Concentration and vertical distribution of plutonium and americium in Italian mosses and lichens

The plutonium and americium concentration and vertical distribution in some Italian mosses and lichens have been determined. The^239,240Pu,²³⁸Pu and²⁴¹Am concentration ranges in tree trunk lichens 0.83–1.87, 0.052–0.154 and 0.180–0.770 Bq/kg, respectively. The corresponding values in tree mosses are higher and more scattered ranging from 0.321 to 4.96, from 0.029 to 0.171 and from 0.200 to 1.93 Bq/kg. The mean²³⁸Pu/^239,240Pu and²⁴¹Am/^239,240Pu ratios are 0.088±0.037 and 0.38±0.13 in lichens and 0.091±0.072 and 0.54±0.16 in tree mosses. The Pu and Am concentrations are relatively low in terrestrial mosses. The^239,240Pu,²³⁸Pu and²⁴¹Am vertical distributions in a terrestrial moss core (Neckera Crispa) collected near Urbino (central Italy) show an exponential decrease with the height. On the contrary the²⁴¹Am vertical distribution in another terrestrial moss core (Sphagnum Compactum) collected in the Alps (northern Italy) shows an interesting peak at 16 cm which corresponds to the deposition of fallout from the nuclear weapon tests in 1960's. The²⁴¹Am movement upward and downward in the moss core is also studied. The results show once again that both mosses and lichens are very effective accumulators of Pu and Am and that they can be used as good biological indicators of the radionuclide airbome pollution from nuclear facilities and nuclear weapon tests. They can play a very impotant role in cycling naturally or artificially enhanced radionuclides in the atmosphere over long time scales.     

聚醚桥连二异羟肟酸单核和双核过渡金属配合物催化PNPP水解

Two polyether bridged dihydroxamic acids and their mono-and binuclear manganese(Ⅱ), zinc(Ⅱ) complexes have been synthesized and employed as models to mimic hydrolase in catalytic hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl picolinate (PNPP). The reaction kinetics and the mechanism of hydrolysis of PNPP have been investigated. The kinetic mathematical model for PNPP cleaved by the complexes has been proposed. The effects of the different central metal ion, mono-and binuclear metal, the pseudo-macrocyclic polyether constructed by polyethoxy group of the complexes, and reactive temperature on the rate for catalytic hydrolysis of PNPP have been examined. The results showed that the transition metal dthydroxamates exhibited high catalytic activity to the hydrolysis of PNPP, the catalytic activity of binuclear complexes was higher than that of mononuclear ones, and the pseudo-macrocyclic polyether might synergetically activate H20 coordinated to metal ion with central metal ion together and promote the catalytic hydrolysis of PNPP.     

SYNTHESIS OF HYPERBRANCHED CONJUGATIVE POLY（ARYLENEETHYNYLENE）S BY ALKYNE POLYCYCLOTRIMERIZATION

A series of new hyperbranched poly(aryleneethynylene)s are synthesized by the copolycyclotrimerizations oftetraynes(Ⅰand Ⅱ)with aliphatic monoynes(A-C)catalyzed by tantalum-,niobium-,and cobalt-based catalysts.All thereactions proceed smoothly and soluble polymers of high molecular weights(M_w up to 3.8×10~4)are obtained in high yields(up to 97%).     

Synthesis,crystal structure and spectroscopic characterization of a hydrogen-bonded 1D copper(II) complex

Novel 1:2 and 1:1 (M:L) copper(II) complexes have been prepared from the tridentate ligand 2-(1-methyl-2-aza-5-oxapentyl)phenol (H₂L¹). The crystal structure of [Cu(HL¹)₂] (1) exhibits a noncentrosymmetric square-planar geometry with a slightly tetrahedral distortion. The Cu^II atom is coordinated by two amino N and two phenoxo O atoms of two (HL¹)^– ligands. The phenoxo and the alkoxy groups are involved in two strong intramolecular hydrogen bonds. The coordination moieties are further connected to a 1D linear structure by the action of intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the alkoxyl and the amino groups. The importance of steric hindrance introduced by the methyl group in the molecular structure and the packing of the complex molecules has been demonstrated. The e.p.r. parameters of (1) have been obtained: g = 2.231, g = 2.005, g _iso = 2.080, A = 185.0 G, A _iso = 86.5 G, A = (3A _iso – A )/2 = 37.3 G. These results confirm a distorted square planar stereochemistry with a ( )¹ ground state.     

Synthesis of a Novel Core-shell Type Acrylic-polyurethane Hybrid Emulsion Containing Siloxane and Fluorine as well as Water and the Oil Resistances of Cured Film

Aqueous acrylic-polyurethane dispersions have become one of the major types of materials used in coating, paint and adhesive industries, because of excellent properties and environmental advantages1-5. However, some properties for cured film such as water…     

Coordinate Structures of PrIII, GdIII, TmIII, and YbIII Complexes with Nitrilotriacetic Acids

The crystal and molecular structures of the [Pr^III(nta)(H₂O)₂]·H₂O (nta = nitrilotriacetic acids), K₃[Gd^III(nta)₂(H₂O)]·6H₂O, and K₃[Yb^III(nta)₂]·5H₂O complexes have been determined by single-crystal X-ray structure analyses. In [Pr^III(nta)(H₂O)₂]·H₂O, the Pr^IIINO₈ part forms a nine-coordinate pseudo-monocapped square antiprismatic structure in which one N and three O atoms are from one nta ligand in the same molecule, three O atoms from another nta ligand in the neighboring molecule and two O atoms from two coordinate water molecules. In K₃[Gd^III(nta)₂(H₂O)]·6H₂O, the [Gd^III(nta)₂(H₂O)^3- complex anion has a nine-coordinate pseudo-monocapped square antiprismatic structure in which each nta acts as a tetradentate ligand with one N atom of the amino group and three O atoms of the carboxylic groups. In K₃[Yb^III(nta)₂]·5H₂O, each nta also acts as a tetradentate ligand with one N atom of amino group and three O atoms of the carboxylic groups, but the [Yb^III(nta)₂ ^3- complex anion has an eight-coordinate structure with a distorted square antiprismatic prism. All the results including those for [Tm^III(nta)(H₂O)₂]·2H₂O confirm the inferences on the coordinate structures and coordination numbers of rare earth metal complexes with the nta ligand.     

Thermodynamics and dynamics of metallic glass formers: their correlation for the investigation on potential energy landscape

Great progress has been made in basic features of the potential energy landscape (PEL) theoretically. The present work, however, attempts to cast new light on it from experimental aspects. By a survey of experimental data related to thermodynamics or dynamics of metallic glass-forming liquids, it is found that the increased rate of excitation of vibrational entropy at glass transition tends to increase the rate of generation of configurational part. Although for the type of metallic materials a generally positive relationship exists between the density of the energy minima at glass transition and the liquid fragility strength, just as expected, our main attention is paid to the phenomenon of the scattering of the slopes. Analysis shows that the phenomenon results from the different average height of energy barriers between minima near glass transition. Investigation on the PdNiP metallic system indicates that the mismatch entropy is a dominant factor in the barrier height: a large value of it results in low energy barriers. Our previous work on the AlNiCe system gives the support to this finding.     

Fluorescence and aggregation behavior of poly(amidoamine) dendrimers peripherally modified with aromatic chromophores: the effect of dendritic architectures

PAMAM dendrimers of the zeroth to fifth generation (G0-5) have been peripherally modified with phenyl, naphthyl, pyrenyl, and dansyl chromophores. Their fluorescence behaviors are strongly affected by the dendritic architectures at different generations. These dendrimers modified with hydrophobic chromphores can self-organize into vesicular aggregates at the low generations G0-3 in water. The size and aggregation number of these vesicles decrease with increasing generation from G0 to G3. Critical aggregation concentration determined by fluorescence spectroscopy reveals that these aggregates can be favorably formed in the order of G3 > G2 > G1. In contrast to the vesicles made from traditional amphiphilic compounds, these dendrimer-based vesicles are very adhesive due to the H-bonding interaction and entanglement of dendritic branches located in the outer layer. A large number of multivesicle assemblies, i.e., "twins" and "quins" consisting of two and five vesicles, were clearly identifiable with transmission electron (TEM) and atomic force microscopy. For the dendrimers with peripheral pyrenyl chromophores, triangle-like vesicles were observed in water. The hydrophobic interphase thickness of the vesicular bilayer is ca. 2.0-3.2 nm determined by fluorescence resonance energy transfer methods, which agrees well with the thickness directly observed with TEM.     

The glass transition time scale and configurational entropy in polymers: an experimental molecular view

We report direct experimental observation of local conformational dynamics in a polymer chain at the calorimetric glass transition temperature Tg. Variable-temperature two-dimensional (2D) solid-state exchange NMR, at natural abundance, reveals segmental dynamics in pure polyisobutylene (PIB) occurring on a time scale of several seconds over the Tg range observed by DSC (203-208 K). To our knowledge, this is the first direct observation of molecular-level conformer interchange (trans-trans/trans-gauche/gauche-gauche) at the caloric glass transition temperature. Our results provide a chronologically accurate and pedagogically advantageous demonstration of molecular processes during a polymer phase transition, relative to traditional bulk mechanical and calorimetric techniques. More importantly, we use a miscible blend to demonstrate a general strategy for quantitative evaluation of configurational entropy changes via combination of temperature-dependent 2D exchange NMR and Adams-Gibbs theory. Our results on the Tg time scale are directly relevant to fundamental understanding of the Tg length scale, i.e., the dimension of cooperatively rearranging regions.     

The Synthesis of Some New N‐[1‐(2,5‐Dichlorophenyl)‐5‐Methyl‐1,2,3‐Triazol‐4‐yl]‐Carbamic Acid Ester Derivatives

The synthesis of some new N‐[1‐(2,5‐dichlorophenyl)‐5‐methyl‐1,2,3‐triazol‐4‐yl]‐carbamic acid ester derivatives are reported in this paper. The yielded products 6a‐l were confirmed by Elemental analyses, NMR, MS, and IR spectra.