Catalysis of ring-opening and vinyl polymerizations by dicobaltoctacarbonyl

In the presence of Si? H containing cocatalysts, dicobaltoctacarbonyl has been found to very efficiently catalyze the ring-opening polymerization of cyclic ethers, especially epoxides, as well as certain vinyl monomers. The reaction conditions employed are very similar to those used in Co₂(CO)₈ catalyzed hydrogenation and hydrosilylation reactions. Detailed investigations have been carried out to elucidate the nature of the active species for this catalytic system. A cationic mechanism is proposed based on the experimental results of those investigations.     

1,9-Bis(N,N-dimethylaminomethyl)dipyrromethanes in the synthesis of porphyrins bearing one or two meso substituents

A synthesis of 5,15-disubstituted zinc-porphyrins has been developed that employs condensation of a 1,9-bis(N,N-dimethylaminomethyl)dipyrromethane+a dipyrromethane in refluxing ethanol containing zinc acetate followed by oxidation with DDQ. The N,N-dimethylaminomethylation of the dipyrromethane was achieved via Eschenmoser's reagent (N,N-dimethylmethyleneammonium iodide) in CH₂Cl₂ at room temperature. The synthesis is compatible with diverse substituents (e.g., alkyl, aryl, ester, acetal) and enables rapid synthesis of trans-AB-, A₂-, and A-porphyrins. The synthesis of >40 zinc porphyrins has been surveyed; 13 zinc porphyrins were isolated in yields of 5-20% without detectable scrambling.     

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Study of Radical Pairs and Isolated Radicals Trapped in Irradiated Long-Chain Hydrocarbons at Low Temperatures

The intrinsic characteristics of radical pairs produced in squalane and in cetane receiving high gamma-dose are extensively studied with the EPR technique at temperatures from 77°K up to 150°K. The spectra of the paired radicals occur at g=4 with a very low transition probability in contrast to that of isolated radicals which appear at g=2 A well-resolved hyperfine spectrum corresponding to the species (CH₃CH₂.CH₂CH₃) is observed in cetane. The isothermal decay rates of radical pairs in cetane below 100°K are significantly slow; however, the decay kinetics at 150°K is first order with rate constant=1.86 min^?1. A relatively slower decay rate is obtained for isolated radicals suggesting that the decay mechanism of paired radicals is through geminate recombination. The relative inter-radical distance in radical pairs is known from a decay curve as a function of temperature. The yields of radical pairs are low in both matrices, only few percents of those of isolated radicals. The formation mechanisms of paired radicals with direct radiolytic bond scission process are discussed in connection with the experimental observations.     

Ultrathin polymer film formation by collision-induced cross-linking of adsorbed organic molecules with hyperthermal protons

A new synthetic approach for the formation of ultrathin polymer films with customizable properties was developed. In this approach, the kinematic nature of proton collisions with simple organic molecules condensed on a substrate is exploited to break C-H bonds preferentially. The subsequent recombination of carbon radicals gives a cross-linked polymer thin film, and the selectivity of C-H cleavage preserves the chemical functionalities of the precursor molecules. The nature and validity of the method are exemplified with theoretical results from ab initio molecular dynamics calculations and experimental evidence from a variety of characterization techniques. Its applicability is demonstrated by the synthesis of ultrathin polymer films with precursor molecules such as dotriacontane, docosanoic acid, poly(acrylic acid) oligomer, and polyisoprene. The approach is fundamentally different from conventional chemical synthesis as it involves an unusual mix of physical and chemical processes including charge exchange, projectile penetration, kinematics, collision-induced dissociation, inelastic energy transfer, chain transfer, and chain cross-linking.     

Studies of the g factors and zero-field splitting for the trigonal Ti(2+)(Ga)-S(p) defect center in GaP crystal

The EPR g factors g(parallel), g(perpendicular) and zero-field splitting D suggested to be caused by a donor-acceptor nearest-neighbour pair defect [Ti(Ga)(2+)-Sp] in GaP:Ti(2+) co-doped with sulphur are calculated from the high-order perturbation formulas based on a two spin-orbit coupling parameter model for the EPR parameters of 3d(2) ion in trigonal symmetry. The calculated results are close to the observed values. The suggestion of [Ti(Ga)(2+)-Sp] pair defect in GaP:Ti co-doped with sulphur is also confirmed from this calculation.     

Optical properties of ZnO and ZnO:In nanorods assembled by sol-gel method

Self-assembled zinc oxide (ZnO) and indium-doping zinc oxide (ZnO:In) nanorod thin films were synthesized on quartz substrates without catalyst in aqueous solution by sol-gel method. The samples were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Raman-scattering spectroscopy, room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra, and temperature-dependent PL spectra measurements. XRD and Raman spectra illustrated that there were no single In2O3 phase in ZnO lattice after indium doping. The PL spectra of ZnO showed a strong UV emission band located at 394 nm and a very weak visible emission associated with deep-level defects. Indium incorporation induced the shift of optical band gap, quenching of the near-band-edge photoluminescence and enhanced LO mode multiphonon resonant Raman scattering in ZnO crystals at different temperatures. Abnormal temperature dependence of UV emission integrated intensity of ZnO and ZnO:In samples is observed. The local state emission peak of ZnO:In samples at 3.37 eV is observed in low-temperature PL spectra. The near-band-edge emission peak at room temperature was a mixture of excitons and impurity-related transitions for both of two samples.     

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF PHTHALAZINONE POLY(ARYL ETHER SULFONE KETONE)WITH CARBONYL GROUP*

A kind of novel heat-resistant, high performance engineering thermoplastic phthalazinone poly(aryl ether sulfoneketone) (PPESK) containing a carboxyl group in its side chain was prepared by the nucleophilic displacement reaction of 4-(4-hydroxylphenyl)-1(2H)-phthalazinone with di(4-chlorophenyl) sulfone, 4,4'-difluoro-benzophenone and phenolphthalin insulfolane in the presence of K_2CO_3 to produce high molecular weight polymers which can be dissolved in some polarsolvents such as chloroform and nitrobenzene at room temperature and can be easily can into flexible, yellowish andtransparent films. PPESK is an amorphous polymer having a decomposition temperature above 400℃, which indicates that ithas high thermal stability. At the same time, the thermal properties of PPESKs with dicyandiamide (DICY) as curing agentindicated that the heat-resistance properties of the PPESKs are improved after curing. The apparent activation energy (ΔE) ofthe cross-linking reaction and the reaction order (n) of PPESK/DICY were found to be 52.2 kJ/mol and ca. 1.0, respectively.Therefore, the cross-linking reaction is approximately a first order reaction.     

An HPLC and EPR investigation on the stability of DMPO and DMPO spin adducts in vivo

Application of the spin trapping technique in intact animals requires an understanding of the stability and distribution of the spin traps and their spin adducts in vivo. We studied the stability of DMPO in vivo in mice using HPLC and the stability of spin adducts of DMPO by EPR in plasma, whole blood, peritoneal fluid, and homogenized heart tissue of the rat. At 15 minutes after intraperitoneal injection DMPO had similar concentrations in the liver, heart, and blood of the mice and 40% remained in the organs 2 hours after the injection. In contrast, the spin adduct DMPO-OH was short lived, with a half-life of 3.0 minutes in plasma, and was not detectable 1 minute after formation in whole blood and homogenized heart tissue. The carbon centered spin adduct DMPO-CH(OH)CH₃ was more stable, having half-lives of 16, 11, 3.6, and 0.79 minutes in plasma, peritoneal fluid, whole blood, and homogenized heart tissue, respectively. The spin adduct DMPO-SO₃ was sufficiently stable for the adduct to be observed directly from living mice.     

A Substituted Tetraazaporphyrinogen as an Electroactive Component for a Polymeric Membrane Anion-Selective Electrode

A novel anion-selective electrode has been prepared by usingtetraazaporphyrinogen as the electroactive component and o-nitrophenyloctylether as the plasticizer. The electrode exhibits almost Nernstian responsecharacteristics for Pic^-, ReO ₄ ^- ,SCN^-, ClO ₄ ^- and TPB^-. The linearresponse ranges towards the above-mentioned anions are 10^-6 10^-2, 10^-5 10^-2,10^-5 10^-2, 10^-5 10^-1, and 10^-5 10^-2mol/Land the corresponding slopes are -56.8, -57.1, -56.3, -56.1, and -59.9mV/decade with correlation coefficients of -0.99978, -0.99987, -0.99999,-0.99998, and -0.99998, respectively. The electrode shows an anti-Hofmeisterselectivity sequence: Pic^- > SCN^- >ReO ₄ ^- > ClO ₄ ^- > I^- >Br^- > BF ₄ ^- > Sal^->NO ₃ ^- > Cl^-. The unusual responsemechanism of the novel anion-selective electrode was investigated byexperimental observations and calculation with the MNDO method. Theelectrode was used as a TPB^- and a Pic^-sensitiveelectrode, respectively, and applied to the assay of levamisolehydrochloride tablets by potentiometric titration and Gran's methods. Theresults obtained are in excellent agreement with that determined by thestandard pharmacopoeia method based on nonaqueous titration.     

An Efficient Method for the Synthesis of Acyl-diazenes Using NaNO_2/NaHSO_4·H_2O

Azo compounds are widely utilized as analytic reagents and dyes1, they can also be used in material of non-linear optics, material of optics information storing in laser disks, and dyes with oil solubility in photochromy in modern technology2. Recently, many noteworthy studies have shown that some azo compounds possess excellent optical memory and photoelectric properties3,4. For example, polymer scaffolds bearing azobenzene-potential are useful for optical information storage, azo-dye doped…