SOLVENT EFFECTS ON TRIPLET-STATE BACTERIOCHLOROPHYLL a AS DETECTED BY TRANSIENT RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY AND THE ENVIRONMENT OF BACTERIOCHLOROPHYLL a IN THE LIGHT-HARVESTING COMPLEX OF Rhodobacter sphaeroides R26

The frequency of BChl that was bound to the light-harvesting complex (LHC) of Rhodobacter sphaeroides R26 was found to be 1598 cm^-1, a result which suggests that a pair of BChl molecules form a dimer in the LHC in the T₁ state.     

Synthesis of thromboxane A2 analogs—2 : (±)-Thiathromboxane A2

The total synthesis of (±)-11a-methano- 9,11-thiathromboxane A₂(1), the sulfur analog of thromboxane A₂ is described     

The behaviour of carbon species produced by CO disproportionation on Ru(1, 1, 10) and Ru(001) surfaces

The behaviour of adsorbed CO on Ru(001) flat and Ru(l,1,10) stepped surfaces in the CO pressure range between 10^?6 and 10¹ Pa has been investigated by TDS, AES, LEED and UPS. The disproportionation of CO proceeds rapidly on the stepped surface and its apparent activation energy was obtained to be 20 kJ mol^?1 at nearly zero coverage. The carbon species produced by CO disproportionation show non-uniform reactivity with ¹⁸O₂ and provide four CO desorption peaks in TPR spectra, which are assigned to α-C¹⁸O,ß-C¹⁸O and those derived from carbidic and graphitic carbons. At smaller carbon coverage, only α-CO and β-CO were observed, but with increasing coverage the amount of ß-CO reaches a maximum and carbidic carbon is newly formed. Further increase of carbon deposition gives graphitic carbon. The conversion from carbidic to graphitic carbon and the dissolution into the bulk took place upon heating to 1000 K. It is remarkable that very active carbon species are converted to molecular CO through the reaction with O₂ even at low temperature such as 200 K. It was also confirmed that active carbon species are formed on Ru surface during COH₂ reaction.     

Heterogeneous photocatalytic synthesis of ammonia from water and nitrogen

Photocatalytic synthesis of ammonia from water and nitrogen was performed. Binary wafered catalysts prepared with semiconductor powder (TiO₂, SrTiO₃, CdS or GaP) and platinum black, where the copolymer of ethylene and vinylalcohol was used as a binder, were found to be more effective to yield ammonia than the semiconductor powders alone.     

A new method for the synthesis of α-arylalkanoic acids by the use of 1,2-rearrangement of the aryl group

A simple synthetic method of α-arylalkanoic acids was accomplished by the use of a novel 1,2-rearrangement of the aryl group and this method was applied to the syntheses of some biologically important substances.     

Interlayer water molecules in vanadium pentoxide hydrate. 8. Dynamic properties by quasi-elastic neutron scattering

The dynamics of water molecules in the layered vanadium pentoxide hydrate, V(2)O(5).nH(2)O, were studied by quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) measurements. Heterogeneity of the dynamic properties was confirmed by alpha-relaxation model analysis. Translational diffusion of monolayer and double-layer water molecules is by site-to-site diffusion and is reduced relative to that of bulk water. Water molecules lose their mobility markedly and solidify with decreasing temperature. However, mobile water remains at 253 K. Rotational diffusion coefficients are unaffected by confinement and are very similar to the bulk values determined at temperatures in the range 253-298 K. The dynamic speed characterized by QENS is much faster than that expected from the data determined by deuterium NMR (DNMR) measurements at low temperatures.     

Rapid adsorption and entrapment of benzoic acid molecules onto mesoporous silica (FSM-16)

Changes in the molecular state of benzoic acid (BA) in the presence of folded sheet mesoporous material (FSM-16), which has uniformly sized cylindrical mesopores and a large surface area, were assessed with several analyses. When BA was blended with FSM-16 for 5 min (BA content=30%), the X-ray diffraction peaks of BA crystals disappeared, suggesting an amorphous state. Fluorescence analysis of the mixture showed a new fluorescence emission peak for BA at 386 nm after mixing with FSM-16. Fluorescence lifetime analysis of the BA component in the mixture at 386 nm showed a longer lifetime in comparison with that of BA crystals. The solid-state (13)C CP/MAS and PST/MAS NMR spectra of the mixture with FSM-16 showed a significantly different spectral pattern from the mixture with nonporous glass, whose NMR spectra were identical to those of BA crystals. These results indicate that BA molecules disperse quickly into the hexagonal channels of FSM-16 by a simple blending procedure and adsorbed BA molecules had clearly different physicochemical properties to BA crystals.     

Synthesis of thromboxane A2 analogs—4 : (±)-Dithiathromboxane A2 sodium salt

The total synthesis of (±)-dithiathromboxane A₂ sodium salt 1 was accomplished in 26 steps from methyl 4,4-dimethoxyactoacetate.     

Synthesis of thromboxane A2 analogs—3 : (+)-Thiathromboxane A2

(+)-11a-methano-9,11-thiathiromboxane A₂(1) was synthesized from prostaglandin A₂ and prostaglandin E₂.