Dynamical mechanisms of direct three-body recombination

Despite the ubiquity of recombination processes in nature and various technologies, presently little is known about the dynamics of these processes. This article reports on a quasi-classical trajectory study of the dynamics of the direct three-body recombination of Cs(+) and Br(-) ions in the presence of a Xe atom at energies of the ion encounter and that of the third body ranging from 0.2 to 10 eV. Several dynamical mechanisms of stabilization of the recombining ion pair have been found. Head-on ion encounters are characterized by two mechanisms of removing the energy from the recombining pair. In the case of nonzero impact parameters of ion encounters, the dynamics leading to the stabilization of the nascent CsBr molecule becomes much more complicated and three new mechanisms appear. They depend mainly on the energy of the ion encounter, on the energy of the collision of the ion pair with the third body, and on the impact parameter of the ion encounter and the impact parameter of the third body. The common feature of all the three mechanisms is the transfer of a fraction of the rotational energy of the recombining pair to the third body. This transfer plays a key role in the stabilization of the molecule. The dynamical peculiarities observed are expected to be common for the recombination of the charged and neutral particles.     

Urban Elementary STEM Initiative

The new standards for K–12 science education suggest that student learning should be more integrated and should focus on crosscutting concepts and core ideas from the areas of physical science, life science, Earth/space science, and engineering/technology. This paper describes large‐scale, urban elementary‐focused science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) collaboration between a large urban school district, various STEM‐focused community stakeholders, and a research‐focused private university. The collaboration includes the development of an integrated STEM curriculum for grade K–5 with accompanying teacher professional development. This mixed‐methodology study describes findings from focus group interviews and a survey of teachers from Title I elementary schools. Findings suggest the importance of the following critical features of professional development: (a) coherence, (b) content focus, (c) active learning, (d) collective participation, and (e) duration to the success of large‐scale STEM urban elementary school reform     

Rheological properties of poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) solutions

The phase state and rheological properties of poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) solutions in toluene and cyclohexane are studied. Samples of poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) have the same backbone structure (cis-trans configuration ratio) but different molecular masses. Phase diagrams of these systems are derived via optical interferometry. It is found that they have an upper critical mixing temperature (UCMT) whose value exceeds the boiling points of the individual solvents. The two solvents exhibit limited solubility with respect to the studied polymer, and this parameter decreases with an increase in the molecular mass of the polymer. In the transition from dilute to concentrated solutions, the pattern of the rheological behavior changes from Newtonian to pseudoplastic. The concentration dependences of the zero-shear-rate viscosity of the solutions are typical for flexible-chain polymers. The viscous behavior of the poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne)-solvent system can be described through a single generalized viscosity-concentration relationship if dimensionless reduced values that take into account the contribution of the molecular mass, the nature of the solvent, and the pattern of intermolecular interactions in the solutions are used as the argument and the function.     

Selective Reduction of ortho-Acylated β-Enaminones of Homoveratryamine and Their Cyclization to 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydroisoquinolines with β-Enaminone Moiety

Enaminones are very stable compounds and can be prepared from cheap and easily available starting materials. Therefore they are excellent starting materials in organic synthesis. The selective reduction of ortho-acylated β-enaminones under mild conditions, keeping the enaminone moiety intact, is reported. The appropriated conditions for cyclization of newly obtained hydroxienamides were found. Novel 1-substituted 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines with potential anticonvulsic activity were synthesized.     

Thermochemical characterization of chicken litter and peat as a source for energy recovery

The shortage of raw materials and the environmental problems due to pollution require development of new green technologies utilizing some wastes and transforming them to secondary raw materials. The aim of this work is to study the properties of poultry waste to propose possibilities to minimizing the released emissions and avoiding the risk for human health and the environment. At the same time, two types of low grade peats with different origin are studied as components for the production of soil conditioners. During the studies, we applied the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and chemical analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, IR spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy for determining the composition, crystal phase, the shape and size of particles, and thermal stability of the investigated samples. The chemical and the phase compositions of the studied samples confirmed that the content of nutrient compounds and of the carbon substances is suitable as an effective secondary raw material for soil conditioners. It is found that the poultry wastes and peat samples have a similar phase and chemical composition and contain an organic mass in the form of carbon components with amorphous, fibrous, and skeleton-like structure, suitable to be combined with other nutrient-containing compounds. During the thermal treatment, the carbon compounds are oxidized releasing heat. Based on that the materials under study are considered as environmentally friendly fuels, releasing relatively low emissions.     

Electron transport in CaMnO3 − δ at elevated temperatures: a mobility analysis

The drift mobility of electron charge carriers in oxygen non-stoichiometric manganite CaMnO_3???δ was calculated by combining the total electrical conductivity and oxygen non-stoichiometry data at 700–950 °С and oxygen partial pressure varying between 10^?6 and 1 atm. The carrier concentration changes with pressure and temperature were obtained with the help of the earlier-developed defect model involving reactions of oxygen exchange and thermal excitation of manganese sites. The activation energy for mobility is found to increase with oxygen non-stoichiometry. High-temperature electron transport properties of the manganite CaMnO_3???δ can be explained in terms of activated jumps of n-type small polarons in adiabatic regime. The relatively small mobility of charge carriers is explained by strong localization of polarons on manganese sites.     

Thermodynamics of oxygen in CaMnO3 − δ

The experimental data for equilibrium oxygen content were used in order to extract increments of partial molar thermodynamic functions of oxygen with changes of oxygen stoichiometry in calcium manganite CaMnO_3???δ . It is shown that along with the oxygen exchange reaction, thermal excitation of Mn⁴⁺ cations plays an important role in equilibration of charged manganese species that appear in response to the loss of oxygen at heating. The interrelation of partial molar enthalpy and entropy of oxygen with electron and ion defect formation parameters is obtained in approximation of the point defect model. The nearly linear changes of oxygen partial molar enthalpy are shown to directly reflect thermally driven changes in concentration of Mn³⁺ cations.     

Skeletal Wagner-Meerwein rearrangement of perhydro-3a,6;4,5-diepoxyisoindoles

An investigation of a skeletal Wagner-Meerwein rearrangement of variously substituted or quinoline-annulated 3a,6;4,5-diepoxyisoindol-1-ones is reported. Optimum reaction conditions (Ac₂O, BF₃·OEt₂, rt) were discovered for the formation of the target 4,6-epoxycyclopenta[c]pyridines in 40-80% yields. It was shown that the direction of the sigmatropic rearrangement of 3a,6;4,5-diepoxyisoindol-1-ones depended dramatically on the carboxyl group position (exo-/endo-) in the oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane moiety. The spatial structure of previously unknown 7,9-epoxycyclopenta[4,5]pyrido[1,2-a]quinolines derived from Wagner-Meerwein rearrangement of 2,11b-epoxyoxireno[6,7]isoindolo[2,1-a]quinolines was established based on the X-ray analysis data. The skeletal rearrangement proceeded regio- and stereospecifically in all the cases examined due to the absence of the epimerization of the carbon atoms adjacent to the carbocation centres.     

Formation of assemblies comprising Ru-polypyridine complexes and CdSe nanocrystals studied by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and DFT modeling

The interaction between CdSe nanocrystals (NCs) passivated with trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) ligands and a series of Ru-polypyridine complexes-[Ru(bpy)(3)](PF(6))(2) (1), [Ru(bpy)(2)(mcb)](PF(6))(2) (2), [Ru(bpy)(mcb)(2)](BarF)(2) (3), and [Ru(tpby)(2)(dcb)](PF(6))(2) (4) (where bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, mcb = 4-carboxy-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine, tbpy = 4,4'-di-tert-butyl-2,2'-bipyridine; dcb = 4,4'-dicarboxy-2,2'-bipyridine, and BarF = tetrakis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate)-was studied by attenuated total reflectance FTIR (ATR-FTIR) and modeled using density functional theory (DFT). ATR-FTIR studies reveal that when the solid film of NCs is exposed to an acetonitrile solution of 2, 3, or 4, the complexes chemically bind to the NC surface through their carboxylic acid groups, replacing TOPO ligands. The corresponding spectral changes are observed on a time scale of minutes. In the case of 2, the FTIR spectral changes clearly show that the complex adsorption is associated with a loss of proton from the carboxylic acid group. In the case of 3 and 4, deprotonation of the anchoring group is also detected, while the second, "spectrator" carboxylic acid group remains protonated. The observed energy difference between the symmetric, ν(s), and asymmetric, ν(as), stretch of the deprotonated carboxylic acid group suggests that the complexes are bound to the NC surface via a bridging mode. The results of DFT modeling are consistent with the experiment, showing that for the deprotonated carboxylic acid group the coupling to two Cd atoms via a bridging mode is the energetically most favorable mode of attachment for all nonequivalent NC surface sites and that the attachment of the protonated carboxylic acid is thermodynamically significantly less favorable.