Transesterification of phenyl salicylate II. Kinetics and mechanism of intramolecular general base-catalyzed cleavage of phenyl salicylate under the presence of 1,2-ethanediol and 2-ethoxyethanol

The first-order rate constants, k₁, for 1,2-ethanediolysis (within the content of 1,2-ethanediol of 5% to 90%, v/v) and 2-ethoxyethanolysis (within the 2-ethoxyethanol content of 5% to 60%, v/v) of phenyl salicylate, PSH, in alkaline aqueous mixed solvents, fit to a relationship: k₁ = k[ROH]_T/(1 + K[ROH]_T) where k and K represent the secondorder rate constant for the reaction of alkanol, ROH, with ionized phenyl salicylate, PS^?, and association constant for the dimerization of ROH, respectively, and [ROH]_T is the total concentration of ROH. Similar relationship between k₁ and [ROH]_T has been found for 1,2-ethanediolysis of PS^? studied in mixed solvents containing 1,2-ethanediol and MeCN. In the alkaline aqueous mixed solvents containing 2-ethoxyethanol, the k₁-[ROH]_T profile reveals the change in the solvent structure of the reaction medium at >60% (v/v) of ROH content. It is proposed that alkanols exist in polymeric form, (ROH)_n, and the alkanolysis of PS^? involves the pre-equilibrium formation of monomeric ROH from (ROH)_n, followed by an intramolecular general base-catalyzed nucleophilic attack at carbonyl carbon of ester. A slight negative KCl salt- and slight positive n-Bu₄NI salt-effect are obtained for 1,2-ethanediolysis while a significant positive n-Bu₄NI salt-effect is obtained for 2-ethoxyethanolysis of PS^?.     

The Dvoretzky-Wald-Wolfowitz theorem and purification in atomless finite-action games

In 1951, Dvoretzky, Wald and Wolfowitz (henceforth DWW) showed that corresponding to any mixed strategy into a finite action space, there exists a pure-strategy with an identical integral with respect to a finite set of atomless measures. DWW used their theorem for purification: the elimination of randomness in statistical decision procedures and in zero-sum two-person games. In this short essay, we apply a consequence of their theorem to a finite-action setting of finite games with incomplete and private information, as well as to that of large games. In addition to simplified proofs and conceptual clarifications, the unification of results offered here re-emphasizes the close connection between statistical decision theory and the theory of games.A first draft of this paper was completed when Khan and Rath were visiting the Institute for Mathematical Sciences at the National University of Singapore in August 2003; they thank the Institute for supporting their visit. A preliminary version was presented at the Midwest Economic Theory Conference held at Indiana University, Bloomington in October 2003; the authors are grateful to Eric Balder, Robert Becker, William Thomson and Myrna Wooders for questions and helpful suggestions.     

A risk based performance evaluation of plate-and-frame heat exchangers

Plate-and-frame heat exchangers (PHEs) operating in process industries are fouled to a greater or lesser extent depending on surface temperature, surface condition, material of construction, fluid velocity, flow geometry and fluid composition. This fouling phenomenon is time-dependent and will result in a decrease in the overall heat transfer coefficient and increase in the pressure drop of the PHE. Once the overall heat transfer coefficient decreases to a minimum acceptable level, cleaning of the equipment becomes necessary to restore the performance. In this paper, we present a simple probabilistic approach to characterize various fouling models that are commonly encountered in many industries. These random fouling growth models are then used to investigate the impact on risk based thermal effectiveness, overall heat transfer coefficient and the hot- and cold-fluid outlet temperatures of a PHE. All the results are presented in a generalized form in order to demonstrate the generality of the risk-based procedure discussed in this paper.     

Kinetic evidence for the occurrence of trianionic tetrahedral intermediate in the hydroxide ion-catalyzed cleavage of 1, 2-benzisothiazolin-3-one-1, 1-dioxide (saccharin)

The kinetics of hydrolytic cleavage of saccharin has been studied at 60°C within the [ōH] range of 0.1 to 3.0 M. The observed pseudo first-order rate constants, k_obs, follow an empirical relationship: k_obs = B[ōH] + [C[ōH]]². The B and C terms are attributed to the formation of dianionic and trianionic tetrahedral intermediates on the reaction path. It is concluded that the ionized form of saccharin is the major reacting species under the present experimental conditions. The positive ionic strength effect and the negative effect of 1,4-dioxan on the rate of hydrolysis favor the proposed reaction mechanism. The analysis of the observed activation parameters indicates that the increase in the contribution of C term to k_obs causes the slight increase in both ΔH* and ΔS*. A significantly large negative value of ΔS* favors the proposed mechanism.     

Semi-empirical formulae for Λ-binding energy in hypernuclei using mass distribution

Semi-empirical formulae for ground state Λ-binding energy of heavy hypernuclei, in inverse powers of the mass number, using the mass distribution in the folding model, under fairly reasonable assumptions about the range of the Λ-nucleon force are obtained in more than one plausible way. However, they are found to give nearly identical results. A reasonable estimate of the Λ well-depth is obtained from a chi-square fit of the available ground state Λ-binding energy data of medium and heavy nuclei.     

Synthesis of antibacterial and antifungal cobalt(II), copper(II), nickel(II) and zinc(II) complexes with bis‐(1,1′‐disubstituted ferrocenyl)thiocarbohydrazone and bis‐(1,1′‐disubstituted ferrocenyl)carbohydrazone

The condensation reaction of 1,1′‐diacetylferrocene with thiocarbohydrazide and carbohydrazide to form bis‐(1,1′‐disubstituted ferrocenyl)thiocarbohydrazone and bis‐(1,1′‐disubstituted ferrocenyl)carbohydrazone has been studied. The compounds obtained have been further used as ligands for their ligand and antimicrobial properties with cobalt(II), copper(II), nickel(II) and zinc(II) metal ions. The compounds synthesized have been characterized by physical, spectral and analytical methods and have been screened for antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtillis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi, and for antifungal activity against Trichophyton longifusus, Candida albicans, Aspergillus flavus, Microsporum canis, Fusarium solani and Candida glaberata using the agar well‐diffusion method. All the compounds synthesized have shown good affinity as antibacterial and antifungal agents, which increased in most of the cases on complexation with the metal ions. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantitation by fast-atom bombardment mass spectrometry: assay of cytidine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate-responsive protein kinase.

A protein kinase, stimulated by cytidine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate, is conventionally assayed by monitoring the incorporation of radiolabelled phosphate from adenosine triphosphate into a histone substrate. Here the assay of the protein kinase is carried out by positive-ion fast-atom bombardment mass spectrometric analysis of the enzyme incubation mixture after the reaction has been terminated. The data so obtained show good agreement with data obtained by the conventional radiometric assay: the intrinsic advantage of the mass spectrometric assay is the capacity for multiple component monitoring; the ability of the kinase to bind competing cyclic nucleotides together with integral adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) and phosphodiesterase activity can also be assessed.     

Modeling Thin Film Multilayer Broad-Band-Pass Filters in Visible Spectrum

Multilayer thin-film structures have been used to model and analyze the performance of broad-band-pass interference optical filters in visible spectrum. Starting from nine-layer configuration comprising quarter-wave layers, the number of layers is increased to make the pass band smooth with steep slopes and square band-pass characteristics. The layer materials are also varied to improve the performance of the filters. Further, matching layers are also introduced with incident medium and the substrate to reduce the magnitude of ripples in the pass band. Shift in the peak wavelength is also investigated as a function of angle of incidence.     

Controlled radical polymerization of 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate initiated by photofunctional 2‐(N,N‐diethyldithiocarbamyl)isobutyric acid

We demonstrated that density functional theory calculations provide a reliable and quantitative prediction of the trends in C? S bond dissociation energies using several model compounds as photoinitiator. On the basis of this information, we designed a possible photofunctional initiator for the polymerization of hydrophilic vinyl monomers. Photopolymerization of 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) hydrophilic monomer was carried out in ethanol initiated by 2‐(N,N‐diethyldithiocarbamyl)isobutyric acid (DTCA) under UV irradiation. We performed the first‐order time‐conversion plots in this polymerization system, and the straight line in the semilogarithmic coordinates indicated first order in monomer. The molecular weight of the poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) increased with increasing conversion. The molecular weight distribution (M_w/M_n) of the PHEMA was about 1.5. Methyl methacrylate (MMA) could also be polymerized in a living fashion with such a PHEMA precursor as a macroinitiator because PHEMA exhibited a dithiocarbamate (DC) group at its terminal end. This system could be applied to the architecture of amphiphilic block copolymers. It was concluded that these polymerization systems proceeded with controlled radical mechanism. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 76–82, 2004