Structure determination of zinc iodide complexes formed in aqueous solution

Structures of the complexes formed in aqueous solutions between zinc(II) and iodide ions have been determined from large-angle X-ray scattering, Raman and far-IR measurements. The coordination in the hydrated Zn²⁺ hexaaqua ion and the first iodide complex, [ZnI]⁺, is octahedral, but is changed into tetrahedral in the higher complexes, [ZnI₂(H₂O)₂], [ZnI₃(H₂O)]^– and [ZnI₄]^2–. The Zn-I bond length is 2.635(4)Å in the [ZnI₄]^2– ion and slightly shorter, 2.592(6)Å, in the two lower tetrahedral complexes. In the octahedral [ZnI(H₂O)₅]⁺ complex the Zn-I bond length is 2.90(1)Å. The Zn-O bonding distances in the complexes are approximately the same as that in the hydrated Zn²⁺ ion, 2.10(1)Å.     

Addition of palladium and platinum tri-tert-butylphosphine groups to Re-Sn and Re-Ge bonds

The reaction of Re2(CO)8[mu-eta2-C(H)=C(H)Bu(n)](mu-H) with Ph3SnH at 68 degrees C yielded the new compound Re2(CO)8(mu-SnPh2)2 (10) which contains two SnPh2 ligands bridging two Re(CO)(4) groups, joined by an unusually long Re-Re bond. Fenske-Hall molecular orbital calculations indicate that the bonding in the Re2Sn2 cluster is dominated by strong Re-Sn interactions and that the Re-Re interactions are weak. The 119Sn M?ssbauer spectrum of 10 exhibits a doublet with an isomer shift (IS) of 1.674(12) mm s(-1) and a quadrupole splitting (QS) of 2.080(12) mm s(-1) at 90 K,characteristic of Sn(IV) in a SnA2B2 environment. The IS is temperature dependent, -1.99(14) x 10(-4) mm s(-1) K(-1); the QS is temperature independent. The temperature-dependent properties are consistent with the known Gol'danskii-Kariagin effect. The germanium compound Re2(CO)8(mu-GePh2)2 (11) was obtained from the reaction of Re2(CO)8[mu-eta2-C(H)=C(H)Bu(n)](mu-H) with Ph3GeH. Compound 11 has a structure similar to that of 10. The reaction of 10 with Pd(PBu(t)3)2 at 25 degrees C yielded the bis-Pd(PBu(t)3) adduct, Re2(CO)8(mu-SnPh2)2[Pd(PBu(t)3)]2 (12); it has two Pd(PBu(t)3) groups bridging two of the four Re-Sn bonds in 10. Fenske-Hall molecular orbital calculations show that the Pd(PBu(t)3) groups form three-center two-electron bonds with the neighboring rhenium and tin atoms. The mono- and bis-Pt(PBu(t)3) adducts, Re2(CO)8(mu-SnPh2(2)[Pt(PBu(t)3)] (13) and Re2(CO)8(mu-SnPh2)2[Pt(PBu(t)3)]2 (14), were formed when 10 was treated with Pt(PBu(t)3)2. A mono adduct of 11, Re2(CO)8(mu-GePh2)2[Pt(PBu(t)3)] (15), was obtained similarly from the reaction of 11 with Pt(PBu(t)3)2.     

Redox-switchable direction of photoinduced electron transfer in an Ru(bpy)3(2+)-viologen dyad

Quenching of the 3MLCT excited state of [Ru(bpy)3]2+ (bpy=bipyridine) by the reduction products (MV*+ and MV0) of methyl viologen (MV2+) was studied by a combination of electrochemistry with laser flash photolysis or femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy. Both for the bimolecular reactions and for the reactions in an Ru(bpy)3(2+)-MVn+ dyad, quenching by MV*+ and MV0 is reductive and gives the reduced ruthenium complex [Ru(bpy)3]+, in contrast to the oxidative quenching by MV2+. Rate constants of quenching (kq), and thermal charge recombination (krec) and cage escape yields (phi(ce)) were determined for the bimolecular reactions, and rates of forward (kf) and backward (kb) electron transfer in the dyad were measured for quenching by MV2+, MV*+, and MV0. The reactions in the dyad are very rapid, with values up to kf = 1.3 x 10(12) s(-1) for *Ru(bpy)3(2+)-MV*+. In addition, a long-lived (tau = 15 ps) vibrationally excited state of MV*+ with a characteristically structured absorption spectrum was detected; this was generated by direct excitation of the MV*+ moiety both at 460 and 600 nm. The results show that the direction of photoinduced electron transfer in a Ru(bpy)3-MV molecule can be switched by an externally applied bias.     

An intercomparison of sampling techniques for measurements of radiocaesium in upland pasture and soil

An intercomparison of sampling procedures used by five laboratories for the determination of radiocaesium in vegetation and peaty soil was carried out at two locations in Cumbria. The multiple sampling has given information on the homogeneity of the parameters studied at each location. The parameters comprise soil bulk densities, total deposition of¹³⁷Cs, deposition of¹³⁷Cs in three soil layers, biomass densities, concentrations of¹³⁷Cs in pasture, and activity ratios (¹³⁴Cs/¹³⁷Cs) in soil and vegetation. The determination of total deposition of¹³⁷Cs gave no indication of differences between the laboratories. The results from the soil profiles do indicate significant differences between laboratories. One laboratory using a coring technique observed difficulties during sampling due to compression of the soil. The coring technique should thus be avoided or applied with extreme care for the sampling of depth profiles in peaty soil. The results from the sampling of pasture show no indication of differences between the laboratories. For the parameters studied the observed variabilities across soil depths and locations range from 10% to 81% in terms of relative standard deviations. A comparison across all results at the two locations indicate a 50% higher field variability at one of the sites relative to the other.     

Capillary electrophoresis-atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry for the characterization of peptides. Instrumental considerations for mass spectrometric detection.

On-line capillary electrophoresis (CE) separations are shown for a synthetic peptide mixture and a tryptic digest of human hemoglobin in an uncoated fused-silica capillary with detection using atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry (API-MS). The CE system utilized a 1-m capillary column of either 75- or 100-microns I.D. These somewhat larger inside diameters allow higher sample capacities for MS detection and the 1-m length facilitates connecting the CE column to the liquid junction-ion spray interface and MS system. Low volatile buffer concentrations (15-20 mM) of ammonium acetate or ammonium formate, and high organic modifier content (5-50%) of methanol or acetonitrile facilitates ionization under electrospray conditions. This study shows that peptides separated by CE may be transferred to the API-MS system through a liquid junction coupling to the pneumatically assisted electrospray (ion spray) interface at low buffer pH when the electroosmotic flow is low (0-0.04 microliter/min). CE-MS as described herein is facilitated by features in modern CE instrumentation including robotic cleaning and pressurization of the capillary inlet. The latter is particularly useful for repetitive rinsing and conditioning of the capillary column between analyses in addition to continuous 'infusion' of sample to the mass spectrometer for tuning purposes. In addition to facile molecular weight determination, amino acid sequence information for peptides may be obtained by utilizing on-line tandem MS. After the tryptic digest sample components enter the API-MS system, the molecular ion species of individual peptides may be focussed and transmitted into the collision cell of the tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Collision-induced dissociation of protonated peptide molecules yielded structural information for their characterization following injection of 10 pmol of a tryptic digest from human hemoglobin.     

Kinetics of the Zn(II)/Zn(Hg) electrode reactions in DMSO solutions of halide ions

The electrode reaction Zn(II)/Zn(Hg) in complex chloride, bromide, and iodide solutions with DMSO as solvent and ammonium perchlorate as supporting electrolyte has been studied at the equilibrium potential by the faradaic impedance method and a square-wave method. Furthermore, double-layer data have been determined by electrocapillary measurements. The results indicate that the zinc chloride and bromide complexes do not contribute noticeably to the exchange current density, while in the iodide system both the solvated zinc ion and the first complex take part in the charge transfer. From the dissimilar results valid for water and DMSO solutions the conclusion is made that probably ligand bridging at the amalgam by the halide ions is operative in water solutions, whereas in DMSO the larger solvent molecules adsorbed can form a steric hindrance to ligand bridging by chloride or bromide ions.     

Synthesis, crystal structure, and chirality of divalent lanthanide reagents containing tri- and tetraglyme

Six new divalent lanthanide complexes using triglyme (trigly) and tetraglyme (tetgly) as achiral ligands have been prepared, using a facile synthetic method, in search for enantioselective solid-state reagents. The crystal structures of cis-[SmI₂(trigly)thf] (1), trans-[YbI₂(trigly)thf] (2), trans-[SmI₂(trigly)dme] (3), trans-[YbI₂(tetgly)] (4), trans-[EuI₂(tetgly)thf] (5), and [Sm(tetgly)₂][SmI₃(tetgly)]I (6) have been determined. All complexes, except 5, are chiral. The 10-coordinate cation in 6 displays a helical chirality since the two tetraglyme ligands are wrapped around the samarium ion. Since trans-[YbI₂(tetgly)] (4), which has a chiral arrangement of terminal methyl groups, crystallizes as a conglomerate, preferential crystallization and consequent enantioselective reduction of acetophenone was attempted, but resulted in racemic products, possibly on account of racemic twinning in 4.     

Deoxygenation of supporting electrolytes in stripping voltammetry by glocuse and co-immobilized glocuse oxidase and catalase in a flow system

Carrier solutions for stripping voltammetry in flow systems are deoxygenated by reaction with glucose added to the carrier. The reaction was catalyzed by glocuse oxidase and catalase co-immobilized in an enzyme reactor which was inserted before the injector. The oxygenated was removed at least as efficiently as with nitrogen purging and the voltametric behaviour of cadmium(II), lead(II) and zinc(II) was unaffected by the glucose/gluconic acid system. A particular advantage is the rapid start-up compared to the lengthy purging of carrier solution when nitrogen degassing is used. The enzyme reactor made from porous glass was effective for several months.     

A field theoretical description of states with different orbitals for different spins

A field theoretical formulation is given for the method of different orbitals for different spins (DODS ). For an infinite system DODS describes an antiferromagnetic state and to account for this spin ordering a Gorkov-type of factorization is introduced. A corresponding gap equation is derived, where a non-zero solution indicates the presence of long-range order in the system. Actually the formulation given is general enough as to render DODS as a special case. As shown, we may also obtain a ferrimagnetic as well as a density wave state solution depending on the special characteristics of the system at hand. A related type of antiferromagnetism is described by the Overhauser spin density wave (SDW ) state and also this theory is formulated in a field theoretical language. The similarities and differences between DODS and SDW are discussed. The energy expressions for the two states are given within the Hartree-Fock approximation. It is proposed that the SDW state could be used to partly account for the correlation problem in molecules, as well as the method of DODS which has previously been employed for that purpose.     

New rhenium-tin cluster adds palladium phosphine groups across Re-Sn bonds

The new rhenium-tin complex Re2(CO)8(mu-SnPh2)2, 1 was obtained in 52% yield from the reaction of Re2(CO)8(mu-H)[mu-C(H)C(H)Bu] with Ph3SnH. Compound 1 contains two SnPh2 groups bridging a long Re-Re single bond, Re-Re = 3.1971(4) A [3.1902(4) A], Re-Sn = 2.7429(4) A [2.7445(4) A], and 2.7675(4) [2.7682(5) A]. A bis-Pd(PBut3) adduct of 1, Pd2Re2(CO)8(mu-SnPh2)2(PBut3)2, 2 was obtained from the reaction of 1 with Pd(PBut3)2. Compound 2 contains Pd(PBut3) groups bridging two of its four Re-Sn bonds. The Re-Re bond and the unbridged Re-Sn bonds in 2 are significantly longer than those in 1, 3.245(1) A and 2.8167(14) A, respectively. Fenske-Hall molecular orbital calculations on 1 and 2 have been performed to explain the metal-metal bonding in these unusual mixed-metal polynuclear metal complexes.