New oxamidato-bridged Cu(II)-Ni(II) complexes: supramolecular structures with thiocyanate ligands and hydrogen bonds. Magnetostructural studies: DFT calculations

Four new supramolecular compounds of Cu(II)-Ni(II) have been synthesized and characterized: [Cu(Me(2)oxpn)Ni(mu-NCS)(H(2)O)(tmen)](2)(ClO(4))(2) (1), [Cu(Me(2)oxpn)Ni(mu-NCS)(H(2)O)(tmen)](2)(PF(6))(2) (2), [Cu(oxpn)Ni(mu-NCS)(NCS) (tmen)](n) (3), and [Cu(Me(2)oxpn)Ni(mu-NCS)(NCS)(tmen)](n) (4), where oxpn = N,N'-bis(3-aminopropyl)oxamidate, Me(2)oxpn = N,N'-bis(3-amino-2,2'-dimethylpropyl)oxamidate, and tmen = N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine. Their crystal structures were solved. Complexes 1 and 2 have the same tetranuclear cationic part but a different counteranion. The cationic part consists of two [Cu(Me(2)oxpn)Ni] moieties linked by SCN(-) bridged ligands and intra-tetranuclear hydrogen bonds. In the case of complex 3, a two-dimensional system was built, the thiocyanate ligand linking the dinuclear units gives a chain, and the chains are linked together by hydrogen bonds; intrachain hydrogen bonds are also present. For complex 4, the thiocyanate ligands produce intermolecular linkages between the dinuclear entities, giving a one-dimensional system; intrachain hydrogen bonds are also present. The magnetic properties of the four complexes were studied by susceptibility measurements vs temperature. DFT calculations were made to study the contribution of the SCN(-) and hydrogen bond bridges in the magnetic coupling.     

A continuous flow system design for simultaneous determination of heavy metals in river water samples

A new design of a continuous flow system applied to the simultaneous determination of the concentration of zinc(II), cadmium(II), lead(II), copper(II), nickel(II), cobalt(II) and chromium(VI) in river water is described. A flow cell made in the laboratory, which has been patented, based on a 'wall-jet' configuration with a three-electrode system is described. Optimum conditions for the determination of the metal ions are reported. The detection limits and relative standard deviation values were 4.01x10(-9) M and 0.078 for Zn(II), 1.76x10(-10) M and 0.056 for Cd(II), 4.69x10(-10) M and 0.134 for Pb(II), 2.29x10(-10) M and 0.138 for Cu(II), 1.61x10(-9) M and 0.093 for Ni(II), 1.91x10(-9) M and 0.113 for Co(II), and 1.35x10(-9) M and 0.081 for Cr(VI). The procedure was applied to a sample of water from the Arlanzón river and the results were compared with inductively coupled mass plasma spectrometry (ICP-MS) as reference method. The final aim of this work is to design a flow system, which can be automated.     

Computer Handling of Chemical and Biological Data of Traditional Chinese Medicines

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Nanostructured collagen layers obtained by adsorption and drying

The supramolecular organization of collagen adsorbed from a 7 microg/ml solution on polystyrene was investigated as a function of the adsorption duration (from 1 min to 24 h) and of the drying conditions (fast drying under a nitrogen flow, slow drying in a water-saturated atmosphere). The morphology of the created surfaces was examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM), while complementary information regarding the adsorbed amount and the organization of the adsorbed layers was obtained using radioassays, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and wetting measurements. The collagen adsorbed amount increased up to an adsorption duration of 5 h and then leveled off at a value of 0.9 microg/cm2. For samples obtained by fast drying, modeling of the N/C ratios obtained by XPS in terms of thickness and surface coverage, in combination with the adsorbed amount, water contact angle measurements and AFM images, indicated that the adsorbed layer formed a felt starting from 30 min of adsorption, the density and/or the thickness of which increased with the adsorption time. Upon slow drying, the collagen layers formed after adsorption times up to about 2 h underwent a strong reorganization. The obtained nanopatterns were attributed to dewetting, the liquid film being ruptured and adsorbed collagen being displaced by the water meniscus. At higher adsorption times, the organization of the collagen layer was similar to that obtained after fast drying, because the onset of dewetting and/or collagen displacement were prevented by the high density of the collagen felt.     

DFT and NMR parameterized conformation of valeranone

A Monte Carlo random search using molecular mechanics, followed by geometry optimization of each minimum energy structure employing density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G* level and a Boltzmann analysis of the total energies, generated accurate molecular models which describe the conformational behavior of the antispasmodic bicyclic sesquiterpene valeranone (1). The theoretical H-C-C-H dihedral angles gave the corresponding 1H, 1H vicinal coupling constants using a generalized Karplus-type equation. In turn, the 3J(H,H) values were used as initial input data for the spectral simulation of 1, which after iteration provided an excellent correlation with the experimental 1H NMR spectrum. The calculated 3J(H,H) values closely predicted the experimental values, excepting the coupling constant between the axial hydrogen alpha to the carbonyl group and the equatorial hydrogen beta to the carbonyl group (J(2beta, 3beta)). The difference is explained in terms of the electron density distribution found in the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of 1. The simulated spectrum, together with 2D NMR experiments, allowed the total assignment of the 1H and 13C NMR spectra of 1.     

Ferromagnetism and chirality in two-dimensional cyanide-bridged bimetallic compounds

The combination of hexacyanoferrate(III) anions, [Fe(CN)(6)](3)(-), with nickel(II) complexes derived from the chiral ligand trans-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine (trans-chxn) affords the enantiopure layered compounds [Ni(trans-(1S,2S)-chxn)(2)](3)[Fe(CN)(6)](2).2H(2)O (1) and [Ni(trans-(1R,2R)-chxn)(2)](3)[Fe(CN)(6)](2).2H(2)O (2). These chiral systems behave as ferromagnets (T(c) = 13.8 K) with a relatively high coercive field (H(c) = 0.17 T) at 2 K. They also exhibit an unusual magnetic behavior at low temperatures that has been attributed to the dynamics of the magnetic domains in the ordered phase.     

New strategy for the asymmetric synthesis of phenyl ketone cyanohydrins: quaternization of cyanohydrins derived from 2-p-tolylsulfinyl benzaldehyde

[reaction: see text] Optically pure functionalized cyanohydrins derived from 1-[2-(p-tolylsulfinyl)phenyl] ethanone can be obtained by the reaction of 2-p-tolylsulfinyl benzaldehyde derived cyanohydrins with bases and further treatment with suitable electrophiles. High yields and excellent stereoselectivities (up to de >98%) were obtained for these remote 1,4-asymmetric induction processes controlled by a sulfinyl chiral inductor.     

Potential energy surface for the CCl4 + H --> CCl3 + ClH reaction: kinetics and dynamics study

An analytical potential energy surface for the gas-phase CCl4 + H --> CCl3 + ClH reaction was constructed with suitable functional forms to represent vibrational modes. This surface is completely symmetric with respect to the permutation of the four chlorine atoms and is calibrated with respect to experimental thermal rate constants available over the temperature range 297-904 K. On this surface, the thermal rate constants were calculated using variational transition-state theory with semiclassical transmission coefficients over a wider temperature range 300-2500 K, therefore obtaining kinetics information at higher temperatures than are experimentally available. This surface was also used to analyze dynamical features, such as tunneling and reaction-path curvature. In the first case, the influence of the tunneling factor is very small since a heavy chlorine atom has to pass through the barrier. In the second, it was found that vibrational excitation of the Cl-H stretching mode can be expected in the exit channel.     

A potential model for the study of ices and amorphous water: TIP4P/Ice

The ability of several water models to predict the properties of ices is discussed. The emphasis is put on the results for the densities and the coexistence curves between the different ice forms. It is concluded that none of the most commonly used rigid models is satisfactory. A new model specifically designed to cope with solid-phase properties is proposed. The parameters have been obtained by fitting the equation of state and selected points of the melting lines and of the coexistence lines involving different ice forms. The phase diagram is then calculated for the new potential. The predicted melting temperature of hexagonal ice (Ih) at 1 bar is 272.2 K. This excellent value does not imply a deterioration of the rest of the properties. In fact, the predictions for both the densities and the coexistence curves are better than for TIP4P, which previously yielded the best estimations of the ice properties.     

Spectrometric study ofα-methylene aromatic araminenone and aminoketone

Thirteenα-methylene aromatic araminenone and fourα-methylene aromatic aminoketones were prepared by modified Mannich reaction.On the basis of isotopic labeling,a plausible way of cleavage was proposed for the formation of the M~ -17 fragment peak in the MS of theα-methylene aromatic araminenone and aminoketones.The characteristic chemical shift of the olefinic protons in ~1H NMR is also discussed.