High Temperature Stable Maghemite Nanoparticles Sandwiched between Hectorite Nanosheets

Maghemite (γ-Fe₂O₃) is a metastable iron oxide phase and usually undergoes fast phase transition to hematite at elevated temperatures (>350 °C). Maghemite nanoparticles were synthesized by the polyol method and then intercalated into a highly swollen (>100 nm separation) nematic phase of hectorite. A composite of maghemite nanoparticles sandwiched between nanosheets of synthetic hectorite was obtained. The confinement of the nanoparticles hampered Ostwald ripening up to 700 °C and consequently the phase transition to hematite is suppressed. Only above 700 °C γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles started to grow and undergo phase transition to α-F₂O₃. The structure and the phase transition of the composite was evaluated using X-ray diffraction, TEM, SEM, physisorption, TGA/DSC, and Mößbauer spectroscopy.     

Synthesis of 3‐Aminotropones from N‐Boc‐Protected Furan‐2‐amine (=tert‐Butyl Furan‐2‐ylcarbamate; Boc=(tert‐Butoxy)carbonyl) by Cycloaddition Reactions and Subsequent Rearrangement

The 3‐aminotropones (=3‐aminocyclohepta‐2,4,6‐trien‐1‐ones) 4 were prepared in two steps by i) a [4+3] cycloaddition reaction between a conveniently substituted α,α′‐dihalo ketone 1 and a furan‐2‐amine derivative 2 functionalized at C(2) by a protected amino group (→ 3 ), and ii) a base‐induced molecular rearrangement of the cycloadduct 3 via cleavage of the O‐bridge. A mechanism for the formation of 3‐aminotropones is proposed on the basis of the initial deprotonation of the [(tert‐butoxy)carbonyl]amino (BocNH) group of 3 , followed by O‐bridge opening, an acid–base equilibrium, and finally an alkoxyaluminate elimination to afford the conjugated stable troponoid system (Scheme 7).     

2,3-Bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,3-butadien

2,3-Bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,3-butadiene A method for synthesis of the title compound is described, using the readily available 2,3-bis(diphenylphosphinoyl)-1,3-butadiene ( 1 ) as the starting material. For the protection of the diene system, 1 is first converted into the 1,4-dibromo- and 1,4-dichloro derivatives 2a and b , respectively, by addition of Br₂ or Cl₂, respectively. The structure of 2b has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The molecule has a centrosymmetrical (E)-configuration. Reduction of the phosphinoyl groups by HSiCl₃(to give the bis(diphenylphosphino)compound 3), followed by removal of the Cl-atoms using Zn powder, affords the bis(diphenylphosphino)butadiene 4 . Compounds 3 and 4 give quaternary phosphonium salts 5 and 6 , respectively, on addition of CH₃OSO₂F or CH₃I. The sulfur analogue of 1 is formed on treatment of 4 with elemental sulfur.     

Rational design of iron catalysts for C–X bond activation

We have quantum chemically studied the iron-mediated C X bond activation (X = H, Cl, CH₃) by d⁸-FeL₄ complexes using relativistic density functional theory at ZORA-OPBE/TZ2P. We find that by either modulating the electronic effects of a generic iron-catalyst by a set of ligands, that is, CO, BF, PH₃, BN(CH₃)₂, or by manipulating structural effects through the introduction of bidentate ligands, that is, PH₂(CH₂)_nPH₂ with n = 6–1, one can significantly decrease the reaction barrier for the C X bond activation. The combination of both tuning handles causes a decrease of the C H activation barrier from 10.4 to 4.6 kcal mol⁻¹. Our activation strain and Kohn-Sham molecular orbital analyses reveal that the electronic tuning works via optimizing the catalyst–substrate interaction by introducing a strong second backdonation interaction (i.e., “ligand-assisted” interaction), while the mechanism for structural tuning is mainly caused by the reduction of the required activation strain because of the pre-distortion of the catalyst. In all, we present design principles for iron-based catalysts that mimic the favorable behavior of their well-known palladium analogs in the bond-activation step of cross-coupling reactions.     

Markierte Vertreter eines möglichen Zwischenprodukts der Biosynthese von Fosfomycin inStreptomyces fradiae: Darstellung von (R,S)-(2-Hydroxypropyl)-, (R,S)-, (R)-, (S)-(2-Hydroxy-[1,1-2H2]propyl)-und (R,S)-(2-[18O]Hydroxypropyl)phosphonsäure

Summary Racemic methyl O-benzyllactate was reduced to the alcohol, transformed into the bromide and reacted with triethylphosphite to give the diethylphosphonate. Removal of protecting groups afforded a phosphonic acid which was purified as its cyclohexylammonium salt. (S)-Ethyl and (R)-isobutyl O-benzyllactate were reduced with LiAlD₄ to the corresponding dideuteriated alcohols, which were transformed in the same way as the racemic compound into the chiral (2-hydroxy-[1,1-²H₂]propyl)phosphonic acids. The optical purity of alcohols (S)- and (R)-6 b was determined by derivatisation with (+)-MTPA-Cl and¹H-NMR-spectroscopy to be 98%. Exchange of the carbonyl-16-oxygen atom of 2-oxopropylphosphonate for oxygen-18 from H₂ ¹⁸O, reduction with NaBH₄, deprotection and addition of cyclohexylamine yielded the salt (±)-18 of (2-[¹⁸O]hydroxypropyl)phosphonic acid.

     

Determination of the retinoid (E)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,1,4,4-tetramethyl-6-(1-methyl-2- phenylethenyl)naphthalene and its phenolic metabolite in human plasma by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

A rapid, sensitive and specific high-performance liquid chromatographic assay was developed for the determination in plasma of (E)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,1,4,4-tetramethyl-6-(1-methyl-2- phenylethenyl)naphthalene (1) and its phenolic metabolite (E)-4-[2-(5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-5,5,8,8-tetramethyl-2-naphthalenyl)-2- methylethenyl]-phenol (2). An extraction procedure using protein precipitation and liquid-liquid extraction was combined with a simple column-switching technique. To minimize sample consumption, the assay was adapted to a sample volume of 200 microliters, which was sufficient for more than 90% of all determinations. The quantification limit was 100 ng/ml for 1 and 2, whereas the detection limits were 20 and 30 ng/ml, respectively. The recoveries for 1 and 2 were 91 and 94%, respectively, using ultraviolet detection at 280 nm. The assay was used to quantify both compounds in human plasma samples.     

On the possibility of orienting rotationally cooled polar molecules in an electric field

We have investigated the effects of initial rotational stateJ and the gas temperature (T) on the rotationally elastic, inelastic and summed processes in CH₄ and SiH₄ molecules by low-energy electron impact. While rotationally summed differential, integral, momentum transfer and energy-loss cross sections are independent of initial stateJ (and hence independent onT), it is found that the same rotationally inelastic differential and integral cross sections, when averaged over rotational distribution function, show a qualitative improvement over the unaveraged results when compared with experimental results. Various theorems regarding the dependence of scattering parameters on the rotational distribution, as described in a series of papers by Shimamura, are discussed by presenting actual calculations on the two spherical tops, namely the CH₄ and SiH₄ molecules.     

Electron-spin magnetic moments of the 2Σ+ ions Li2+, Li2−, and Be2+: An ab initio ROHF study

For the ²Σ⁺ ground states of the ions Li₂⁺, Li₂⁻, and Be₂⁺, the dependence of the magnetic moment (parametrized by g-shifts) on the bond length R was studied at the ROHF level. The Δ g-values were calculated via a perturbative approach (complete to second order in Breit-Pauli interactions) using quadruple-zeta AO basis sets augmented by semidiffuse and polarization functions. All Δ g-values in these systems are negative. The parallel component Δ g_∥ generally changes little with R, remaining close to the g-shift of the corresponding ²S atomic dissociation product. For Li₂⁺ and Be₂⁺, the perpendicular component Δ g _⟂ is more sensitive to geometry than is Δ g_∥, mainly because of the second-order magnetic coupling with excited ²Π states. For Li₂⁻, Δ g _⟂ and Δ g_∥ are similar due to the large size of the 2σ_u, SOMO, resulting in g-values close to that of a free electron. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 63: 511–521, 1997     

Progress in controlled polymerization and design of novel polymer architectures

Recent developments of new synthetic methods are stimulating the design of new polymers. Modern generations of highly active and selective transition metal catalysts give excellent control on molecular weight, regio- and stereoregularities, long- and short-chain-branching, polymer crystallization, and morphology of olefin, diene, cyclolefin, and styrene polymers. Ethene is copolymerized with polar comonomers such as carbon monoxide and acrylates in new low pressure processes. Catalytic coupling reactions of aromatic halogen compounds and bisphenols afford rigid polyarylenes. „Living” radical polymerization (“TEMPO” and “ATRP”) produce a wide range of telechelics, block copolymers and cascade macromolecules. In reactive processing oxazoline-mediated coupling reactions are the key to melt diversification of well-known polymers. Supramolecular concepts are being applied to tailor hybrid polymers and nanocomposites. Precision in polymer synthesis is the key to new materials with wide application range.