Isolation of NO(3)(-)-N as 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol (Sudan-1) for measurement of delta(15)N

The conversion of nitrate (NO(3)(-)) to 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol (Sudan-1) has been examined as a method for natural abundance measurement of delta(15)N of NO(3)(-). The reaction results in dilution of NO(3)(-)-N with only one reagent-derived N and the product is readily concentrated from dilute samples by reverse phase chromatography. There is systematic isotopic fractionation during the reaction, but this can be allowed for by analysing known NO(3)(-) standards along with each sample set. Sudan-1 prepared from surface water samples containing approximately 50 &mgr;g NO(3)(-)-N can be analysed by automated continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry with a precision of 0.2 per thousand (one standard deviation) and the accuracy is not affected by interference from other nitrogenous species in the sample or reagents. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anharmonic effect on unimolecular reactions with application to the photodissociation of ethylene

The importance of anharmonic effect on dissociation of molecular systems, especially clusters, has been noted. In this paper, we shall present a theoretical approach that can carry out the first principle calculations of anharmonic canonical and microcanonical rate constants of unimolecular reactions within the framework of transition state theory. In the canonical case, it is essential to calculate the partition function of anharmonic oscillators; for convenience, the Morse oscillator potential will be used for demonstration in this paper. In the microcanical case, which involves the calculation of the total number of states for the activated complex and the density of states for the reactant, we make use of the fact that both the total number of states and the density of states can be expressed in the inverse Laplace transformation of the partition functions and that the inverse Laplace transformation can in turn be carried out by using the saddle-point method. We shall also show that using the theoretical approach presented in this paper the total number of states and density of states can be determined from thermodynamic properties and the difference between the method used in this paper and the thermodynamic model used by Krems and Nordholm will be given. To demonstrate the application of our theoretical approach, we chose the photodissociation of ethylene at 157 and 193 nm as an example.     

Theoretical study of reactions of N2O with NO and OH radicals

The reactions of N₂O with NO and OH radicals have been studied using ab initio molecular orbital theory. The energetics and molecular parameters, calculated by the modified Gaussian-2 method (G2M), have been used to compute the reaction rate constants on the basis of the TST and RRKM theories. The reaction N₂O + NO → N₂ + NO₂ (1) was found to proceed by direct oxygen abstraction and to have a barrier of 47 kcal/mol. The theoretical rate constant, k₁ = 8.74 × 10⁻¹⁹ × T^2.23 exp (−23,292/T) cm³ molecule⁻¹ s⁻¹, is in close agreement with earlier estimates. The reaction of N₂O with OH at low temperatures and atmospheric pressure is slow and dominated by association, resulting in the HONNO intermediate. The calculated rate constant for 300 K ≤ T ≤ 500 K is lower by a few orders than the upper limits previously reported in the literature. At temperatures higher than 1000 K, the N₂O + OH reaction is dominated by the N₂ + O₂H channel, while the HNO + NO channel is slower by 2–3 orders of magnitude. The calculated rate constants at the temperature range of 1000–5000 K for N₂O + OH → N₂ + O₂H (2A) and N₂O + OH → HNO + NO (2B) are fitted by the following expressions: in units of cm³ molecule ⁻¹s⁻¹. Both N₂O + NO and N₂O + OH reactions are confirmed to enhance, albeit inefficiently, the N₂O decomposition by reducing its activation energy. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Reaction mechanism of naphthyl radicals with molecular oxygen. 1. Theoretical study of the potential energy surface

Potential energy surfaces (PESs) of the reactions of 1- and 2-naphthyl radicals with molecular oxygen have been investigated at the G3(MP2,CC)//B3LYP/6-311G** level of theory. Both reactions are shown to be initiated by barrierless addition of O(2) to the respective radical sites of C(10)H(7). The end-on O(2) addition leading to 1- and 2-naphthylperoxy radicals exothermic by 45-46 kcal/mol is found to be more preferable thermodynamically than the side-on addition. At the subsequent reaction step, the chemically activated 1- and 2-C(10)H(7)OO adducts can eliminate an oxygen atom leading to the formation of 1- and 2-naphthoxy radical products, respectively, which in turn can undergo unimolecular decomposition producing indenyl radical + CO via the barriers of 57.8 and 48.3 kcal/mol and with total reaction endothermicities of 14.5 and 10.2 kcal/mol, respectively. Alternatively, the initial reaction adducts can feature an oxygen atom insertion into the attacked C(6) ring leading to bicyclic intermediates a10 and a10' (from 1-naphthyl + O(2)) or b10 and b10' (from 2-naphthyl + O(2)) composed from two fused six-member C(6) and seven-member C(6)O rings. Next, a10 and a10' are predicted to decompose to C(9)H(7) (indenyl) + CO(2), 1,2-C(10)H(6)O(2) (1,2-naphthoquinone) + H, and 1-C(9)H(7)O (1-benzopyranyl) + CO, whereas b10 and b10' would dissociate to C(9)H(7) (indenyl) + CO(2), 2-C(9)H(7)O (2-benzopyranyl) + CO, and 1,2-C(10)H(6)O(2) (1,2-naphthoquinone) + H. On the basis of this, the 1-naphthyl + O(2) reaction is concluded to form the following products (with the overall reaction energies given in parentheses): 1-naphthoxy + O (-15.5 kcal/mol), indenyl + CO(2) (-123.9 kcal/mol), 1-benzopyranyl + CO (-97.2 kcal/mol), and 1,2-naphthoquinone + H (-63.5 kcal/mol). The 2-naphthyl + O(2) reaction is predicted to produce 2-naphthoxy + O (-10.9 kcal/mol), indenyl + CO(2) (-123.7 kcal/mol), 2-benzopyranyl + CO (-90.7 kcal/mol), and 1,2-naphthoquinone + H (-63.2 kcal/mol). Simplified kinetic calculations using transition-state theory computed rate constants at the high-pressure limit indicate that the C(10)H(7)O + O product channels are favored at high temperatures, while the irreversible oxygen atom insertion first leading to the a10 and a10' or b10 and b10' intermediates and then to their various decomposition products is preferable at lower temperatures. Among the decomposition products, indenyl + CO(2) are always most favorable at lower temperatures, but the others, 1,2-C(10)H(6)O(2) (1,2-naphthoquinone) + H (from a10 and b10'), 1-C(9)H(7)O (1-benzopyranyl) + CO (from a10'), and 2-C(10)H(7)O (2-benzopyranyl) + O (from b10 and minor from b10'), may notably contribute or even become major products at higher temperatures.     

Reactions of C2H with 1- and 2-butynes: an ab initio/RRKM study of the reaction mechanism and product branching ratios

Ab initio CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ(CBS)//B3LYP/6-311G** calculations of the C(6)H(7) potential energy surface are combined with RRKM calculations of reaction rate constants and product branching ratios to investigate the mechanism and product distribution in the C(2)H + 1-butyne/2-butyne reactions. 2-Ethynyl-1,3-butadiene (C(6)H(6)) + H and ethynylallene (C(5)H(4)) + CH(3) are predicted to be the major products of the C(2)H + 1-butyne reaction. The reaction is initiated by barrierless ethynyl additions to the acetylenic C atoms in 1-butyne and the product branching ratios depend on collision energy and the direction of the initial C(2)H attack. The 2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene + H products are favored by the central C(2)H addition to 1-butyne, whereas ethynylallene + CH(3) are preferred for the terminal C(2)H addition. A relatively minor product favored at higher collision energies is diacetylene + C(2)H(5). Three other acyclic C(6)H(6) isomers, including 1,3-hexadiene-5-yne, 3,4-hexadiene-1-yne, and 1,3-hexadiyne, can be formed as less important products, but the production of the cyclic C(6)H(6) species, fulvene, and dimethylenecyclobut-1-ene (DMCB), is predicted to be negligible. The qualitative disagreement with the recently measured experimental product distribution of C(6)H(6) isomers is attributed to a possible role of the secondary 2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene + H reaction, which may generate fulvene as a significant product. Also, the photoionization energy curve assigned to DMCB in experiment may originate from vibrationally excited 2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene molecules. For the C(2)H + 2-butyne reaction, the calculations predict the C(5)H(4) isomer methyldiacetylene + CH(3) to be the dominant product, whereas very minor products include the C(6)H(6) isomers 1,1-ethynylmethylallene and 2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene.     

Investigation of reactions postulated to occur during inhibition of ribonucleotide reductases by 2′-azido-2′-deoxynucleotides

Model 3′-azido-3′-deoxynucleosides with thiol or vicinal dithiol substituents at C2′ or C5′ were synthesized to study reactions postulated to occur during inhibition of ribonucleotide reductases by 2′-azido-2′-deoxynucleotides. Esterification of 5′-(tert-butyldiphenylsilyl)-3′-azido-3′-deoxyadenosine and 3′-azido-3′-deoxythymidine (AZT) with 2,3-S-isopropylidene-2,3-dimercaptopropanoic acid or N-Boc-S-trityl-L-cysteine and deprotection gave 3′-azido-3′-deoxy-2′-O-(2,3-dimercaptopropanoyl or cysteinyl)adenosine and the 3′-azido-3′-deoxy-5′-O-(2,3-dimercaptopropanoyl or cysteinyl)thymidine analogs. Density functional calculations predicted that intramolecular reactions between generated thiyl radicals and an azido group on such model compounds would be exothermic by 33.6–41.2 kcal/mol and have low energy barriers of 10.4–13.5 kcal/mol. Reduction of the azido group occurred to give 3′-amino-3′-deoxythymidine, which was postulated to occur with thiyl radicals generated by treatment of 3′-azido-3′-deoxy-5′-O-(2,3-dimercaptopropanoyl)thymidine with 2,2′-azobis-(2-methyl-2-propionamidine) dihydrochloride. Gamma radiolysis of N₂O-saturated aqueous solutions of AZT and cysteine produced 3′-amino-3′-deoxythymidine and thymine most likely by both radical and ionic processes.     

Separation mechanism of chiral impurities, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, found in amphetamine-type substances using achiral modifiers in the gas phase

A new mechanism is proposed that describes the gas-phase separation of chiral molecules found in amphetamine-type substances (ATS) by the use of high-resolution ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). Straight-chain achiral alcohols of increasing carbon chain length, from methanol to n-octanol, are used as drift gas modifiers in IMS to highlight the mechanism proposed for gas-phase separations of these chiral molecules. The results suggest the possibility of using these achiral modifiers to separate the chiral molecules (R,S) and (S,R)-ephedrine and (S,S) and (R,R)-pseudoephedrine which contain an internal hydroxyl group at the first chiral center and an amino group at the other chiral center. Ionization was achieved with an electrospray source, the ions were introduced into an IMS with a resolving power of 80, and the resulting ion clusters were characterized with a coupled quadrupole mass spectrometer detector. A complementary computational study conducted at the density functional B3LYP/6-31g level of theory for the electronic structure of the analyte–modifier clusters was also performed, and showed either “bridged” or “independent” binding. The combined experimental and simulation data support the proposed mechanism for gas-phase chiral separations using achiral modifiers in the gas phase, thus enhancing the potential to conduct fast chiral separations with relative ease and efficiency.