Standardization in thermal analysis

The present state of the certification of the reference materials for thermal analysis is considered. Six sets of reference materials for temperature calibration, resulting from the research work of the ICTA Standardization Committee, are discussed.

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Zusammenfassung Die gegenwÄrtige Lage der Attestierung von Referenzmaterialien für die thermische Analyse wird erörtert. Sechs Sets von Referenzmaterialien, die vom ICTA-Standardisierungskomitee zur Temperaturkalibrierung in Vorschlag gebracht wurden, werden diskutiert.

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The author is most grateful to Professor P. D. Garn, Akron University, USA, and to Dr. Robert C. Mackenzie, The Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen, Scotland, for published material and unpublished data concerning the problems of ICTA standards and the nomenclature of thermal analysis.     

The direct detection of a hydrogen bond in the solid state by NMR through the observation of a hydrogen-bond mediated (15)N [bond] (15)N J coupling

A new method for detecting hydrogen bonds in the solid state is presented. Using two-dimensional NMR correlation experiments, it is shown that a hydrogen-bond mediated J coupling can be observed in a powder under magic-angle spinning conditions, even though the J coupling is 2 orders of magnitude smaller than the dominant anisotropic interactions encountered in solid-state NMR. Specifically, the observation of a pair of peaks in a two-dimensional 15N-15N solid-state INADEQUATE experiment due to two nitrogens that have no covalent connectivity is attributed to the presence of a J coupling across a linking hydrogen bond.     

Transition metal-catalysed organic reactions promoted by chelating or metallacycle-forming substrates

Chelating or metallacycle-forming substrates are very useful for directing organometallic reactions. This review covers the more recent research that has been carried out in the authors' laboratory. Rhodium(I)- and (III)-catalysed reactions of C---C coupling of butadiene with N-allylamides or N-alkylbutenamides are described. These reactions are controlled by the size and strength of the chelate ring formed by double-bond insertion into the crotyl-rhodium bond (formed from butadiene) and their regioselectivity can change with the oxidation state of the metal. Rhodium(I)-catalysed reactions of butadiene with enamides are also chelation controlled and lead to different products, depending on the substituents at nitrogen. Cobalt(II) metallacycles have been utilized for promoting some organic reactions. It has been shown that alkenes can be catalytically incorporated into cobaltacyclopentadiene rings, that spirocycles can be obtained from diynes, carbon monoxide and acrylic esters and that a Pauson-Khand-type reaction can be combined with a Michael-type reaction to prepare catalytically new cyclopentenones. The use of palladacycles, derived from norbornene insertion into aryl-palladium bonds, followed by cyclization, has allowed the selective functionalization of either end of the metallacycle and the formation of condensed rings. Conversion of a palladium(II) into a palladium(IV) metallacycle, and catalytic processes involving these intermediates, have been achieved. The formation of alkylaromatic palladacycles has also been exploited for the selective meta functionalization of the aromatic moiety by means of alkyl groups, accompanied by expulsion of the norbornene molecule.     

Carbohydrate-based DNA ligands: sugar-oligoamides as a tool to study carbohydrate-nucleic acid interactions

Sugar-oligoamides have been designed and synthesized as structurally simple carbohydrate-based ligands to study carbohydrate-DNA interactions. The general design of the ligands 1-3 has been done as to favor the bound conformation of Distamycin-type gamma-linked covalent dimers which is a hairpin conformation. Indeed, NMR analysis of the sugar-oligoamides in the free state has indicated the presence of a percentage of a hairpin conformation in aqueous solution. The DNA binding activity of compounds 1-3 was confirmed by calf thymus DNA (ct-DNA) NMR titration. Interestingly, the binding of the different sugar-oligoamides seems to be modulated by the sugar configuration. Semiquantitative structural information about the DNA ligand complexes has been derived from NMR data. A competition experiment with Netropsin suggested that the sugar-oligoamide 3 bind to DNA in the minor groove. The NMR titrations of 1-3 with poly(dA-dT) and poly(dG-dC) suggested preferential binding to the ATAT sequence. TR-NOE NMR experiments for the sugar-oligoamide 3-ct-DNA complex both in D(2)O and H(2)O have confirmed the complex formation and given information on the conformation of the ligand in the bound state. The data confirmed that the sugar-oligoamide ligand is a hairpin in the bound state. Even more relevant to our goal, structural information on the conformation around the N-glycosidic linkage has been accessed. Thus, the sugar asymmetric centers pointing to the NH-amide and N-methyl rims of the molecule have been characterized.     

H-bonding dependent structures of (NH4+)3H+(SO4 2-)2. Mechanisms of phase transitions

The role of different H-bonds in phases II, III, IV, and V of triammonium hydrogen disulfate, (NH(4)(+))(3)H(+)(SO(4)(2)(-))(2), has been studied by X-ray diffraction and (1)H solid-state MAS NMR. The proper space group for phase II is C2/c, for phases III and IV is P2/n, and for phase V is P onemacr;. The structures of phases III and IV seem to be the same. The hydrogen atom participating in the O(-)-H(+).O(-) H-bond in phase II of (NH(4)(+))(3)H(+)(SO(4)(2)(-))(2) at room temperature is split at two positions around the center of the crucial O(-)-H(+).O(-) H-bonding, joining two SO(4)(2)(-) tetrahedra. With decreasing temperature, it becomes localized at one of the oxygen atoms. Further cooling causes additional differentiation of possibly equivalent sulfate dimers. The NH(4)(+) ions participate mainly in bifurcated H-bonds with two oxygen atoms from sulfate anions. On cooling, the major contribution of the bifurcated H-bond becomes stronger, whereas the minor one becomes weaker. This is coupled with rotation of sulfate ions. In all the phases of (NH(4)(+))(3)H(+)(SO(4)(2)(-))(2), some additional, weak but significant, reflections are observed. They are located between the layers of the reciprocal lattice, suggesting possible modulation of the host (NH(4)(+))(3)H(+)(SO(4)(2)(-))(2) structure(s). According to (1)H MAS NMR obtained for phases II and III, the nature of the acidic proton disorder is dynamic, and localization of the proton takes place in a broader range of temperatures, as can be expected from the X-ray diffraction data.     

Kinetics and mechanisms of S(IV) reductions of bromite and chlorite ions

The reaction of bromite with aqueous S(IV) is first order in both reactants and is general-acid catalyzed. The reaction half-lives vary from 5 ms (p[H+] 5.9) to 210 s (p[H+] 13.1) for 0.7 mM excess S(IV) at 25 degrees C. The proposed mechanism includes a rapid reaction (k(1) = 3.0 x 10(7) M(-1) s(-1)) between BrO(2)(-) and SO(3)(2-) to form a steady-state intermediate, (O(2)BrSO(3))(3-). General acids assist the removal of an oxide ion from (O(2)BrSO(3))(3-) to form OBrSO(3)(-), which hydrolyzes rapidly to give OBr(-) and SO(4)(2-). Subsequent fast reactions between HOBr/OBr(-) and SO(3)(2-) give Br(-) and SO(4)(2-) as final products. In contrast, the chlorite reactions with S(IV) are 5-6 orders of magnitude slower. These reactions are specific-acid, not general-acid, catalyzed. In the proposed mechanism, ClO(2)(-) and SO(3)H(-)/SO(2) react to form (OClOSO(3)H)(2)(-) and (OClOSO(2))(-) intermediates which decompose to form OCl(-) and SO(4)(2-). Subsequent fast reactions between HOCl/OCl(-) and S(IV) give Cl- and SO(4)(2-) as final products. SO(2) is 6 orders of magnitude more reactive than SO(3)H-, where k(5)(SO(2)/ClO(2)(-)) = 6.26 x 10(6) M(-1) s(-1) and k(6)(SO(3)H(-)/ClO(2)(-)) = 5.5 M(-1) s(-1). Direct reaction between ClO(2)(-) and SO(3)(2-) is not observed. The presence or absence of general-acid catalysis leads to the proposal of different connectivities for the initial reactive intermediates, where a Br-S bond forms with BrO(2)(-) and SO(3)(2-), while an O-S bond forms with ClO(2)(-) and SO(3)H-.     

Comparison of low-order multireference many-body perturbation theories

Tests have been made to benchmark and assess the relative accuracies of low-order multireference perturbation theories as compared to coupled cluster (CC) and full configuration interaction (FCI) methods. Test calculations include the ground and some excited states of the Be, H(2), BeH(2), CH(2), and SiH(2) systems. Comparisons with FCI and CC calculations show that in most cases the effective valence shell Hamiltonian (H(v)) method is more accurate than other low-order multireference perturbation theories, although none of the perturbative methods is as accurate as the CC approximations. We also briefly discuss some of the basic differences among the multireference perturbation theories considered in this work.     

On-line preconcentration of mercury by sorption on an anion-exchange resin loaded with 1,5-bis[(2-pyridyl)-3-sulphophenyl methylene] thiocarbonohydrazide and determination by cold-vapour inductively coupled plasma atomic emission

1,5-Bis[(2-pyridyl)-3-sulphophenyl methylene] thiocarbonohydrazide (PSTH) immobilized on an anion-exchange resin (Dowex) has been used for the on-line preconcentration of mercury from biological samples and waters prior to its determination by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. The metal was eluted from the column using a solution of 2 M HNO(3) and mixed on-line with SnCl(2). The optimum experimental conditions were evaluated for the continuous preconcentration of Hg, the direct generation of mercury vapour and the final determination of this element by ICP-AES. The enrichment, together with low blank levels of the optimized procedure, allow the simple determination of this toxic element at concentrations down to a few nanograms per milliliter. The proposed method has a linear calibration range 5-1000 ng ml(-1) of mercury, with a detection limit of 4 ng ml(-1) (S/N=3) and a sampling rate of 40 h(-1), investigated with a 9 ml sample volume. The precision of the method (evaluated as the relative standard deviation obtained after analyzing ten series of ten replicates) was +/-3.6% at the 10 ng ml(-1) level of Hg(II) and +/-1.3% at the 100 ng ml(-1) level. The accuracy of the method was examined by the analysis of certified reference materials.     

Miscibility of gramicidin A-ethyl nonadecanoate in langmuir monolayers in the presence of salts dissolved in the subphase

The behavior of binary mixed Langmuir monolayers from gramicidin A (GA) and ethyl nonadecanoate (EN), spread on aqueous subphases containing NaCl and CaCl2, was investigated on the basis of the analysis of surface pressure-average area per molecule (pi-A) isotherms complemented with Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) images. Compression modulus versus surface pressure (C(S-1)-pi) curves indicate the existence of interactions in the GA-EN mixed monolayers at low surface pressures (below 5 mN m(-1)). However, for mixtures in which the ester is the predominant component, both GA and EN are miscible within regions from fully expanded to collapse. To examine the interactions between both components in the studied system, values of the mean molecular area per molecule (A12) were plotted as a function of molar fraction of gramicidin A (X(GA)). A12-X(GA) plots exhibit negative deviations from ideality at high surface pressures, wherein beta-helices of GA are vertically oriented in respect to the interface. However, at surface pressures below the plateau transition, which is due to reorientation of GA, the binary system obeys the additive rule. Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) was applied for a direct visualization of the monolayers morphologies. The obtained images prove that for molar ratios of GA > or = 0.3 and at surface pressures above 5 mN m(-1), both components are immiscible at the interface. The observed negative deviations from the additively rule were attributed to the formation of a three-dimensional phase in the mixed film, which provokes its contraction at the interface.     

Synthesis and structure of the incomplete cuboidal clusters [W3Se4H3(dmpe)3]+, [W3Se4H(3-x)(OH)x(dmpe)3]+ and [W3Se4(OH)3(dmpe)3]+, and the mechanism of the acid-assisted substitution of the coordinated hydrides

The novel incomplete cuboidal cluster [W3Se4H3(dmpe)3](PF6), [1](PF6), has been prepared by reduction of [W3Se4Br3(dmpe)3](PF6) with LiBH4 in THF solution. The trihydroxo complex [W3Se4(OH)3(dmpe)3](PF6), [2](PF6), was obtained by reacting [W3Se4Br3(dmpe)3](PF6) with NaOH in MeCN-H2O solution. The complexes [1](PF6) and [2](PF6) were converted to their BPh4- salts by treatment with NaBPh4. Recrystallisation of [1](BPh4) in the presence of traces of water affords the mixed dihydride hydroxo complex [W3Se4H2(OH)(dmpe)3](BPh4). The crystal structures of [1](BPh4), [2](BPh4) and [W3Se4H2(OH)(dmpe)3](BPh4) have been resolved. Although the [1]+ trihydride does not react with an excess of halide salts, reaction with HX leads to [W3Se4X3(dmpe)3]+ (X = Cl, Br). The kinetics of this reaction has been studied at 25 degrees C in MeCN-H2O solution (1:1, v/v) and found to occur with two consecutive kinetic steps. The first step is independent of the nature and concentration of the X(-) anion but shows a first order dependence on the concentration of acid (k1 = 12.0 mol(-1) dm(3) s(-1)), whereas the second one is independent of the nature and concentration of both the acid and added salts (k2 = 0.024 s(-1)). In contrast, the reaction of [2]+ with acids occurs in a single step with kobs = 0.63 s(-1)(HCl) and 0.17 s(-1)(HBr). These kinetic results are discussed on the basis of the mechanism previously proposed for the reactions of the analogous [W3S4H3(dmpe)3]+ cluster, with special emphasis on the effects caused by the change of S by Se on the rate constants for the different processes involved.