Tunneling dynamics and spatial correlations of long chain growth in solid-state photochlorination of ethylene at low temperatures

A novel method is described for preparing reactive cryocrystals by deposition of argondiluted reactant beams and subsequent crystallization during evaporation of the inert gas. Photochlorination of equimolecular ethylene—chlorine mixtures obtained by this method and studied by means of kinetic UV- and IR-spectroscopy reveals activationless chain growth with mean length 300 units in the temperature range 17–45 K. Mean chain lengths greater than 100 are observed up to the conversion degree of 0.6–0.7. Comparison of the experimental data with computer simulations shows that the tunneling reaction is due to the formation of a closely packed reaction complex with high amplitudes of zero-point vibrations which lower the reaction barrier. The commensurability of reactant and product crystal lattices results in linear propagation of chains without accumulation of deformation strain. The chain termination mechanism associated with the spatial correlations of chains is discussed.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 687–700, April, 1993.The authors are grateful to Academician V.I. Goldanskii, Dr. D.E.Makarov, and Prof. S. Sato for useful discussion and to A.U.Goldschleger for assistance with the experiments.     

Detection and investigation of oscillations of the rate of radiation-induced solid-state chain reactions at low temperatures

The data on the detection and investigation of rate oscillations of radiation-induced (⁶⁰Co γ-radiation) cryochemical solid-state chain reactions are reviewed. Self oscillation regimes were observed for various reactions (ethylene hydrobromination, polymerization, and copolymerization) in the crystalline and glassy states both in the field of γ-radiation and as the post-effect recorded when the samples were warmed. The recent experimental data on the unusual oscillations of the polymerization rate of crystalline formaldehyde at 5–30 K are discussed. The mechanical factor (brittle disintegration) is proposed to be responsible for these oscillations.     

Statistical correlations of an anyon liquid at low temperatures

Using a proposed generalisation of the pair distribution function for a gas of non-interacting particles obeying fractional exclusion statistics in arbitrary dimensionality, we derive the statistical correlations in the asymptotic limit of vanishing or low temperature. While Friedel-like oscillations are present in nearly all non-bosonic cases at T = 0, they are characterised by exponential damping at low temperature. We discuss the dependence of these features on dimensionality and on the value of the statistical parameter α.     

Formation of crosslinked PTFE by radiation-induced solid-state polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene at low temperatures

Tetrafluoroethylene monomer (TFE) was polymerized with gamma rays at various temperatures. The thermal properties of product were measured by using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and the structure was analyzed by means of ¹⁹F high speed magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (¹⁹F NMR). It was found that, the PTFE obtained by the solid-state polymerization has been made clear to be crosslinked.     

Infrared spectra of molecular chlorine complexes with acetylene,ethylene and propylene at low temperatures

Infrared spectra of molecular complexes of C₂H₂Cl₂, C₂D₂Cl₂, C₂H₄Cl₂, C₂D₄Cl₂, and C₃H₆Cl₂ were obtained after simultaneous slow deposition of both components on the cooled window of an optical cryostat at 75°K. Chlorine addition reactions to the multiple bond start in these systems at 90–100°K.     

Ultrafast dynamics and excited state spectra of open-chain carotenoids at room and low temperatures

Many of the spectroscopic features and photophysical properties of carotenoids are explained using a three-state model in which the strong visible absorption of the molecules is associated with an S0 (1(1)Ag-) --> S2 (1(1)Bu+) transition, and the lowest lying singlet state, S1 (2(1)Ag-), is a state into which absorption from the ground state is forbidden by symmetry. However, semiempirical and ab initio quantum calculations have suggested additional excited singlet states may lie either between or in the vicinity of S1 (2(1)Ag-) and S2 (1(1)Bu+), and some ultrafast spectroscopic studies have reported evidence for these states. One such state, denoted S*, has been implicated as an intermediate in the depopulation of S2 (1(1)Bu+) and as a pathway for the formation of carotenoid triplet states in light-harvesting complexes. In this work, we present the results of an ultrafast, time-resolved spectroscopic investigation of a series of open-chain carotenoids derived from photosynthetic bacteria and systematically increasing in their number of pi-electron carbon-carbon double bonds (n). The molecules are neurosporene (n = 9), spheroidene (n = 10), rhodopin glucoside (n = 11), rhodovibrin (n = 12), and spirilloxanthin (n = 13). The molecules were studied in acetone and CS2 solvents at room temperature. These experiments explore the effect of solvent polarity and polarizability on the spectroscopic and kinetic behavior of the molecules. The molecules were also studied in ether/isopentane/ethanol (EPA) glasses at 77 K, in which the spectral resolution is greatly enhanced. Analysis of the data using global fitting techniques has revealed the ultrafast dynamics of the excited states and spectral changes associated with their decay, including spectroscopic features not previously reported. The data are consistent with S* being identified with a twisted conformational structure, the yield of which is increased in molecules having longer pi-electron conjugations. In particular, for the longest molecule in the series, spirilloxanthin, the experiments and a detailed quantum computational analysis reveal the presence of two S* states associated with relaxed S1 (2(1)Ag-) conformations involving nearly planar 6-s-cis and 6-s-trans geometries. We propose that in polar solvents, the ground state of spirilloxanthin takes on a corkscrew conformation that generates a net solute dipole moment while decreasing the cavity formation energy. Upon excitation and relaxation into the S1 (2(1)Ag-) state, the polyene unravels and flattens into a more planar geometry with comparable populations of 6-s-trans and 6-s-cis conformations.     

Evidence of random chain scissions at low temperatures in the thermal degradation of anionic polystyrenes

In the thermal degradation of some anionic polystyrene samples chain scission was found to occur in the temperature range 180–220°C. The resulting polymer molecules thereafter remain stable up to about 280°C, above which strong reductions occur in the degree of polymerization. It is shown that the low temperature degradation is due to the presence of a small fraction of weak links, which could be tentatively attributed to some oxidation of the polymers.     

Single-cell growth and division dynamics showing epigenetic correlations

The emergence of variation and subsequent inheritance of the emergent characteristics in a clonal population of bacteria is considered as evidence for epigenetic processes in the cell. We report here the results of experiments in which we quantitatively examined variations in single Escherichia coli cells with an identical genetic endowment in order to establish whether certain characteristics of single cells were inherited by their descendants maintained in a uniform environment. Significantly large variations of interdivision time, initial length, and final length were observed from generation to generation. Comparing the generations shows that interdivision time had no correlation with that of the consecutive generations, whereas those of initial length and final length were positively correlated with those of neighbouring generations.     

Chain photohalogenation of ethylene at liquid helium temperatures

Photolysis of a halogen in solid 1:1 molecular complexes of ethylene with chlorine (1) and bromine (2) at 18–70 K led to the formation oftrans-1,2-dihaloethanes by a chain mechanism (with quantum yields of 25–30 for 1 and 10–12 for 2 atT45 K) but molecular addition occurred above 90 K to give thegauche isomer. The rate constant for chain growth is independent of temperature atT45 K, but is described by the Arrhenius equation atT50 K (E ₀ 1 kcal/mole). It is proposed that chain growth occurs by a tunneling reaction of the C₂H₄Hal radical with an Hal₂ molecule at a neighboring lattice site.Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142432 Chernogolovka. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 2268–2277, October, 1992.     

Chlorination of lignin at low temperatures

A high reactivity of the olefinic double bonds of the lignin (Lg) macromolecule in the reaction with molecular chlorine has been found which has permitted the chlorination of Lg to be carried out under cryogenic conditions at 150–250 K. The process takes place by a radical-chain mechanism with a length of the kinetic chain of approximately 1000 units. The bulk of the chlorine is consumed in the olefinic chains of the Lg. Other reaction products besides chlorolignin are hydrogen chloride and phenoxyl radicals, which have singlet ESR spectrum (ΔH=1.0−1.2 mT) and are retained in the chlorinated samples of Lg to ∼250 K. Institute of Chemical Physics, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Chernogolovka, Moscow Province. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 671–676, September–October, 1990.     

Features of behavior of solid-state CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> sensors at low temperatures

The dependence of the impedance of low-temperature sensors for carbon dioxide based on the solid-state electrochemical cells Na_0.5WO₃/Na₅GdSi₄O₁₂/SnO₂(Sb₂O₄) on the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air was studied. The reversible change in the sensor resistance was shown to be due to adsorption processes at intergrain boundaries of the solid electrolyte. The composition of the products of the electrochemical processes occurring in the sensors was established. Electronic Publication     

Molecular structure and dynamics in monolayers of long chain alkanes and alkyl-derivatives

Long chain alkanes (C₃₄H₇₀ and C₅₀H₁₀₂), a fatty acid (C₁₇H₃₅COOH) and an alkyl-substituted triiodobenzoate (I₃H₂C₆COOC₁₈H₃₇) have been adsorbed at the interface between organic solutions and the basal plane of graphite. In-situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) has been employed to investigate their structure and dynamics on the scale of 10 pm and 1 ms or longer. All adsorbates form two-dimensional polycrystals. The molecules tend to organize in lamellae with the extended alkyl chains oriented parallel to a lattice axis within the basal plane of graphite. The n-alkane chains pack in a lattice commensurate with the graphite lattice and the carbon skeleton planes approximately perpendicular to the substrate. Due to the additional space required by a carboxyl end group the alkyl lattice in the fatty acid is incommensurate with the substrate and the carbon skeleton planes lie approximately parallel to the surface. In the triiodobenzoate the headgroup takes the space of about two alkyl chains resulting in an interdigitated packing.     

Vibrational relaxation of DF at low temperatures

Temperature dependence of the probability of the deexcitation process DF(ν = 1) + DF(ν = 0) → DF(ν = 0) + DF(ν = 0) has been investigated near and below room temperature based on the model that the vibrational energy is transferred to the hindered rotational (oscillatory) motion as well as the translational motion. The deexcitation probability increases sharply with decreasing temperature; this inverse temperature dependence is attributed to the important contribution of hydrogen-bond attraction.     

Radiation polymerization of acrolein at low temperatures

Radiation polymerization of acrolein in the presence of the additives such as 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, acrylic acid, and water at low temperatures (0–78°C) was studied. The polyacrolein resulting from the polymerization gave a small particlelike microsphere (0.5–5 μm in diameter). The rate of the polymerization reaction of acrolein appeared to be accelerated by the addition of a small amount of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate or acrylic acid. The particle size of the polyacrolein particle varied with the condition of the polymerization and increased or decreased with an increase in the addition concentration of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate or acrylic acid.     

低温下生物柴油的胶凝特性研究

利用流变仪在小振幅振荡剪切模式下对地沟油、花生油和大豆油生物柴油的胶凝特性进行了研究。结果表明,低温下生物柴油不仅具有冷却胶凝特性,还表现出明显的等温胶凝特性。分析了冷却速率和剪应力对地沟油生物柴油胶凝特性的影响。结果表明,静态降温时降温速率越大,生物柴油的胶凝温度越低,降温及恒温静置过程中同一温度下的胶凝结构越弱。相同降温速率下,生物柴油的胶凝结构和胶凝温度随剪应力的增加而降低,但经受不同剪应力作用的生物柴油恒温静置后胶凝结构相差不大。降温过程中施加的剪应力较小时,冷却胶凝结构随降温速率的增大而降低;剪应力较大时,冷却胶凝结构随降温速率的增大而加强。不管施加的剪应力多大,等温胶凝结构随降温速率的增大而加强。     

Thermodynamic behaviors of polyampholytes at low temperatures

The thermodynamic properties of 6-mer polyampholyte chains were simulated with the multicanonical Monte Carlo method in a three-dimensional off-lattice model. The results demonstrate that the number of the charged monomers on the chain and the sequence significantly affect the transition behaviors of polyampholyte chains. In the case of the random distribution of the charged monomers, two oppositely charged monomers act as two stickers during a collapse process, due to which the movement of monomers is suppressed and the chains can more directly reach their solid state. Interestingly, in a proper arrangement of the charged monomers, the chains may have a proteinlike nondegenerate state, i.e., the chain is designable. The transition of such polyampholyte chains appears to be of a two-state, all-or-none type.     

Solution photochemistry of o-hydroxybenzophenone at low temperatures

The decay of triplet o-hydroxybenzophenone takes place with a lifetime of 24 ns in methanol at 175 K and is proposed to involve the interconversion of the intermolecularly hydrogen bonded (anti) conformer into a short-lived syn species.