Experimental and Computational Study of the Thermal Decomposition of 3‐Methyl‐3‐buten‐1‐ol in m‐Xylene Solution

An experimental study of the thermal decomposition of a β‐hydroxy alkene, 3‐methyl‐3‐buten‐1‐ol, in m‐xylene solution, has been carried out at five different temperatures in the range of 513.15–563.15 K. The temperature dependence of the rate constants for the decomposition of this compound in the corresponding Arrhenius equation is given by ln k (s^?1) = (25.65 ± 1.52) ? (17,944 ± 814) (kJ·mol^?1)·T^?1. A computational study has been carried out at the M05–2X/6–31+G(d,p) level of theory to calculate the rate constants and the activation parameters by the classical transition state theory. There is a good agreement between the experimental and calculated rate constants and activation Gibbs energies. The bonding characteristics of reactant, transition state, and products have been investigated by the natural bond orbital analysis, which provides the natural atomic charges and the Wiberg bond indices. Based on the results obtained, the mechanism proposed is a one‐step process proceeding through a six‐membered cyclic transition state, being a concerted and slightly asynchronous process. The results have been compared with those obtained previously by us (Struct Chem 2013, 24, 1811–1816) for the thermal decomposition of 3‐buten‐1‐ol, in m‐xylene solution. We can conclude that in the compound studied in this work, 3‐methyl‐3‐buten‐1‐ol, the effect of substitution at position 3 by a weakly activating CH₃ group is the stabilization of the transition state formed in the reaction and therefore a small increase in the rate of thermal decomposition.     

Nuclear quantum effects in calculated NMR shieldings of benzene; a Feynman path integral study

The Feynman path integral Monte Carlo approach has been coupled to the gauge including atomic orbital formalism in order to analyse the absolute magnetic shieldings of the benzene nuclei under the conditions of thermal equilibrium. The Hamiltonian employed in the derivation of ensemble averaged NMR quantities is of the Hartree-Fock type. The basis set used is of 6–31G quality. The spatial delocalization of the atoms leads to a deshielding of both types of benzene nuclei relative to the shieldings experienced at the minimum of the potential energy surface. This deshielding has to be traced back to bond length elongations in thermal equilibrium. The influence of the nuclear fluctuations on the NMR parameters of benzene is quantum driven up to temperatures of 400 K; classical fluctuations are of minor importance in this low-temperature window.     

Large-N c quantum chromodynamics and harmonic sums

In the large-N _c limit of QCD, two-point functions of local operators become harmonic sums. I review some properties which follow from this fact and which are relevant for phenomenological applications. This has led us to consider a class of analytic number theory functions as toy models of large-N _c QCD which also is discussed.     

Ground state and excited state properties of ethylene isomers studied by a combined Feynman path integral-ab initio approach

Ground state and excited state properties of ethylene, C₂H₄, and several ethylene isomers have been studied by Feynman path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) simulations. The PIMC treatment of the atomic nuclei has been combined with different electronic Hamiltonians in order to analyse the influence of the nuclear degrees of freedom on electronic quantities. Electronic expectation values at the minimum of the potential energy surface (PES) have been compared with PIMC based ensemble averaged values. Ensemble averaged quantities have been derived by Hamiltonians of the ab initio type and a tight-binding (TB) one-electron model. The combined influence of anharmonicities in the interatomic potential and the quantum fluctuations of the atomic nuclei lead to ensemble averaged bondlengths r _g which are significantly larger than the parameters r _e, at the minimum of the PES. The implications of this bond length elongation for the electronic properties of ethylene are discussed. The occupied canonical molecular orbitals (CMOs) of ethylene are destabilized under the influence of the nuclear degrees of freedom while virtual CMOs are stabilized. These shifts of one-electron energies suggest a comparison of electronic excitation energies at the minimum of the PES with PIMC based ensemble averages. The quantum fluctuations of the nuclei cause a strong redistribution in the intensities of electronic transitions. Transitions, which are dipole allowed in the planar D_2h geometry of ethylene, lose intensity under the influence of nuclear quantum effects, and vice versa for electronic excitations that are dipole forbidden under D_2h symmetry. This ‘vibrational borrowing’ is enhanced with decreasing atomic masses. The Feynman centroid density has been used to calculate the anharmonic vibrational wavenumbers of C₂H₄ and C₂D₄. The results of the present PIMC simulations have been employed to emphasize general problems of electronic structure calculations based on a single nuclear configuration (i.e. the configuration at the minimum of the PES).     

The energetics of naphthalene derivatives. II. The isomeric 1— and 2—naphthyl acetates

The isomeric 1- and 2-naphthyl acetates (acetoxynaphthalenes) are at the confluence of diverse concepts, techniques and classes of organic compounds. Summing the results of literature measurements of the enthalpy of formation of their solids and of our new sublimation enthalpies reported herein, we derive gas phase enthalpies of formation of ?209.9 ± 1.4 and ?213.3 ± 1.3 kJ mol^?1 respectively. This corresponds to 2-naphthyl acetate being more stable than its 1-isomer by 3.4 ± 1.9 kJ mol^?1. We also performed MP2(full)/6-31G(d) calculations on these species, resulting in enthalpies of formation of ?212.9 ± 3.9 and ?212.2 ± 3.9 kJ mol^?1 for 1- and 2-naphthyl acetate and a difference of ?0.7 kJ mol^?1 respectively in satisfactory agreement with the above experimental results.     

Monitoring foam coarsening using a computer optical mouse as a dynamic laser speckle measurement sensor

In this paper, we present an experimental approach to track coarsening process of foam using a computer optical mouse as a dynamic laser speckle measurement sensor. The dynamics of foam coarsening and rearrangement events cause changes in the intensity of laser speckle backscattered from the foam. A strong negative correlation between the average speed of the cursor and the evolution of bubble diameter was found. We used microscopic images to demonstrate that decrease in speed is related to increase in bubble size. The proposed set-up is not very expensive, is highly portable and can be used in laboratory measurements of dynamics in other kinds of opaque materials.