Core–shell particles with conductive polymer cores

Heterocoagulation of large cationic polypyrrole particles with small anionic polyacrylate beads followed by heat processing of the heterocoagulate units proved to be an efficient method in the preparation of core-shell particles with conductive cores and dielectric shells. Specific conditions required for producing monodispersed composite particles with uniform shells were examined in the stages of the synthesis of polypyrrole particles with controlled size, in "one-step" heterocoagulation of oppositely charged polypyrrole microbeads with small polyacrylic particles, and during shell formation by spreading of the acrylic polymer on the surface of polypyrrole cores.     

Hybrid materials containing organometallic cations and 3-D anionic metal dicyanamide networks of type [Cp*2M][M'(dca)3

A new series of hybrid materials of type [Cp*2M][M'(dca)3] has been prepared by cation templation and structurally characterised (M = Fe(III), Co(III); M'= Mn(II), Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cd(II); dca-= N(CN)2-). The crystallographic analysis of [Cp*2Fe][Cd(dca)(3)] showed that the [Cd(dca)3]- anionic framework is of a symmetrical 3-D alpha-polonium type, containing octahedral Cd nodes and micro (1,5)-dca bridging ligands. The [Cp*2Fe]+ cations occupy the cube-like cavities within the framework. The cationic and anionic-framework sublattices remain magnetically independent and display susceptibilities, over the range 300 to 2 K, of a Curie-Weiss nature obtained by adding a S= 1/2 (Cp*2Fe+) or a S= 0 (Cp*2Co+) contribution to those of the weakly antiferromagnetically coupled frameworks of M'. These hybrid species do not show any intrinsic long-range magnetic order. The present [Cp*2Fe]M'(dca)3] series display the characteristic, unusually shaped [Cp*2Fe]+ Mossbauer line, in the range 295-5 K, assigned (below 101 K) as the sum of a narrow and a broad line. Relaxation effects were evident. The [Fe(dca)3]- compound showed superimposed low-spin Fe(III) and high-spin Fe(II) lines, the latter giving relaxation broadening effects.     

Infrared spectra of cyclic and non-cyclic ureas in solution: structures and interactions

Infrared spectra of 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone, 2-imidazolidinone, 1,1,3,3-tetramethylurea, 1,3-dimethylurea, and 1,1-dimethylurea have been collected in a variety of solvents. When the C=O stretching frequencies for the molecules in a common solvent were recorded, higher frequencies were found for the cyclic ureas as compared to the non-cyclic ureas. When data were analyzed within each class of urea derivatives, it was found that an increase in the number of methyl groups present on the nitrogen atoms contributed to a decrease in the C=O stretching frequency values. The frequencies of the C=O stretching modes have been correlated with the electron accepting ability of each solvent (represented by Gutmann electron acceptor numbers). The urea derivatives in the studied series exhibit similar behavior with respect to changing solvent environment despite the differences that exist among the ureas. These observations have been interpreted in terms of the structural characteristics of the ureas.     

Vibrational excitation and relaxation of five polyatomic molecules in an electrical discharge

Vibrational excitation and relaxation of five linear polyatomic molecules, OCS, OC3S, HC3N, HC5N, and SiC2S, have been studied by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy in a supersonic expansion after the application of a low-current dc electric discharge. For each chain, the populations in bending and stretching modes have been characterized as a function of the applied discharge current; for stable OCS and HC3N, vibrational populations were studied as well in the absence of a discharge. With no discharge present the derived vibrational temperatures are slightly below T, the temperature of the gas before the supersonic expansion (i.e., 300 K). In the presence of the discharge, vibrational excitation occurs via inelastic collisions with the electrons and the vibrational temperatures rise as the applied current increases. Global vibrational relaxation is governed by rapid vibration-vibration (VV) energy transfer and slow vibration-translation (VT) energy transfer. The latter process is rate-determining and depends primarily on the wave number of the vibration. Vibrational modes with wave numbers near and below kT/hc (where T = 300 K and kT/hc-210 cm(-1)) are efficiently cooled by VT transfer because a sufficient number of collisions occur in the initial stages of the supersonic expansion. Vibrational modes with wave numbers around 450 cm(-l) appear to be inefficiently cooled in the molecular beam; at these energies VV and VT rates are probably comparable. For high-frequency vibrations, VV energy transfer dominates. For the longer chains OC3S and HC5N, higher-lying modes are generally not detectable and vibrational temperatures of most lower-lying modes were found to be lower than those of OCS and HC3N, suggesting that as the size of the molecules increases, intermode VV transfer becomes more efficient, plausibly due to the higher density of vibrational levels. New high resolution spectroscopic data have been obtained for several vibrationally excited states of OC3S, HC3N, and HC5N. Rotational lines of the 13C and 15N isotopic species of HC5N have been measured, yielding improved rotational and centrifugal distortion constants; 14N nitrogen quadrupole coupling constants for the isotopic species of HC5N with 13C have been determined for the first time.     

Biochemical evidence for the tyrosine involvement in cationic intermediate stabilization in mouse β-carotene 15, 15'-monooxygenase

Background  

β-carotene 15,15'-monooxygenase (BCMO1) catalyzes the crucial first step in vitamin A biosynthesis in animals. We wished to explore the possibility that a carbocation intermediate is formed during the cleavage reaction of BCMO1, as is seen for many isoprenoid biosynthesis enzymes, and to determine which residues in the substrate binding cleft are necessary for catalytic and substrate binding activity. To test this hypothesis, we replaced substrate cleft aromatic and acidic residues by site-directed mutagenesis. Enzymatic activity was measured in vitro using His-tag purified proteins and in vivo in a β-carotene-accumulating E. coli system.     

On the π‐Electron Distribution in Biphenylene Analogues

The bonding situation in a series of biphenylene analogues – benzo[b]biphenylene and its dication, 4,10‐dibromobenzo[b]biphenylene, naphtho[2,3‐b]biphenylene and its dianion, benzo[a]biphenylene, (biphenylene)tricarbonylchromium, benzo[3,4]cyclobuta[1,2‐c]thiophene, benzo[3,4]cyclobuta[1,2‐c]thiophene 2‐oxide, benzo[3,4]cyclobuta[1,2‐c]thiophene 2,2‐dioxide, 4,10‐diazabenzo[b]biphenylene, biphenylene‐2,3‐dione, benzo[3,4]cyclobuta[1,2‐b]anthracene‐6,11‐dione, and 3,4‐dihydro‐2H‐benzo[3,4]cyclobuta[1,2]cycloheptene – where one of the two benzo rings of biphenylene is replaced by a different π‐system (B) was investigated on the basis of the NMR parameters of these systems. From the vicinal ¹H,¹H spin‐spin coupling constants, the electronic structure of the remaining benzo ring (A) is derived via the Q‐value method. It is found that increasing tendency of B to tolerate exocyclic double bonds at the central four‐membered ring of these systems favors increased π‐electron delocalization in the A ring. The analysis of the chemical shifts supports this conclusion. NICS (nucleus‐independent chemical shift) values as well as C,C bond lengths derived from ab initio calculations are in excellent agreement with the experimental data. The charged systems benzo[b]biphenylene dication and naphtho[2,3‐b]biphenylene dianion ( 7 ²⁻) are also studied by ¹³C NMR measurements. The charge distribution found closely resembles the predictions of the simple HMO model and reveals that 7 ²⁻ can be regarded as a benzo[3,4]cyclobuta[1,2‐b]‐substituted anthracene dianion. It is shown that the orientation of the tricarbonylchromium group in complexes of benzenoid aromatics can be derived from the vicinal ¹H,¹H coupling constants.