Thermal Studies on Ionic Derivatives of Hafnium(IV) Involving Maltol Ligand

A number of ionic chelate complexes of maltol(A) and hafnium(IV) the type[(η₅−C₅H₅)₂HfL]⁺[MCl3]⁻ (B) [HL=maltol; M=Zn(II), Cd(II), Hg(II), Cu(II)]have been synthesized and characterized by spectral studies (IR, UV, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR). The stoichiometry of the complexes has been confirmed by conductance measurements. Thermogravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analytical (DTA) studies have been carried out for these complexes and from TG curves, the order, apparent activation energy and apparent activation entropy of the thermal decomposition reactions have been elucidated .The order in each case has been determined to be one and the degree of spontaneity and lability have been inferred from the apparent activation energy and entropy, respectively. Thermal parameters have been correlated with some structural aspects of the complexes concerned. From differential thermal analysis curves, the heat of reaction has been calculated. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

ATR-FT-IR spectroscopy in the region of 550–230 cm−1 for identification of inorganic pigments

A comprehensive study of ATR-FT-IR spectra of 40 inorganic pigments of different colours widely used in historical paintings has been carried out in the low wave number spectral range (550–230 cm^?1). The infrared spectra were recorded from mixtures of pigment and linseed oil. It is demonstrated that this spectral range – essentially devoid of absorption peaks of the common binder materials – can be well used for identification of inorganic pigments in paint samples thereby markedly extending the possibilities of pigment identification/confirmation by ATR-IR spectroscopy into the realm of pigments having no absorptions in the mid-IR region. In some cases the method can be used alone for pigment identification and in many cases it provides useful additional evidence for pigment identification using other instrumental techniques (electron microprobe analysis, XRF, optical microscopy). Together with earlier work this study provides a comprehensive overview of the pigment identification possibilities using ATR-FT-IR as well as a collection of reference spectra and is expected to be a useful reference for conservation practitioners.     

Formation and stability criteria for amorphous Ge alloy films

Formation and stability of room-temperature deposited amorphous (a-) alloy films of Ge with Ag, Au, Cu, Ni, Fe, Ga, In, Sn, Sb, Ni, Bi and Nb have been studied, using differential thermal analysis and electron microscopy, as a function of various parameters such as: solubility of alloying element (in c-Ge), its melting point, atomic size and electonegativity. It has been shown that the composition range R, up to which amorphous alloy films are obtained, is affected by the solubility of the alloying element and its melting point. The effect of solubility S is dominant when S > 1 at%. However, for $\text{S ? 1}\text{at}\text{\%}$, the range is entirely governed by the melting point of the alloying element. Solubility and melting point have also been found to play a decisive role in stabilizing the amorphous phase of Ge. However, atomic size and electronegativity differences do not seem to play any important role in either the formation or stability of the amorphous phase.     

Kinetics of the oxidation of phosphinic,phenylphosphinic, and phosphorous acids by N-bromoacetamide

The oxidation of phosphinic, phenylphosphinic, and phosphorous acids by N-bromoacetamide (NBA) in acid solution, results in the formation of corresponding higher oxyacids of phosphorus. The reaction is first order with respect to NBA, second order in the oxyacid and inverse first in hydrogen ions. The oxidation of deuteriated phosphorus oxyacids showed the presence of a substantial primary kinetic isotope effect. The reaction failed to induce polymerization of acrylonitrile. Added acetamide has no effect on the reaction rate. It has been shown that the ‘inactive’ tautomer of the phosphorus oxyacids, RHP(O)OH, participates in the oxidation process. A rate-determining step involving transfer of a hydride ion from the P? H bond to the oxidant has been proposed.     

Review of heat transport properties of solar heat transfer fluids

The present article reviews the test techniques for some of the important heat transport properties of oils such as viscosity, density, specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity mainly used for characterization of heat transfer fluids. It can be seen that while density of oils can be tested at higher temperatures, the other heat transport properties of oils like viscosity, specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity have a limitation of being tested at low temperatures below 100–150 °C. While quite a few number of researchers have reported evaluation of heat transfer properties like specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity of oils by different methods, there remains a huge scope of debate and discussions on the repeatability and reproducibility of such tests, especially in case of oils used in high-temperature applications. A lot of insight has been gathered with respect to testing of thermal conductivity of oils, and several common test methods have been compared with each other. Lastly, two mathematical models, reported in the literature in open domain, have been reviewed and compared with each other. If the oils are to be used at elevated temperatures, like heat transfer fluids used in concentrated solar power generation where temperatures go as high as 400 °C and beyond, there is an urgent need to standardize a laboratory test method for performance evaluation of heat transport properties, which can help in formulating new generation oils based on novel chemistries and technologies like nanofluids, synthetic oils of novel chemistries, molten salts and molten metals.     

Material properties of matrix lipids determine the conformation and intermolecular reactivity of diacetylenic phosphatidylcholine in the lipid bilayer

Photopolymerizable phospholipid DC(8,9)PC (1,2-bis-(tricosa-10,12-diynoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) exhibits unique assembly characteristics in the lipid bilayer. Because of the presence of the diacetylene groups, DC(8,9)PC undergoes polymerization upon UV (254 nm) exposure and assumes chromogenic properties. DC(8,9)PC photopolymerization in gel-phase matrix lipid 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) monitored by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy occurred within 2 min after UV treatment, whereas no spectral shifts were observed when DC(8,9)PC was incorporated into liquid-phase matrix 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC). Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis showed a decrease in the amount of DC(8,9)PC monomer in both DPPC and POPC environments without any change in the matrix lipids in UV-treated samples. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of DPPC/DC(8,9)PC and POPC/DC(8,9)PC bilayers indicate that the DC(8,9)PC molecules adjust to the thickness of the matrix lipid bilayer. Furthermore, the motions of DC(8,9)PC in the gel-phase bilayer are more restricted than in the fluid bilayer. The restricted motional flexibility of DC(8,9)PC (in the gel phase) enables the reactive diacetylenes in individual molecules to align and undergo polymerization, whereas the unrestricted motions in the fluid bilayer restrict polymerization because of the lack of appropriate alignment of the DC(8,9)PC fatty acyl chains. Fluorescence microscopy data indicates the homogeneous distribution of lipid probe 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-lissamine rhodamine B sulfonyl ammonium salt (N-Rh-PE) in POPC/DC(8,9)PC monolayers but domain formation in DPPC/DC(8,9)PC monolayers. These results show that the DC(8,9)PC molecules cluster and assume the preferred conformation in the gel-phase matrix for the UV-triggered polymerization reaction.     

Exercising regiocontrol in palladium-catalyzed asymmetric prenylations and geranylation: unifying strategy toward flustramines A and B

Pd-catalyzed asymmetric prenylation of oxindoles to afford selectively either the prenyl or reverse-prenyl product has been demonstrated. Control of the regioselectivity in this transformation is governed by the choice of ligand, solvent, and halide additive. The resulting prenylated and reverse-prenylated products were transformed into ent-flustramides and ent-flustramines A and B. Additionally, control of the regio- and diastereoselectivity was obtained using π-geranylpalladium complexes.     

Horse radish peroxidase immobilized polyaniline for hydrogen peroxide sensor

Horse radish peroxidase (HRP) has been electrochemically entrapped into perchlorate (ClO) doped polyaniline (PANI) film deposited onto indium‐tin‐oxide (ITO) coated glass plate. This HRP‐PANI‐ClO/ITO bioelectrode characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV‐Visible spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques has been utilized for estimation of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). This H₂O₂ sensor exhibits response time of 5 s, linearity from 3 to 136 mM, sensitivity as 0.5638 µA mM^?1 cm^?2 with linear regression of 0.985. The value of the Michaelis–Menten constant (K_m) has been obtained as 1.984 mM. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Linear and nonlinear optical properties of cationic bipyridyl iridium(III) complexes: tunable and photoswitchable?

A series of cationic Ir(III) substituted bipyridyl ()(N(∧)N (N(∧)N-bpy) complexes incorporating electron-donor and -acceptor substituents, [Ir(C(∧)N-ppy-R')(2)(N(∧)N-bpy-CH═CH-C(6)H(4)-R)][X] (X(-) = PF(6)(-) or C(12)H(25)SO(3)(-)), 2 (a, R = NEt(2) and R' = Me; b, R = O-Oct and R' = Me; c, R = NO(2) and R' = C(6)H(13); C(∧)N-ppy = cyclometalated 2-phenylpyridine, [Ir(C(∧)N-ppy-Me)(2)(N(∧)N-bpy-CH═CH-thienyl-Me)][PF(6)], 2d, and the dithienylethene (DTE)-containing complex 2e have been synthesized and characterized, and their absorption, luminescence, and quadratic nonlinear optical (NLO) properties are reported. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent-DFT (TD-DFT) calculations on the complexes facilitate a detailed assignment of the excited states involved in the absorption and emission processes. All five complexes are luminescent in a rigid glass at 77 K, displaying vibronically structured spectra with long lifetimes (14-90 μs), attributed to triplet states localized on the styryl-appended bipyridines. The second-order NLO properties of 2a-d and related complexes 1a-d with 1,10-phenanthrolines have been investigated by both electric field induced second harmonic generation (EFISH) and harmonic light scattering (HLS) techniques. They are characterized by high negative EFISH μβ values which decrease when the ion pair strength between the cation and the counterion (PF(6)(-), C(12)H(25)SO(3)(-)) increases. The EFISH response is mainly controlled by metal-to-ligand charge-transfer/ligand-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT/L'LCT) processes. A combination of HLS and EFISH techniques is used to evaluate both the dipolar and octupolar contributions to the total quadratic hyperpolarizability, demonstrating that the major contribution is controlled by the octupolar part. The incorporation of a photochromic DTE unit into the N(∧)N-bpy ligand (complex 2e) allows the luminescence to be switched ON or OFF. The photocyclisation of the DTE unit can be triggered by using either UV (365 nm) or visible light (430 nm), leading to an efficient quenching of the ligand-based 77 K luminescence, which can be restored upon irradiation of the closed form at 715 nm. In contrast, no significant modification of the EFISH μβ value is observed upon photocyclization, suggesting that the quadratic NLO response is dominated by the MLCT/L'LCT processes, rather than by the intraligand excited states localized on the substituted bipyridine ligand.     

Synthesis of fused bicyclic systems with nitrogen atom at the bridgehead, including indolizidines and quinolizidines

Monocyclic as well as fused bicyclic systems with a nitrogen 10 atom at the bridgehead, including indolizidines and quinolizidines, can be prepared in four steps from N-Boc β-lactams. These easily prepared, highly robust, and flexible building blocks allow the incorporation of chirality and structural diversity, rendering the method feasible for diversity- as well as target-oriented synthesis.