Syntheses and characterization of poly(benzimidazolyl) thiaxanthones

Novel polybenzimidazoles containing thiaxanthone heterocyclic units were synthesised from 2,7-thiaxanthonedicarboxylic acid-5,5′-dioxide and 2,8-thiaxanthonedicarboxylic acid-5,5′-dioxide and two aromatic tetramine hydrochlorides by PPA solution polycondensation in 60–70% yield. Two model compounds, 2,7-bis(2-benzimidazolyl)thiaxanthone-5,5′-dioxide and 2,8-bis(2-benzimidazolyl)thiaxanthone-5,5′-dioxide, were prepared and characterized by spectral methods. The polybenzimidazoles have inherent viscosities in the range 1.13–1.50 dL/g and decomposition temperatures of 495–560°C. The effect of thiaxanthone units on polymer properties are discussed.     

One-Step Hydroxylation of Benzene to Phenol Over Layered Double Hydroxides and their Derived Forms

Phenol, an important bulk organic compound, has diverse applications encompassing both industry and society. Commercially, it is produced through energy intensive three-step cumene process operating at relatively low yield with the co-production of acetone. Several attempts were made for producing phenol through challenging one-step direct hydroxylation of benzene using different oxidants like O₂, N₂O and H₂O₂. Liquid phase hydroxylation of benzene using H₂O₂ found to be more attractive due to its low reaction temperature and environmentally friendly nature (as water is only formed as by-product). The hydroxylation reaction occurs through Fenton’s mechanism; however along with phenol several other products are also formed due to higher reactivity of phenol compared to benzene. Our research group has been working on this reaction for nearly a decade using layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and their derived forms as heterogeneous selective oxidation catalyst. Screening of different LDHs having different metal ions in the layers revealed the necessity of copper for hydroxylation in pyridine. Addition of co-bivalent metal ion along with copper was made in an endeavour to improve the activity that revealed the promising results for CuZnAl LDHs. Efforts were then made to shift from pyridine to environmentally benign solvent, water, for this reaction that showed reasonably good yields with very high selectivity of phenol. Addition of small amount of sulfolane as a co-solvent increased the selectivity for phenol further. The reusability difficulty faced while using as-synthesized LDHs was overcome when calcined LDHs were used. Structure–property-activity relationships were deduced to understand the results observed. The present review besides covering our work also provides the state-of-art on this reaction using different oxidants with emphasis on H₂O₂.     

Separation and recovery of ruthenium: a review

The chemistry of the noble metal fission product, ruthenium is very complex due to the existence of many oxidation states in addition to forming a large number of co-ordination complexes. In the PUREX process for the separation of U and Pu from the spent nuclear fuels from fast breeder reactors, owing to the high volatile nature of RuO₄ problems arise not only during the extraction stages but also in the treatment of high active liquid waste and subsequent vitrification. As this volatile RuO₄ can deposit in cooler parts, there is an increase in the radiation field due to the presence of ¹⁰⁶Ru. The problem is very acute in the reprocessing of fast reactor fuels due to the increased concentration of ruthenium in the spent fuel. In nitric acid medium Ru can exist in various nitroso nitrate complexes and nitroso complexes are more stable than nitrates. The nitrates are non-extractable by the solvent TBP; however, they are extractable to a higher degree by DBP (the primary degradation product of TBP). The extractability of Ru nitrates into the solvent is inhibited by high acid content, temperature and prolonged hold-up time. Nevertheless, these factors promote the volatilization of Ru as RuO₄. The volatilization is enhanced by the addition of phosphate ions, but is suppressed by phosphite or hypophosphite ions. Thus, it would be advantageous if ruthenium is removed so that not only the purity of the product (Pu) is improved, but also the problem related to volatilisation can be resolved. High molecular weight amines (tertiary amines) capable of forming co-ordinate bonds are reported to be ideal extractants for Ru. Gas phase separation is an effective method for the recovery of Ru from catalysts, lead button and from other platinum group metals. Separation and pre-concentration of noble metals can be accomplished from non-metals by simple sorbents like coconut shell activated carbon to complicated chelating resins, aromatic polymers and zeolites. In the electro-oxidation of active Ru from nitroso salts, Pd was found to interfere and removal of Pd prior to oxidation of Ru is recommended. Redox catalysts such as Ag²⁺ and Ce⁴⁺ are found to play a prominent role in the electro-oxidation of Ru. Though, various methods and extractants are reported in the literature for the separation of Ru, R&D is being pursued for the removal of Ru during aqueous reprocessing of spent fuels using extractants and methods which are conducive to plant conditions. Hence, an exhaustive survey of literature was made and the different methods reported for the removal of Ru with emphasis towards reprocessing applications are discussed in this report as a review. Attempts made by the authors in separating Ru from simulated waste solution are also included in this review.     

In vitro and in vivo investigations on the photodynamic activity of core-modified expanded porphyrin--ammonium salt of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(meso-p-sulfonato phenyl)-25,27,29-trithia sapphyrin

The core modification of expanded porphyrins has been proved to have better photochemical properties, which are favorable for photodynamic therapy (PDT) applications. In this context, this study was aimed to investigate the in vitro and in vivo photodynamic activity of one such core-modified expanded porphyrin, namely, ammonium salt of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(meso-p-sulfonato phenyl)-25,27,29-trithia sapphyrin. For the in vitro studies, human erythrocytes were used as a membrane semimodel system to investigate the partitioning ability and drug-uptake characteristics. The partition studies on the membrane semimodel system revealed that maximum partitioning occurs at 12 microgm/mL concentration, and from the drug-uptake studies it is observed that maximum amount of the sensitizer is bound to the erythrocyte membranes during a 45 min incubation period. Photohemolysis studies at different concentrations of the sensitizer and exposure time showed maximum damage at 5 microgm/mL and 30 min exposure time. In vivo studies were performed on 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)nthracene-induced superficial squamous cell carcinoma on mouse skin. The sensitizer at a concentration of 2.5% in 2.0% dimethyl sulfoxide was applied topically on the tumor spot. After 1 h incubation the tumor spot was exposed to laser irradiation from Nd-YAG laser at its second harmonic wavelength of 532 nm. The photodynamic efficacy was estimated by tumor volume measurements at regular intervals after the treatment. One month after PDT exposure a 3.9-fold decrease in the tumor volume was observed with respect to the tumor volume before treatment. The treatment efficacy was further confirmed by histological and fluorescence spectroscopic evaluations of the tissue biopsy sample from the treated area. The results of our study suggest that the ammonium salt of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(meso-p-sulfonato phenyl)-25,27,29-trithia sapphyrin may find possible applications in the new modality of cancer treatment.     

Mass–yield distributions of fission products from photo-fission of natPb induced by 50–70 MeV bremsstrahlung

The mass–yield distributions of various fission products have been determined in the 50-, 60- and 70-MeV end point bremsstrahlung induced fission of ^natPb using off-line γ-ray spectrometric technique in the electron linac at Pohang Accelerator Laboratory, Korea. The mass–yield distributions are symmetric with average mass of 102.34, 102.25 and 102.03 and FWHM of 21, 22 and 23 mass unit, respectively. From the present data and literature data in the 50–85 MeV bremsstrahlung induced fission of ²⁰⁹Bi the following observations were obtained: (i) The average masses of the yield distributions in the 50–85 MeV bremsstrahlung induced fission of ^natPb and ²⁰⁹Bi are around 102.25 ± 0.25 and 103 ± 0.5, respectively. (ii) The FWHM of the mass–yield distributions increases from about 21 mass units at 50 MeV to 23 mass units at 70–85 MeV, which is explained from the point of increase in multi-chance fission probability with increasing excitation energy. (iii) Within the bremsstrahlung energy range of 50–85 MeV, the role of nuclear structure effect in the mass–yield distribution was observed in the photo-fission of ²⁰⁹Bi, whereas it was not seen in case of ^natPb. This may be due to the presence of so many isotopes in ^natPb unlike mono-isotopic ²⁰⁹Bi.     

FUNCTIONALIZED PHOSPHINES: SYNTHESIS,REACTIVITY AND TRANSITION METAL CHEMISTRY

Ten-membered heterocycles of the type PhN(PCl₂){OC₆H₂(R)₂ (μ-S(CH₂))((R)₂─C₆H₂O─)} (R = Me, ⁱPr or ^tBu) have been prepared and their transition metal chemistry is explored. Functionalised phosphines react with transition metals to give interesting metallacycles. Several Group 6, ruthenium, platinum metals and novel titanium(IV) metallacycles have been structurally characterized.     

Characterization of a Polymer-Bound Palladium Acetate Catalyst and Studies on the Selective Hydrogenation of Dienes and Alkynes

Abstract

Palladium(II) acetate has been anchored onto a copolymer support containing pyridyl and carboxyl groups. XPS studies showed the Pd 3d binding energies for the recovered catalyst to be less by 1 eV after being used in hydrogenation studies. However, x-ray studies and a chemical test based on KCN treatment failed to reveal any palladium oxide or palladium metal formation in the recovered catalyst. It is presumed that an acetate ligand is lost during hydrogenation, which could be the reason for the lowering of the palladium 3d binding energies in the recovered catalyst. Results of investigations of the hydrogenation of olefins and selectivity of the catalyst toward the hydrogenation of dienes and alkynes are presented. The loss of palladium due to leaching under the reaction conditions employed was found to be very low (<1%/cycle).     

Synthesis and characterization of 3-phenylethynyl endcapped matrix resins

The synthesis of 3-phenylethynylphenol, and its applicability as a high temperature cross-linking endcap for high T_g polyarylene ethers is described. It was synthesized in high yields and purity using the palladium catalyzed coupling reaction between the protected 3-bromo or iodo phenol and phenylacetylene. The yield of the reaction was found to be highly dependent on the structure of the halide used, the reaction temperature, and the concentration of phenylacetylene. The use of the protected phenol in the palladium catalyzed reaction was also extended to the high yield synthesis of 3-ethynylphenol and protected 4-ethynylphenols. The complete synthesis of 3-phenylethynylphenol, 3-ethynylphenol, and protected 4-ethynylphenol in high yields has been demonstrated and is discussed herein. Three new phenylethynyl functionalized arylene ether matrix resins have been synthesized in high yields and purity by reacting 3-phenylethynylphenol with 4,4′-dichlorodiphenyl sulfone, 4,4′-difluorobenzophenone, and bis(4-fluorophenyl)phenyl phosphine oxide, via nucleophilic poly(arylene ether) synthesis conditions. These low molecular weight materials undergo thermally induced chain extension/branching to yield an insoluble three-dimensional network at reaction temperatures of around 380°C. The low molecular weight arylene ethers endcapped with the phenylethynyl group demonstrate excellent flow characteristics and a wide processing window of about 250°C. Crosslinking of the 4,4′-bis(3-phenylethynyl phenoxy)diphenyl sulfone system for 30 min at 350°C in air afforded a T_g value of 265°C by differential scanning calorimetry measurements. Trace metal analysis for palladium and copper showed absence of these metals that would otherwise detract from the excellent thermal stability. The synthesis and characterization of these phenylethynyl endcapped arylene ether matrix resins is discussed. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.