Spectrophotometric Investigation of the Charge–Transfer Interaction of 2,3-Dicyano-1,4-naphthoquinone with N-Ethylaniline in Chlorinated Solvents

The charge?Ctransfer interaction between 2,3-dicyano-1,4-naphthoquinone (DCNQ) and N-ethylaniline was studied in the halocarbons chloroform and dichloromethane and a 1:1 (v/v) mixture of these two solvents. A rapid interaction between DCNQ and N-ethylaniline results in the formation of the monosubstituted final product. The reaction is found to proceed through an initial charge?Ctransfer (CT) complex intermediate. The equilibrium constants of the ??-complex, in all the three media, were evaluated along with first-order and second-order rate constants for the appearance and disappearance of the ??- and ??-complexes. The final product was isolated and characterized by IR, NMR and elemental analysis. Based on the kinetic results a mechanism was proposed for the reaction.     

Ionic liquid/PPh3 promoted cleavage of diphenyl disulfide and diselenide: a straight-forward metal-free one-pot route to the synthesis of unsymmetrical sulfides and selenides

A metal-free cleavage of diphenyl disulfide and diphenyl diselenide has been achieved using ionic liquid/triphenyl phosphine (PPh₃) and a convenient protocol for the one-pot synthesis of unsymmetrical sulfides and selenides by condensing ‘in situ’ generated thiolate or selenate anion with alkyl halides has been developed. In addition, 1,4-conjugate addition of the generated thiolate anions to activated alkenes has also been demonstrated. The ionic liquid, 1-methyl-3-pentyl imidazolium bromide, [pmIm]Br plays a crucial role in promoting the course of the reactions and shows superior activity and selectivity compared to other solvents. The [pmIm]Br has been reused for at least five times without appreciable loss of activity.     

Rectangular Tiling in Multidimensional Arrays

We study the following tiling problem in d dimensions: given a d-dimensional rectangular array of nonnegative numbers and an integer p, partition the array into at most p rectangular subarrays so that the maximum weight of any subarray is minimized; the weight of a subarray is the sum of its elements. The rectangular tiling problem is motivated by applications in data mining, data partitioning, and video compression. Recently, Khanna, Muthukrishnan, and Paterson [SODA '98], showed that the tiling problem is NP-complete and gave a 2.5-approximation algorithm for d = 2.In this paper, we extend their result to multidimensional arrays and give an algorithm with approximation ratio , for d ≥ 2. The algorithm can be implemented to run in worst-case time O(N + p log N) time, where N is the size of the array, and the constant is of the order d!. We also obtain a similar algorithm for the dual tiling problem, where the goal is to compute a tiling of weight at most W using as few tiles as possible. Our algorithm yields an approximation factor (2d + 1).We implemented our algorithm and ran simulation tests on multidimensional arrays with random data. In our limited experiments, the algorithm always produced approximations that were no worse than factor two from the optimal.     

Convenient and Efficient Method for the Iodination of Aromatic Amines by Pyridinium Iodochloride

A simple and efficient method for the iodination of aromatic amines using pyridinium iodochloride (PyICl) in methanol as solvent is reported. Mild reaction conditions, short reaction time, and good to excellent yields of the product are the noteworthy advantages of the method. Pyridinium iodochloride is an efficient solid iodinating reagent and can be handled safely.     

A Three-Stage Quantum Cryptography Protocol

We present a three-stage quantum cryptographic protocol based on public key cryptography in which each party uses its own secret key. Unlike the BB84 protocol, where the qubits are transmitted in only one direction and classical information exchanged thereafter, the communication in the proposed protocol remains quantum in each stage. A related system of key distribution is also described.     

Characterization and biological evaluation of ruthenium(III) complexes of 2-fluorophenyl imines

The isolation and characterization of 2-fluorophenyl imines and their metal complexes based upon physical (quantitative analyses, molecular weight determinations and conductivity measurements) and spectral evidence (i.r. and 1H-, 13C- and 19F-n.m.r.) are described. Structural assignments have been made from spectral studies. The donor sites of ligands have been located and geometries of the donor environment around the RuIII acceptor centre are proposed. In view of the potential therapeutic activity exhibited by the fluoro ligands, RuIII complexes, together with their parent 2-fluorophenyl imines, were screened for biological activity. The results are encouraging.     

The mechanism of nucleation and growth from CdGeAs2 glass

Distinctively different microstructures were obtained depending on the heating rate to which CdGeAs₂ glasses were exposed during the devitrification process. Differential scanning calorimetry showed that under very slow heating rates, the single crystallization peak splits into three superimposed exotherms. Quenching from the temperature at which selected features appear on the DSC trace and using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy interactively, demonstrated the initial formation of a metastable doped precursor germanium crystalline phase. This crystalline structure continued to grow until it could no longer accommodate the impurities, and the transformation terminated. These regions then acted as heterogeneous nucleation sites for the growth of chalcopyrite structured CdGeAs₂ with a spherulitic microstructure. The spherulites grew as stacked plates from the nucleation site. At higher temperatures, the metastable germanium structure converted, growing backwards toward the center of each precursor, into the stable chalcopyrite structure, permitted by appropriate ionic diffusion shifting composition toward stoichiometry. At faster heating rates, less of these germanium precursors formed, creating a visually bimodal grain size distribution in the microstructure, as compared to slower heating rates. Using the simplex algorithm, the mechanism and activation energy of each reaction are reported as well as the deconvoluted enthalpies of each transformation.     

Growth kinetics and diosgenin estimation from callus cultures of Costus speciosus (Koen. ex. Retz.)

The present investigation reports the growth kinetics and diosgenin accumulation in callus cultures of Costus speciosus. Effect of explants, media and plant growth regulators was evaluated with respect to callus induction and growth. Out of the two explants viz pseudostem and seed, pseudostem showed maximum callus induction frequency of 90% on MS medium. The fresh weight of callus was maximum (9-folds) on 28th day on 1.0 mg/L picloram containing medium. The callus obtained was white compact hard (WCH). For growth kinetics study pseudostem derived callus was transferred on different media supplemented with 1.0 mg/L picloram. All phases of growth were seen in callus inoculated on all the three media except the absence of stationary phase on MS and SH media. MS medium proved to be the best for maximum biomass accumulation (9-fold) on 28th day of culture and callus in post-exponential phase showed maximum diosgenin accumulation (33 ppm).