Intramolecular Nucleophilic Acyl Substitution Reaction of 3,4-Alkadienyl Carbonates Mediated by Ti(O-i-Pr)(4)/2 i-PrMgCl Reagent. Efficient Synthesis of Optically Active beta,gamma-Unsaturated Esters with an alpha-Substituent

Treatment of 3,4-alkadienyl carbonates 2a-i with a low-valent titanium reagent diisopropoxy(eta(2)-propene)titanium (1), readily generated by the reaction of Ti(O-i-Pr)(4) with 2 i-PrMgCl, resulted in an intramolecular nucleophilic acyl substitution (INAS) reaction to afford vinyltitanium compounds 3 which, in turn, reacted with H(3)O(+), D(2)O, or iodine to give alpha-substituted beta,gamma-unsaturated esters 4 in good to excellent yields. The olefin moiety of the hydrolysis product 4 has (Z)-geometry mainly except for 4h. Starting from chiral 2f or 2g, the reaction proceeded stereospecifically to give optically active alpha-substituted beta,gamma-unsaturated ester 4f or 4g having (Z)-olefin geometry exclusively.     

Determination of rare earth elements in seawater by on-line column preconcentration inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A home made column of commercially available iminodiacetate resin, Muromac A-1 (50–100 mesh) was used to concentrate rare earth elements (REEs) (15 elements: Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu) in seawater. An automated low pressure flow analysis method with on-line column preconcentration/inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is described for the determination of REEs in seawater. Sample solutions (adjusted to pH of 3.0) passed through the column. After washing the column with water, the adsorbed elements were subsequently eluted into the plasma with 0.7 M nitric acid. Calibration curves were accomplished by means of purified artificial seawater with a sample loading time of 120 s. Detection limits (DLs) of the on-line column preconcentration/ICP-MS by eight replicate operations were between 0.040 and 0.251 pg ml⁻¹ for REEs in the artificial seawater. The precision was less than 8.9% for REEs and one sample can be processed in 7 min using a 7 ml of sample. The proposed method was applied to determine REEs in coastal seawater of Hiroshima Bay, Japan.     

Unusual impurity effect on room-temperature ferromagnet Sr3YCo4O10.56

We have prepared polycrystalline samples of Sr₃YCo₄O_10.56, Sr_2.4Ca_0.6YCo₄O_10.54, and Sr₃YCo_3.76Mn_0.24O_10.59, and found that these materials show unusual impurity effects on their transport and magnetic properties. A tiny amount of impurities such as Mn or Ca suppresses room-temperature ferromagnetism of Sr₃YCo₄O_10.56. With the suppression, their resistivities and thermopowers are also dramatically changed. We propose that the unusual impurity effects are caused by the suppression of orbital ordering.     

New odorless method for the Corey-Kim and Swern oxidations utilizing dodecyl methyl sulfide (Dod-S-Me)

Development of the odorless dodecyl methyl sulfide (Dod-S-Me, 1) as an alternative for dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and new odorless methods for the Corey-Kim and Swern oxidations are described. These reactions have been developed with a view toward green chemistry, utilizing Dod-S-Me (1) and common solvents instead of dichloromethane.     

Attempts at Solvolytic Generation of Phenyl Cations

New substrates and reaction conditions which may be expected to yield phenyl cation intermediates have been investigated. The approaches used were: (a) solvolysis of PhX in fluorinated alcohols, where X = ? N (O) = NOTs (tosyloxyazoxy), ? N (O) = NONf (Nf = C₄F₉SO) and ? OSO₂\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \mathop {\rm N}\limits^{\rm + } $\end{document} (CH₃)₃ōTf (Tf=CF₃SO); (b) solvolysis of ArBr, PhOTf and PhOSO₂\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \mathop {\rm N}\limits^{\rm + } $\end{document}(CH₃)₃ōTf (phenyl ‘betylate triflate’) in super-acid solvents (FSO₃H · SbF₅, SbF₅, AgSbF₆). Analysis of the product mixtures provided no evidence for the intermediacy of phenyl cations as a major pathway in any of the reactions. This result is remarkable, since the ‘betylate’, for example, is a better leaving group by a factor of at least 10⁵ than the ‘super’ leaving group triflate in the solvolysis of alkyl sulfonates. These results are a further indication of the extremely low stability of phenyl cations, as well as of the very special properties of the nitrogen leaving group in arenediazonium ions.     

15β-Hydroxylation of Lithocholic Acid by cunninghamella sp.

The microbiological transformation of lithocholic acid (3α-hydroxy-5β-cholanic acid) into 3α, 15β-dihydroxy-5β-cholanic acid by Cunninghamella sp. is Investigated. The structure has been determined on the basis of two-dimensional ¹H-NMR.     

Isolation of new quinidine metabolites and simultaneous determination of quinidine and its metabolites in blood and urine by direct injection HPLC analysis

Summary New quinidine metabolites, including 10,11-dihydrodiol quinidine N-oxide, 10,11-dihydrodiol quinidine and their glucuronides, were found in human urine. A quinidine monitoring HPLC method including these metabolites, is proposed by the direct injection of body fluid samples onto the precolumn for deproteinization followed by reverse phase separation in the analytical column with a column switching technique. The recovery of spiked quinidine and its metabolites in plasma was quantitative (98–102%) with good reproducibility (C.V.: 1.6–4.0%). Several clinical samples such as whole blood and urine were analyzed by the present method.     

In situ monitoring of metal nanoparticle self-assembly on protein-functionalized glass by broadband optical waveguide spectroscopy

Broadband, time-resolved optical waveguide (OWG) spectroscopy has been used for in situ, real-time investigation into the self-assembly of metal nanoparticle monolayers. The OWG spectroscopy makes it possible to use the transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes to measure surface plasmon absorption of immobilized metal nanoparticles in two directions, parallel and normal to the waveguide surface. Therefore, this technique can provide direction-dependent information on the metal nanoparticles at the interface. In this paper, a 50-microm-thick glass plate was used as a slab waveguide and the kinetics of Au nanoparticle adsorption on a hemoglobin-functionalized glass substrate was examined in the early stage of self-assembly. The findings show that with the TE mode the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) behavior for immobilized Au nanoparticles is different from that with the TM mode.