An Automatic Molecular Dispenser of Chloride

The combined activity of the 1.1.1‐cryptand and of a dicopper(II) bistren cryptate complex including chloride makes the Cl^? ion be continuously and slowly delivered to the solution, without any external intervention. The 1.1.1‐cryptand slowly releases OH^? ions, according to a defined kinetics, and each OH^? ion displaces a Cl^? ion from the cryptate. Chloride displacement induces a sharp colour change from bright yellow to aquamarine and can be conveniently monitored spectrophotometrically, even in diluted solutions. The 1.1.1‐cryptand is the motor of a molecular dispenser (the dicopper(II) cryptate) delivering chloride ion automatically, from the inside of the solution.     

Site-specific synthesis and properties of oligonucleotides containing C8-deoxyguanosine adducts of the dietary mutagen IQ

The site-specific synthesis of oligonucleotides containing the C8-deoxyguanosine adduct of the highly mutagenic heterocyclic amine 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ) has been achieved, and the oligonucleotides were characterized by UV melting temperature analysis, circular dichroism, and UV absorption spectroscopy. Examination of these data indicated that the IQ-adduct is accommodated in dramatically different environments. This sequence-dependent conformational preference is likely to play a key role in the mutagenicity and repair of IQ-modified oligonucleotides.     

Detection of soil pollution by hydrocarbons using headspace-mass spectrometry and identification of compounds by headspace-fast gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

The direct coupling of a headspace sampler with a mass spectrometer is proposed as a screening tool for the rapid detection of soil pollution by hydrocarbons from petroleum and derivatives. The samples are subjected to the headspace generation process, with no prior treatment, and the volatiles generated are introduced directly into the mass spectrometer, thereby obtaining a fingerprint of the sample analysed. Suitable treatment of the signal by chemometric techniques allows unequivocal characterisation of the different types of sample. The use of fast gas chromatography with a mass spectrometer detector coupled to the headspace sampler allows identification of the major hydrocarbons present in the mineral and organic polluted samples, interpretation of the results obtained, and demonstrates the analytical potential of headspace-mass spectrometry coupling.     

The inconsistency in adsorption properties and powder XRD data of MOF-5 is rationalized by framework interpenetration and the presence of organic and inorganic species in the nanocavities

MOF-5 is the archetype metal-organic framework and has been subjected to numerous studies the past few years. The focal point of this report is the pitfalls related to the MOF-5 phase identification based on powder XRD data. A broad set of conditions and procedures have been reported for MOF-5 synthesis. These variations have led to materials with substantially different adsorption properties (specific surface areas in the range 700 to 3400 m(2)/g). The relatively low weight loss observed for some as synthesized samples upon solvent removal is also indicative of a low pore volume. Regrettably, these materials have all been described as MOF-5 without any further comments. Furthermore, the reported powder XRD patterns hint at structural differences: The variations in surface area are accompanied by peak splitting phenomena and rather pronounced changes in the relative peak intensities in the powder XRD patterns. In this work, we use single-crystal XRD to investigate structural differences between low and high surface area MOF-5. The low surface area MOF-5 sample had two different classes of crystals. For the dominant phase, Zn(OH)2 species partly occupied the cavities. The presence of Zn species makes the hosting cavity and possibly also adjacent cavities inaccessible and thus efficiently reduces the pore volume of the material. Furthermore, the minor phase consisted of doubly interpenetrated MOF-5 networks, which lowers the adsorption capacity. The presence of Zn species and lattice interpenetration changes the symmetry from cubic to trigonal and explains the peak splitting observed in the powder XRD patterns. Pore-filling effects from the Zn species (and partly the solvent molecules) are also responsible for the pronounced variations in powder XRD peak intensities. This latter conclusion is particularly useful for predicting the adsorption properties of a MOF-5-type material from powder XRD.     

Optimization of a New Extraction Technique for Analysis of Verbenone and cis-Verbenol in Pine Seeds

Results from a systematic study of the factors affecting extraction of cis-verbenol and verbenone from pine seeds are presented. Five extraction conditions were investigated: extraction solvent, method of extraction, extraction temperature, volume of solvent, and the ratio of the mass of sample to the amount of extraction solvent. The resulting optimized method uses magnetic-stirring-assisted extraction of pine seeds (5 g) with ethyl acetate (75 mL) for 20 min, at room temperature. RSDs were less than 5% for both compounds. GC–FID was used for quantification of cis-verbenol and verbenone in the extracts.     

The calculation of equilibrium concentrations in large multimetal/multiligand systems

An algorithm for computing equilibrium concentrations by the “equilibrium constant” method is described. The main features of this algorithm are: (a) a damping procedure in conjunction with the Newton-Raphson technique that avoids divergence in dealing with very complicated (simultaneous presence of simple, mixed, protonated, polynuclear and hydroxypolynuclear species) and/or very large systems; (2) the use of devices to decrease core requirements, calculation time, and ill-conditioned problems; and (3) the calculation of errors in free and species concentrations from the uncertainties in analytical concentrations and in formation constants. Four systems are used for testing computer programs on calculation of equilibrium concentrations.     

Functionalization of zeolitic cavities: grafting NH2 groups in framework T sites of B-SSZ-13--a way to obtain basic solids catalysts?

Insertion of B atoms into an Al-free zeolitic framework with CHA topology results in the formation of B-SSZ-13 zeotype with Si/B = 11. B K-edge NEXAFS testifies that B forms [B(OSi)4] units in a Td-like geometry (sp3-hybridized B atoms). According to B K-edge NEXAFS and IR, template burning results in the formation of [B(OSi)3] units in a D3h-like geometry (sp2-hybridized B atoms) with a break of a B-O-Si bond and the formation of a Si-OH group. The activated material contains B(III) Lewis acid centers able to specifically coordinate bases like NH3. Such [B(OSi)3] units are reactive toward ammonia, resulting in the formation of B-NH2 surface functionality inside the pores of B-SSZ-13 already under mild conditions, i.e., 35 mbar of NH3 at 373 K for 30 min and without crystallinity degradation. A minor fraction of Si-NH2 cannot be excluded owing to the presence of two IR doublets at 3500 and 3430 cm-1 and at 1600 and 1550 cm-1. Ab initio B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) calculations on a cluster model, supported by a single-point MP2 on B3LYP/6-31+G(D,P) optimized structures, found the break by NH3 of a B-O-Si bond of the [B(OSi)3] unit with formation of [SiOH] and [H2N-B(OSi)2] species to be energetically favored. Comparison between experimental and computed frequency shifts shows them to be in semiquantitative agreement. The high stability of the B-NH2 surface functionality is probed by N K-edge NEXAFS spectra collected under UHV conditions. These findings can open a new route in the preparation of shape selective solid basic catalysts.     

Optimal designs for weighted rational models

This paper is concerned with constructing optimal designs for rational models which are used for modeling problems in Agriculture and other disciplines. Homoscedastic and weighted models are considered. An analytical characterization of these designs is obtained as zeros of a polynomial solution of a second order differential equation.     

Corrigendum to “New algebraic properties of an amalgamated algebra along an ideal”

At some point, after publication, we realized that Proposition 4.1(2) and Theorem 4.4 in [2 D’Anna, M., Finocchiaro, C. A., Fontana, M. (2016). New algebraic properties of an amalgamated algebra along an ideal. Commun. Algebra 44(5):1836–1851.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]] hold under the assumption (not explicitly declared) that B = f(A)+J. Furthermore, we provide here the exact value for the embedding dimension of A?^fJ, also when B≠f(A)+J, under the hypothesis that J is finitely generated as an ideal of the ring f(A)+J.