Development of an effective chiral auxiliary for hydroxyalkyl radicals

The development of an effective chiral auxiliary for hydroxyalkyl radicals is delineated. Both the 2-tetrahydropyranyl (THP) and tri-O-benzyl-2-deoxy-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl (GLU) auxiliaries resulted in diastereoselective radical additions to methyl acrylate at -78 degrees C (ds = 6/1 and 11/1, respectively). The developing stereochemistry at the radical center was completely under auxiliary control. Correlation experiments showed that the D-GLU auxiliary led to attack on the radical Si-face. The selectivity of these radical additions dropped-off considerably when the more reactive 2-nitropropene trap was employed. Computational studies suggested that the observed facial selectivity was due primarily to entropic factors in the transition state but that a smaller temperature-dependent enthalpic contribution was also involved. It was hypothesized that incorporation of a quaternary center at C-6 (THP numbering) would restore the facial selectivity with more reactive radical traps by restricting the orientations available to the incoming alkene. In the event, the trans-6-tert-butyltetrahydropyranyl (tBu-THP) auxiliary resulted in very good diastereoselection with 2-nitropropene (ds = 35/1 at -78 degrees C, 15/1 at 0 degrees C, and 8/1 at RT) as did the tri-O-benzyl-6,6-dimethyl-2-alpha-D-deoxyglucopyranosyl (diMe-GLU) auxiliary during additions to ethyl alpha-trifluoroacetoxyacrylate (ds = 10/1 at 0 degrees C). A protocol for recovery of the sugar-derived chiral auxiliaries was also established. This work sets the stage for the development of a novel approach to 1, 3, 5.(2n + 1) polyols based on iterative radical homologation as well as the application of these pyranosidic auxiliaries to other synthetically important reactions.     

Xylanolytic enzyme production by anAspergillus niger isolate

Production of xylanolytic enzymes by anAspergillus niger CCMI 850 isolate was investigated in batch cultures. The effect of the composition of a fermentation medium that did not include chemical inducers, on β-xylanase, β-xylosidase, α-l-arabinofuranosidase, and total cellulase activity was studied. With 4% xylan as the carbon source, about 65 U/mL of β-xylanase was obtained, whereas the total cellulase activity was undetectable, under the specified conditions. This β-xylanase activity represents the highest reported for a wild-type strain ofA. niger. The effect of pH and temperature on the activity of β-xylanase was studied. Partial characterization of the β-xylanase showed that with insoluble birchwood as substrate theK _m andV _max were 0.3 mM and 19 μmol/min, respectively. Aspects of using the crude β-xylanase preparation for applications in the pulp and paper industry were discussed.     

Floating spherical gaussian orbital (FSGO) studies with a model potential: some open-shell systems

A gaussian based model potential is used within the FSGO formalism to study a series of open-shell systems (e.g. LiH⁺, NaH⁺, Li⁺₂ and LiNa⁺). Results for calculated equilibrium geometries and dissociation energies are compared to the corresponding quantities from available all-electron ab initio studies and other more elaborate theoretical estimates. The overall agreement is quite satisfactory.     

Stereoselective routes to substituted β-amino carbonyl compounds via heterodiene [4π+2π] cycloadditions of auxiliary-based C2 symmetric ketene acetals

Heterodiene [4π+2π] cycloadditions of (S,S)-4,5-diaryl-2-methylene-1,3-dioxolanes 1 to a series of β-amido-α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds are diastereoselective (d.r.≥4:1). The products can be purified by trituration or crystallisation and hydrolysed with acid to generate the corresponding β-amido carbonyl compounds, the overall sequence effecting an auxiliary-based enantioselective conjugate addition of an acetate enolate, leading to β-aminoacid derivatives.     

Chemically assisted ion beam etching of silicon and silicon dioxide using SF6

A chemical flux of sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) in conjunction with low-energy Ar-ion bombardment has been used for chemically assisted ion beam etching (CAIBE) of silicon and silicon dioxide. The study has shown a large degree of independent control over the selectivity and anisotropy in dry etching. The total etch rate could be controlled by varying either the Ar-ion milling parameters or the chemical flux of SF₆. Etch rate enhancement of 7–8 for silicon and 3–4 for silicon dioxide have been obtained over pure physical etching.     

Photocondensation polymers: Polybenzopinacols. II. Photolytic coupling of aromatic diketones

Photolytic condensations of p,p′-dibenzoyldiphenyl sulfide, p,p′-dibenzoyldiphenyl ether, p,p′-dibenzoyldiphenylmethane, and p,p′-dibenzoyldiphenylethane with a 100-W long-wavelength ultraviolet lamp gave polypinacols having inherent viscosities ranging from 0.12 to 0.45. Treatment of the same monomers under similar conditions with a 450-W ultraviolet lamp produced polypinacols having inherent viscosities ranging from 0.04 to 0.37.     

Spin density distributions in some fluorinated radical cations

A theoretical study of π-electron spin density distributions has been made for a series of fluoro-substituted hydrocarbon radical cations using unrestricted Hartree-Fock theory. Although some of the predicted proton splittings are not in very good agreement with experiment, the overall agreement with experiment can be passed as fairly satisfactory considering the approximate nature of the theory used. The experimental fluorine splittings can be well predicted by using a one-parameter relationship between the isotropic fluorine splitting (a_F) and the π-electron spin density (ρ_CC) on the attached carbon. It has been further shown that both ρ_CC and the proportionality constant (Q_eff) in the linear relation, are fairly insensitive to the parameter choice.     

Adsoprtion and adsorptive separations: A bibliographical update (1992–1993)

This article provides a bibliographic listing of published journal papers concerned with adsorptive separations during 1992–1993. The references are taken from the 40 most important chemical engineering journals. This paper provides an update to the literature as provided in previous bibliographic papers [1, 2]. These previous papers also included membrane-type separations, however due to the number of papers and the diversity of membrane and associated processes, this material is to be published separately [3].Other bibliographic papers covering the more traditional unit operations, e.g. distillation [4], and equilibrium-staged separations in general [5, 6] have been published. Liquid-liquid extraction [7] is the subject of a separate bibliography (for 1992–1993), due to the number of publications on this topic. A bibliography detailing supercritical extraction from 1980–1993 is also to be published separately due to the current interest in this relatively new technology [8]. A complete bibliography of the chemical engineering journal literature from 1967–1993 has been published by the author [9–12]. An earlier bibliography [13] provides access to the literature prior to 1967.