The kinetics of oxidation of simple aliphatic sulphur compounds by potassium ferrate

Potassium ferrate (K₂FeO₄) is highly soluble in water and a very strong oxidizing agent^{(1, 2)}. Other properties include a strong bacteriacidal action which has been documented by Murmann and Robinson⁽¹⁾. These characteristics, and others, suggest that potassium ferrate would be useful in the advanced treatment of municipal waste water. The efficiency of oxidation of various organic compounds by potassium ferrate must be investigated before conclusions can be drawn.When K₂FeO₄ is placed into aqueous solution a purple colour is produced which disappears as K₂FeO₄ is reduced. At a spectrophotometric wavelength of 505 nm this affords a convenient method for measuring the decomposition kinetics of K₂FeO₄.Rate constants were obtained by algorithmic analysis of spectral absorbance data by the Cornell method⁽³⁾. This work will present a mechanism of reaction for oxidation of simple aliphatic sulphur compounds by potassium ferrate. The oxidation of simple aliphatic sulphur compounds produces the corresponding sulphoxide or sulphone^{(4, 5)} Compounds studied included dimethyl sulphoxide, diethylsulphide, dimethylsulphone, and 2,2-thiodiethanol.     

Chemical origin of thermally stimulated discharge currents in polyacrylonitrile

Thermally stimulated discharge has been used in the past to diagnose and estimate the magnitude of electrical polarization in polymers. Nevertheless, molecular characterization of operative phenomena by this technique alone is often a difficult task. In the present work, infrared attenuated total reflection spectroscopy has been used to investigate the origin of thermally stimulated discharge currents near 200°C in externally unpolarized films of polyacrylonitrile (PAN). Spectroscopic analysis of thermally degraded films reveals some unsaturation of the PAN backbone and possibly the generation of cyanide ions. Opposite surfaces in a solvent-cast film give different spectra, indicating a gradient in chemical degradation products across the film thickness. Data suggest that nonuniform generation of charged species and unsaturated bonds gives rise to internal potentials in PAN. The origin of thermally stimulated currents in PAN near 200°C is thus believed to be associated with the onset of chemical degradation.     

Performance of a Nd: YAG oscillator/ampflifier with phase-conjugation via stimulated Brillouin scattering

Phase conjugation via stimulated Brillouin scattering in CH₄ gas has been used to correct amplifier aberrations in a Nd: YAG oscillator/amplifier system. The single amplifier stage has been used in two-pass and four-pass arrangements. Using the four-pass arrangement incorporating compensation for thermal birefringence, a single-frequency diffraction-limited output of 350 mJ, in a compressed 6 ns pulse is achieved at 15 Hz repetition rate.     

Transverse momentum of charged hadrons observed in deep inelastic muon scattering

The transverse momenta of charged hadrons produced in high energy muon-proton scattering have been studied. The average squared transverse momentum 〈p²_⊥〉 shows a strong dependence on z = E_h/v characteristic of intrinsic momentum effects and a significant rise as a function of s = W². The W², q², x and z dependences of the data are compared with the predictions of a perturbative QCD model.     

Effect of fungal degradation on mechanical properties of cellophane

Changes in dynamic mechanical properties of cellophane films due either to fungal attack or to hydrochloric acid hydrolysis have been measured. It appears that damage caused by cellulase enzymes that are released from a fungal overgrowth is localized in noncrystalline regions. These effects include a substantial reduction in elastic modulus, a reduction in temperature at which relaxation processes involving chain segmental mobility occur, and a broadening of loss tangent peaks due to segmental mobility and to rotations of methylol groups. Comparing results obtained from cellulase hydrolysis with those obtained from acid hydrolysis, it is clear that enryme attack proceeds by a characteristic and selective process. Implications regarding the embrittlement often seen to accompany biodegradation are discussed.     

Calculation of the average energy and the energy distribution function of chemically activated species

Equations for the average energy of chemically activated species are developed, and uncertainties in the various energy quantities involved are discussed. Various approaches to the energy distribution function of chemically activated species are discussed. Trial calculations on methylcyclobutane are presented.     

Recommendations for measuring second-order rate constants and kinetic solvent isotope effects on acid-catalyzed reactions

Kinetic solvent isotope effects (KSIE) were measured for the hydrolyses of acetals of benzaldehydes in aqueous solutions covering the pH (pD) range of 1–6. For p-methoxybenzaldehyde diethyl acetal, k/k = 1.8–3.1, depending on the procedure used to calculate the KSIE and on the pH (pD) range used as the basis for k(k). It is shown that this variation is an experimental artifact, and is a characteristic of KSIE measurements in general. It is recommended that k be calculated from a least-squares fit of data to the equation k_obs = k[L⁺], and that the KSIE be reported as k/k. The limitation remains, however, that the KSIE measured for a variety of substances over quite different pH (pD) ranges may not be comparable to more than ?20%. The source of these observations is discussed in terms of small changes in the activity coefficient ratios (a specific salt effect), including the solvent isotope effect on the activity coefficient ratio [eq. (3)].     

The combined effect of silanols and the reversed-phase ligand on the retention of positively charged analytes

The nature of the interaction of positively charged analytes with the surface of reversed-phase bonded phases has been investigated as a function of both pH and volume fraction of organic modifier. Studies of the combined effect of both the parameters have been previously reported by us, and the data presented here further demonstrate a multiplicative interaction between pH and the concentration of organic modifier in the mobile phase. Fitting of the data as functions of pH and eluent composition clearly shows that the hydrophobically assisted ion-exchange process dominates over a purely reversed-phase or a pure ion-exchange retention mechanism. The underlying theory is developed in detail, and the mechanism is elucidated using several reversed-phase packings of substantially different character.     

Role of ion pairing in anionic additive effects on the separation of cationic drugs in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Mobile phase additives can significantly affect the separation of cationic drugs in reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC). Although there are many applications for anionic additives in RPLC separations, the retention mechanism of basic drugs in the presence of inorganic and highly hydrophilic anionic species in the mobile phase is not at all well understood. Two major retention mechanisms by which anionic additives can influence the retention of cations are: (1) ion pair formation in the mobile phase with subsequent retention of the neutral ion pair; (2) pre-sorption of anionic additives on the stationary phase followed by "dynamic ion-exchange" or "electrostatic interaction" with the analytes. Because the use of ion pair chromatography in the separation of proteins, peptides, and basic drugs is rapidly increasing, understanding the retention mechanism involved is becoming more important, especially for the smaller commonly used hydrophilic anionic additives (e.g., formate HCOO, chloride Cl-, trifluoroacetate CF3COO-, perchlorate ClO4-, and hexafluorophosphate PF6-). In this work, we compared various anionic additives in light of their effects on the retention of basic drugs. As did many others we found that the addition of anionic additives (Cl-, CF3COO-, ClO4-, PF6-) profoundly influences the retention of basic drugs. In order to explain the data and differentiate the mechanisms by which the anionic additives perturb the chromatography, we used ion pair formation constants independently measured by capillary electrophoresis (CE) under the mobile phase conditions (pH, solvent composition) identical to those used in chromatography. Agreement between the predicted and experimental chromatographic data under various conditions was evaluated. Under specific circumstances (e.g., pH, stationary phase, and nature of anionic additive), we conclude that the ion pair mechanism is more important than the dynamic ion-exchange and at other conditions it remains a significant contribution.