Efficient transesterification/acylation reactions mediated by N-heterocyclic carbene catalysts

Imidazol-2-ylidenes, a family of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC), are efficient catalysts in the transesterification involving numerous esters and alcohols. Low catalyst loadings of aryl- or alkyl-substituted NHC catalysts mediate the acylation of alcohols with enol acetates in short reaction times at room temperature. Commercially available and more difficult to cleave methyl esters react with primary alcohols in the presence of alkyl-substituted NHC to efficiently form the corresponding esters. While primary alcohols are selectively acylated over secondary alcohols with use of enol esters as acylating agents, methyl and ethyl esters can be employed as protective agents for secondary alcohols in the presence of the more active alkyl-substituted NHC catalysts. The NHC-catalyzed transesterification protocol was simplified by generating the imidazol-2-ylidene catalysts in situ.     

Photoinduced chemical reactions on natural single crystals and synthesized crystallites of mercury(II) sulfide in aqueous solution containing naturally occurring amino acids

Photoirradiation at >300 nm of aqueous suspensions of several natural crystal specimens and synthesized crystallites of mercury(II) sulfide (HgS) induced deaminocyclization of optically active or racemic lysine into pipecolinic acid (PCA) under deaerated conditions. This is the first example, to the best of our knowledge, of photoinduced chemical reactions of natural biological compounds over natural minerals. It was found that the natural HgS crystals had activity higher than those of synthesized ones but lower than those of other sulfides of transition metals, e.g., CdS and ZnS, belonging to the same II-IV chalcogenides. In almost all of the photoreactions, decompostion of HgS occurred to liberate hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) and Hg(2+), and the latter seemed to have undergone in-situ reductive deposition on HgS as Hg(0) after a certain induction period (24-70 h) during the photoirradiation, as indicated by the darkened color of the suspensions. The formation of PCA, presumably through combination of oxidation of lysine and reduction of an intermediate, cyclic Schiff base, could also be seen after a certain induction time of the Hg(0) formation. This was supported by the fact that the addition of small amount of Hg(2+) (0.5 wt % of HgS) increased the PCA yield by almost 2-fold. We also tried to elucidate certain aspects of the plausible stereochemical reactions in relation to the chiral crystal structure of HgS. Although, in some experiments, slight enantiomeric excess of the product PCA was observed, the excess was below or equal to the experimental error and no other supporting analytical data could not be obtained; we cannot conclude the enantiomeric photoproduction of PCA by the natural chiral HgS specimen.     

On-chip electrochromatography using sol-gel immobilized stationary phase with UV absorbance detection

A chromatography column on a chip was fabricated by immobilizing reversed-phase stationary phase particles (5 microm, C4) using sol-gel technology. Channels were fabricated in quartz using photolithography and wet etching. Localization of the stationary phase was achieved by immobilizing the stationary phase at the desired location in the separation channel prior to bonding of the cover plate. Cross channel design was employed for gated injection. An optical fiber setup was developed for carrying out on-chip UV absorbance detection. The effective optical path length was theoretically determined for the trapezoidal shaped channel and the result was shown to match closely with the experimentally determined value. The effect of applied voltage on velocity was evaluated using thiourea as an unretained marker. Separation performance of the stationary phase was demonstrated by separation of three peptides (Trp-Ala, Leu-Trp and Trp-Trp) under isocratic chromatographic conditions.     

Diels-Alder chemistry at furan ring functionalized solid surfaces

A substrate-independent method for Diels-Alder chemistry at solid surfaces is described for the first time.     

Application of multiparameter equations to calculation of the mutual solubility in water-organic solvent binary systems

The solubility of organic liquids in water and of water in organic liquids is primarily determined by the capability of organic liquids for hydrogen bonding. Adequate generalization of the solubility data is possible only with multiparameter equations taking also into account other properties of organic components, including the cohesion and molar volume.     

Tryptophan–water interaction in Monellin: Hydration patterns from molecular dynamics simulation

Femtosecond spectroscopy carried out earlier on Monellin and some other systems has given insights into the hydration dynamics of the proteins. In the present work, molecular dynamics simulations have been performed on Monellin to study the hydration dynamics. A method has been described to follow up the molecular events of the protein–water interactions in detail. The time constants of the survival correlation function match well with the reported experimental values. This validates the procedure, adapted here for Monellin, to investigate the hydration dynamics in general.     

Polymerization of methyl methacrylate with cupric laurate–benzoin system as initiator

The polymerization of methyl methacrylate initiated by cupric laurate in combination with benzoin has been investigated in carbon tetrachloride medium at 60°C. The rate of polymerization was found to be proportional to the square root of both cupric ion and benzoin concentrations, and to the 1.5th power of the monomer concentration. Spectral studies indicated that there is a complex formation between cupric ion and the monomer methyl methacrylate. A reaction scheme, based on initial formation of the complex and its subsequent reaction with benzoin to produce the free radicals responsible for initiation has been postulated to explain the observed results.     

Synthesis and studies of CuHg(NCX)4 (X = S,Se) and their complexes and application of the softness parameter in the elucidation of their structure

Complexes of CuHg(NCS)₄, CuHg(NCS)₂ (NCSe)₂ and CuHg(NCSe)₄ with tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, pyridine, 2-aminopyridine, nicotinamide, bipyridine and phenanthroline have been prepared and comparative studies made. Bipyridine and phenanthroline form cationic—anionic [CuL₃]²⁺ [Hg(SCN)₄]^2? (L = bipy, phen) complexes with CuHg(NCS)₄ and dinuclear bridged complexes with CuHg(NCSe)₄ and CuHg(NCS)₂ (NCSe)₂. For other ligands the nature of the complexes is binuclear or polynuclear. The comparative stability of the -XCN- bridge (X = S, Se) is CuHg(NCSe)₄ > CuHg(NCS)₂ (NCSe)₂ > CuHg(NCS)₄.     

Paper chromatography in the separation of ions

Summary A study has been made of the separation of alkali and alkaline earth metals. With mixtures of solvents, such as ethyl cellosolve, water and hydrochloric acid and acetone, water and hydrochloric acid in the ratio of 702010 and at different temperatures, a complete separation of alkaline earth metals was effected. Of the alkali metals only lithium, sodium and potassium could be separated from each other but rubidium and caesium always accompanied potassium.