Anion control of the formation of geometric isomers in a triple helical array

The amide-substituted unsymmetrical ligand L(1) upon coordination to Co(2+) forms the dinuclear triple helicate [Co(2)(L(1))(3)](4+) which exists as both possible C(1) and C(3) symmetric geometric isomers in solution, however, upon addition of nitrate ions, the formation of an anion binding cavity is favoured and hence the sole product is the C(3) symmetric isomer in which all three amide substituents are hydrogen bonded to the nitrate anion.     

Exponential Expansiveness and Complete Admissibility For Evolution Families

Connections between uniform exponential expansiveness and complete admissibility of the pair are studied. A discrete version for a theorem due to Van Minh, Räbiger and Schnaubelt is presented. Equivalent characterizations of Perron type for uniform exponential expansiveness of evolution families in terms of complete admissibility are given.     

Cooperative dynamics in two dimensions

We report results from molecular dynamics simulations of cooperative motion in a quasi-two-dimensional system of colloid particles. We find that the onset of the deviation of the single-particle displacement distribution from Gaussian form starts in the liquid phase and extends, with increasing magnitude, through the hexatic phase into the crystalline phase. The time for which the deviation is maximum increases exponentially with the density. As the density increases toward the hexatic phase a third dynamical relaxation mode emerges. We argue that the collective motion is generated by superpositions of instantaneous normal mode vibrations, with lifetimes that increase with the density, along paths with strong bond-orientation correlation.     

Amphicatalytic polymerization: synthesis of stereomultiblock poly(methyl methacrylate) with diastereospecific ion pairs

Diastereospecific ion pairs consisting of isospecific transition-metal cations and syndiospecific main-group anions promote what is termed amphicatalytic polymerization of MMA, producing PMMA with isotactic-b-syndiotactic stereomultiblock microstructures.     

Hexagonal to square lattice conversion in bilayer systems

We report the results of extensive molecular dynamics simulations of the reconstructive hexagonal to square lattice conversion in bilayer colloid systems. Two types of interparticle potential were used to represent the colloid-colloid interactions in the suspension. One potential, due to Marcus and Rice, is designed to describe the interaction of sterically stabilized colloid particles. This potential has a term that represents the attraction between colloid particles when there is incipient overlap between the stabilizing brushes on their surfaces, a (soft repulsion) term that represents the entropy cost associated with interpenetration of the stabilizing brushes, and a term that represents core-core repulsion. The other potential we used is an almost hard core repulsion with continuous derivatives. Our results clearly show that the character of the reconstructive hexagonal to square lattice conversion in bilayer colloid systems is potential dependent. For a system with colloid-colloid interactions of the Marcus-Rice type, the packing of particles in the square array exhibits a large interlayer lattice spacing, with the particles located at the minima of the attractive well. In this case the hexagonal to square lattice transition is first order. For a system with hard core colloid-colloid interactions there are two degenerate stable intermediate phases, linear and zigzag rhombic, that are separated from the square lattice by strong first order transitions, and from the hexagonal lattice by either weak first or second order transitions.     

Organocatalytic depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate)

We describe the organocatalytic depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), using a commercially available guanidine catalyst, 1,5,7‐triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec‐5‐ene (TBD). Postconsumer PET beverage bottles were used and processed with 1.0 mol % (0.7 wt %) of TBD and excess amount of ethylene glycol (EG) at 190 °C for 3.5 hours under atmospheric pressure to give bis(2‐hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) in 78% isolated yield. The catalyst efficiency was comparable to other metal acetate/alkoxide catalysts that are commonly used for depolymerization of PET. The BHET content in the glycolysis product was subject to the reagent loading. This catalyst influenced the rate of the depolymerization as well as the effective process temperature. We also demonstrated the recycling of the catalyst and the excess EG for more than 5 cycles. Computational and experimental studies showed that both TBD and EG activate PET through hydrogen bond formation/activation to facilitate this reaction. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Optimal preparation methods for automated matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry profiling of low molecular weight proteins and peptides

Mass spectrometry (MS) profiling of the proteome and peptidome for disease‐associated patterns is a new concept in clinical diagnostics. The technique, however, is highly sensitive to external sources of variation leading to potentially unacceptable numbers of false positive and false negative results. Before MS profiling can be confidently implemented in a medical setting, standard experimental methods must be developed that minimize technical variance. Past studies of variance have focused largely on pre‐analytical variation (i.e., sample collection, handling, etc.). Here, we examined how factors at the analytical stage including the matrix and solid‐phase extraction influence MS profiling. Firstly, a standard peptide/protein sample was measured automatically by matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight (MALDI‐TOF) MS across five consecutive days using two different preparation methods, dried droplet and sample/matrix, of four types of matrix: α‐cyano‐4‐hydroxycinnamic acid (HCCA), sinapinic acid (SA), 2,5‐dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB) and 2,5‐dihydroxyacetophenone (DHAP). The results indicated that the matrix preparation greatly influenced a number of key parameters of the spectra including repeatability (within‐day variability), reproducibility (inter‐day variability), resolution, signal strength, background intensity and detectability. Secondly, an investigation into the variance associated with C8 magnetic bead extraction of the standard sample prior to automated MS profiling demonstrated that the process did not adversely affect these same parameters. In fact, the spectra were generally more robust following extraction. Thirdly, the best performing matrix preparations were evaluated using C8 magnetic bead extracted human plasma. We conclude that the DHAP prepared according to the dried‐droplet method is the most appropriate matrix to use when performing automated MS profiling. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self-consistent Monte Carlo simulations of the electron and ion distributions of inhomogeneous liquid alkali metals. II. Longitudinal and transverse density distributions in the liquid-vapor interface of binary metallic alloys

We present the results of Monte Carlo simulations of the liquid-vapor interface of sodium-cesium alloys. The longitudinal density profile of each alloy shows that the liquid-vapor interface consists of a well-defined monolayer of cesium sitting on top of a slab of the bulk alloy. Underneath the monolayer there is a slight excess of sodium. A comparison with a van der Waals analog of one of the alloys shows that the presence of the well-defined monolayer of cesium on the outside of the liquid-vapor interface is a feature peculiar to metallic mixtures. The transverse pair correlation functions of the cesium monolayer are insensitive to the composition of the bulk of the slab.     

Absorption of shocked benzene

Abstract

We used absorption spectroscopy to observe decomposition of benzene (C₆H₆) subjected to the passage of strong shock waves generated by projectile impact. These measurements were made using a recently developed double-beam, double-pass, fiber-optic-coupled apparatus. Near 13 GPa, we observe absorption throughout most of the visible region, with strong absorption occurring for wavelengths below 400 nm. The absorption is most likely due to a combination of molecular absorption and Mie scattering from carbon particles formed as a result of shock decomposition.