceeding commercial Nafion^® NR212 (~82% efficiency, capacity drop from 90% to 40%) and Fumasep^® FAP-450 (~76% efficiency, capacity drop from 80 to 65%).     

Mild,four-component synthesis of 6-amino-4-aryl-3-methyl-1,4-dihydropyrano[2,3-c]pyrazole-5-carbonitriles catalyzed by titanium dioxide nano-sized particles

A convenient and efficient solvent-free procedure is described for preparation of 6-amino-4-aryl-3-methyl-1,4-dihydropyrano[2,3-c]pyrazole-5-carbonitriles by four-component reaction of hydrazine hydrate, ethyl acetoacetate, aryl aldehyde, and malononitrile in the presence of a catalytic amount of titanium dioxide nano-sized particles. Short reaction times, high yields under ambient conditions, simple reaction, clean work-up, and reusability of the nano heterogeneous catalyst are the advantages of this method.     

Application of 1H NMR in the flow surveillance of oil wells

Test‐separator units, as traditional methods of well surveillance, mainly suffer from their inherent constraints including the expensive instrumental, mechanical, electrical, piping and safety devices along with technical and protective inspections, repair and operation services, facilities and infrastructures. Other problems are time and cost consuming, uncertainty of well isolation in test separator and need to close the co‐line wells, which are diminished using multivariate thermal well testing. A novel approach was proposed and tested to classify the oil samples taken from individual wells by source and type. The novelties of this work were the use of the applied aspects of ¹H NMR spectroscopy in petroleum upstream engineering, the replacement of traditional test methods, the improvement of the confidence of tests and the recognition of multisource streams. The weighed sum method was used to correlate the spectra information, taken from the samples of Iranian offshore oil wells. The experimental results and the field data revealed that the present approach was appropriate for precocious, quick and reliable surveillance of individual oil wells located in an oil field. The model was supported by field experiments and has predicted the accurate productivity of oil wells with respect to the current expensive techniques since 2010. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.