Alkylation of Ethanolamines: An Approach to a Novel Class of Functional Surfactants

Some monomeric and dimeric surfactants with functional head groups have been synthesized from di- and triethanolamine synthons. The treatment of alkyl bromide with triethanolamine resulted in simultaneous N-alkylation and O-alkylation products. However, with diethanolamine, N-alkylated products were obtained, which were further used to synthesize various double-tailed surfactants and gemini surfactants.     

A Facile Synthesis of Pyrimidone Derivatives and Single-Crystal Characterization of Pymetrozine

A facile and efficient synthetic methodology for the preparation of aza-pyrimidone and beno-pyrimidone derivatives is described, in which the triazinone ring and dihydroquinazolin-2(1H)-one was convenient constructed. The structures of all the newly synthesized compounds were characterized by mass, ¹H NMR, and infrared spectroscopy. In additional, the crystal of pymetrozine was obtained to find useful information such as configuration and molecular action mechanisms.     

Copolymerization of 2-Hydtoxypropyl Methacrylate with Alkyl Methacrylates

2-Hydroxypropyl methacrylate (2 HPMA) has been copolym-erized with ethyl methacrylate (EMA), n-butyl methacrylate (BMA), and 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate (EHMA) in bulk at 60°C using benzoyl peroxide as initiator. The copolymer composition has been determined from the hydroxyl content. The reactivity ratios have been calculated by the YBR method. For copolymerization of 2-HPMA (M₁) with EMA (M₂), the reactivity ratios are: r₁=1.807 ± 0.032, r₂=0.245 ± 0.021; with BMA (M₂) they are r₁=2.378 ± 0.001, r₂=0.19 ± 0.01; and with EHMA the values are r₁=4.370 ± 0.048, r₂=0.103 ± 0.006. Since the reactivity ratios are the measure of distribution of monomer units in a copolymer chain, the values obtained are compared and discussed. This enables us to choose a suitable copolymer for synthesizing thermoset acrylic polymers, which are obtained from cross-linking of hydroxy functional groups of HPMA units, for specific end uses.     

Microwave Assisted FriedläNder Condensation Catalyzed by Clay

Clay catalyzed Friedländer condensation of 2-amino arylaldehyde or ketone with carbonyl compounds containing α-methylene group has been achieved in solvent free condition under microwave irradiation to give polycyclic quinoline derivatives.     

Catalytic behavior of decomposed molybdophosphoric acid supported on alumina for oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene

Oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane (ODHE) to ethylene was investigated over a series of alumina supported molybdophosphoric acid (MPA) catalysts. The MPA was transformed into surface Mo oxides on Al₂O₃ when subjected to calcination at 600°C. The catalysts were characterized by N₂-adsorption, XRD, FT-IR spectroscopy and TPR techniques. The results showed that MPA loading and the source of Mo precursor had a clear influence on the catalytic performance. The evaluation of the catalysts for ODHE at temperatures between 450 and 550°C revealed superior ethane conversion (X～24%) and ethylene selectivity (S = ca. 65%) over 20 wt % MPA/Al₂O₃ catalyst. The transformation of MPA into finely dispersed Mo oxides on Al₂O₃ appeared to be responsible for this improved performance.     

Tailoring approach for exploring electron densities and electrostatic potentials of molecular crystals

Experimental and theoretical studies of electron densities and the corresponding derived entities such as electrostatic potentials have been the primary means of understanding the chemical nature and electronic properties of crystalline substances. Conventional crystal calculation methods such as the embedded cluster models are capable of performing calculations on small and medium-sized molecules, while periodic ab initio methods can treat crystals with up to 200 atoms per unit cell. A linear scaling method, viz. the molecular tailoring approach, has recently been developed for obtaining ab initio quality one-electron properties. In the present study, the molecular tailoring approach is employed to generate electron density, electrostatic potential and interaction density maps with the ibuprofen crystal as a test case. The interaction density and electrostatic potential maps produced in the present work succinctly bring out the actual crystalline environment around a given reference molecule by including the interactions with atoms in its neighborhood. The results obtained from the molecular tailoring approach may thus be expected to enhance our understanding of the environment in the crystalline material with reasonably small computational effort.Contribution to the Jacopo Tomasi Honorary Issue     

Differentiation of Boc‐protected α,δ‐/δ,α‐ and β,δ‐/δ,β‐hybrid peptide positional isomers by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

Two new series of Boc‐N‐α,δ‐/δ,α‐ and β,δ‐/δ,β‐hybrid peptides containing repeats of L ‐Ala‐δ⁵‐Caa/δ⁵‐Caa‐L ‐Ala and β³‐Caa‐δ⁵‐Caa/δ⁵‐Caa‐β³‐Caa (L ‐Ala = L ‐alanine, Caa = C‐linked carbo amino acid derived from D ‐xylose) have been differentiated by both positive and negative ion electrospray ionization (ESI) ion trap tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). MSⁿ spectra of protonated isomeric peptides produce characteristic fragmentation involving the peptide backbone, the Boc‐group, and the side chain. The dipeptide positional isomers are differentiated by the collision‐induced dissociation (CID) of the protonated peptides. The loss of 2‐methylprop‐1‐ene is more pronounced for Boc‐NH‐L ‐Ala‐δ‐Caa‐OCH₃ (1), whereas it is totally absent for its positional isomer Boc‐NH‐δ‐Caa‐L ‐Ala‐OCH₃ (7), instead it shows significant loss of t‐butanol. On the other hand, second isomeric pair shows significant loss of t‐butanol and loss of acetone for Boc‐NH‐δ‐Caa‐β‐Caa‐OCH₃ (18), whereas these are insignificant for its positional isomer Boc‐NH‐β‐Caa‐δ‐Caa‐OCH₃ (13). The tetra‐ and hexapeptide positional isomers also show significant differences in MS² and MS³ CID spectra. It is observed that ‘b’ ions are abundant when oxazolone structures are formed through five‐membered cyclic transition state and cyclization process for larger ‘b’ ions led to its insignificant abundance. However, b₁⁺ ion is formed in case of δ,α‐dipeptide that may have a six‐membered substituted piperidone ion structure. Furthermore, ESI negative ion MS/MS has also been found to be useful for differentiating these isomeric peptide acids. Thus, the results of MS/MS of pairs of di‐, tetra‐, and hexapeptide positional isomers provide peptide sequencing information and distinguish the positional isomers. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enantiospecific synthesis of ABC-ring system of A-nor and abeo 4(3→2) tetra and pentacyclic triterpenes

Enantiospecific synthesis of ABC-ring systems of A-nor and abeo 4(3→2) tetra and pentacyclic triterpenes has been accomplished starting from the readily available monoterpene (R)-carvone. (R)-Carvone was used as the B-ring of the target molecules. A lithium-liquid ammonia mediated cyclisation of δ,?-unsaturated ester was employed for the cyclopentannulation at the C-5 and C-6 carbons of carvone and an RCM reaction was employed for the cyclohexannulation to generate the ABC-ring system of A-nor tetra and pentacyclic triterpenes. The strategy has been extended for the synthesis of the ABC-ring system of abeo 4(3→2) tetra and pentacyclic triterpenes.     

Allosteric effect of the first lead ion on stepwise extraction of the second lead ion with p-t-butylcalix[5]arene pentacarboxylic acid derivative

A calix[5]arene-based solvent extraction reagent displaying very high selectivity for lead has been prepared, one molecule of which extracts two lead ions in a stepwise manner. The first Pb²⁺ ion is bound to five phenoxy oxygen atoms inside the calixarene cavity due to which the ligand undergoes conformational freezing in stable cone conformer. This causes positive allosteric effect for co-extraction of the second lead ion due to the aggregation of functional groups.     

2,6‐Bis(1‐benzyl‐1H‐1,2,3‐triazol‐4‐yl)pyridine and its octahedral copper complex

In the tridentate ligand 2,6‐bis(1‐benzyl‐1H‐1,2,3‐triazol‐4‐yl)pyridine, C₂₃H₁₉N₇, both sets of triazole N atoms are anti with respect to the pyridine N atom, while in the copper complex aqua[2,6‐bis(1‐benzyl‐1H‐1,2,3‐triazol‐4‐yl)pyridine](pyridine)(tetrafluoroborato)copper(II) tetrafluoroborate, [Cu(BF₄)(C₅H₅N)(C₂₃H₁₉N₇)(H₂O)]BF₄, the triazole N atoms are in the syn–syn conformation. The coordination of the Cu^II atom is distorted octahedral. The ligand structure is stabilized through intermolecular C—H...N interactions, while the crystal structure of the Cu complex is stabilized through water‐ and BF₄‐mediated hydrogen bonds. Photoluminiscence studies of the ligand and complex show that the ligand is fluorescent due to triazole–pyridine conjugation, but that the fluorescence is quenched on complexation.