Vibrational relaxation of normal and deuterated liquid nitromethane

Anti-Stokes Raman scattering is used to monitor vibrational energy redistribution in the ambient temperature liquids nitromethane (NM-h3) and perdeuterated nitromethane (NM-d3) after ultrafast IR excitation of either the symmetric or asymmetric CH- or CD-stretch transitions. The instantaneous populations of most of the fifteen NM vibrations are determined with good accuracy, and a global fitting procedure with a master equation is used to fit all the data. The pump pulses excite not only CH- or CD-stretches but also certain combinations of bending and nitro stretching fundamentals. The coupled vibrations that comprise the initial state are revealed via the instantaneous rise of the anti-Stokes transients associated with each vibrational fundamental. In contrast to many other polyatomic liquids studied previously, there is little energy exchange among the CH-stretch (or CD-stretch) excitations, which is attributed to the nearly free rotation of the methyl group in NM. The vibrational cooling process, which is the multistep return to a thermalized state, occurs in three stages in both NM-h3 and NM-d3. In the first stage, the parent CH- or CD-stretch decays in a few picoseconds, exciting all lower-energy vibrations. In the second stage, the midrange vibrations decay in 10-15 ps, exciting the lower-energy vibrations. In the third stage, these lower-energy vibrations decay into the bath in tens of picoseconds. The initial excitations are thermalized in approximately 150 ps in NM-h3 and there is little dependence on which CH-stretch is excited. VC is somewhat faster in NM-d3 with more dependence on the initial CD-stretch, taking approximately 100 ps with symmetric CD-stretch excitation and approximately 120 ps with asymmetric CD-stretch excitation. Comparison is made with earlier nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations of VC [Kabadi, V. N.; Rice, B. M. Molecular dynamics simulations of normal mode vibrational energy transfer in liquid nitromethane. J. Phys. Chem. A 2004, 108, 532-540]. The simulations do a good job of reproducing the observed VC process and in addition they predicted the slow interconversion among CH-stretch excitations and the slower relaxation of the asymmetric CH-stretch now observed here.     

Molecular interpretation of the main relaxations found ID dielectric spectra of cellulose – experimental arguments

ID dielectric spectra of cellulose two relaxation processes dominate ID the low temperature range (–120 °C–0 °C). For application of the dielectric method as a diagnostic tool, these relaxations must be assigned to molecular motions of the polymeric system. This paper summarizes and discusses all experimental facts found by dielectric spectroscopy, which can help to solve this interpretation problem. ID ID necessary to include two other relaxation processes ID this discussion: the _wet- relaxation found ID all wet materials and the -relaxation evidently found ID all derivatives. The main result of our investigations ID that the dominant process ID the dielectric spectra at low temperatures (called -relaxation) ID the segmental motion of the chain and not methylol side-group reorientation. Additionally, for the first time, the dielectric spectra of Valonia (and also of bacterial cellulose) clearly indicate that the methylol side-group relaxation ID represented ID the dielectric spectra of pure polysaccharides. This -process ID only masked by the -process for the most pure celluloses. For low molecular weight saccharides and derivatives of cellulose both processes are simultaneously found ID the dielectric spectra. For the first time a correlation ID presented between the intensity of the local motion mode (-relaxation) and the degree of crystallinity for various cellulosic materials.     

Self-assembly using dynamic coordination chemistry and hydrogen bonding: mercury(II) macrocycles, polymers and sheets

The self-assembly of extended metal-containing arrays is described based on dynamic coordination chemistry at mercury(II) with bis(amidopyridyl) ligands to form macrocycles, polymers, or sheets which can be further organized by hydrogen bonding between amide substituents. The ligands 1,2-C6H4[NHC(O)-4-C5H4N]2, 1, 1,2-C(6)H(4)[C(O)NHCH(2)-4-C(5)H(4)N](2), 2, and 1,2-C(6)H(4)[CH(2)C(O)NHCH(2)-4-C(5)H(4)N]2, 3 can adopt polar conformations and so can confer helicity in their complexes. Several macrocycles of formula [(HgX(2))(2)(micro-LL)(2)] (LL = 1, 2), with tetrahedral mercury(II) centers, were prepared in which individual molecules are further self-assembled via hydrogen bonding in the solid state to form one- or two-dimensional polymers or sheets. In one case, a one-dimensional polymer [((HgX2)-(mu-3))n] was formed. It is shown that the mercury(II) centers can be six-coordinate in forming the sheet structure [((HgX2)(mu-2)2)n], in which there are particularly large pores.     

Macrocyclic and lantern complexes of palladium(II) with bis(amidopyridine) ligands: synthesis, structure, and host-guest chemistry

The reactions of [PdCl2(NCPh)2] in a 1:1 ratio with the bis(amidopyridine) ligands LL=C6H3(5-R)(1,3-CONH-3-C5H4N)2 with R=H (1a) or R=t-Bu (1b) give the corresponding neutral dipalladium(II) macrocycles trans,trans-[Pd2Cl4(mu-LL)2], 2a and 2b, which crystallize from dimethylformamide with one or two solvent molecules as macrocycle guests. The reaction of [PdCl2(NCPh)2] with LL in a 1:2 ratio gave the cationic lantern complex [Pd2(mu-LL)4]Cl4, 3c (LL=1b), and the reaction in the presence of AgO2CCF3 gave the corresponding trifluoroacetate salts [Pd2(mu-LL)4](CF3CO2)4, 3a (LL=1a) and 3b (LL=1b). These lantern complexes exhibit a remarkable host-guest chemistry, as they can encapsulate cations, anions, and water molecules by interaction of the guest with either the electrophilic NH or the nucleophilic C=O substituents of the amide groups, which can be directed toward the center of the lantern through easy conformational change. The structures of several of these host-guest complexes were determined, and it was found that the cavity size and shape vary according to the ligand conformation, with Pd...Pd separations in the range from 9.45 to 11.95 A. Supramolecular ordering of the lanterns was observed in the solid state, through either hydrogen bonding or secondary bonding to the cationic palladium(II) centers. The selective inclusion by the lantern complexes of alkali metal ions in the sequence Na+ > K+ > Li+ was observed by ESI-MS.     

A Novel Route to <Emphasis Type="Italic">trans</Emphasis>-Epoxidation of Terpinen-4-ol

Summary. Pure (1S,2R,4S)-1,2-epoxy-p-menthan-4-ol and (1R,2S,4R)-1,2-epoxy-p-menthan-4-ol (trans-epoxides of (4S)-terpinen-4-ol and (4R)-terpinen-4-ol) were prepared and certain reactions of these compounds with nucleophilic reagents were studied. It was shown that the Fürst-Plattner rule regarding the trans-diaxial opening of cyclohexene epoxides predicts the predominant products in all cases studied.     

Antimicrobial porous hybrids consisting of bacterial nanocellulose and silver nanoparticles

The increasing resistance of pathogens and bacteria is a serious problem in the medical treatment of wounds and injuries. Therefore, new therapeutic agents are not solely based on antibiotics, but also on the use of antimicrobial metal nanoparticles. In this paper we present an innovative method to prepare porous hybrids consisting of bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The stepwise modification is based on fairly simple chemical reactions already described for two-dimensional cellulose films. We transferred this method to the three-dimensional, porous network of BNC leading to an antimicrobial activation of its surface. Compared to former approaches, the ultrafine network structure of BNC is less damaged by using mild chemicals. The amount and distribution of the AgNPs on the modified BNC was investigated using scanning electron microscopy. The AgNPs are firmly immobilized on the top and bottom surface of the BNC by chemical interactions. Their size and quantity increase with an increasing concentration of AgNO₃ and extended reaction time in the AgNO₃ solution. A strong antimicrobial activity of the BNC-AgNP hybrids against Escherichia coli was detected. Furthermore, agar diffusion tests confirmed that this activity is restricted to the modified dressing itself, avoiding a release of NPs into the wound. Therefore, the produced hybrids could be potentially suited as novel antimicrobial wound dressings.     

Tetraphosphinitoresorcinarene complexes: dynamic clusters with silver(I) and copper(I) halides

Silver(I) and copper(I) halide derivatives of several tetrakis(diphenylphosphinito)resorcinarene ligands are reported. The complexes [resorcinarene(O(2)CR)(4)(OPPh(2))(4)(M(5)X(5))], with resorcinarene = (PhCH(2)CH(2)CHC(6)H(2))(4), R = C(6)H(11), 4-C(6)H(4)Me, C(4)H(3)S, OCH(2)CCH, or OCH(2)Ph, M = Ag, X = Cl, Br, or I, M = Cu, and X = Cl or I, contain a crownlike [P(4)M(5)X(5)] metal halide cluster. These crown clusters were found to be dynamic in solution, as studied by variable-temperature NMR, and easily fragment to give the corresponding complexes containing [P(4)M(4)X(5)](-) and [P(4)M(2)(micro-X)](+) units. Reaction of pentasilver crown clusters with triflic acid gave the corresponding disilver complexes [resorcinarene(O(2)CR)(4)(OPPh(2))(4)]Ag(2)(micro-Cl)]]CF(3)SO(3). Thus, these resorcinarene-based ligands act as a platform for the easy and reversible assembly of copper(I) and silver(I) clusters with novel structures.