Synthesis of thioether‐functional poly(olefin)s via ruthenium‐alkylidene initiated ring‐opening metathesis polymerization

Ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of thioether‐derived oxanorbornene imide ( M1 ) and its copolymerization with various cycloolefin comonomers such as cyclopentene ( M2 ), cyclopent‐3‐en‐1‐ol ( M3 ), cycloheptene ( M4 ), and cyclooctene ( M5 ) using Hoveyda–Grubbs second generation catalyst has been investigated. Polymerizations were performed at two different temperatures (0 and 25 °C) and the obtained functional poly(olefin)s were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance ¹H and ¹³C (NMR), and infrared spectroscopy as well as size exclusion chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis analyses. Additionally, the dependence of the polymer composition on the reaction temperature and monomer feed was studied with time‐dependent ¹H NMR experiments. Copolymerization of M1 with a five‐membered cycloolefin monomer M2 showed relatively low ROMP reactivity irrespective of the reaction conditions in comparison to M3 , M4 , and M5 monomers. In general, the degree of monomer incorporation into poly(olefin)s were determined in the order of M5 > M3 > M4 > M2 , and that sheds light on the effect of cycloolefin ring strain energies in the ruthenium‐alkylidene initiated ROMP. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 1741–1747     

Indirect determination of thallium by differential-pulse polarography

The method is based on the separation of Tl(I) as Tl(2)HPMo(12)O(40), stripping of the molybdate, and measurement of the peak current in differential-pulse polarography of the molybdenum. The calibration graph is linear over the range 2-12 ppm of thallium. The relative standard deviation is 1.2% (7 replicates each containing 500 microg of thallium). The current due to reduction of the molybdenum is three times that for reduction of the equivalent amount of Tl(I) in the thallous phosphomolybdate precipitate, making the indirect approach more sensitive than direct polarographic determination of the Tl(I).     

Synthesis and spectroscopic studies of the charge transfer complexes of 2- and 3-aminopyridine

The interactions of the electron donors 2-aminopyridine (2APY) and 3-aminopyridine (3APY) with the π-acceptors tetracyanoethylene (TCNE), 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone (DDQ), 2-chloro-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene (picryl chloride, PC), and 2,3,5,6-tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone (chloranil) were studied spectrophotometrically in chloroform at room temperature. The electronic and infrared spectra of the formed molecular charge transfer (CT) complexes were recorded. Photometric titration showed that the stoichiometries of the reactions were fixed and depended on the nature of both the donor and the acceptor. The molecular structures of the CT-complexes were, however, independent of the position of the amino group on the pyridine ring and were formulated as [(APY)(TCNE)], [(APY)(DDQ)], [(APY)(PC)], and [(APY) (chloranil)]. The formation constants (K_CT), charge transfer energy (E_CT) and molar extinction coefficients (_CT) of the formed CT-complexes were obtained.     

Ruthenium(II) dipyridoquinoxaline-norbornene: synthesis, properties, crystal structure, and use as a ROMP monomer

The synthesis, X-ray structure, and electrochemical and photophysical characterization of [Ru(phen)(2)dpq-n][PF(6)](2) (phen = phenanthroline, dpq-n = dipyridoquinoxaline-norbornene) are described. This complex contains a Ru(phen)(3)(2+) moiety in close conjugation with a norbornene unit and is the first example of a Ru(II) diimine complex capable of undergoing ring-opening metathesis polymerization. Luminescence studies of this complex showed an increase in quantum efficiency in polar solvents and in water. Preliminary ring-opening metathesis polymerization studies, carried out at low monomer-to-initiator ratio, showed the formation of an oligomeric mixture composed mainly of the dimer of this complex. This dimer exhibits photophysical and redox properties similar to those of the monomer, indicating that the Ru(phen)(3)(2+) moiety remains intact during the polymerization.     

VIP-2 —High-Sensitivity Tests on the Pauli Exclusion Principle for Electrons

The VIP collaboration is performing high sensitivity tests of the Pauli Exclusion Principle for electrons in the extremely low cosmic background environment of the underground Gran Sasso National Laboratory INFN (Italy). In particular, the VIP-2 Open Systems experiment was conceived to put strong constraints on those Pauli Exclusion Principle violation models which respect the so-called Messiah–Greenberg superselection rule. The experimental technique consists of introducing a direct current in a copper conductor, and searching for the X-rays emission coming from a forbidden atomic transition from the L shell to the K shell of copper when the K shell is already occupied by two electrons. The analysis of the first three months of collected data (in 2018) is presented. The obtained result represents the best bound on the Pauli Exclusion Principle violation probability which fulfills the Messiah–Greenberg rule.     

Inhibition of corrosion of copper in nitric acid solution by four amino acids

Inhibition of corrosion of copper in 1M HNO₃ solution by four amino acids, proline (Pro), phenylalanine (Phe), tyrosine (Tyr), and tryptophan (Try), has been studied by use of gravimetric and electrochemical polarization measurements. The results obtained the from two different techniques are comparable, and show that Tyr and Try act as good inhibitors of corrosion of copper in 1 mol L^?1 HNO₃. Correlation between inhibition efficiency and quantum chemical calculations, performed using semi empirical (AM1 and MNDO) and ab-initio methods, is discussed.     

Ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of five- to eight-membered cyclic olefins: Computational,thermodynamic, and experimental approach

Ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of a series of low-strain cyclic olefins and their hydroxyl derivatives using second generation Hoveyda–Grubbs catalyst has been investigated. Additionally, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to evaluate the ring strain energies of the cyclic olefins and their hydroxyl derivatives, coupled with kinetic studies for the ROMP reactions. It was found that among different ring size monomers, Cy8 having a relatively moderate ring strain energy in comparison with the other cyclic olefins, exhibited the highest monomer conversion. The effect of temperature (0, 10, 15, and 25 °C) and monomer concentration (1 M; 2.5 M and 5 M for Cy5 ; and 1 M and 5 M for Cy7 ) for the cyclic olefins Cy5 and Cy7 were investigated. In general, the experimental results for the kinetic ROMP studies obtained using complex HG2 correlate really well with the DFT calculations determined for the ring strain energies of the cyclic olefins. For comparison, DFT calculations predicted the following trend for the ring strain energies Cy8 > Cy5 > Cy7 > Cy6 , and the polymerizations carried out experimentally followed the same trend in terms of monomer conversion, with the exception of Cy5 and Cy7 at lower concentrations, which followed this trend Cy8 > Cy7 > Cy5 > Cy6 . © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 3137–3145     

Effects of sugar ring puckering, anti-syn interconversion and intramolecular interactions on N-glycosidic bond cleavage in 3-methyl-2��-deoxyadenosine and 2��-deoxyadenosine

The effects of structural parameters and intramolecular interactions on N-glycosidic bond length in 3-methyl-2??- deoxyadenosine (3MDA) and 2??-deoxyadenosine (DA) were investigated employing quantum mechanical methods. All calculations were performed at B3LYP/6-311++G** level in the gas phase. The N-glycosidic bond length strongly depends on sugar configuration; it is shorter in syn conformation relative to anti in many cases where they have the same sugar ring configuration. The sugar conformation can influence the N-glycosidic bond through interaction with the O4?? atom. The impact of intramolecular improper hydrogen bonds and H-H bonding interactions on N-glycosidic bond length was investigated in DA and 3MDA and their modeled structures. Improper hydrogen bonds decrease N-glycosidic bond length while H-H bonding interactions increase it.