Complexes of Al(III) with d-gluconic acid

The complexation of Al(III) with d-gluconic acid was studied in solution by means of pH-potentiometry, ESI mass spectrometry and one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. Six complexes were found to form in solution from pH 2 to 10: [AlL]²⁺, [AlLH₋₁]⁺, [AlLH₋₂], [AlLH₋₃]⁻, [AlL₂H₋₁] and [AlL₂H₋₂]⁻. NMR spectroscopy indicated very complicated chemical exchange processes between the free ligand and gluconic acid molecules bound in the metal complexes, with different coordination modes resulting in changes both of the chemical shift and of the line shape of the signals. A solid complex [AlL₂H₋₁] · 2H₂O was isolated as a microcrystalline powder and characterized. The structures of the complexes are discussed on the basis of the spectroscopic results and MM force field calculations.     

Chelate polypyridine ligand rearrangement in Au(III) complexes

The reaction of gold(III) neutral complexes AuBr(CN)₂(N–N) {N–N = 2,2′-bipyridine (bpy), 5,5′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine (^Me2bpy), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen)} with a stoichiometric amount of K[AuCl₄] · 2H₂O in nitromethane at room temperature led to the formation of 1:1 electrolytes which were characterized by NMR and IR spectroscopy, conductivity measurements, elemental analyses and X-ray diffraction. Both the anions and the cations of these salts are singly charged square-planar Au(III) complexes and the cations have general formula [AuCl₂(N–N)]⁺. A hypothesis on the possible reaction mechanisms is presented to give an explanation for the formation of the reaction products.     

Ionic liquid crystals based on viologen dimers: tuning the mesomorphism by varying the conformational freedom of the ionic layer

We investigated the liquid crystal behaviour of newly synthesised bistriflimide salts of symmetric viologen dimers. A smectic A phase was observed for intermediate spacer lengths and for relatively long lateral alkyl chains. The systems were characterised by thermal analysis, polarised optical microscopy, X-ray scattering and solid-state NMR. An intermediate ordered smectic phase was also exhibited by the compounds (except for systems with very short lateral chains) consisting of molten layers of alkyl chains and partially ordered ionic layers. These results, relating to the mesomorphic behaviour of viologen salts, are qualitatively compared to those of the more common imidazolium salts, highlighting the importance of the conformational degrees of freedom of the anions and of the cationic core. It appears that fine tuning of the conformational degrees of freedom of the ionic layer is an important component of mesophase stabilisation.     

Synthesis, solution thermodynamics, and X-ray study of CuII [12]metallacrown-4 with GABA hydroxamic acid: an unprecedented crystal structure of a [12]MC-4 with a gamma-aminohydroxamate

The solution equilibria of gamma-aminobutanehydroxamic acid (GABAha) with H+ and Cu2+ were investigated by potentiometry, titration calorimetry, spectrophotometry, NMR spectroscopy, and ESI-MS. The thermodynamic parameters of the CuII [12]metallacrown-4 obtained for GABAha were compared with those of the corresponding complexes of (S)-alpha-Alaha and beta-Alaha. The stability (-DeltaG0) sequence was beta-Alaha>alpha-Alaha>GABAha, whereas the order of formation enthalpies (-DeltaH0) was beta-Alaha>GABAha>alpha-Alaha. These data were interpreted on the basis of the dimensions of the chelate rings and the planarity of the metallamacrocycles. The CuII [12]metallacrown-4 ([12]MC-4) complex of GABAha was isolated and its crystal structure, which is the first reported for a [12]MC-4 of a gamma-aminohydroxamic acid, fully supports the structural features interpreted from the thermodynamic data.     

1,2,3-Triazolo[4,5-e]-1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-c]pyrimidines

Some new 1,2,3-triazolo[4,5-e]-1,2,4-triazolo[3, 4 -c]pyrimidmes were prepared starting from the corresponding 1,2,3-triazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidines via the formation of the 1,2,4-triazole ring. Thus suitable hydrazino derivatives 6 were condensed with triethyl orthoformate, triethyl orthoacetate and triethyl orthobenzoate to give the expected tricyclic derivatives 7 , 8 and 9 . Intramolecular cyclization of the ethoxycarbonylhydrazino derivatives 10 gave the tricyclic compounds 11 bearing an hydroxyl group in the 3 position. The v-triazolo-s-triazolopyrimidine derivatives were tested towards the A₁ and A_2A adenosine receptors in binding assays, but they did not show any receptor affinity.     

Dihydropyridine C‐Glycoconjugates by Hantzsch Cyclocondensation. Synthesis of a C(6)‐Glycosylated Nifedipine Analogue

The use of glycosylated reagents in Hantzsch‐type cyclocondensation reactions leading to C‐glycosylated dihydropyridines (DHPs) has been investigated. A three‐component approach with an anomeric sugar aldehyde (galacto, manno, and ribo derivatives), a β‐keto ester, and an aminocrotonate afforded C(4)‐glycosylated DHPs in high yield (70–90%). A two‐component cyclocondensation approach based on different glycosylated β‐amino acrylates (sugar enamines) and an enone derived from the Knoevenagel condensation between benzaldehyde and ethyl acetoacetate was followed for the preparation of C(6)‐glycosylated 4‐phenyl‐substituted DHPs in fair yields (60–70%). The latter compounds were obtained as mixtures of diastereoisomers owing to the asymmetric induction of the sugar moiety in the formation of the C(4)‐stereogenic center of the DHP ring. The diastereomer excess of the major products varied from 30 to 60%. The structure of selected compounds was determined by X‐ray crystallography and by chiroptical measurements. The two‐component cyclocondensation method was also employed for the preparation of a C(6)‐ribofuranosyl‐containing analogue of the well‐known hypotensive agent nifedipine.     

New translation method for STOs and its application to calculation of two-center two-electron integrals

The new translation method for Slater-type orbitals (STOs) previously tested in the case of the overlap integral is extended to the calculation of two-center two-electron molecular integrals. The method is based on the exact translation of the regular solid harmonic part of the orbital followed by the series expansion of the residual spherical part in powers of the radial variable. Fair uniform convergence and stability under wide changes in molecular parameters are obtained for all studied two-center hybrid, Coulomb, and exchange repulsion integrals. Ten-digit accuracy in the final numerical results is achieved through multiple precision arithmetic calculation of common angular coefficients and Gaussian numerical integration of some of the analytical formulas resulting for the radial integrals. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 79: 91–100, 2000     

Linear polarization scans for resonant X‐ray diffraction with a double‐phase‐plate configuration

An in‐vacuum double‐phase‐plate diffractometer for performing polarization scans combined with resonant X‐ray diffraction experiments is presented. The use of two phase plates enables the correction of some of the aberration effects owing to the divergence of the beam and its energy spread. A higher rate of rotated polarization is thus obtained in comparison with a system with only a single retarder. Consequently, thinner phase plates can be used to obtain the required rotated polarization rate. These results are particularly interesting for applications at low energy (e.g. 4 keV) where the absorption owing to the phase plate(s) plays a key role in the feasibility of these experiments. Measurements by means of polarization scans at the uranium M₄ edge on UO₂ enable the contributions of the magnetic and quadrupole ordering in the material to be disentangled.     

Random quantum operations

We define a natural ensemble of trace preserving, completely positive quantum maps and present algorithms to generate them at random. Spectral properties of the superoperator Φ associated with a given quantum map are investigated and a quantum analogue of the Frobenius-Perron theorem is proved. We derive a general formula for the density of eigenvalues of Φ and show the connection with the Ginibre ensemble of real non-symmetric random matrices. Numerical investigations of the spectral gap imply that a generic state of the system iterated several times by a fixed generic map converges exponentially to an invariant state.     

Evidence of Dispersion Relations for the Nonlinear Response of the Lorenz 63 System

Along the lines of the nonlinear response theory developed by Ruelle, in a previous paper we have proved under rather general conditions that Kramers-Kronig dispersion relations and sum rules apply for a class of susceptibilities describing at any order of perturbation the response of Axiom A non equilibrium steady state systems to weak monochromatic forcings. We present here the first evidence of the validity of these integral relations for the linear and the second harmonic response for the perturbed Lorenz 63 system, by showing that numerical simulations agree up to high degree of accuracy with the theoretical predictions. Some new theoretical results, showing how to derive asymptotic behaviors and how to obtain recursively harmonic generation susceptibilities for general observables, are also presented. Our findings confirm the conceptual validity of the nonlinear response theory, suggest that the theory can be extended for more general non equilibrium steady state systems, and shed new light on the applicability of very general tools, based only upon the principle of causality, for diagnosing the behavior of perturbed chaotic systems and reconstructing their output signals, in situations where the fluctuation-dissipation relation is not of great help.