Tetrametallic Reduction of Dinitrogen: Formation of a Tetranuclear Samarium Dinitrogen Complex

The cooperative attack of four (dipyrromethanyl)Sm(II) units on dinitrogen resulted in a novel tetranuclear samarium dinitrogen complex (shown schematically). The presence of halogen atoms inhibited reactivity with dinitrogen through the assembly of divalent samarium clusters. dipyrr=diphenylmethyldipyrrolide dianion.     

Lipase from a Brazilian StrainPenicillium citrinum Cultured in a Simple and Inexpensive Medium st]Heat-Denaturation, Kinetics, and pH Stability

This work is a study of lipase production by a Brazilian strain ofPenicillium citrinum using an inexpensive and simple medium without organic nitrogen sources and of some important industrial properties, including thermostability in relation to ionic strength. The maximal lipase activity (1585 U/L) was obtained whenPenicillium citrinum was cultured on 0.75% ammonium sulfate complemented with minerals salts instead of yeast extract. Although this activity was about 55% lower than that produced in medium with yeast extract (2850 U/L), the specific activity (7.8 U/mg proteins) was higher than that obtained with the yeast extract (4.9 U/mg proteins). The morphology of fungus changed totally, with yeast extract there are smooth, solid, and spherical pellets whereas on ammonium sulfate there are small “hairy” pellets uniformly suspended in the medium. The effect of ferrous (Fe⁺⁺) ions was carried out using medium MA with and without Fe⁺⁺ ions. Lipase production byPenicillium citrinum in medium MA requires Fe⁺⁺ ions, the absence of which caused a decreased of about 50% in the specific activity (3.5 U/mg proteins). The utilization of commercial, locally available oils as carbon sources, such as soybean oil (236 U/L) and corn oil (74 U/L) resulted in lower activity compared to olive oil, showing that lipase production byPenicillium citrinum is specifically induced by olive oil. Potassium concentration in the medium can effects the production of lipase (1 mM (1585 U/L), 10 mM (1290 U/L), and 30 mM (1238 U/L), 50 mM (195 U/L), and 100 mM (2 U/L). The crude culture filtered was susceptable to thermal deactivation. It was stable at pH 6.0, but was not stable at the optimum pH (8.0-8.5) at 50 mM. At the low ionic concentration (1-25 mM) this lipase was stable at low pH (3.5-4.0). The activation energy was 22.4 ±2.2 Kcal. mol 1.     

Supramolecular helical mesomorphic polymers. Chiral induction through H-bonding

The work described here concerns a challenge of general interest in supramolecular chemistry: the achievement of chiral helical organizations with controlled structures. This work provides a strategy to obtain supramolecular polymers in which a chiral helical conformation has been induced by a noncovalent association, that is, through hydrogen bonding. Polycatenar 2,4,6-triarylamino-1,3,5-triazines, which organize into columnar mesophases and are susceptible to H-bonding interactions, were chosen as a starting point to build up the chiral supramolecular structure. The stacking of these mesogens has been forced to wind in a helical way by means of H-bond association with (R)-3-methyladipic acid, within the mesophase. The optically active columnar organization has been studied in depth by optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction, and circular dichroism. Formation of stable complexes between the triazine units and (R)-3-methyladipic acid has also been investigated by means of NMR diffusion-ordered spectroscopy (DOSY) experiments in chloroform.     

A series of neutral radical CpNi(dithiolene). complexes

The heteroleptic neutral radical dithiolene complexes CpNi(dmit)., CpNi(dsit). and CpNi(dmid).(dmit=1,3-dithiole-2-thione-4,5-dithiolate; dsit=1,3-dithiole-2-thione-4,5-diselenolate; dmid=1,3-dithiole-2-one-4,5-dithiolate) are obtained from the reaction of (Cp2Ni)BF4 with either (n-Bu4N)[Ni(dmit)2] and (n-Bu4N)[Ni(dmid)2] or PhSb(dmit) and PhSb(dsit), respectively. The three complexes reduce reversibly to the corresponding Ni(II) anions and oxidize reversibly to the cationic state. As deduced from DFT calculations performed on CpNi(dmit)., the SOMO of these complexes is essentially localized on the dithiolene moiety with little metal contribution. CpNi(dsit). is isostructural with CpNi(dmit). and crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P2(1). In the solid-state structures of both CpNi(dmit). and CpNi(dsit)., molecules interact through a three-dimensional set of intermolecular interactions mediated by short SS, SeSe and SSe contacts, as confirmed from the temperature and field dependence of the magnetic susceptibility by the observation of an antiferromagnetic ground state below T(Neel)=27 K in CpNi(dmit)., 18 K in CpNi(dsit).. Finally, CpNi(dmid). crystallizes in the orthorhombic system, space group Pnma. Molecules organize into uniform chains through the stacking of the dmid moieties in a sigma-type face-to-face overlap.     

Pyrazoles as molecular probes to study the properties of co-crystals by solid state NMR spectroscopy

Equimolar mixtures of 3,5-dimethylpyrazole (1) with four NH-imidazoles (2–5) have been studied by¹³C and ¹⁵N CPMAS NMR and by DSC. In three cases, the solid mixture behaves as the sum of the individual components [imidazole (2), 2-methylimidazole (3) and 2,4(5)-dimethylimidazole (5)]. In one case [4,5-dimethylimidazole (4)], the mixture corresponds to a new species in which the dynamic behavior of1 no longer exists.     

Determination of liposoluble vitamins in cooked meals, milk and milk products by liquid chromatography

A method for the simultaneous determination of liposoluble vitamins in cooked meals was established. Saponification was performed with 50% (w/v) KOH at 80 degrees C, and ascorbic acid was added as antioxidant. The subsequent extraction was carried out with diethyl ether. This was followed by a liquid chromatographic separation on a reversed-phase C18 column with methanol-water (94:6, v/v as the mobile phase. Retinyl acetate was used as the internal standard. The analytical parameters linearity, detection limit (0.19 and 8.33 microg/100 g for retinol and alpha-tocopherol, respectively), precision of the method (RSD=5.24 and 6.99% for retinol and alpha-tocopherol, respectively) and recovery assays (95.6 and 96.5% for retinol and alpha-tocopherol, respectively) show that the method studied is useful for measuring these compounds in foods and cooked meals.     

Broad-band spectroscopy of a vanadyl porphyrin: a model electronuclear spin qudit

We explore how to encode more than a qubit in vanadyl porphyrin molecules hosting a S = 1/2 electronic spin coupled to a I = 7/2 nuclear spin. The spin Hamiltonian and its parameters, as well as the spin dynamics, have been determined via a combination of electron paramagnetic resonance, heat capacity, magnetization and on-chip magnetic spectroscopy experiments performed on single crystals. We find low temperature spin coherence times of micro-seconds and spin relaxation times longer than a second. For sufficiently strong magnetic fields (B > 0.1 T, corresponding to resonance frequencies of 9–10 GHz) these properties make vanadyl porphyrin molecules suitable qubit realizations. The presence of multiple equispaced nuclear spin levels then merely provides 8 alternatives to define the ‘1’ and ‘0’ basis states. For lower magnetic fields (B < 0.1 T), and lower frequencies (<2 GHz), we find spectroscopic signatures of a sizeable electronuclear entanglement. This effect generates a larger set of allowed transitions between different electronuclear spin states and removes their degeneracies. Under these conditions, we show that each molecule fulfills the conditions to act as a universal 4-qubit processor or, equivalently, as a d = 16 qudit. These findings widen the catalogue of chemically designed systems able to implement non-trivial quantum functionalities, such as quantum simulations and, especially, quantum error correction at the molecular level.

We show that a sizeable electronuclear entanglement of the S = 1/2 and I = 7/2 spins of a vanadyl porphyrin provides the conditions to act as a universal 4-qubit processor, and thus implement quantum error correction at the molecular level.     

Reaction of 2H-azirine phosphine oxide and -phosphonates with nucleophiles. Stereoselective Synthesis of functionalized aziridines and alpha- and beta-aminophosphorus derivatives

[reaction: see text] A simple and efficient stereoselective synthesis of aziridine-2-phosphonate 3, and -phosphine oxide 5 by diastereoselective addition of Grignard reagents to 2H-azirine phosphonate 1 and -phosphine oxide 4 is reported. Similarly, the addition of heterocyclic amines and benzenethiol to aziridines 1 and 4 yielded functionalized aziridines 10, 11, and 18. These aziridines are used as intermediates for the regioselective synthesis of beta-aminophosphine oxides 6 and beta-aminophosphonates 7, as well as alpha- aminophosphonates 8. Phenylsulfenyl-substituted alpha-aminophosphorus derivatives 15 and 19 are obtained directly from benzenethiol and 2H-azirine phosphonates 1 and -phosphine oxides 4.     

The role of steric and electronic interactions in the stereocontrol of the asymmetric 1,3-dipolar reactions of 5-ethoxy-3-p-(S)-tolylsulfinylfuran-2(5H)-ones with diazoalkanes: theoretical calculations and experimental evidences

The addition of diazomethane and diazoethane to (5S,SS)- and (5R,SS)-5-ethoxy-3-p-tolylsulfinylfuran-2(5H)-ones (1a and 1b) and their 4-methylderivatives (2a and 2b) proceeded in almost quantitative yields and complete regioselectivity. The observed pi-facial selectivity is determined by the configurations at both C-5 and the sulfinyl group, the later being the most important. The syn adducts were almost exclusively obtained from 1a and 2a in apolar solvents but the pi-facial selectivity was strongly decreased in more polar solvents. On the other hand, the major adducts from 1b and 2b were the anti ones and such predominance was slightly increased with solvent polarity. The exo-selectivity was complete in all the cases except for the anti approach to compounds 2a (in polar solvents) and 2b. The role of the sulfinyl group in this behavior was inferred by comparison of these results with those obtained in reactions of diazoalkanes with 5-methoxyfuran-2(5H)-one (3). Steric interactions seem to be the main ones responsible for the observed exo selectivity of reactions with diazoethane, but electronic factors, which can be modulated by the solvent, are also significant in the pi-facial selectivity control. DFT computational methods are able to correctly predict the reactivity, regioselectivity, and pi-facial selectivity exhibited by 5-alkoxyfuranones as well as their changes with the solvent polarity. A C-H.O hydrogen bond, involving the oxygen atom of the 5-alkoxy group at dipolarophiles and the endo-hydrogen atom at dipoles, seems to play a key role in the electronic interactions influencing the stereochemical course of these reactions.     

Effect of solvent composition on dispersing ability of reaction sialon suspensions

This work focuses on the optimization of the rheological behavior of suspensions considering different solvent compositions. The effects of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK)/ethanol (E) solvent mixtures on reaction sialon suspensions were investigated by measuring sedimentation behavior, adsorption of dispersant, and flow behavior. It was shown that both the flow behavior and the sedimentation behavior strongly depended on selection of solvent composition. Using 3 wt% KD1 as dispersant, well-dispersed colloidal suspensions could be obtained in MEK-rich solvents. The suspensions with 60 vol% MEK/40 vol% E as solvent could be fitted to the Bingham model with very low yield stress, while suspensions with pure MEK or ethanol-rich mixtures as solvent showed pseudo plastic behavior with relatively high yield stress values. A model was proposed to explain the different flow behaviors of suspensions considering the different configurations of dispersant at particles' surfaces.