Palladium–Schiff base–triphenylphosphine catalyzed oxidation of alcohols

Novel palladium(II)‐N‐(2‐pyridyl)‐N′‐(5‐R‐salicylidene) hydrazine triphenylphosphine complexes were synthesized and characterized by UV, IR, ¹H NMR and ³¹P NMR spectral analysis, C, H, N analysis and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The complexes were effective in the catalytic oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols in presence of N‐methyl‐morpholine‐N‐oxide as oxidant. The oxidation reactions were carried out in dichloromethane. A mechanistic study of the above reactions has been proposed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spectrophotometric studies of copper (II)—bis-2-pyridyl glycol complex

An aqueous solution ofbis-2-pyridyl glycol forms a deep blue water-soluble complex with an aqueous solution of copper (II) salts. The complex has an absorption maximum at 600–650 mµ between pH range 3·0–8·7. The complex is stable for four days and obeys Lambert-Beer’s law in the concentration range of 5·08–50·80 ppm. of copper (II) in solution. The optical density of the complex remains constant between pH 3·8–5·9. The molar composition as determined by the method of continuous variation and by the slope ratio method has been found to be 1:1. The limits of interference due to some foreign ions during the estimation of copper (II) have been determined.     

A new method of producing local enhancement of buoyancy in liquid flows

We describe here a novel method of generating large volumetric heating in a liquid. The method uses the principle of ohmic heating of the liquid, rendered electrically conducting by suitable additives if necessary. Electrolysis is prevented by the use of high frequency alternating voltage and chemically treated electrodes. The technique is demonstrated by producing substantial heating in an initially neutral jet of water. Simple flow visualisation studies, made by adding dye to the jet, show marked changes in the growth and development of the jet with heat addition.Also with National Aeronautical Laboratory, Bangalore 560 017, India     

Limitations in the use of horseradish peroxidase as an enyzme probe in the development of a homogeneous immunoassay for aflatoxin B1

Horseradish peroxidase (HRPO) was used as a probe to quantitate aflatoxin B₁ by a homogeneous immunoassay. The conjugation of AFB₁ to HRPO resulted in 54% loss of enyzme activity. In the presence of AFB₁ specific antibodies, the HRPO-AFB₁ conjugate showed reversal of its lost enzyme activity by 12%. This positive modulatory effect of antibody on the enzyme activity was used as an analytical tool to quantitate AFB₁. The homogeneous assay carried out with free AFB₁ and HRPO-AFB₁ conjugate in the presence of antibodies indicated poor linearity as compared to the heterogeneous assay. It was observed that the number of HRPO-lysine residues involved in AFB₁ conjugation were 6–8. The low level of modulation of enzyme activity by antibody with respect to HRPO-AFB₁ conjugate, could possibly be attributed to the limited number of lysine residues in the HRPO molecule and its proximity to the active site of the enzyme. Thus, HRPO was found to be limiting as an enzyme with respect to the homogeneous enzyme immunoassay for AFB₁ analysis. The antibodies raised were specific for AFB₁, and showed excellent linearity even at high dilution for the detection of AFB₁ by ELISA indicating that antibodies per se were not the limiting factor.     

Example of indeterminacy in classical dynamics

The case of a particle moving along a nonsmooth constraint under the action of uniform gravity is presented as an example of indeterminancy in a classical situation. The indeterminacy arises from certain initial conditions having nonunique solutions and is due to the failure of the Lipschitz condition at the corresponding points in the phase space of the equation of motion.     

X-ray K-absorption spectrum of yttrium in some yttrium pyrochlores

The X-ray K-absorption edge of yttrium in some pyrochlores of the type YLnFeSbO₇ have been investigated using a 400 mm bent crystal spectrograph. The position of the principal absorption edge was found to have shifted towards the low energy side when Ln was changed from lanthanum through erbium. On the basis of the extended absorption fine structure estimates about the bond lengths have been made using the Lytle's and Levy's techniques.