The Ups and Downs of Percent (and Some Interesting Connections)

Percent is a standardized ratio comparison that is often used to describe relative amounts of increase and decrease. In this paper, the nonsymmetric relationship between percent of increase and percent of decrease is explored in several ways. Beginning with a simple graphical representation of the relationship, the functional relationship is developed, with relative decrease expressed as a function of relative increase. Once expressed in the form f(x) = 100x/(100 + x), an immediate connection is made to two other topics commonly found within the study of rates—the work problem and the harmonic mean. Finally, successive percents of increase or decrease are shown to be everyday applications of the geometric mean. This deeper look at a common mathematical concept has uncovered rich structural relationships between topics that are often isolated in the curriculum.     

Zur Kenntnis der Ortho-Strontiumphosphate

Zusammenfassung Die für den Einbau in die Calciumphosphate der Knochensubstanz in Frage kommenden Strontiumphosphate wurden auf ihre Existenzbedingungen untersucht. Oktacalciumphosphat tauscht in verd. Lösungen einige Prozente des Calciums gegen Strontium aus. Obwohl der Struktur nach apatitartige Strontiumphosphate zwischen Sr/P=1.33 und 1.67 erhältlich sind, läßt sich ein röntgenoptisch reines Strontiumoktaphosphat nicht isolieren, jedoch ein solches mit kleinem Carbonatgehalt und — leicht — die den Calciumsalzen analogen Strontiumphosphatcarbonate verschiedener Zusammensetzung. Im Hydrothermalbereich (375^o) sind je nach relativer Zusammensetzung des Strontiumphosphat-Systems SrHPO₄, Sr₂P₂O₇, Sr₂(PO₄)₂ und Sr₅(PO₄)₃OH stabil und gut kristallin erhältlich. Das Salz Sr₆H₃(PO₄)₅ läßt sich aus Lösungen von Strontiumphosphaten in Kohlensäure-Wasser, H₂S-Wasser und in einem Barbiturat-Puffersystem rein darstellen.

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Ortho strontium phosphates

Strontium phosphates which possibly are being incorporated into the calcium phosphates of bony tissue were investigated. Octacalcium phosphate in dilute solutions exchanges a few percent of calcium against strontium. While strontium phosphates with apatite-like structures, and with ratios of Sr/P between 1.33 and 1.67 can be prepared, no pure strontium octaphosphate, as a distinctive X-ray phase can be isolated. Only preparations with small amounts of carbonate, as well as strontium phosphate carbonates analogous to the corresponding calcium salts can be obtained. At hydrothermal conditions (375^o), the compounds SrHPO₄, Sr₂P₂O₇, Sr₃(PO₄)₂ and Sr₅(PO₄)₃OH are stable, and can be prepared in well cristallized form, depending on the relative composition of the strontium phosphate system. The salt Sr₆H₃(PO₄)₅ can be prepared in a pure state from solutions of strontium phosphates in aqueous solutions of carbonic acid, H₂S and barbiturate buffer systems.

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Herrn Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c.Hans Nowotny gewidmet.     

On the choice of active space orbitals in MCSCF calculations

We describe a procedure which may be used to aid selection of the active space in multiconfigurational self-consistent field (MCSCF) calculations for general chemical systems. Starting from a restricted Hartree-Fock calculation, we define a hierarchy of interacting virtual orbitals for every occupied orbital. The most strongly interacting orbitals are then taken to constitute the active space in a configuration interaction (CI) calculation. The natural orbital occupation numbers obtained from the CI calculation are then used to choose the active space to be used in a subsequent MCSCF calculation. We illustrate our method on a number of systems (Li₂, B₂, C₂, carbonyl oxide and the transition state for oxidation of H₂S by dioxirane). In all these cases, ‘intuitive’ active spaces are inadequate, as are active spaces derived from the natural orbitals of unrestricted Hartree-Fock calculations.     

Germacrene A is a product of the aristolochene synthase-mediated conversion of farnesylpyrophosphate to aristolochene

The biosynthesis of several sesquiterpenes has been proposed to proceed via germacrene A. However, to date, the production of germacrene A has not been proven directly for any of the sesquiterpene synthases for which it was postulated as an intermediate. We demonstrate here for the first time that significant amounts of germacrene A (7.5% of the total amount of products) are indeed released from wild-type aristolochene synthase (AS) from Penicillium roqueforti. Germacrene A was identified through direct GC-MS comparison to an authentic sample and through production of beta-elemene in a thermal Cope rearrangement. AS also produced a small amount of valencene through deprotonation of C6 rather than C8 in the final step of the reaction. On the basis of the X-ray structure of AS, Tyr 92 was postulated to be the active-site acid responsible for protonation of germacrene A (Caruthers, J. M.; Kang, I.; Rynkiewicz, M. J.; Cane, D. E.; Christianson, D. W. J. Biol. Chem. 2000, 275, 25533-25539). The CD spectra of a mutant protein, ASY92F, in which Tyr 92 was replaced by Phe, and of AS were very similar. ASY92F was approximately 0.1% as active as nonmutated recombinant AS. The steady-state kinetic parameters were measured as 0.138 min(-1) and 0.189 mM for k(cat) and K(M), respectively. Similar to a mutant protein of 5-epi-aristolochene (Rising, K. A.; Starks, C. M.; Noel, J. P.; Chappell, J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 1861-1866), the mutant released significant amounts of germacrene A (approximately 29%). ASY92F also produced various amounts of a further five hydrocarbons of molecular weight 204, valencene, beta-(E)-farnesene, alpha- and beta-selinene, and selina-4,11-diene.     

Comment: 2004's fastest organic and biomolecular chemistry!

In January 2003, the Royal Society of Chemistry launched Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry (OBC)--a journal promising to provide high quality research from all aspects of synthetic, physical and biomolecular organic chemistry. The journal was set to build upon the foundations laid down by its predecessor publications (J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1 and J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 2) as well as complement the subject coverage already published in prestigious general chemistry journals such as Chemical Communications and Chemical Society Reviews. Nearly two years on, just how is the programme developing and what can the community expect to see from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)?     

Das System Siliciumtetrafluorid—Trimethylamin in Lösung

Zusammenfassung Die Verbindung SiF₄·N(CH₃)₃ ist in Benzol löslich und daraus in nadelförmigen Kristallen erhältlich, während SiF₄·2 N(CH₃)₃ als in Petroläther schwer löslicher Niederschlag gewonnen werden kann. IR-Spektren beider Verbindungen werden mitgeteilt.Mit 2 Abbildungen     

2H Chemical-shift resolution and dipolar2H-1H,2H-15N correlations in solid-state MAS NMR spectroscopy for structure determination and distance measurements in hydrogen-bonded systems

In solid-state NMR, deuteron (²H) spectroscopy can be performed in full analogy to¹H spectroscopy, including²H chemical-shift resolution and²H-X dipolar correlation schemes, when the NMR experiments are conducted in a “rotor-synchronized” fashion under fast magic-angle spinning. Here, 2H-X NMR experiments of this type, including²H-¹⁵N and²H-¹H chemical-shift correlations and distance measurements, are introduced and demonstrated on cytosine monohydrate, whose acidic protons can readily be replaced by deuterons by recrystallization from D₂O. In this way,²H NMR spectroscopy provides information complementary to¹H NMR data, which is particularly useful for studying hydrogen bonds in supra- or biomolecular systems. Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available in the online versionof this article atand is accessible for authorized users.     

Facile synthesis of novel functionalized bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene (BEDT-TTF) derivatives

An improved and efficient synthetic route to four functionalized bis(ethylenedithio)-tetrathiafulvalene (BEDT-TTF) derivatives 2-5 is reported. Tetrathiolate 1 was readily prepared from 2,2'-bis(1,3,4,6-tetrathiapentalen-5-one) under carefully controlled conditions. Subsequent reaction of 1 with selected primary alkyl halides affords new functionalized BEDT-TTF derivatives in good yields.     

Comment: 2004's fastest organic and biomolecular chemistry!

In January 2004, the Royal Society of Chemistry launched Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry (OBC) - a journal promising to provide high quality research from all aspects of synthetic, physical and biomolecular organic chemistry. The journal was set to build upon the foundations laid down by its predecessor publications (J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1 and J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 2) as well as complement the subject coverage already published in prestigious general chemistry journals such as Chemical Communications and Chemical Society Reviews. Nearly two years on, just how is the programme developing and what can the community expect to see from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)?     

Photofragmentation of dichloromethanol Cl2CHOH along C-O and C-Cl cleavages: a theoretical study

Multireference configuration interaction calculations are carried out for ground and excited states of dichloromethanol, Cl2CHOH, to investigate two important photofragmentation processes relevant to atmospheric chemistry. Five low-lying excited states (1(1)A", 2(1)A', 1(3)A", 2(3)A" and 1(3)A') in the energy range between 6.4 and 7.5 eV are found to be highly repulsive for C-Cl elongation, leading to ClCHOH (X2A) and Cl (X2P). Photodissociation along the C-O bond resulting in CHCl2 (X2A') and OH (X2II) has to overcome a barrier of about 0.5 eV because the low-lying excited states 1(1)A", 1(3)A' and 1(3)A" become repulsive only after the C-O bond is elongated by about 0.3 A.