β-Technetium trichloride: formation, structure, and first-principles calculations

A second polymorph of technetium trichloride, β-TcCl(3), has been identified from the reaction between Tc metal and Cl(2) gas. The structure of β-TcCl(3) consists of infinite layers of edge-sharing octahedra, similar to its MoCl(3) and RuCl(3) analogues. The Tc-Tc distance [2.861(3) ?] between adjacent octahedra is indicative of metal-metal bonding. Earlier theoretical work predicted that β-TcCl(3) is less stable than α-TcCl(3). In agreement with the prediction, β-TcCl(3) slowly transforms into α-TcCl(3) (Tc(3)Cl(9)) over 16 days at 280 °C.     

Metal-assisted reactions—part 10: Rapid,stereoselective and specific catalytic transfer reduction of alkynes to cis-alkenes

The rapid, stereoselective, and specific transfer reduction of alkynes to alkenes using specially-modified, but easily prepared, palladium catalysts is described. Additional use of a phase transfer catalyst in these systems affords a simple method for phase transfer catalysed catalytic transfer reduction which can be carried out in the presence of other potentially reducible functional groups.     

The time resolved geometrical optics of the thermal lens

The thermal lens apparatus as usually designed for energy transfer and thermal conduction studies, has been used to measure the thermal conductivity coefficients of ethylene and ethyl chloride (2.2 × 10^?2 and 3.1 × 10^?2 J m^?1 s^?1 K^?1). Contrary to previous analyses, a relaxation model based on the IR laser beam diameter must be used in order to get order of magnitude agreement between these data and literature values. The importance of Fresnel diffraction in greatly limiting the accuracy of the above data is determined and it is shown that the traditional design of apparatus is thus wholly unsuitable for a simple qualitative model. A new apparatus design is suggested which is amenable to simple quantitative as well as qualitative interpretation.     

Total synthesis and structural confirmation of the marine natural product Dysinosin A: a novel inhibitor of thrombin and Factor VIIa

The structure and absolute configuration of the marine antithrombotic product dysinosin A was confirmed by total synthesis. The strategy involved disconnections to three subunits, of which two were synthesized from the readily available l-glutamic acid, d-leucine, and d-mannitol. The Grubbs olefin metathesis carbocyclization reaction was utilized to prepare two intermediates.     

Effects of slight variations in nutrient loadings on pore plugging in soil columns

The high nutrient concentrations that would exist near the nutrient injection well during the application of cometabolicin situ bioremediation may lead to the development of significant quantities of biomass at this point in the subsurface. This biomass can decrease the porosity of the soil to such an extent that nutrient injection is no longer possible. In this work, experiments were conducted using a porous media biofilm reactor, operated under constant substrate loading conditions, such that the pressure drop across the reactor was allowed to increase to maintain a constant volumetric flow rate through the reactor. Results suggest that biomass production, and hence biofilm thickness, near the injection feed port is highly sensitive to substrate loading. In addition, these variations in biofilm thickness produce dramatic differences in the pressure drop that is attained across the reactor. Use of the Kozeny-Carman equation can be used to predict that once a critical depth has been exceeded, the pressure drop across the bed will increase exponentially within biofilm depth. This result means that pressure is not a reliable indicator of the onset of pore plugging.