Strong effects of the bridge configuration on photoinduced charge separation in rigidly linked donor-acceptor systems

Photoinduced electron-transfer rates are reported for two pairs of rigid bichromophoric molecules 1(6)/2(6) and 1(8)/2(8). In the first pair electron donor and acceptor are separated by six, in the second pair by eight, carbon—carbon σ bonds. While these σ bonds provide an all-trans coupling path in 1(6) and 1(8), that path contains s-cis elements in 2(6) and 2(8), which - as shown by X-ray structure data and by spectroscopic evidence - leads to a slight decrease in the effective, spatial donor-acceptor separation. Nevertheless, photoinduced electron transfer in each of the “stretched” compounds is about one order of magnitude faster than in the corresponding “bent” compound. This remarkable effect is interpreted as resulting from the unique ability of an all-trans array of σ bonds to mediate electronic through-bond interaction (TBI). Interestingly the solvent dependence of the rate of photoinduced electron transfer is significantly larger in the “bent” systems, thus indicating that superexchange via solvent molecules becomes competitive with TBI if an all-trans array is not available.     

Spectres de rotation de la molécule de chlorobenzéne : I. Variétés isotopiques monosubstituées et structure rs

The microwave spectra of chlorobenzene “(1)-³⁵Cl”, all eight mono-[“(1)-³⁷Cl”, “(1)-³⁵Cl, (2)D”, “(1)-³⁵Cl, (3)D”, “(1)-³⁵Cl, (4)D”, “(1)-³⁵Cl, (1)-¹³C”, “(1)-³⁵Cl, (2)-¹³C”, “(1)-³⁵Cl, (3)-¹³C”, “(1)-³⁵Cl, (4)-¹³C”], one di[“(1)-³⁵Cl, (2,6)D₂,”] and one trisubstituted species [“(1)-³⁷Cl, (2,6)D₂”] have been investigated. From the moments of inertia of the vibrational ground state the r_s structure was derived. The reliability of the two small a coordinates could be enhanced through use of the multiply substituted species. The errors of the moments of inertia were propagated to the structural parameters. It could be shown that the benzene ring is deformed. However the quantitative deformation could not be established due to the rather large errors of some structural parameters.     

Examination of the temporal effect in a flow injection analysis system using multi-channel absorbance detection

In addition to the Poiseuille effect, a so-called temporal effect was proposed recently to elucidate the commonly observed tailing peak signals of flow injection analysis (FIA). A multi-channel absorbance detector was used in this study to obtain the FIA peaks on both the spatial and temporal coordinates. The temporal effect was analyzed by comparison of the profiles between the experimental and the corresponding Gaussian peaks, and by comparison of asymmetry factors between the spatial and the temporal peaks. The temporal effect appeared to be the major factor under flow rates ranging from 0.5 to 8 ml min⁻¹. This was despite the presence of a spatially frontal peak observed in the FIA tubing, which was found to result in a tailing peak on the temporal coordinate due to this discussed cause. In addition, the temporal effect became greater as the flow rate increased.     

Carbohydrate pyrolysis mechanisms from isotopic labeling: Part 1: The pyrolysis of glycerin: Discovery of competing fragmentation mechanisms affording acetaldehyde and formaldehyde and the implications for carbohydrate pyrolysis

The flash pyrolysis of glycerin was investigated by the use of isotopic labeling with ¹³C, in conjunction with GC/MS analysis of the products. The formation of acetaldehyde and acrolein was shown to occur by unimolecular reaction. Acetaldehyde was found to be produced by at least two competing mechanisms. Mechanism “A” delivered C-2 of glycerin to the carbonyl group of acetaldehyde, whereas mechanism “B” delivered C-2 of glycerin to the methyl group of acetaldehyde. Formaldehyde was exclusively derived from C-1 or C-3 by either mechanism. The partition between the two mechanistic paths was found to be influenced by the presence of potassium salts and acids, but not by the presence of benzoyl peroxide or galvanoxyl. Mechanism “A” is postulated to be a concerted cyclic version of the Grob Fragmentation, proceeding through an intermediate which is hydrogen-bonded between the 1- and 3-hydroxyl groups to simultaneously generate enol-acetaldehyde, formaldehyde and H₂O. Mechanism “B” as favored by the presence of alkali is postulated to involve hydrogen-bonding between adjacent hydroxyl groups and to be an alkaline version of the pinacol rearrangement followed by retro-aldol fragmentation of the intermediary 3-oxopropoxide anion. These mechanistic classes are both fundamentally important, not only for their effect on glycerin, but for being able to provide numerous means of initial pyrolytic carbon–carbon bond breakage along carbohydrate carbon-chains, given the numerous 1,2,3-triol interactions that are possible. Further nomenclature is introduced to refine the distinctions among isotopomers and isotopologs (ipsomer, ipsolog, naturalomer, “nominal” isotopolog, ubiquilog), as extensions of a concept previously adopted by IUPAC.     

Zur nomenklatur der phane—II

The new term “Phanes” has been clearly defined and a nomenclature system tentatively developed. This system is comprehensible and of general application and at the same time relatively simple. The notations “nucleus”, “bridge”, “number of bridge members” and “number of ring members” are defined. In order to get a definite characterisation of the phanes which contain a carbocyclic nucleus, a carbocyclic and heterocyclic bridge the following terms: “carbophanes”, “carba-phanes” and “hetera-phanes” have been newly introduced. The prefix “hetera-” has been proposed as a general expression and as a representative term for the syllables “aza-”, “oxa-”, “thia-” and so on. The so called “a-nomenclature” is clearly called “hetera-nomenclature”. The new expressions “heteralogous” and “substitulogous” are explained. As the various examples will show, the “Phane-Nomenclature” can also be applied to the naming of complicated metallocenophanes.     

Calculation of equilibrium constants from multiwavelength spectroscopic data-IV Model-free least-squares refinement by use of evolving factor analysis

The newly developed algorithm of evolving factor analysis has been supplemented by iterative refinement. It allows the completely model-free calculation of concentration profiles and spectra from spectrophotometric and other spectroscopic data. Not even implicit use is made of the law of mass action. The results are practically identical with those based on a specific chemical model and classical least-squares refinement. Iterative evolving factor analysis is based on applying factor analysis successively to the set of the first 1,2 M spectra of a spectrometric titration. The analysis is repeated from the opposite end and the eigenvalues thus calculated are combined into “concentration profiles” of completely abstract “species”. These “concentration profiles” are iteratively refined by normalization, calculation of the absorption spectra from the normalized concentrations and recalculation of the concentration profiles from the absorption spectra. Evolving factor analysis is not restricted to spectrometric titrations, and can also be applied to peak resolution in chromatography using a multiwavelength (diode array) photometric or mass-spectrometric detection system, or to any other ordered set of multichannel data.     

Electronic tongues in flow analysis

This review presents the evolution of recent flow-based analytical systems, characterized by the use of arrays of sensors as a detection scheme. For the proper processing of the complex responses generated, the systems require the use of advanced chemometric treatment, in which received the term “electronic tongue”. Applications employing the flow injection analysis (FIA) and sequential injection analysis (SIA) are described. Chronologically, the progresses made by different research groups are shown, emphasizing their final applications in real problem solving.     

Kosmotrope character of maltose in water mixtures

It is well known that water plays a fundamental role for living beings, because the nature of water transformations provides for the ability to preserve biostructures. Solute can be classified as “kosmotropes” or “chaotropes” depending on the interaction strength with water. In the case of solutes destroying the natural hydrogen bonded network of water, called “kosmotropes” or “structure-makers”, the denaturation processes can be inhibited.

The aim of this work is to investigate the vibrational behaviour of maltose/H₂O mixtures in order to characterise the changes induced by the sugar on the H₂O hydrogen-bonded network. The obtained findings point out that maltose has a destructuring effect on the water tetrahedral network and emphasise its kosmotrope character.     

The impact of flow injection on modern chemical analysis: has it fulfilled our expectations? And where are we going?

Presenting a condensation of the opening lecture of the 12th ICFIA conference, this communication presents a view of the impact that flow injection analysis (FIA) has had on modern analytical chemistry, evaluated both within the academic community and outside it, i.e. in “industry”. The ensuing developments of FIA, encompassing sequential injection analysis (SIA) and bead injection lab-on-valve (BI-LOV), are described and their individual features discussed. Finally, some recent results of the activities from the author’s own research group are briefly mentioned.     

Electro-osmotic studies of endothelial cell surface

The surface properties of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), which form the inner walls of blood vessels, have been studied by electro-osmosis measurements. The data are analyzed on the basis of an electrophoresis theory of “soft” particles (that is, particles covered by polyelectrolyte layers). This theory utilizes two parameters, i.e. the density of fixed charges in the cell surface layer and a “softness” parameter (1/λ) which corresponds to the reciprocal of the coefficient of the frictional forces exerted by the surface layer on the liquid flow in the surface layer. It is found that the “softness” parameter for HUVEC is very large, i.e. the surface of HUVEC is very soft compared with those of other biological cells such as erythrocytes or human promyelocytic leukemia cell lines (HL-60RG cells) which we have studied before. The obtained value of 1/λ is comparable to that observed for a poly (NIPAAm) hydrogel layer in a swollen state. The charge density in the surface layer of HUVEC, however, is found to be similar to those for other biological cells.     

Are pore size distributions in microfiltration membranes measurable by two-phase flow porosimetry?

The issue of evaluating equivalent pore diameter distributions in membrane microfilters from gas-liquid (g-l) porosimetry data has been critically examined. Experiments performed with one isotropic and one composite anisotropic membrane in both possible orientations revealed conspicous dependence of the obtained (g-l) porosimetry peaks on imposed pressure ramp rates, p. Interference of this kinetic effect can be eliminated from the measured data by extrapolation to p = 0. The ramp rate effect is most likely caused by tortuous pore length distribution, and relatively long times required for liquid expulsion. For two experiments, the observed effects of p could be reconciled with predictions of the Schlesinger-Bechhold theory [Bechold et al., Kolloid Z., 55 (1931) 172–198]. The data obtained with the thin top layer of the composite membrane facing intruding air directly did deviate somewhat from the theory. Pores characterized by (g-l) porosimetry are likely of the “throat type”, and their size distribution is considerably more narrow than that obtained for the “node-type” pores by SEM-image analysis [Zeman and Denault, J. Membrane Sci., 71 (1992) 221–231]. A single bivariate distribution function was constructed for these two distinct pore populations. Flow-weighted or number fraction distributions can be calculated from the extrapolated porosimetry data. For narrow ranges of “throat” diameters, these distributions are fairly similar.     

Synthetic possibilities of the 2,4-pentanedione-1,2-diaminoethane system: An overall view

Single condensation of acetylacetone (AcacH) with 1,2-diaminoethane (En) yields the terdentate “half-unit” 7-amino-4-methyl-5-aza-3-hepten-2-one (abbreviated as AEH). In the presence of a metal ion, this ligand leads to the macrocycle 5,7,12,14-tetramethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclo tetradeca-4,6,11,13-tetraene, which can be considered as resulting from the condensation of two molecules of (AcacH) with two molecules of (En). This “half-unit” can also be used to obtain acyclic ligands and complexes made with one (AcacH) molecule and two (En) molecules (1:2) or conversely two (AcacH) molecules and one (En) molecule (2:1). Using reagents other than (AcacH) and (En), this “half-unit” may yield homo and heterodinuclear complexes, macrocyclic compounds and non-symmetrical tetradentate Schiff bases.     

Optical potential theory of diatom-diatom scattering. II. Indistinguishable molecules

The theory of vibro-rotational energy exchange in “indistinguishable” diatom-diatom scattering is formulated in terms of effective potentials. Due the necessity of considering both “symmetric” and “antisymmetric” molecular two-particle states, the formalism has a characteristic (two-by-two matrix structure. A mathematical generalization of Schwinger's theory of sources allows a compact derivation of exact and approximate expressions for t “optical” and “transition” potentials of elastic and inelastic processes, respectively. Finally, considerations based on a partial wave analysi of the working equations, suggest that the present theory should be more readily amenable to numerical implementations than the close coupling approach     

The quantitative determination of fission and nuclear reaction products

Definitions are given to the terms “per cent atom burn-up” and “per cent atoms consumed” as applied to nuclear fuel analysis at the Argonne National Laboratory. The radiochemical and analytical methods which have been adapted and developed especially for this type of analysis are discussed. The analysis of nuclear reaction products by paper chromatographic methods and scintillation spectrometry is emphasised and demonstrated.     

The “Facilitated Transition” hypothesis as an explanation for the gemdialkyl effect

A new technique of searching the conformational space of transition states was used to explore the cause of the rate acceleration in the gem-dialkyl effect in intramolecular cyclization reactions. Several previous hypotheses were discarded and a new hypothesis was advanced based on this new data. This hypothesis, the “Facilitated Transition” hypothesis, states that increased steric hindrance reduces the overall activation energy by facilitating rotation through the transition state. The older “Reactive Rotamer” hypothesis was eliminated by generating all conformations of the starting materials using the and computer programs and demonstrating that no relationship is found between rate increase and a change in the concentration of “reactive rotamers”.     

Automated at-line solid-phase extraction-gas chromatographic analysis of micropollutants in water using the PrepStation

A fully automated at-line solid-phase extraction-gas chromatography procedure has been developed for the analysis of aqueous samples using the PrepStation. The sample extract is transferred from the sample preparation module to the gas chromatograph via an autosampler vial. With flame-ionization detection, limits of determination (S/N=10) of 0.05–0.13 μg/l were obtained for the analysis of HPLC-grade water when modifying the PrepStation by: (i) increasing the sample volume to 50 ml, (ii) increasing the injection volume up to 50 μl, and (iii) decreasing the desorption volume to 300 μl. The HP autosampler had to be modified to enable the automated “at-once” on-column injection of up to 50 μl of sample extract. The amount of packing material in the original cartridge had to be reduced to effect the decrease of the desorption volume. The total set-up did not require any further optimization after having set up the method once. The analytical characteristics of the organonitrogen and organophosphorus test analytes, i.e. recoveries (typically 75–105%), repeatability (2–8%) and linearity (0.09–3.0 μg/l) were satisfactory. The potential of the system was demonstrated by determining triazines and organophosphorus pesticides in river Rhine water at the 0.6 μg/l level using flame-ionization and mass-selective detection. No practical problems were observed during the analysis of more than 100 river water samples.     

Analysis of the diffuse bands near 6100 Å in the fluorescence spectrum of Cs2

The diffuse bands near 6100 Å in the laser-induced fluorescence spectrum of Cs₂ are analyzed through quantum-mechanical spectral simulations. These bands are interpreted as bound-free emission to the vibrational continuum of the ground state from an excited state of ion-pair character. The lower region of this state, which we have labeled E′, is described approximately by the spectroscopic constants, T_e = 19400 cm⁻¹, R_e = 9 Å, and ω_e = 13 cm⁻¹. Experiments with a single-mode Ar⁺ laser as excitation source clearly reveal fine structure in the E′ → X spectrum, which was not evident for multimode laser excitation. This fine structure confirms our analysis and supports our suggestion that extensive averaging over initial (υ′, J′) levels is responsible for the absence of fine structure in the spectra excited by a multimode laser. Various averaging mechanisms are investigated in the spectral calculations. The paper includes a brief review of other work on “structured continua” in diatomic spectra, and a semiclassical treatment of such structure, with emphasis on the distinction between “reflection” structure and “interference” structure.     

Evaluation of the surface tension measurement of axisymmetric drop shape analysis (ADSA) using a shape parameter

A quantitative criterion called “shape parameter” to evaluate the quality of surface tension measurement of Axisymmetric Drop Shape Analysis (ADSA) is presented. ADSA is a powerful technique for the measurement of interfacial tensions and contact angles of pendant drops, sessile drops, and bubbles. Despite the general success of ADSA, deficient results may be obtained for drops close to spherical shape. Therefore, the “shape parameter” was used to determine the range of drop shapes in which ADSA succeeds or fails. The “shape parameter” is a dimensionless parameter that expresses quantitatively the difference in shape between a given experimental profile and an inscribed circle. The surface tension measurements of ADSA were evaluated for both pendant drop and constrained sessile drop configurations using the shape parameter. Different shapes of the pendant drop were studied using different sizes and materials of holders. For each drop configuration, a “critical shape parameter” was defined based on the minimum value of the shape parameter that guarantees an error of less than ±0.1 mJ/m². Furthermore, the effects of the type of liquid and constellation on the “critical shape parameter” were studied.     

Relative stabilities and conformational ring inversion potentials in heterocyclic decalin systems and stereoelectronic implications

The energy differences between stereoisomers and the ring inversion potential surfaces of decalin (1) and various oxadecalins (2, 3), dioxadecalins (4–7), trioxadecalins (8, 9) and tetraoxadecalins (10, 11) were interrogated following the generally accepted scheme of a stepwise conformational six-ring inversion process and using molecular mechanics techniques (MM3 and MM3-GE, i.e. MM3 reparametrized for treatment of the “gauche effect”). The results were compared with some available experimental data and were also used to probe the validity of a recently elaborated protocol for ring-fragment analysis of oxygen-containing bicyclic systems in terms of their interannular fragment components: C---C---C---C, C---C---C---O, C---C---O---C, C---O---C---O---C and O---C---C---O, the latter two with their corresponding stereoelectronic effects, namely, the “anomeric effect” and the “gauche effect”, respectively.     

Direct and indirect calorimetric studies of stress responses of chlorella cells to infection with the mycoplasma, Acholeplasma laidlawii

This paper reports the defence responses of plant cells to the stress of infection by mycoplasma using an algae model of Chlorella vulgaris under attack by the Mollicute, Acholeplasma laidlawii, which is normally a pathogen of animal systems and higher plants. When the two unicellular organisms were mixed, there was a significant rise in the heat flow rate from 30 min after the chlorella cells were mixed with the mycoplasma cells and were thermally equilibrated in the instrument. There were two peaks in the formation of the superoxide anion radical (O₂√⁻). The first one appeared immediately after mixing the two organisms and essentially was completed in 10 min. This coincided with the raised oxygen uptake rate (OUR) for the supply of the superoxide that can destroy the foreign organisms. The second transient “burst” of superoxide anion radical production was observed after 40–50 min, and correlated with both the continued high level of OUR and the observed “heat burst”. The increased OUR by the chlorella cells at the early stages of infection may be the trigger for further, more prolonged defence reactions by the cells treated with mycoplasma.

The continued infection with mycoplasma, depressed the rate of growth and division of the chlorella cells. This might be caused by competition of the former for substrates required by the host cells. The heat flow rate was also reduced, reflecting the depressed metabolic activity of the plant cells after prolonged exposure to the pathogen.