Spectroscopic studies of (AsSe)100−xAgx thin films

Thin (AsSe)_100−xAg_x films have been grown onto quartz substrates by vacuum thermal evaporation or pulsed laser deposition from the corresponding bulk materials. The amorphous character of the coatings was confirmed by X-ray diffraction investigations. Their transmission was measured within the wavelength range 400-2500 nm and the obtained spectra were analyzed by the Swanepoel method to derive the optical band gap E_g and the refractive index n. We found that both parameters are strongly influenced by the addition of silver to the glassy matrix: E_g decreases while n increases with Ag content. These variations are discussed in terms of the changes in the atomic and electronic structure of the materials as a result of silver incorporation.     

Bipyrrole- and dipyrromethane-based amido-imine hybrid macrocycles. New receptors for oxoanions

Three new amido-imine-type hybrid macrocycles based on substituted pyrrole units have been synthesized and shown to act as effective receptors for oxoanions in the solid state and in acetonitrile solution. One of the macrocycles in question, compound 15, was characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis as the free macrocycle and as a complex with sulfuric acid. A comparison of the resulting structures reveals that this receptor is capable of undergoing a conformational change and, as a consequence, varying the number of donor sites that can interact with a bound substrate. This system and the other two new receptors described in this work (macrocycles 14 and 16, respectively) display a high affinity toward oxoanions (studied as their tetrabutylammonium (TBA) salts), with association constants on the order of 10(7) M-1 being determined in acetonitrile solution using standard UV-vis spectroscopic titration methods. A competitive titration method was used to determine affinity constants in excess of ca. 10(6) M-1. Two of the receptors (14 and 15) were found to bind acetate, hydrogen sulfate, and dihydrogen phosphate anion well, and the bipyrrole-based receptor (14) was also found to bind the perrhenate anion. In contrast, the bis-dipyrromethane-derived receptor (16) was found to bind chloride anion preferentially. The unusual selectivity displayed by 16 for this spherical anion was rationalized on the basis of single-crystal X-ray diffraction data and DFT modeling calculations, which revealed a rigid structure appropriately suited for chloride anion recognition.     

Oscillations of a bubble separated from an air cavity under compression caused by magnetic field in a magnetic fluid

Based on the concept of mapping the free surface geometry of a weakly magnetic medium by the topography of isolines of the magnetic field strength magnitude, the shape of the free surface of a magnetic fluid is studied in the static state at two stages: the initial stage, where an annular magnet is moving toward the surface of the magnetic fluid column in a tube, and at the stage where the air cavity is pressed to the bottom. It is shown that the separation of bubbles from the air cavity occurs at the magnet axis in the immediate vicinity of the magnet symmetry plane. A method and an experimental setup are proposed to investigate possible electromagnetic indication of the size of air bubbles formed in the magnetic fluid. The results of an experimental study of bubble separation from an air cavity held in the magnetic fluid and compressed by the pondermotive forces of the magnetic field are discussed. The results may be of importance for designing a new technique for metering small gas shots to a reactor.     

Heterocyclic ketones in the pfitzinger reaction

By the reaction of isatin with heterocyclic ketones (N-tert-butoxycarbonyl derivatives of pyrrolidin-3-one, piperidin-4-one, piperidin-3-one, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolin-4-one, 8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3-one, tetrahydropyran-4-one, tetrahydrobenzopyran-4-one) in the presence of KOH (the Pfitzinger reaction) were synthesized quinoline-4-carboxylic acids [4,3]fused with the respective heterocycles. These acids were involved in the reactions with diazomethane and amines at the carboxy group leading to methyl esters and amides, respectively. The esters obtained reacted with hydrazine hydrate affording the acid hydrazides, which entered in the condensation with benzaldehyde to form phenylhydrazones. The esters and amides containing N-tert-butoxycarbonyl fragment lost the tert-butoxycarbonyl group easily to form the secondary amines dihydrochlorides, the [4,3]fused quinoline-4-carboxylic acid derivatives.     

Anion binding by pyrrole–pyridine-based macrocyclic polyamides

The synthesis, characterisation and anion-binding properties of new pyrrole–pyridine-based macrocyclic polyamides 7a and 7b are presented. Chloride anion templation in the macrocyclisation reaction has been shown to control [1 + 1] acylation. The anion-binding properties of the receptors have been determined by UV–vis titrations in a DMSO solution and compared with systems with a similar design. The new receptors have been found to display a 10-fold selectivity for hydrogensulphate, dihydrogenphosphate and acetate anions over other anions studied.