Regioselective hydroborations of methylvinylchlorosilanes

The regioselectivity of the hydroboration of the methylchlorovinylsilanes, Cl_nMe_3?nSiCHCH₂ (n= 0 ? 3), has been investigated using BH₃←THF, 9-BBN, disiamyl- and dicyclohexylborane. Methylation of the adducts with methylmagnesium bromide is complicated by formation of tetraalkylboronates. Alkaline hydrogen peroxide oxidation of the boronates gives reasonable yields of the corresponding α- and β-trimethylsilylethanols forn= 0 and 1. Forn= 2 and 3, conversion of the adducts to the corresponding α- and β- deuteroethylsilanes by treatment with excess sodium methoxide in methanol-0-d provides a more effective means of derivatization. Addition of the alkenes,n= 2 or 3, to excess BH₃←THF givesca. 90% of the α-boro-organo-chlorosilanes. For all of the alkenes, the dialkylboranes giveca. 80% of the β-boron adducts.     

Surface chemical analysis of raw cotton fibres and associated materials

The surface chemical composition of raw unscoured cotton was successfully investigated by the surface analytical techniques X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). The presence of non-cellulosic material at the fibre surface was established and determined to be a complex mixture of fatty acids, alcohols, alkanes, esters and glycerides. The effect of scouring and bleaching was to reduce the surface concentration of these materials but even after aqueous processing some non-cellulosic material residue was still detected at the fibre surface.     

An investigation of catalytic activity in mixed metal oxide nanophase materials

We present preliminary evidence for catalytic activity by unsupported mixed metal oxide nanocrystalline materials. The results of this study show that a nanophase form of Li-MgO has begun to exhibit catalytic activity by 300 °C. This is at least 200 degrees below the temperature at which conventional Li-MgO catalysts exhibit comparable activity. Furthermore, at higher temperatures, the same nanophase composition shows enhanced activities and somewhat improved hydrocarbon selectivities over conventional Li-MgO catalysts.     

Gas-phase structures and mass spectra of binary pentafluorides

Most known non-radioactive pentafluorides have been examined by molecular-beam mass spectrometry and by the deflection of molecular beams in inhomogeneous electric fields. Extensive association of the vapors occurs for all but the lighter pentafluorides and the interhalogens. The interhalogen pentafluorides are strongly polar, consistent with the accepted C_4v symmetry. The transition-metal and Group V pentafluorides are all non-polar, except VF₅ and CrF₅ for which temperature-dependent polarity is observed. However, uncertainty exists as to whether these observations are applicable to monomeric pentafluorides in all cases. Mass-spectral cracking patterns are presented for all species.     

Some biological transformations involving unsaturated linkages: the importance of charge separation and charge neutralization in enzyme catalysis

Current status of knowledge on the biological reduction of CC and CO is briefly reviewed. It is Argued that the crucial event in the reduction of CC is the addition of a proton to the more electron-rich terminal of the double bond to produce an electron-deficient species which is then neutralized through hydride transfer from NADPH. The activation for the reduction of a CO group may also be achieved by a related process in which the carbonyl oxygen is polarized by H-bonding to an acidic group on the enzyme, prior to hydride transfer from NAD(P)H.Thus with both these systems an early event in catalysis is the protonation of the substrate for which, normally, strong adds win be required. Since the groups available at the active-met of enzymes are weak acids, a mechanism through which powerful proton donating species could be transiently generated from them is proposed. The salient features of this mechanism may be enuinciatcd as follows: Let us consider the enzyme-substrate complex (A) in which an imidazolium group is about to play a role as a proton donating species. It is argued that rearrngement of initial complex(A)to the catalytic-complex(B), in which the negatively chared counter ion is removed away from the imidazolium cation, would transiently convert the latter group into a powerful proton danating species. the rearrangement (A)→(B) could occur through a protein conformational change or via a charge-relay system or a combination of both processes.     

Chrysomelidial by chromyl chloride oxidation: A revised structure for gastrolactone

Non-conjugated $\text{gem}$-dialkylated alkenes were oxidized to aldehydes in the presence of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl functional groups, providing a new synthesis of $\text{1}$ and a synthesis of $\text{2}$ that led to a revised structure for gastrolactone.     

Molecular Structures from Density Functional Calculations with Simulated Annealing

The geometrical structure of any aggregate of atoms is one of its basic properties and, in principle, straightforward to predict. One chooses a structure, determines the total energy E of the system of electrons and ions, and repeats the calculation for all possible geometries. The ground state structure is that with the lowest energy. A quantum mechanical calculation of the exact wave function Ψ would lead to the total energy, but this is practicable only in very small molecules. Furthermore, the number of local minima in the energy surface increases dramatically with increasing molecular size. While traditional ab initio methods have had many impressive successes, these difficulties have meant that they have focused on systems with relatively few local minima, or have used experiment or experience to limit the range of geometries studied. On the other hand, calculations for much larger molecules and extended systems are often forced to use simplifying assumptions about the interatomic forces that limit their predictive capability. The approach described here avoids both of these extremes: Total energies of predictive value are calculated without using semi-empirical force laws, and the problem of multiple minima in the energy surface is addressed. The density functional formalism, with a local density approximation for the exchange-correlation energy, allows one to calculate the total energy for a given geometry in an efficient, if approximate, manner. Calculations for heavier elements are not significantly more difficult than for those in the first row and provide an ideal way to study bonding trends. When coupled with finite-temperature molecular dynamics, this formalism can avoid many of the energetically unfavorable minima in the energy surface. We show here that the method leads to surprising and exciting results.