Isolation of essential oils from tobacco by gas co-distillation/solvent extraction

Summary The essential oils have been isolated from tobacco leaves using a simple gas co-distillation apparatus. The method involves co-distillation with water under the continuous stream of an inert gas with subsequent single solvent extraction of the distillate. The extract is analysed on GC and GC/MS in splitless injection mode without further concentration. The method was evaluated for reproducibility using n-octadecane as an internal standard. The distillation-extraction procedure was reporducible with an average deviation of ±3% for the major constituents. The present method was applied to the analyses of the essential oils of other agricultural products.Dedicated to Dr. L. S. Ettre on the occasion of his 60th birthday.     

Theoretical study of addition reactions of heavy carbenes to carbon and boron nitride nanotubes

In an effort to gain insight into the activation energies and reaction enthalpies of the chemical functionalization of carbon and boron nitride nanotubes, calculations using density functional theory have been carried out for the cycloaddition of a heavy carbene to a single-walled carbon (SWCNT; C(130)H(20)) and a boron nitride (SWBNNT; B(65)N(65)H(20)) nanotube. The (CH(3))(2)X + SWCNT and (CH(3))(2)X + SWBNNT (X = C, Si, Ge, Sn, and Pb) reactions are the subject of the present study. All the stationary points were determined at the B3LYP/LANL2DZ level of theory. The major conclusions that can be drawn from this work are as follows: (i) Considering both the activation barrier and reaction enthalpy based on the model calculations presented here, it is found that the order of (CH(3))(2)X reactivity is X = C > Si > Ge > Sn > Pb, irrespective of whether cycloaddition is to a SWCNT or a SWBNNT sidewall. That is to say, (CH(3))(2)C and (CH(3))(2)Si can readily add to the sidewalls of SWCNT and SWBNNT, whereas (CH(3))(2)Ge, (CH(3))(2)Sn, and (CH(3))(2)Pb are unreactive. (ii) Since the chemical reactivities of SWCNT and SWBNNT sidewalls closely resemble those of the small C(16)H(10) and B(8)N(8)H(10) molecules, at least in a qualitative sense, the use of the above small molecules as models is sufficient to provide qualitatively correct results. (iii) Our theoretical observations indicate that all the (5,5) SWCNT and SWBNNT cycloadducts favor opened rather than closed three-membered ring structures. (iv) The theoretical investigations demonstrate that the singlet-triplet splitting of the carbene species (R(2)X) as well as that of the small model molecules can be used as a diagnostic tool to predict the addition reactivities of carbene analogues and sidewalls of various nanotubes, respectively. Moreover, the results obtained in this work allow a number of predictions to be made.     

Detection of a thermally unstable intermediate in the Wittig reaction using low-temperature liquid secondary ion and atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry

The signal of an extremely air sensitive and thermally unstable intermediate, four-membered ring oxaphosphetane in the Wittig reaction was detected for the first time at subambient temperature using liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry (LSIMS) and atmospheric pressure ionization (API) mass spectrometry. A copper probe and interface were constructed to perform LSIMS analysis at the temperature below ?70 °C. A stable signal from a oxaphosphetane ion [in dry tetrahydrofolate (THF)] was obtained by LSIMS without using a viscous matrix. The signal of the oxaphosphetane was also detected using a low-temperature API source (?40 °C) connected to a reaction vessel.     

Synthesis of four diastereomeric 3,5-dialkoxy-2,4-dimethylalkanals by a simple extension of the non-aldol aldol process to bis(propionates)

[formula: see text] The synthesis of all four diastereomers of bis(propionates), 3,5-dialkoxy-2,4-dimethylalkanals, by non-aldol aldol chemistry is described. The epoxy alcohols (3, 4) were converted into the mesylates (9, 11) which were cleanly rearranged to the desired 3,5-bis(oxygenated)-2,4-dimethylalkanals (10, 12) in high yield. The epoxy mesylates (13, 16) gave the desired products (14, 17) in good yield on treatment with TMSOTf and a hindered base.     

The photoelectron spectrum of HCP and comments on the first photoelectron band of HCN

The photoelectron spectrum of HCP has been obtained, Ionization potentials are found at 10.79 ± 0.01 eV (X² Π) and 12.86 ± 0.01 eV (A ² Σ). By comparison with HCP, a new interpretation of the first photoelectron band of HCN has been proposed which involves a Renner-Teller interaction in the Σ⁺ vibronic states of the molecular ion.     

One-Pot Formation of Carbonates from the Reactions of Carbonyl Compounds with Samarium Diiodide and Methyl Chloroformate

Treatment of carbonyl compounds with SmI₂ and methyl chloroformate in the presence of molecular sieves provides the cyclic carbonates or biscarbonates of pinacols. This one-pot reaction proceeds rapidly even with aliphatic ketones. The stereochemistry obtained by this procedure is different from that of conventional pinacolic couplings.     

Fast peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence for minimized analytical separation systems

The maximum intensity, Imax, and time required to reach the maximum emission, taumax, for 1-aminopyrene monitored in 1,1'-oxalyldi-4-methylimidazole (OD4MI) chemiluminescence (CL) reactions are approximately 61 times higher and 16 times faster than their respective values for bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)oxalate (TCPO) CL reactions in the presence of imidazole (ImH).