Solid reactions in Rubidium Carbonate-Vanadium Pentoxide system

The reactions between rubidium carbonate and vanadium pentoxide were performed at different high temperatures. Four reaction products of the compositions: I. Rb₂O · V₂O₅; II. 2 Rb₂O · V₂O₅; III. 3 Rb₂O · V₂O₅; and IV. Rb₂O · 4 V₂O₅ were obtained. According to the determination of Rb and the X-ray powder photographs of the products the existence of rubidium metavanadate (RbVO₃) and rubidium pyrovanadate (Rb₄V₂O₇) was confirmed. On the other hand, the preparation of a pure rubidium orthovanadate (Rb₃VO₄) and rubidium tetravanadate (Rb₂O · 4 V₂O₅) was not successful. The diffraction pattern of Rb₂O · V₂O₅ obeys hexagonal indexing with lattice dimensions a = 7.347 and c = 13.608 Å.     

Synthesis and characterization of complexes of UO2(II) and Th(IV) of bis-schiff bases derived from furoylpyrazolone

Four new complexes of UO₂(II) and Th(IV) with bis-Schiff bases, derived from N,N'-bis[(l-phenyl-3-methyl-5-oxo-4-pyrazolinyl)-a-furylmethylidyne]-1,2-propylenediimine [1,2-BPMOPFP-H₂] and N,N'- bis[(l-phenyl-3-methyl-5-oxo-4-pyrazolinyl)-a-furylmethylidyne]-1,3-propylenediimine [1,3-BPMOPFP-H₂], were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV, ¹HNMR spectroscopy, and molar conductivity. The general formula of the complexes was confirmed to be [UO₂(BPMOPFP)], [Th(BPMOPFP)(NO₃)]NO₃. A possible structure for the complexes have been proposed.     

New Group 6 metal carbonyl derivatives of 2-(2'(-pyridyl)benzimidazole: synthesis and spectroscopic studies

Reaction of Cr(CO)(6) with 2-(2'-pyridyl)benzimidazole (pbiH) under reduced pressure resulted in the formation of the dinuclear complex [Cr(2)(CO)(6)(pbiH)(2)]. Infra-red (IR) spectroscopy revealed the presence of terminal and bridge Cr-CO bonds. Interaction of M(CO)(6), M=Cr, Mo and W, with pbiH in the presence of 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy) gave the tetracarbonyl complexes [M(CO)(4)(pbiH)].bpy. Spectroscopic studies of the complexes indicated the presence of hydrogen bonding between the bpy nitrogen and the NH group of pbiH. Reactions of M(CO)(6) with pbiH in the presence of PPh(3) gave the tricarbonyl monosubstituted derivatives [M(CO)(3)(PPh(3))(pbiH)]. The spectroscopic studies of the complexes suggested the proposed structures.     

Selective binding of the cyano group in acrylonitrile adsorption on Si(100)-2 x 1

The covalent binding of acrylonitrile (CH(2)=CH-C triple bond N) and the formation of a C=C-C=N structure on Si(100) have been investigated using high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. For chemisorbed acrylonitrile, the absence of nu(C triple bond N) at 2245 cm(-1) and the appearance of nu(C=N) at 1669 cm(-1) demonstrate that the cyano group directly participates in the interaction with Si(100), which is further supported by XPS and UPS observations. Our experimental results and DFT calculations unambiguously demonstrate a [2 + 2] cycloaddition mechanism for acrylonitrile chemisorption on Si(100) through the binding of C triple bond N to Si dimers. The resulting chemisorbed monolayer with a C=C-C=N skeleton can serve as a precursor for further chemical syntheses of multilayer organic thin films in a vacuum and surface functionalization for in situ device fabrication.     

Mechanism and Kinetics of Thermal Dissociation of Inclusion Complex of Benzaldehyde with β-Cyclodextrin

The inclusion complex of benzaldehyde (BA) with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) was prepared and was studied by thermal analysis and X-ray diffractometry. The composition of the complex was identified by TG and elemental analysis as β-CD·BA·9H₂O. TG and DSC studies showed that the thermal dissociation of β-CD·BA·9H₂O took place in three stages: dehydration in the range 70-120°C; dissociation of β-CD·BA in the range 235-270°C; and decomposition of β-CD above 280°C. The kinetics of dissociation of β-CD·BA in flowing dry nitrogen was studied by means of TG both at constant temperature and at linearly increasing temperature. The results showed that the dissociation of β-CD·BA was dominated by a one-dimensional random nucleation and subsequent growth process (A₂). The activation energy E was 124. 8 kJ mol^-1, and the pre-exponential factor A 5.04·10¹¹ min^-1. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Trace elemental determination in alcohol automotive fuel by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Suitable analytical methodologies were developed allowing direct determination of As, Cu, Fe, Pb, Sb and Sn in alcohol fuel samples by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Different chemical modification approaches were tested and compared in terms of analytical performance and in practical terms. Experimental conditions were optimized allowing little sample dilution and use of calibration curves prepared with aqueous inorganic analyte standards. Methodologies were tested with analyte spiked alcohol samples. Good analyte recoveries from spiked alcohol samples, precision better than 10% and limits of detection in the sub μg l⁻¹ range were achieved.     

Renewable amperometric immunosensor for complement 3 assay based on the sol-gel technique

A renewable amperometric immunosensor based on the sol-gel technique has been constructed by dispersing graphite, complement 3 (C3) antiserum, and sol-gel at low temperature. The prepared immunosensor is rigid, porous, and has a renewable external surface. A competitive binding assay has been used to determine C3 in human serum with the aid of C3 labeled with horseradish peroxidase. The enzyme-labeled antigen can readily diffuse toward the encapsulated antibody, which retains its binding properties. The experimental conditions for the assay with the biocomposite, including the loading of C3 antiserum in the biocomposite, the amount of labeled C3 in incubation solution, incubation time, and temperature, have been optimized. Using C3 labeled with horseradish peroxidase, and o-AP as the substrate, amperometric detection at -150 mV (relative to the SCE) results in a linear detection range of 1.17-35.1 microg mL(-1), with a detection limit of 0.56 microg mL(-1). Serum samples have been assayed and the results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed immunosensor for clinical analysis. The surface of the immunosensor can be renewed simply by polishing to obtain a fresh immunocomposite ready to use in a new competitive assay.     

Ab initio and variational transition state approach to beta-C3N4 formation: kinetics for the reaction of CH3NH2 with H

The CH3NH2 molecule has been considered as either an important intermediate in methane and ammonia mixtures or a precursor in methylamine and hydrogen mixtures in the synthesis of carbon nitride thin films. The fast Hydrogen (H) abstraction from CH3NH2 is an important process involved in the formation of HCN or CNH in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of carbon nitride thin films. The energetic and kinetic characteristics of the H abstraction reaction from CH3NH2 by atomic H used in CVD of beta-C3N4 were studied using ab initio direct dynamics methods for the first time. Two primary processes were identified for this reaction: H abstraction from the CH3 group and H abstraction from the NH2 group. On the basis of ab initio data, the rate constants of each channel have been deduced by canonical variational transition state theory with small-curvature tunneling correction over a wide temperature range of 200 to approximately 3000 K. The theoretical results were compared with available experimental data.     

High pressure Raman studies of 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) and CuTCNQ

The high-pressure Raman studies of 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) single crystals and polycrystalline CuTCNQ are presented in this paper. TCNQ shows a phase transition at 22 kbar, a pressure higher than reported earlier. CuTCNQ undergoes a first order phase transition at 30 kbar, which is characterized by the abrupt disappearance of all the Raman bands.     

Synthesis,characterization and biomimetic oxygenations of manganese(II), iron(III) and copper(II) pyridyl hydrazone complexes

The preparation and characterization of MnII, FeIII and CuII complexes of three tridentate pyridyl hydrazones are reported. The ligands were prepared via Schiff base condensation of 6-chloro-2-hydrazopyridine with alpha-formyl-(L1), alpha-acetyl-(L2), or alpha-benzoyl-(L3) pyridine. The structural characterization of the compounds prepared was based on elemental analyses, electrical conductance and magnetic moment measurements, 1H-n.m.r., i.r., u.v.-vis. and e.s.r spectroscopic methods. The overall structure and reactivity of the metal chelates critically depend on the ligand substituents within the carbonyl moiety. Octahedral and tetrahedral monomeric species were proposed for MnII complexes, and an octahedral environment for the FeIII complexes. Regarding the copper(II) complexes, a monomeric square-planar and a dimeric structure with a chloride bridge in square-pyramidal geometry were suggested. In the presence of molecular oxygen, MnII and CuII complexes catalyse the oxidative transformation of catechol (benzene-1,2-diol) to the corresponding o-benzoquinone. Iron(III) complexes catalyse the aerobic oxidation of catechol to the intradiol cleavage product. The catalytic activity has been correlated with the Lewis acidity of the metal centres created according to the nature of the ligand substituents. The probable mechanistic implications of the catalysed oxidation reactions are discussed. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.