Homochiral conglomerates and racemic crystals in two dimensions: tartaric acid on Cu(110)

Two-dimensional lattice structures formed by racemic tartaric acid on a single crystalline Cu(110) surface have been studied and compared with the enantiopure lattices. At low coverage, the doubly deprotonated bitartrate species is separated into two-dimensional conglomerates showing opposite enantiomorphism. At higher coverage, however, a singly deprotonated monotartrate species forms a heterochiral, racemic crystal lattice. While the enantioseparated bitartrate system undergoes decomposition at the same temperature as the enantiopure system, the racemic monotartrate lattice has a lower thermal stability than the enantiopure lattice of identical periodicity and surface density. At monolayer saturation coverage, the pure enantiomers form a denser lattice than the racemate. This is in contrast to the three-dimensional tartaric acid crystals, where the racemate crystallizes in a lattice of higher density, which is also more thermally stable than the enantiopure tartaric acid crystals.     

Proteolytic cleavage reveals interaction patterns between silica nanoparticles and two variants of human carbonic anhydrase

To characterize the sites on the protein surface that are involved in the adsorption to silica nanoparticles and the subsequent rearrangements of the protein/nanoparticle interaction, a novel approach has been used. After incubation of protein with silica nanoparticles for 2 or 16 h, the protein was cleaved with trypsin and the peptide fragments were analyzed with mass spectrometry. The nanoparticle surface area was in 16-fold excess over available protein surface to minimize the probability that the initial binding would be affected by other protein molecules. When the fragment patterns obtained in the presence and absence of silica nanoparticles were compared, we were able to characterize the protein fragments that interact with the surface. This approach has allowed us to identify the initial binding sites on the protein structure and the rearrangement of the binding sites that occur upon prolonged incubation with the surface.     

Length scale competition in nonlinear Klein-Gordon models: a collective coordinate approach

Working within the framework of nonlinear Klein-Gordon models as a paradigmatic example, we show that length scale competition, an instability of solitons subjected to perturbations of an specific length, can be understood by means of a collective coordinate approach in terms of soliton position and width. As a consequence, we provide a natural explanation of the phenomenon in much simpler terms than any previous treatment of the problem. Our technique allows us to study the existence of length scale competition in most soliton bearing nonlinear models and can be extended to coherent structures with more degrees of freedom.     

Infinitely many solutions of a semilinear problem for the Heisenberg Laplacian on the Heisenberg group

We study the semilinear equationwhere is the Heisenberg Laplacian and is the Heisenberg group. The function f C²(×, ) is supposed to satisfy some (subcritical) growth conditions and to be left invariant under the action of the subgroup of consisting of points with integer coordinates.. We show the existence of infinitely many solutions in the space S₁²(), which is the Heisenberg analogue of the Sobolev space W^1,2(^N).Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 22E30, 22E27     

Heterometallic metal-organic frameworks based on tris(dipyrrinato) coordination complexes

A novel class of heterometallic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has been synthesized and characterized. The MOFs rely on the use of tris(dipyrrinato) coordination complexes as the bridging structure and silver(I) ions as the linking unit. The building blocks and resulting MOFs have been structurally characterized by using single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The modular nature of this approach is demonstrated by the use of both iron(III) and cobalt(III) complexes. The MOFs have strong electronic absorption features originating from the metal-dipyrrin chromophore and have continuous channels throughout the lattice that are occupied by ordered and disordered solvent molecules.     

Rate constants for the reaction of OH radicals with a series of alkanes and alkenes at 299 ± 2 K

Using methyl nitrite photolysis in air as a source of hydroxyl radicals, relative rate constants for the reaction of OH radicals with a series of alkanes and alkenes have been determined at 299 ± 2 K. The rate constant ratios obtained are: relative to n-hexane = 1.00, neopentane 0.135 ± 0.007, n-butane 0.453 ± 0.007, cyclohexane 1.32 ± 0.04; relative to cyclohexane = 1.00, n-butane 0.341 ± 0.002, cyclopentane 0.704 ± 0.007, 2,3-dimethylbutane 0.827 ± 0.004, ethene 1.12 ± 0.05; relative to propene = 1.00, 2-methyl-2-butene 3.43 ± 0.13, isoprene 3.81 ± 0.17, 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene 4.28 ± 0.21. These relative rate constants are placed on an absolute basis using previous absolute rate constant data and are compared and discussed with literature data.     

Kinetics of the gas-phase reactions of OH radicals with alkyl nitrates at 299 ± 2 K

Relative rate constants for the gas-phase reactions of OH radicals with a series of alkyl nitrates have been determined at 299 ± 2 K, using methyl nitrite photolysis in air as a source of OH radicals. Using a rate constant for the reaction of OH radicals with cyclohexane of 7.57 × 10^?12 cm³/molec·s, the rate constants obtained are (× 10¹² cm³/molec·s): 2-propyl nitrate, 0.18 ± 0.05; 1-butyl nitrate, 1.42 ± 0.11; 2-butyl nitrate, 0.69 ± 0.10; 2-pentyl nitrate, 1.87 ± 0.12; 3-pentyl nitrate, 1.13 ± 0.20; 2-hexyl nitrate, 3.19 ± 0.16; 3-hexyl nitrate, 2.72 ± 0.22; 3-heptyl nitrate, 3.72 ± 0.43; and 3-octyl nitrate, 3.91 ± 0.80. These rate constants, which are the first reported for the alkyl nitrates, are significantly lower than those for the parent alkanes, and a formula, based on the numbers of the various types of C? H bonds in the alkyl nitrates, is derived for rate constant estimation purposes.     

NH<Subscript>3</Subscript>(CH<Subscript>2</Subscript>)<Subscript>5</Subscript>NH<Subscript>3</Subscript>BiCl<Subscript>5</Subscript>: an efficient and recyclable catalyst for the synthesis of benzoxazole,benzimidazole and benzothiazole heterocycles

In this work, the condensation of aromatic aldehydes with different two-substituted aniline catalyzed by NH₃(CH₂)₅NH₃BiCl₅ as heterogeneous and recyclable catalyst was reported. It was demonstrated that NH₃(CH₂)₅NH₃BiCl₅ can act as an efficient and active catalyst and is reusable for six runs without a significant loss of their catalytic activity. Simple preparation of the catalyst, high catalytic activity and good reusability are noteworthy advantages of this catalytic system in the synthesis of benzoxazole, benzimidazole and benzothiazole heterocycles at room temperature under solvent-free conditions.     

MnCo<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript> nanoparticles with excellent catalytic activity in thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate

MnCo₂O₄ spinel nanoparticles (NPs) have been prepared using Aloe vera gel solution. The characterization of prepared spinel was performed applying Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron spectroscope, scanning electron microscope and dynamic light scattering. The results manifested that the prepared nanoparticles were mainly spherical plus minor agglomeration with average size distribution between 35 and 60 nm. The catalytic activity of the prepared nanoparticles upon thermal degradation of ammonium perchlorate (AP) was evaluated applying differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry instruments. MnCo₂O₄ nanoparticles increased the released heat of AP from 450 to 1480 J g^?1 and decreased the decomposition temperature from 420 to 293 °C. The kinetic parameters obtained from Kissinger methods showed that the activation energy of AP thermal decomposition in the presence of MnCo₂O₄ NPs considerably decreased. Also, a mechanism has been proposed in the presence of catalyst for the process of thermal decomposition of AP.