Configurations of the free radicals in irradiated polypropylene and the relation of their decay reactions to the molecular motion

Free radicals produced in irradiated polypropylene were studied by the electron spin resonance method. Two temperature regions in which the free radicals decay rapidly were found at around 170°K. and 260°K. The first temperature region corresponds to the γ-dispersion of polypropylene and the second to the β-dispersion. Steric configurations of the free radicals were investigated, and it was concluded that the free radicals trapped in polymer, conformation of which is appreciably twisted from the stable 3₁-helical structure, decay with small-scale motion of the matrix polymer. The decay of free radicals trapped in polymer of less twisted conformation is associated with the large-scale motion of the matrix polymer. Activation energies of decay were found to be 11 kcal./mole at the lower temperature and 48 kcal./mole at the higher temperature. Time constants of the decay reactions were compared with those for molecular motion of the matrix, with results reflecting the relations of the decay of the polymer radicals to molecular motion in the matrix.     

Dichloroketene-induced cyclizations of vinyl sulfilimines: application of the method in the synthesis of (+/-)-desoxyeseroline

The reactions of several aryl-, furanyl-, and vinyl-substituted sulfilimines with dichloroketene proceeded at 25 degrees C to yield thioalkyl-substituted gamma-lactams. The overall process involves nucleophilic addition of the nitrogen atom of the sulfilimine onto the highly electrophilic dichloroketene to first generate a zwitterionic intermediate. A subsequent [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement is followed by intramolecular trapping of the Pummerer cation by the amido anion to furnish the observed gamma-lactam product. Incorporation of donor groups on the aromatic ring of the sulfonyl functionality had little effect when aryl-substituted sulfilimines were used but exhibited a major effect on the efficiency of the reaction with furanyl-substituted systems. The placement of an electron donor group (i.e., OMe) on the sulfonyl aryl group enhances the nucleophilicity of the amido anion contained within the sulfonium ion intermediate and facilitates the rate of the 3,3-sigmatropic rearrangement. Styryl-substituted sulfilimines cyclize in a stereospecific manner and produce a 3:2-mixture of gamma-lactams and the isomeric imino-lactone system. The heavily functionalized gamma-lactams are easily converted to a variety of nitrogen containing substrates. The vinyl sulfilimine cyclization method was applied to the total synthesis of the Calabar alkaloid (+/-)-desoxyeseroline.     

Tetraarylpentaborates, [B(5)O(6)Ar(4)](-) (Ar = C(6)H(4)OMe-4, C(6)H(3)Me(2)-2,6): their formation from the reaction of arylboronic acids with an aryloxorhodium complex,structure, and chemical properties

The reactions of (4-methoxyphenyl)boronic acid (1a) and of (2,6-dimethylphenyl)boronic acid (1b) with (PMe(3))(3)Rh-(OC(6)H(4)Me-4) (2) in a 5:1 molar ratio result in the formation of cationic rhodium complexes with new tetraarylpentaborates [Rh(PMe(3))(4)](+)[B(5)O(6)Ar(4)](-) (3a, Ar = C(6)H(4)OMe-4; 3b, Ar = C(6)H(3)Me(2)-2,6). The characterization of 3a is as follows: orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), a = 14.7600(5) A, b = 17.1675(5) A, c = 19.8654(5) A; V = 5033.7(3) A(3); Z = 4. The characterization of 3b is as follows: orthorhombic space group Pnma, a = 23.704(6) A, b = 17.254(8) A, c = 13.304(2) A; V = 5441(2) A(3); Z = 4. An intermediate complex, [Rh(PMe(3))(4)](+)[Ph(3)B(3)O(3)(OC(6)H(4)Me-4)](-) (4), was isolated from the reaction of phenylboroxine, (PhBO)(3), with 2. The tetraarylpentaborates smoothly undergo hydrolysis to give [Rh(PMe(3))(4)](+)[B(5)O(6)(OH)(4)](-) (5).     

Tail molecule dependence of thiolate adsorption on Au(111) surface: Theoretical study

The adsorption of thiolates with various tail molecules on the Au(111) surface has been investigated by first-principles calculations. We have considered six typical thiolate molecules, that is, methylthiolate, ethylthiolate, ethylenethiolate, acetylenethiolate, benzenethiolate, and thiophenethiolate. It is found that these thiolates exhibit little difference in their stable adsorption geometries. They are adsorbed at the bridge site with being significantly tilted from the surface normal. The adsorption energy of thiolate on Au, on the other hand, largely varies depending on the type of tail molecule, and is linearly proportional to the binding energy of thiolate with H. We discuss the tail molecule dependence in terms of the bonding environment around the C atom connected to the head S atom.     

A new synthesis of gamma-lactams based on the reaction of vinyl sulfilimines with dichloroketene

The reactions of several aryl-, furanyl-, and vinyl substituted sulfilimines with dichloroketene proceeded at 25 degrees C to yield thioalkyl substituted gamma-lactams which, in turn, were converted to a variety of nitrogen-containing substrates. [reaction: see text]     

Properties of internal heat supply with carbon dioxide reforming of methane over a Ni/Al2O3 catalyst.

An addition of 6%-oxygen into a reactant of CH₄/CO₂(1/1) gave lower operating temperature of carbon dioxide reforming of methane by 130 K in obtaining 0.029 MPa of H₂, accompanied by a more endothermic atmosphere in the catalyst bed than in the absence of oxygen. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Continuous flattening of truncated tetrahedra

Each Platonic polyhedron P can be folded using a continuous folding process into a face of P so that the resulting shape is flat and multilayered, while two of the faces are rigid during the motion. In previous works, explicit formulas of continuous functions for such motions were given and the same result as above was shown to hold for any tetrahedron. In this paper, we show that a truncated regular tetrahedron can be folded continuously via explicit continuous folding mappings into a flat (folded) state, such that two of the hexagonal faces are rigid. Furthermore, given any general tetrahedron P and any truncated tetrahedron Q of P, we show that if Q contains the largest inscribed sphere of P and satisfies some condition, then Q can be folded continuously into a flat folded state such that two of the hexagonal faces of Q are rigid during the motion.     

Formation mechanism of one-dimensional Si islands on a H/Si(001) surface

The formation mechanism of one-dimensional Si islands on a H/Si(001)-(2x1) surface is studied using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and first-principles calculations. We observed that one-dimensional islands that are made from dimer chains are formed at the initial growth stages similar to the bare Si(001) surface. It is found that the number of odd-numbered dimer chains is larger than that of even-numbered dimer chains. We propose the growth processes of the two types of growth edges to explain the observation.