New synthesis and X-ray diffraction study of a polymeric form of Ag(I) dithio-o-toluato, [Ag4(S2C-o-C6H4CH3)4]n

The title compound was synthesized by CS₂ insertion in the C-M bonds of the corresponding AgLi ate organomental compound. It contains flattened tetrahedral Ag₄ units, connected in polymeric chains by intermolecular Ag...S interactions. Two Ag atoms and three S atoms are in a distorted square pyramidal arrangement around each silver atom. The crystals are tetragonal, space group 14₁/a witha=23.706(2) andc=12.934(2) Å. The structure was refined toR=0.032 for 889 reflections.     

Template Synthesis of a Tetraaza Macrocycle Which Involves Benzaldehyde Rather Than Formaldehyde as a Building Block. Isolation and Structure Determination of the Open-Chain Schiff Base Intermediate Complex

The classical formaldehyde building block has been replaced by the bulkier benzaldehyde in the Cu(II) template synthesis of the cyclam-like tetraaza macrocycle of type 1, in which nitroethane operated as locking fragment. The synthetic pathway involves three distinct steps: (i) Schiff base condensation of the metal-free open-chain tetramine; (ii) Cu(II) coordination and preorientation of the Schiff base; (iii) nucleophilic attack by the deprotonated nitroethane fragment and formation of the macrocyclic complex. Both the Schiff base Cu(II) complex and the Cu(II) macrocyclic complex were isolated in a crystalline form and their molecular structures were determined: {N-[2-((E)-benzylideneamino)ethyl]-N'-[2-((Z)-benzylideneamino)ethyl]propane-1,3-diamine}copper(II) nitrate: triclinic, space group P&onemacr;, with a = 12.296(5) ?, b = 10.787(6) ?, c = 10.547(7) ?, V = 1161(1) ?(3), and Z = 2 (R = 0.055, R(w) = 0.061); [(5R,6S,7S)-6-methyl-6-nitro-5,7-diphenyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane]copper(II) perchlorate: monoclinic, space group P2(1)/n, with a = 15.246(5) ?, b = 23240(7) ?, c = 8.540(4) ?, V = 2980(2) ?(3), and Z = 4 (R = 0.095, R(w) = 0.095). This allowed us to define mechanistic details of the macrocyclization process. It is suggested that the same three-step pathway takes place in the much easier and faster one-pot template syntheses of cyclam-like macrocyles, which involve formaldehyde as a building block.     

Causal loop diagrams as a de-escalation technique

Escalation of commitment, the tendency of decision makers to keep on investing in losing courses of action, has been shown to be a costly decision bias that affects many areas of decision making. Even though escalation is a widely studied phenomenon, there has been comparatively little research on how to avoid this bias. The present study focuses on de-escalation of commitment and proposes that causal loop diagrams (CLDs) can help to decrease escalating commitment to a failing course of action. By means of an experiment, this study shows that using a CLD decreases escalation tendencies.