The thermal expansion of GaP below room temperature

The thermal expansion of GaP is estimated theoretically as a function of temperature using the experimental pressure dependence of elastic stiffness constants and phonon frequencies. The numerical values of the linear expansion coefficient and the Grüneisen constant do not become negative at low temperatures, contrary to other tetrahedrally bonded covalent solids. This positive thermal expansion of GaP at low temperatures is closely connected with the small values of the transverse acoustical mode Grüneisen parameter and with the large value of the metallic phase transition pressure from the linear correlation obtained by Weinstein.     

Hammett constants and NMR shifts of α-acyloxy carboxamide derivatives

Geometrical structures, Hammett constants, ¹H and ¹³C chemical shift values, molecular electrostatic potential maps, and several thermodynamic parameters of α-acyloxy carboxamide derivatives (4a–o) were calculated using HF and DFT/B3LYP methods with 6-31G(d) basis set. The optimized structures were compared with analogous compound. The ¹H and ¹³C NMR shielding tensors were computed with the Gauge-Independent Atomic Orbital (GIAO) method. Comparison of the experimental ¹H and ¹³C NMR chemical shifts of 4a–o molecules with the theoretical data indicates good agreement.     

Scaling laws for spreading of a liquid under pressure

We study squeeze flow of two different fluids (castor oil and ethylene glycol) between a pair of glass plates and a pair of perspex plates, under an applied load. The film thickness is found to vary with time as a power-law, where the exponent increases with load. After a certain time interval the area of fluid-solid contact saturates to a nearly steady value. This saturation area, increases with load at different rates for different fluid-solid combinations.     

Ion‐Selective Electrodes Based on Hydrophilic Ionophore‐Modified Nanopores

We report the synthesis and analytical application of the first Cu²⁺‐selective synthetic ion channel based on peptide‐modified gold nanopores. A Cu²⁺‐binding peptide motif (Gly‐Gly‐His) along with two additional functional thiol derivatives inferring cation‐permselectivity and hydrophobicity was self‐assembled on the surface of gold nanoporous membranes comprising of about 5 nm diameter pores. These membranes were used to construct ion‐selective electrodes (ISEs) with extraordinary Cu²⁺ selectivities, approaching six orders of magnitude over certain ions. Since all constituents are immobilized to a supporting nanoporous membrane, their leaching, that is a ubiquitous problem of conventional ionophore‐based ISEs was effectively suppressed.     

Sensitive liquid chromatographic/tandem mass spectrometric method for the determination of beclomethasone dipropionate and its metabolites in equine plasma and urine

Beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) is a potent pro-drug to beclomethasone (BOH) and is used in the treatment of chronic and acute respiratory disorders in the horse. The therapeutic dose of BDP (325 microg per horse) by inhalation results in very low plasma and urinary concentrations of BDP and its metabolites that pose a challenge to detection and confirmation by equine forensic laboratories. To solve this problem, a method involving the use of a liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) was developed for the detection, confirmation and quantification of the analytes in equine samples. Ammonium formate or acetate buffer added to LC mobile phase favored the formation of [M + H](+) ions from BDP and its metabolites, whereas formic acid led to the formation of sodium and potassium adduct ions ([M + Na](+), [M + K](+)) together with [M + H](+) ions. Acetonitrile, on the other hand, favored the formation of abundant solvent adduct ions [M + H + CH(3)CN](+) with the analytes under electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization conditions. In contrast, methanol formed much less solvent adduct ions than acetonitrile. The solvent adduct ions were thermally stable and could not be completely desolvated under the experimental conditions, but they were very fragile to collision-induced dissociation (CID). Interestingly, these solvent adduct ions were observed on a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry but not on an ion trap instrument where helium used as a damping gas in the ion trap might cause the solvent adduct ions desolvated by collision. By CID studies on the [M + H](+) ions of BDP and its metabolites, their fragmentation paths were proposed. In equine plasma at ambient temperature over 2 h, BDP and B21P were hydrolyzed in part to B17P and BOH, respectively, but B17P was not hydrolyzed. Sodium fluoride added to equine plasma inhibited the hydrolysis of BDP and B21P. The matrix effect in ESI was evaluated in equine plasma and urine samples. The method involved the extraction of BDP and its metabolites from equine plasma and urine samples by methyl tert-butyl ether, resolution on a C(8) column with a mobile phase gradient consisting of methanol and ammonium formate (2 mmol l(-1), pH 3.4) and multiple reaction monitoring for the analytes on a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer. The detection limit was 13 pg ml(-1) for BDP and B17P, 25 pg ml(-1) for BOH and 50 pg ml(-1) for B21P in plasma and 25 pg ml(-1) for BOH in urine. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of equine plasma and urine samples for the analytes following administration of BDP to horses by inhalation. B17P, the major and active metabolite of BDP, was detected and quantified in equine plasma up to 4 h post-administration by inhalation of a very low therapeutic dose (325 microg per horse) of BDP.     

Kinetics and mechanism of formation of tetrachloropalladate(II) in the reactions of bis(oxalato)- and bis(malonato) palladate(II) with chloride in acid media

Summary Kinetics of formation of [PdCl₄]^2– from [Pd(ox)₂]^2– and [Pd(mal)₂]^2– has been studies in aqueous acid media in the presence of an excess of chloride ion by stopped-flow spectrophotometry. Both the complexes undergo the transformation in two well separated consecutive steps. In 0.02–0.05 M acid with 0.2 M Cl^–, Pd(AA)^2– dissociates leading to the formation of [Pd(AA)Cl₂]^2– (where AA =ox^2– or mal^2–), which in 0.1–0.6 M acid and 1 M Cl^– forms [PdCl₄]^2– in a relatively slow step. For both steps k_abs=k₀+k₂[H⁺][Cl^–]. Activation parameters corresponding to k₀ and k₂ have been determined. Results indicate that [Pd(mal)₂]^2– is much more labile to substitution than [Pd(ox)₂]^2– and for both the lability is far greater than that of [Pd(bigH)₂]²⁺ and [Pt(ox)₂]^2– reported earlier.     

Syntheses,characterization and crystal structures of two square-planar Ni(II) complexes with unsymmetrical tridentate Schiff base ligands and monodentate pseudohalides

Two new square-planar Ni(II) complexes, [NiL¹(NCS)] (1) and [NiL²(N₃)] (2) have been synthesized with the unsymmetrical tridentate Schiff base ligands [(CH₃)₂NCH₂CH₂N=C(CH₃)CH=C(OH)(C₆H₅)], L ¹ H, derived from benzoylacetone and 2-dimethylaminoethylamine and [(CH₃CH₂)₂NCH₂CH₂N=C(CH₃)CH=C(OH)(C₆H₅)], L ² H, derived from benzoylacetone and 2-diethylaminoethylamine, respectively. The complexes have been characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, UV-Vis spectroscopy, electrochemical and thermal methods (where applicable). Structures have been established by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique which reveals the discrete nature of the complexes in which the metal centers adopt a distorted square planar geometry. Coordination environments of the metal ions in the complexes are satisfied with two different unsymmetrical Schiff base ligands having similar N₂O donor sets and a terminal pseudohalide anion (thiocyanate for 1 and azide for 2).     

Anhydrous state proton conduction in sulfonated bisphenol a polyetherimide with 1H‐1,2,4 triazole as proton solvent

In this study, bisphenol A polyetherimide was sulfonated to various degrees (22, 48, and 62%) by trimethylsilylchlorosulfonate (TMSCS). Novel anhydrous proton conducting polyelectrolytes were prepared by the incorporation of 1H‐1,2,4‐triazole (Taz) as proton solvent in sulfonated polyetherimide (SPEI) matrix. The conductivity reached about 2 × 10^–3 S/cm at 80 °C and 10^–2 S/cm at 140 °C. The temperature dependence proton conductivity of the polyelectrolytes followed Arrhenius equation. The conductivity improved considerably at a temperature close to the triazole melting temperature in SPEI(X)H matrix. It was proposed that the high mobility of the triazolium ions (vehicle diffusion), in addition to structure diffusion, contribute to the high conductivity of these proton conducting electrolytes above the melting temperature of triazole. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 2178–2187, 2009