The catalytic hydrogenolysis of 1-phenylbicyclo[4.1.0]heptane and the corresponding azidirine and epoxide

The hydrogenolysisof 1-phenylbicyclo[4.1.0]heptane (1a), cis-1-phenyl-2-methylbicyclo[4.1.0]heptane (1b), 1-phenyl-7-azabicyclo[4.1.0]heptane (2) and 1-phenyl-7-oxabicyclo[4.1.0]heptane (3) was studied using Ni, Pd, Rh and Pt as catalysts. The hydrogenolysis of the C₁C₇ bond of 1a and 1b led to the selective formation of trans-1-phenyl-2-methylcyclohexane (4a) with retention of configuration. Compound 1a gave not only 4a but also phenylcycloheptane (6a), which is the product of C₁C₆ bond fission, and the ratio of 6a to 4a increased in the sequence: Ni ? Pd, Rh < Pt. No C₁C₆ bond fission was observed in the hydrogenolysis of 1b. These results can be explained by a mechanism involving the formation of the π-benzyl complex.trans-2-Phenylcyclohexylamine (8) was obtained stereoselectively in the hydrogenolysis of 2 over Raney Ni. This selective formation can be ascribed to the competition of “SN i” and “radical” processes. The Pd catalysed hydrogenolysis gave cis-2-phenylcyclohexylamine (9) as the main product, while the presence of sodium hydroxide promoted the formation of 8.Raney Ni catalysed hydrogenolysis of 3 yielded a mixture of phenylcyclohexane (13) and 2-phenylcyclohexanols (10 and 11). trans-2-Phenylcyclohexanol (10) was the dominant isomer; the hydrogenolysis resulted in the predominant configurational retention. Compound 13 was confirmed to be produced via 1-phenylcyclohexene (12). This deoxygenation may be explained by a mechanism involving the radical cleavage reaction of 3. The presence of sodium hydroxide led to the formation of cis-2-phenylcyclohexanol (11). The Pd catalysed hydrogenolysis also gave mainly 11.The difference in behaviour of cyclopropane, azidirine and epoxide we ascribe to the differences in the affinity for the catalyst and differences in the electronegativity between C, N and O atoms.     

Family of symplectic implicit Runge-Kutta formulae

A family of formulae for the sympletic IRK method is investigated. Specifically, focus is given to general solutions for formula parameters of IRK under the symplectic and the order conditions. Examples of such formulae are constructed for up to three stages.     

Stereochemistry and mechanism of catalytic hydrogenation of substituted cyclohexanones

Substituted alkylcyclohexanones were hydrogenated over several transition metal catalysts. The hydrogenation with freshly prepared Raney Ni gave predominantly the axial alcohols but catalyst to which sodium hydroxide was added or aged catalyst increased the stereoselectivity. In contrast to the PtO₂ hydrogenation in which the equatorial alcohols were favoured, more axial alcohols were obtained than the equatorial counterparts on Pt-black. On Pd catalyst the isomeric ratios of the cyclohexanols changed as the reaction progressed. This may be due to a decrease in the amount of hydrogen available caused by the strong adsorption of ketones on the catalyst. Rh catalyst gave more of the axial alcohols than any other catalyst used in the present study.     

Preparation of free‐standing silicone particles in aqueous heterogeneous system

To prepare cross‐linked silicone (silicone rubber) particles in an aqueous medium, we investigated two synthesis methods involving a miniemulsion system. The first method was based on cationic ring‐opening polymerization of cyclic siloxane, which is a common synthetic route for linear silicone oil and uses octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D₄) as the monomer and dimeric D₄ (bis‐D₄) as the cross‐linker. Although this method produces silicone particles, the particles do not remain in the particulate state after drying because of low cross‐linking density. The polymerization mechanism of this method was also investigated, which proceeds under the ring‐opening reaction of D₄ in monomer droplets and upon polycondensation of hydrolyzed D₄, which occurs in the water phase (ie, outside the monomer droplets). This mechanism implied that introducing the cross‐linking structure into particles is difficult because of the low solubility of bis‐D₄ in water. To overcome these difficulties, we demonstrated a second method of preparing silicone particles based on the thiol‐Michael addition reaction between thiol‐terminated silicone oil and triacrylate in miniemulsion systems. Transmission electron microscopy images indicated that the silicone particles obtained in the particulate state upon drying and the aggregates of these particles showed elasticity.     

Electronic structures of exohedral lanthanide-C60 clusters

We have studied the electronic structures of several gas phase exohedral lanthanide (Ln)-C(60) clusters, Ln(n)C(60) (Ln=Pr, Ho, Tb, Tm, Eu, and Yb) with n=1-4, by photoionization spectroscopy of the neutrals and photoelectron spectroscopy of their anions. Both of the spectroscopic analyses reveal that most of the Ln atoms preferably take +3 oxidation states, while Eu atoms alone assume +2 oxidation states, and that C(60) accepts up to twelve donated electrons in Ln(n)C(60). An additional photoionization examination of the oxygen atom mixing into the Ln(n)C(60) clusters demonstrated that each oxygen atom reduces two electrons from C(60). This result implies that the number of accepted electrons in C(60) can be varied by a suitable choice of the number of Ln atoms and O atoms.     

Simulation of stochastic differential equations

A lot of discrete approximation schemes for stochastic differential equations with regard to mean-square sense were proposed. Numerical experiments for these schemes can be seen in some papers, but the efficiency of scheme with respect to its order has not been revealed. We will propose another type of error analysis. Also we will show results of simulation studies carried out for these schemes under our notion.     

Effects of electron beam preirradiation on the γ radiolysis of polyethylene

The γ radiolysis of polyethylene preirradiated with electron beams to 3 Mrad was carried out at 30–100°C in vacuo with a dose rate of 6.35 × 10⁵ rad/hr. The hydrogen formation in the γ radiolysis was little affected by the preirradiation of electron beams, whereas the formation of trans-vinylene unsaturation and gel was somewhat retarded. The rates of the formation of hydrogen and trans-vinylene unsaturation were described by the zero-order formation kinetics with respect to each concentration combined with the first-order disappearance. The apparent rate constants and activation energies for the formation and disappearance of hydrogen and trans-vinylene unsaturation were almost independent of the preirradiation. The gel fraction was analyzed by using the Charlesby–Pinner equation. The G values of crosslinking and main chain scission were increased by the preirradiation, whereas their activation energies remained unaltered. On the basis of these results the effects of preirradiation on the reactions induced by γ rays in polyethylene were discussed.