Indium(I) iodide promoted cleavage of diphenyl diselenide and disulfide and subsequent palladium(0)-catalyzed condensation with vinylic bromides. A simple one-pot synthesis of vinylic selenides and sulfides

[reaction: see text] Diphenyl diselenide (and disulfide) undergo facile reaction with indium(I) iodide and the corresponding intermediate complex condenses in situ with a variety of substituted vinyl bromides in the presence of a catalytic amount of tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) [Pd(PPh3)4] in THF at room temperature to produce vinylic selenides and sulfides in good yields. The conversion of (E)-vinyl bromides is remarkably stereoselective giving (E)-vinyl selenides (and sulpfides) whereas the stereoselectivity in reaction of (Z)-vinyl bromides is not very good.     

Native silica nanoparticle catalyzed anti-Markovnikov addition of thiols to inactivated alkenes and alkynes: a new route to linear and vinyl thioethers

A new route for the synthesis of linear and vinyl thioethers has been demonstrated using bare silica nanoparticle as catalyst at room temperature under solvent-free conditions. The catalyst can be reused up to six times without loss of catalytic activity.     

Ketalizations of aryl ω-(2-imidazolyl)alkyl ketones by glycerol and 3-mercapto-1,2-propanediol. synthesis and characterization of cis- and trans-{2-aryl-2-[ω-(2-imidazolyl)alkyl](1,3-dioxolan-4-yl and 1,3-oxathiolan-5-yl)}methanols

Aryl 2-[(2-imidazolyl)ethyl or 3-(2-imidazolyl)propyl]ketones were ketalized by glycerol or 3-mercapto-1,2-propanediol in boiling benzene in the presence of 4-toluenesulfonic acid to provide the title compounds. The aryl substituents are 4-chloro-, 4-bromo-, 4-fluoro-, or 2,4-dichlorophenyl. While aryl (2-imidazolyl)methyl ketones condensed with glycerol to form cis- and trans-{2-aryl-2-[(2-imidazolyl)methyl]-4-(hydroxymethyl)}-1,3-dioxolanes, related condensations with 3-mercapto-1,2-propanediol, under similar, or even more stringent reaction conditions, produced no 1,3-oxathiolane analogs, with the starting ketones being recovered. Separation and structure determination of these racemic cis and trans isomeric products are described. The structure of these stereoisomers was established by means of ¹H and ¹³C nmr correlation and nOe experiments. Selective methylation of the N-unsubstituted 2-imidazolyl alcohols with one equivalent sodium hydride and methyl iodide provided the corresponding N-methyl alcohols in excellent yields. With excess benzoyl chloride, N-unsubstituted 2-imidazolyl alcohols were initially converted to O, N-dibenzoates from which the N-benzoyl group was easily cleaved by ammonium hydroxide in ethanol to provide benzoate esters.     

2-(2-Selenocyanic acid ethyl ester)-1H-benz[de] isoquinoline-1,3-(2H)-dione, synthesis photophysics and interaction with bovine serum albumin: a spectroscopic approach

The compound 2-(2-selenocyanic acid ethyl ester)-1H-benz[de] isoquinoline-1,3-(2H)-dione (SEBID), a ubiquitous, bioactive naphthalimide derivative is expected to possess an anticancer, anti-tumor and other important therapeutic activities of significant potency with low systematic toxicity. In this paper, the synthesis of the compound, photophysics of the newly prepared naphthalimide derivative and its interaction with model transport protein Bovine serum albumin (BSA) have been reported using the absorption and steady state fluorescence spectroscopic techniques exploiting the intrinsic fluorescence emission properties of BSA as a probe. Interaction of this organoselenium compound in different dioxane-water mixtures with increase in the polarity of the medium has been studied spectroscopically. Interaction of SEBID with BSA leads to a dramatic decrease in the fluorescence intensity of BSA, which suggests the binding of SEBID with the tryptophan residue of BSA. Furthermore, different thermodynamic parameters for SEBID-BSA interaction have been calculated. Rationalization of the data has been attempted, particularly in relation to prospective applications in the biomedical research.     

Nonreductive deiodination of ortho-iodo-hydroxylated arenes using tertiary amines

A convenient and nonreductive deiodination is reported for the ortho-iodo-hydroxylated arenes including derivatives of quinolinol, phenol, and naphthol. Tertiary amines pyridine, triethylamine, and N-methylmorpholine in the presence of water initiated deiodination of ortho-iodo-hydroxylated arenes without affecting para-iodine and other reduction-susceptible groups. This reported method also works efficiently for polyiodinated systems. Simplicity, short reaction times, and absence of reducing catalyst are features of this method.     

Work allocation to stations with varying learning slopes and without buffers

In this paper, we address the problem of allocating the work elements, belonging to the products of a lot, to the stations of an assembly line so as to minimize the makespan. The lots that are processed on the assembly line are characterized by a low overall demand for each product. There is no buffer permitted in between the stations, and the line operates under learning. In particular, the stations’ learning slopes are assumed to be different. We present a procedure to determine the optimal assignments of the workload to the stations under learning variability and show that it considerably affects these assignments.     

First enantiospecific synthesis of (+)-β-herbertenol

The first enantiospecific synthesis of (+)-β-herbertenol, from naturally occurring R-(+)-citronellal, employing Taber's diazo decomposition protocol as the key step, is described.     

Analysis of current-voltage characteristics of inhomogeneous Schottky diodes at low temperatures

Two approaches of Gaussian distribution of barrier heights in inhomogeneous Schottky diodes have been analyzed by comparing the results for consistency between the two. For this the current-voltage characteristics of inhomogeneous Schottky diodes have been generated by using analytically solved thermionic-emission diffusion equation incorporating Gaussian distribution of barrier heights and by direct numerical integration over a barrier height range. The differences in the results obtained in two approaches are discussed and it is shown that the two approaches yield current-voltage characteristics with slightly different features. The discrepancies in the results obtained in two approaches are attributed to the same series resistance assumed for all elementary barriers of the distribution. It is shown that assigning same series resistance to all barrier of the distribution in numerical integration approach causes current saturation at low bias and inhibits intersection of current-voltage curves from being observable which otherwise occurs in the curves obtained using analytical equation. The paper deals with these aspects in details.     

Reputation and efficiency: A non-parametric assessment of America’s top-rated MBA programs

Widely publicized reports of fresh MBAs getting multiple job offers with six-figure annual salaries leave a long-lasting general impression about the high quality of selected business schools. While such spectacular achievement in job placement rightly deserves recognition, one should not lose sight of the resources expended in order to accomplish this result. In this study, we employ a measure of Pareto-Koopmans global efficiency to evaluate the efficiency levels of the MBA programs in Business Week’s top-rated list. We compute input- and output-oriented radial and non-radial efficiency measures for comparison. Among three tier groups, the schools from a higher tier group on average are more efficient than those from lower tiers, although variations in efficiency levels do occur within the same tier, which exist over different measures of efficiency.