An improved synthesis of [2.2.3]cyclazines from 3H-pyrrolizines

[2.2.3]Cyclazines are obtained in moderate yields by reaction of 3$\text{H}$-pyrrolizines bearing conjugative substituents (Ph or CO₂Me) with vinamidinium salts in the presence of strong bases. Syntheses of the previously unknown 2-phenyl-3$\text{H}$-pyrrolizine and 1-methoxycarbonylcyclopenta [$\text{h}$] [2.2.4] cyclazine are also described.     

Determination of potassium by an automatic ultraviolet absorptiometric method

An automatic ultraviolet absorptiometric method has been developed for the determination of potassium. The method involves precipitation of potassium by addition of a known excess of sodium tetraphenylborate, removal of the potassium tetraphenylborate precipitate by filtration, and measurement of the excess of sodium tetraphenylborate in the filtrate by means of its absorbance at 254 mμ;. Most of the apparatus, including a continuous filter, is standard AutoAnalyzer equipment but a Uvicord ultraviolet absorptiometer replaces the conventional colorimeter. Build-up of precipitate in the system is eliminated by immersing the mixing coils in an ultrasonic bath which is actuated intermittently by a simple timing mechanism. The method is especially suitable for potassium analysis in production plant where flame photometer results are sometimes affected by fertilizer dust in the air surrounding the burner.     

Microcalorimetric studies of dodecacarbonyl(diiron)ruthenium and dodecacarbonyl(iron)diruthenium. Enthalpy contribution of heterometallic metal—metal bonds

Microcalorimetic measurements at 520–550 K of the heats of thermal decomposition of Fe₂Ru(CO)₁₂, FeRu₂(CO)₁₂ and Ru₃(CO)₁₂ lead to values of the standard enthalphy of formation (ΔH^o_f, c/kJ mol^-1) as follows: Fe₂Ru(CO)₁₂  (1820 ± 14); FeRu₂(CO)₁₂  (1891 ± 16); Ru₃(CO)₁₂  (1903 ± 18). Enthalpies of sublimation are estimated and the ironruthenium bond enthalpy contribution is derived as E(FeRu)  (95 ± 20) kJ mol^-1.     

Infrared and Raman line shapes of dilute HOD in liquid H2O and D2O from 10 to 90 degrees C

A combined electronic structure/molecular dynamics approach was used to calculate infrared and isotropic Raman spectra for the OH or OD stretches of dilute HOD in D2O or H2O, respectively. The quantities needed to compute the infrared and Raman spectra were obtained from density functional theory calculations performed on clusters, generated from liquid-state configurations, containing an HOD molecule along with 4-9 solvent water molecules. The frequency, transition dipole, and isotropic transition polarizability were each empirically related to the electric field due to the solvent along the OH (or OD) bond, calculated on the H (or D) atom of interest. The frequency and transition dipole moment of the OH (or OD) stretch of the HOD molecule were found to be very sensitive to its instantaneous solvent environment, as opposed to the isotropic transition polarizability, which was found to be relatively insensitive to environment. Infrared and isotropic Raman spectra were computed within a molecular dynamics simulation by using the empirical relationships and semiclassical expressions for the line shapes. The line shapes agree well with experiment over a temperature range from 10 to 90 degrees C.     

Inferring wettability of heterogeneous surfaces by ToF-SIMS

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) has been examined as a possible predictive tool for surface wettability. Heterogeneous surfaces were prepared with hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions of known surface coverage using self-assembled monolayers. The surface coverage of each component was then correlated with ToF-SIMS fragmentation of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic surface groups and static contact angle measurements. From these measurements, a clear relationship between the surface wettability and relative intensity of characteristic secondary ions was identified. Moreover, our results for planar surfaces can be extrapolated to predict the wettability of particulate samples for which direct contact angle measurements are not straightforward. The ability to infer particle wettability by ToF-SIMS is well suited to mineral characterization and in particular, the prediction of mineral flotation efficiencies.     

A mode-coupling theory of vibrational line broadening in near-critical fluids

We present a fully microscopic mode-coupling theory of near-critical line broadening. All the structural and dynamical input required by the theory is calculated directly from intermolecular potentials. We compute vibrational frequency time-correlation functions and line shapes as the critical point is approached along both the critical isochore and the liquid-gas coexistence curve. Theory is shown to be in good agreement with simulation.     

Non-symmetric 2-designs modulo 2

Necessary conditions are obtained for the existence of a 2 – (v, k, ) design, for which the block intersection sizess ₁,s ₂, ...,s _n satisfys ₁ s ₂ ... s _n s (mod 2 ^e ), wheree is odd. These conditions are obtained by combining restrictions on the Smith Normal Form of the incidence matrix of the design with some well known properties of self-orthogonal binary codes with all weights divisible by 4.Research done at AT&T Bell Laboratories.     

A new crossover approach for solving the multiple travelling salesmen problem using genetic algorithms

This paper proposes a new crossover operator called two-part chromosome crossover (TCX) for solving the multiple travelling salesmen problem (MTSP) using a genetic algorithm (GA) for near-optimal solutions. We adopt the two-part chromosome representation technique which has been proven to minimise the size of the problem search space. Nevertheless, the existing crossover method for the two-part chromosome representation has two limitations. Firstly, it has extremely limited diversity in the second part of the chromosome, which greatly restricts the search ability of the GA. Secondly, the existing crossover approach tends to break useful building blocks in the first part of the chromosome, which reduces the GA’s effectiveness and solution quality. Therefore, in order to improve the GA search performance with the two-part chromosome representation, we propose TCX to overcome these two limitations and improve solution quality. Moreover, we evaluate and compare the proposed TCX with three different crossover methods for two MTSP objective functions, namely, minimising total travel distance and minimising longest tour. The experimental results show that TCX can improve the solution quality of the GA compared to three existing crossover approaches.     

A PDMS sheath flow cuvette for high‐sensitivity LIF measurements in CE

A simple method for producing a sheath flow cuvette in PDMS suitable for post‐column detection in CE is described. Two types of cuvette were investigated. In the first, the sheath flow channel had a round cross‐section of approximately 635 μm diameter, whereas the second cuvette had a 300×300 μm² square channel. Both cuvettes produced laminar flows that ensheathed the separation capillary's effluent allowing sensitive fluorescence measurements. The elasticity of the PDMS allowed the 300×300 μm² square sheath flow channel to expand uniformly and accommodate the larger 330–340 μm od round separation capillary, producing a self‐aligning cuvette with robust mechanical properties. With this cuvette, linear calibrations of over five orders of magnitude and 15–30 zmol fluorescein detection limits were obtained for 12 and 50 μm id capillaries.     

Pore size characterization of monolith for electrochromatography via atomic force microscopy studies in air and liquid phase

This paper investigates the use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) for the characterization of monoliths used in capillary electrochromatography (CEC) while focusing on the nature of the information available from both techniques. SEM imaging revealed a compact structure of non-porous micrometer sized particles homogeneously agglomerated. With a simple AFM methodology, we found by direct observation that the same material exhibits mesopores in the nanometer range while SEM showed non-porous surfaces. These results obtained by AFM clearly showed that micrometer sized particles shrank and micrometer sized pores increased in the monolith when wetted. Thus, AFM was capable of demonstrating the morphological differences between wet and dried monolithic materials that are not possible by other imaging methods at micrometer resolution.