Using FTIR spectroscopy to detect sericin on historic silk

Silks represent some of the most precious ancient and historic textile artefacts in collections worldwide.Their optimum preservation demands an appreciation of their characteristics.One important concern,especially with regard to ancient Chinese silks,is whether the fabrics have been degummed.Silks with remnant sericin gum coating the fibroin fibres would require different conservation protocol.In previous research on aged silks,the presence of sericin has been inferred from amino acid analysis of hydrolysa...     

Synthesis of 2,6-diarylpyrylium tetrafluoroborates

A number of previously unknown 2,6-diarylpyrylium tetrafluoroborates was obtained by the reaction of substituted acetophenones with ethyl orthoformate and boron trifluoride etherate.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 9, pp. 1168–1169, September, 1982.     

Heterocyclization of Functionalized Heterocumulenes with C,N- and C,O-Binucleophiles. 1. Cyclocondensation of 1-Chloroalkylheterocumulenes and N-(1-Chloroalkylidene)urethanes with 2-Cyanomethylpyridine

The interaction of 1-chloroalkyl isocyanates, 1-chloroalkylcarbodiimides, 1,1-dichloroalkyl isocyanates, and N-(1-chloroethylidene)-O-methylurethanes with 2-cyanomethylpyridine has been investigated. An effect of organic base has been detected on the regioselectivity of the cyclocondensation of 1-chloroalkyl isocyanates, which leads to 2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidin-1-one or the isomeric 2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidin-3-one. Irrespective of the cyclization conditions 1-chloroalkylcarbodiimides react with the formation of 1-imino-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidines. One type of product, a 1H-pyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidin-1-one, was also isolated from 1,1-dichloroalkyl isocyanates and N-(1-chloroalkylidene)urethanes.     

Induction of a chiral nematic phase in smectic polymers

A number of new photosensitive copolyacrylates of different composition were obtained by the copolymerization of chiral photochromic benzilidene-p-menthane- 3-one acrylic monomers with a smectogenic monomer containing a hexyloxyphenylbenzoate mesogenic group. The chiral, photochromic monomers differ by the length of the aliphatic spacer and the aromatic fragment. It was found that the introduction of a small number of chiral units into the copolymers (5 mol%) leads to the “degeneration” of the smectic C phase, which characterizes the hexyloxyphenylbenzoate homopolymer, and to the formation of the smectic A phase. An unusual effect of chiral nematic phase induction was observed for copolymers containing chiral side groups with two ring aromatic fragments. It should be pointed out that the chiral nematic phase does not occur in the case of the homopolymers of both initial comonomers. An explanation of this effect, based on the consideration of the chemical structure of the chiral and hexyloxyphenylbenzoate units, was suggested. The optical properties of cholesteric copolymers were investigated; the helical twisting power of the chiral groups of different structures was calculated. The possibility of using such copolymers as new photosensitive materials was demonstrated. Received: 16 December 1999/Accepted: 1 February 2000     

Synthesis and the crystal structures of N-(2-nitroxyethyl)isonicotinamide and its complexes with PdCl2 and PtCl2 as potential antitumor medicines

Previously unknown N-(2-nitroxyethyl)isonicotinamide was synthesized by the reaction of isonicotinoyl chloride with 2-nitroxyethylamine and was used as a ligand in the reactions with PdCl₂ and PtCl₂ to prepare new complexes, viz., trans-bis[(2-nitroxyethyl)isonicotinamide-N]dichloropalladium(ii) and cis-bis[(2-nitroxyethyl)isonicotinamide-N]dichloroplatinum(ii), respectively. The structures of the ligand and the resulting complexes were established by X-ray diffraction analysis.     

Study of the Phase Transition in Hg<Subscript>2</Subscript>Cl<Subscript>2</Subscript> Crystals Using Anomalous X-Ray Transmission

The small-angle X-ray scattering in calomel (univalent mercury chloride Hg₂Cl₂) single crystals at low temperatures has been investigated. Data on the size of superstructural ferroelectric domains have been obtained for the first time. Lang measurements with anomalous X-ray transmission have made it possible to trace the temperature dynamics of crystal lattice of the high-temperature D_4h phase of Hg₂Cl₂ from 300 K to the Curie temperature (186 K) and the formation of ferroelastic domains in the temperature range of 186–100 K. The lowering of paraphase symmetry in the closest vicinity of the phase transition temperature is indicative of tricritical point transition.