Enantioselective heterogeneous catalytic production of alpha-amino acids

Summary In the present paper the heterogeneous catalytic preparation of alpha-amino acids by hydrogenation of the dehydroamino acids catalyzed by palladium is described. Enantiomeric excess of up to 26% was achieved when the hydrogenation was carried out in ethanol at 0.5 MPa, 298 K with substrate concentration kept at 80 mmol L^-1, 50 mol% cinchonidine as modified and triethylamine as addictive.</o:p>     

A Mononuclear Uranium(IV) Single‐Molecule Magnet with an Azobenzene Radical Ligand

A tetravalent uranium compound with a radical azobenzene ligand, namely, [{(SiMe₂NPh)₃‐tacn}U^IV(η²‐N₂Ph₂^.)] ( 2 ), was obtained by one‐electron reduction of azobenzene by the trivalent uranium compound [U^III{(SiMe₂NPh)₃‐tacn}] ( 1 ). Compound 2 was characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction and ¹H NMR, IR, and UV/Vis/NIR spectroscopy. The magnetic properties of 2 and precursor 1 were studied by static magnetization and ac susceptibility measurements, which for the former revealed single‐molecule magnet behaviour for the first time in a mononuclear U^IV compound, whereas trivalent uranium compound 1 does not exhibit slow relaxation of the magnetization at low temperatures. A first approximation to the magnetic behaviour of these compounds was attempted by combining an effective electrostatic model with a phenomenological approach using the full single‐ion Hamiltonian.     

DYNAMICS OF ROTORS IMMERSED IN ECCENTRIC ANNULAR FLOW. PART 2: EXPERIMENTS

In order to validate the theoretical approach described in Part 1, an extensive experimental study has been performed at Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear (I.T.N.), using a test rig presenting some improvements over previous experiments by the authors. In agreement with the theoretical model, concentric configurations always display flutter instability of the forward mode only, at velocities much higher than the critical unbalance-excited rotor velocity. Also predicted by theory, an instability of the backward mode may occur at much lower spinning velocities, for some eccentric configurations—which is a conclusion of practical significance. Therefore, rotor-annulus eccentricity is a very important parameter, when stability of the system is addressed. The quantitative agreement of both modal frequencies and damping values, with respect to the rotor spinning velocity, is quite satisfactory at lower velocities. However, it deteriorates somewhat at higher velocities, even for concentric configurations. Discrepancies are discussed, in connection with experimental difficulties (some unavoidable three-dimensional flow effects in the test rig) or other possibly pertinent phenomena (dynamic flow nonlinearities)—which were not accounted for in the theoretical model. However, these problems should not be overstressed, as theoretical instability boundaries are usually fairly close to the experimental results.     

Synthesis of novel chromene scaffolds for adenosine receptors

A one-pot procedure was developed for the synthesis of novel 3-[amino(methoxy)methylene]-2-oxo-3,4-dihydro-2H-chromen-4-yl)-3-cyanoacetamides and chromeno[3,4-c]pyridine-1-carbonitriles from the reaction of 2-oxo-2H-chromene-3-carbonitriles and cyanoacetamides. These chromene derivatives were identified as new scaffolds for adenosine receptors and the hits 3a, 3c, 5a, and 5b were found.     

Morphology development and phase inversion during dynamic vulcanisation of EPDM/PP blends

Morphology development and phase inversion were investigated during dynamic vulcanisation of ethylene–propylene–diene terpolymer (EPDM)/polypropylene (PP) blends. The effects of viscosity ratio and cross-linking reactions were also addressed. EPDM/PP blends were dynamically vulcanised in a Haake batch mixer using resole and SnCl₂ as cross-linking agents. The morphology development and cross-linking degree with reaction time were followed by morphology analysis (SEM and TEM) and measurement of EPDM gel content, respectively. For the same reaction time, it was found that the EPDM gel content decreased when the low-molecular-weight EPDM was used. As a result, the morphological development was delayed and the phase-inversion point was shifted to higher reaction times, allowing us to monitor morphological development during a thermoplastic vulcanisate (TPV) preparation. Using the low-molecular-weight EPDM and increasing the PP viscosity accelerated the morphological development, shifting phase-inversion to lower reaction times. While blend composition influenced final TPV morphology, it had a minor effect on the mechanism of morphological development. A correlation between cross-linking degree and morphology development was established. The results obtained allowed to propose a mechanism of morphology development during dynamic vulcanisation of the EPDM/PP blends, including phase inversion.     

Microwave promoted Suzuki reactions between aroyl chlorides and boronic acids catalyzed by heterogeneous and homogeneous phosphine-free palladium catalysts

Suzuki cross-coupling reactions between arylboronic acids and aroyl chlorides with phosphine-free palladium catalysis under microwave irradiation were performed to obtainment of aromatic ketones in good yields within short times. Heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts were studied as well as their influence in the reaction selectivity relative to homocoupling of the boronic acids.     

Electron transfer processes in potassium collisions with 5-fluorouracil and 5-chlorouracil

Electron transfer to uracil (U), 5-chlorouracil (5-ClU) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) yielding anion formation has been investigated in 30-100 eV potassium-molecule collisions. The rich fragmentation patterns of all three molecules suggest that electron transfer in collisions with electronegative neutrals may cause efficient damage to RNA. The main ring fragment anion in all the mass spectra was NCO(-) while the production of X(-) (X = F, Cl) was a strong decomposition of the halouracil temporary negative ions. Cl(-) was the most intense fragment anion in the 5-chlorouracil measurements, whereas NCO(-) production dominated in the U and 5-FU data. Arguments based on energetics and vibrational dynamics have been proposed to explain these differences. Electronic coupling between dipole- and valence-bound states may play a particularly important role in the fragmentation pathways of the 5-ClU parent anion. The stabilizing influence of the potassium cation following electron transfer (ionic scattering) on the observed fragmentation patterns is discussed, notably in the context of comparisons with free electron attachment processes.