Removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions by alkaline-earth metal phosphates

The possibility of utilization of calcium or magnesium phosphates of various composition for heavy and non-ferrous metal extraction from aqueous solutions has been studied. The efficiency of the phosphates in removal of Pb(II), Cr(III) and Fe(III) ions has been shown to decrease in the following sequence: Mg₃(PO₄)₂>MgNH₄PO₄>Ca₃(PO₄)₂>CaHPO₄>Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂ which is inverse to their hydrolytic stability series. It has been established that phosphates of non-apatite structure are capable of binding up to 12 mmol g⁻¹ of the named heavy metals by a chemical interaction. Hydroxyapatite interacts with the polyvalent metal ions via either the above mentioned or ion-exchange mechanism, depending on preparation method used for the apatite and the nature of metal.     

A unique heterobimetallic benzyl calciate--an organometallic mixed-metal species involving a heavy alkaline-earth metal

A co-complexation reaction utilizing homometallic benzylcalcium and benzyllithium affords a rare example of a heterobimetallic benzyl calciate.     

A convenient new procedure for converting primary amides into nitriles

An operationally simple and high-yielding procedure has been developed for the conversion of primary amides to the corresponding nitriles, using ethyl dichlorophosphate/DBU as the mild dehydrating agent.     

A convenient synthesis of 2-methyl-3-oxoheptane-1,7-dicarboxylic esters and amides

A range of simple derivatives of 2-methyl-3-oxoheptane-1,7-dicarboxylic acid have been prepared by Birch reduction/methylation of 2,6-dimethoxybenzoic acid derivatives followed by solvolysis.     

A convenient method for the selective reduction of amides to amines

A variety of amides have been selectively reduced to the corresponding amines via conversion to their thioamides and treatment with triethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate followed by sodium borohydride. This procedure is compatible with isolated and conjugated double bonds, esters, intro groups, and sulfonamides.     

New convenient method for preparation of amides of 1-adamantylthioacetic acids

The reaction of 4-(1-adamantyl)-1,2,3-thiadiazole with potassium tert-butylate followed by treating with acetyl chloride and amine results in the formation of 1-adamantylthioacetic acid amides in moderate or good yields.     

Metal–metal bonded alkaline-earth distannyls

The first families of alkaline-earth stannylides [Ae(SnPh₃)₂·(thf)_x] (Ae = Ca, x = 3, 1; Sr, x = 3, 2; Ba, x = 4, 3) and [Ae{Sn(SiMe₃)₃}₂·(thf)_x] (Ae = Ca, x = 4, 4; Sr, x = 4, 5; Ba, x = 4, 6), where Ae is a large alkaline earth with direct Ae–Sn bonds, are presented. All complexes have been characterised by high-resolution solution NMR spectroscopy, including ¹¹⁹Sn NMR, and by X-ray diffraction crystallography. The molecular structures of [Ca(SnPh₃)₂·(thf)₄] (1′), [Sr(SnPh₃)₂·(thf)₄] (2′), [Ba(SnPh₃)₂·(thf)₅] (3′), 4, 5 and [Ba{Sn(SiMe₃)₃}₂·(thf)₅] (6′), most of which crystallised as higher thf solvates than their parents 1–6, were established by XRD analysis; the experimentally determined Sn–Ae–Sn′ angles lie in the range 158.10(3)–179.33(4)°. In a given series, the ¹¹⁹Sn NMR chemical shifts are slightly deshielded upon descending group 2 from Ca to Ba, while the silyl-substituted stannyls are much more shielded than the phenyl ones (δ¹¹⁹Sn/ppm: 1′, −133.4; 2′, −123.6; 3′, −95.5; 4, −856.8; 5, −848.2; 6′, −792.7). The bonding and electronic properties of these complexes were also analysed by DFT calculations. The combined spectroscopic, crystallographic and computational analysis of these complexes provide some insight into the main features of these unique families of homoleptic complexes. A comprehensive DFT study (Wiberg bond index, QTAIM and energy decomposition analysis) points at a primarily ionic Ae–Sn bonding, with a small covalent contribution, in these series of complexes; the Sn–Ae–Sn′ angle is associated with a flat energy potential surface around its minimum, consistent with the broad range of values determined by experimental and computational methods.

The complete series of heterobimetallic alkaline-earth distannyls [Ae{SnR₃}₂·(thf)_x] (Ae = Ca, Sr, Ba) have been prepared for R = Ph and SiMe₃, and their bonding and electronic properties have been comprehensively investigated.     

Mixed-ligand complexes of alkaline-earth metal trifluoroacetates with monoethanolamine

The mixed-ligand complexes of the formula [M(CF₃COO)₂(MEA) _n ] (MEA is monoethanolamine; M = Ca (I) and Sr (II), n = 1.5; M = Ba (III), (n = 1) were obtained from appropriate salts M(CF₃COO)₂ · nH₂O and MEA in ethanol. Complexes I–III were characterized by elemental analysis data and IR spectra. Slow crystallization of a solution of complex III in air gave a single crystal of the formula [Ba(CF₃COO)₂(MEA)(H₂O)], which is a coordination polymer with C.N.(Ba) 9 (X-ray diffraction data). Thermal analysis showed that complexes I–III decompose under argon and in air to the corresponding fluorides at T < 400°C.     

A convenient synthesis of erythro- and threo-3-fluorophenyl- alanine from a protected glycine synthon

A facile synthesis of the title compounds ($\text{8}$ and $\text{9}$) is described; key steps include the mono-C-alkylation of the glycine Schiff base benzyl ester $\text{1a}$ with α-bromo-α-fluorotoluene, which provides the readily separable fluorinated diastereomers $\text{2a}$ and $\text{3a}$, and the dealkylative hydrolysis of the benzyl esters $\text{2a}$-$\text{5a}$ without concomitant loss of the benzylic fluorine.     

Rigid ferrocenophane and its metal complexes with transition and alkaline-earth metal ions

The rigid [6]ferrocenophane, L¹, was synthesised by condensation of 1,1′-ferrocene dicarbaldehyde with trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane in high dilution at r.t. followed by reduction. When other experimental conditions were employed, the [6,6,6]ferrocenephane (L²) was also obtained. Both compounds were characterised by single crystal X-ray crystallography. The protonation of L¹ and its metal complexation were evaluated by the effect on the electron-transfer process of the ferrocene (fc) unit of L¹ using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV) in anhydrous CH₃CN solution and in 0.1 M ⁿBu₄NPF₆ as the supporting electrolyte. The electrochemical process of L¹ between −300 and 900 mV is complicated by amine oxidation. On the other hand, an anodic shift from the fc/fc⁺ wave of L¹ of 249, 225, 81 and 61 mV was observed by formation of Zn²⁺, Ni²⁺, Pd²⁺ and Cu²⁺ complexes, respectively. Whereas Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺ only have with L¹ weak interactions and they promote the acid-base equilibrium of L¹. This reveals that L¹ is an interesting molecular redox sensor for detection of Zn²⁺ and Ni²⁺, although the kinetics of the Zn²⁺ complex formation is much faster than that of the Ni²⁺ one. The X-ray crystal structure of [PdL¹Cl₂] was determined and showed a square–planar environment with Pd(II) and Fe(II) centres separated by 3.781(1) Å. The experimental anodic shifts were elucidated by DFT calculations on the [ML¹Cl₂] series and they are related to the nature of the HOMO of these complexes and a four-electron, two-orbital interaction.     

β-elimination from transition metal amides

Ruthenium, rhodium, and palladium phosphine complexes are found to produce metal hydrides in high yields by a β-elimination reaction from the corresponding metal amides. Evidence is presented to support the formation of an imine as the organic product. The isotope effect for the reaction is 6 ± 1 indicative of the importance of CH bond breaking in the transition state.     

Gas-phase formation of large neutral alkaline-earth metal tryptophan complexes

We report on the first observation of isolated large neutral metal amino acid complexes such as Trp(n)Me(k), with Me=Ca, Ba, Sr, cluster combinations covering n=1...33, k=0..2 and masses beyond 6500 u. The cluster beam is generated using UV laser desorption from a mixed powder of alkaline-earth metal salts and tryptophan inside a cluster mixing channel. The particles are detected using VUV photoionization followed by time-of-flight mass spectroscopy. The enhanced stability of metal amino acid clusters over pure amino acid clusters is substantiated in molecular dynamics simulations by determining the gain in binding energy related to the inclusion of the metal atoms.     

Optical properties of alkaline-earth metal oxides from first principles

This study reports the results of an ab initio electronic and optical calculation of alkaline-earth metal oxides (MgO, CaO, SrO and BaO) in the NaCl crystal structure using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method within the density functional theory. The exchange-correlation potential is treated by the generalized gradient approximation within the Perdew et al scheme. Moreover, the Engel–Vosko GGA formalism is applied so as to optimize the corresponding potential for band structure calculations. The real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function ?(ω), the optical absorption coefficient I(ω), the reflectivity R(ω) and the energy loss function are calculated by random phase approximation (RPA). The calculated results show a qualitative agreement with the available experimental results in the sense that we can recognize some peaks qualitatively, those due to single particle transitions. Furthermore the interband transitions responsible for the structures in the spectra are specified. It is shown that the oxygen 2p states and metal d states play the major role in optical transitions as initial and final states respectively. The effect of the spin–orbit coupling on the optical properties is also investigated and found to be quite small, especially in the low energy region. The dielectric constants are calculated and compared with the available theoretical and experimental results.     

A convenient, NMR-based method for the analysis of diastereomeric mixtures of pseudoephedrine amides

Amides of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine are shown to undergo highly stereospecific, invertive cyclization to form 4,5-dihydro-3,4-dimethyl-5-phenyl-1,3-oxazolium triflate derivatives in the presence of triflic anhydride-pyridine. 1H NMR spectra of the unpurified reaction products are remarkably clean, with sharp, well-defined peaks, and allow for rapid assessment of the diastereomeric purities of the starting amides. [reaction: see text].     

Polargraphic adsorptive waves of alkaline-earth metal complexes with thymolphthalexone

Sensitive derivative polarographic adsorption waves have been observed for alkaline-earth metal-TP complexes in 0.15M potassium hydroxide containing 3 x 10(-5)M thymolphthalexone (TP). The limit of detection for calcium, strontium and barium was 7.5 x 10(-7)M and for magnesium 4.0 x 10(-6)M. The proposed method has been used successfully for determining trace amounts of calcium in natural waters and hair samples. The composition of the complex has been shown to be 1:1 alkaline-earth metal:TP and various experiments have confirmed that the wave is an adsorption wave. The reaction mechanism has been studied by a number of methods.     

Practical and convenient enzymatic synthesis of enantiopure alpha-amino acids and amides

Catalyzed by the nitrile hydratase and the amidease in Rhodococcus sp. AJ270 cells under very mild conditions, a number of alpha-aryl- and alpha-alkyl-substituted DL-glycine nitriles 1 rapidly underwent a highly enantioselective hydrolysis to afford D-(-)-alpha-amino acid amides 2 and L-(+)-alpha-amino acids 3 in high yields with excellent enantiomeric excesses in most cases. The overall enantioselectivity of the biotransformations of nitriles originated from the combined effects of a high L-enantioselective amidase and a low enantioselective nitrile hydratase. The influence of the substrates on both reaction efficiency and enantioselectivity was also discussed in terms of steric and electronic effects. Coupled with chemical hydrolysis of D-(-)-alpha-phenylglycine amide, biotransformation of DL-phenylglycine nitrile was applied in practical scale to produce both D- and L-phenylglycines in high optical purity.