Confined Ultrathin Pd‐Ce Nanowires with Outstanding Moisture and SO2 Tolerance in Methane Combustion

An efficient strategy (enhanced metal oxide interaction and core–shell confinement to inhibit the sintering of noble metal) is presented confined ultrathin Pd‐CeO_x nanowire (2.4 nm) catalysts for methane combustion, which enable CH₄ total oxidation at a low temperature of 350 °C, much lower than that of a commercial Pd/Al₂O₃ catalyst (425 °C). Importantly, unexpected stability was observed even under harsh conditions (800 °C, water vapor, and SO₂), owing to the confinement and shielding effect of the porous silica shell together with the promotion of CeO₂. Pd‐CeO_x solid solution nanowires (Pd‐Ce NW) as cores and porous silica as shells (Pd‐CeNW@SiO₂) were rationally prepared by a facile and direct self‐assembly strategy for the first time. This strategy is expected to inspire more active and stable catalysts for use under severe conditions (vehicle emissions control, reforming, and water–gas shift reaction).     

Intramolecular Mannich reaction in the asymmetric synthesis of polysubstituted piperidines: concise synthesis of the dendrobate alkaloid (+)-241D and its C-4 epimer

[reaction: see text] The intramolecular Mannich reaction of delta-amino beta-keto esters with aldehydes and ketones is a new methodology for the synthesis of polysubstituted piperidines and is illustrated by the concise asymmetric synthesis of the dendrobate alkaloid (+)-241D and its C-4 epimer.     

Catalytic amination of 2-substituted pyridines with hydrazine derivatives

[reaction in text] Protected pyridylhydrazine derivatives were prepared in a one-step palladium-catalyzed amination reaction using chelating phosphine ligands. 2-Pyridyl chlorides, bromides, and triflates were effective electrophiles in these reactions. Di-tert-butyl hydrazodiformate was an excellent hydrazine substrate, and the resulting products were deprotected under mild conditions. Catalytic amination provides a direct route to protected bifunctional hydrazinopyridine linkers that are suitable for metal-bioconjugate syntheses.     

One-step transformation of tricyclopentabenzene (trindane, C(15)H(18)) to bicyclo(10.3.0)pentadec-1(12)ene- 2,6,7,11-tetrone (C(15)H(18)O(4)) and its aldol product, 12-hydroxy-16-oxatetracyclo(10.3.1.0.(1,5)0(7,11))hexadec-7(11)ene-2,6-dione (C(15)H(18)O(4))

[reaction: see text] Ozonolysis of 1 largely results in 2 and 3, having features similar to several classes of natural products. The retention of the C(15) pericycle suggests preference for the cleavage of pi-bonds endo to the cyclopentane ring. This unique property of trindane offers opportunities for synthesis of complex natural products from this hydrocarbon that can be made in quantity by acid-catalyzed trimerization of cyclopentanone.     

Reverse isotope dilution alpha spectrometry using plutionium-239 spike for determining plutonium concentration in high burn-up fuel samples without purification from americium-241 and a bulk of other impurities

A reverse isotope dilution alpha spectrometric /R-IDAS/ method using²³⁹Pu as a spike is described for the determination of plutonium concentration in high burn-up fuel samples wth²³⁸Pu/(²³⁹Pu+²⁴⁰Pu) alpha activity ratio >0.5, without resorting to any purification from²⁴¹Am and a bulk of other impurities. It involves the addition of a pre-clibrated spike solution to a known aliquot of the plutonium sample solution followed by source preparation using TEG as a spreading agent. The results obtained on a number of plutonium samples containing 20–80% of²⁴¹Am /alpha activity wise/ using this method are compared with those achieved by R-IDAS using purification with TTA, with respect to precision and accuracy. Precision and accuracy of 0.5% are demonstrated. This method eliminates the need of any separation and purification of plutonium from²⁴¹Am and a bulk of other impurities like uranium.     

MONITORING LIGHT-INDUCED CHANGES IN ISOLATED, INTACT EYE LENSES

Fluorescence spectral changes occurring upon irradiation with 300 nm light have been monitored in situ in isolated, intact, whole lenses from the eyes of several species. The findings corroborate observations on other individual constituent protein molecules in the solution state, and also reveal features attributable to the supramolecular protein assembly that exists in the whole lens. Irradiation of the lens with 300 nm light causes red shifts in the tryptophan emission spectrum, suggesting alterations in the protein packing in the lens. Intermolecular energy transfer from tryptophan to one of the photoproducts, presumably N-formylkynurenine (N-FK), occurs in the condensed-phase sample. The N-FK formed is photodegraded efficiently in the lens, indicating that the photodynamic effects of endogenous N-FK might not be as severe as has been thought. Species variation in the photoevents are evident, particularly in avian lenses that contain the variant δ-crystallin as the core protein. The photoinduced changes in the near-UV circular dichroism of δ-crystallin (which is α-helical, as opposed to the β-sheet structure of α-, β-, and -γ-crystallins), isolated from chicken lenses, are remarkably different from other crystallins. Irradiation of δ-crystallin leads to a drastic reduction of circular dichroism intensity in the 250–300 nm region, whereas no changes are seen in the peptide absorption band.     

Direct spectrophotometric method for the determination of cobalt with indane 1,2,3-trionetrioxime in aqueous medium

A simple, sensitive and selective Spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of cobalt using indane 1,2,3-trionetrioxime (ITT): The method is based on the colour reaction between ITT and cobalt(II) in sodium acetate-acetic acid buffer (pH 4.5–7.5) medium. The calibration graph for measurement at 320 nm is linear in the range 1.18–23.60g of cobalt per 25 ml, with molar absorptivity of 5.32×10⁴1mol^–1 cm^–1. The effect of interfering ions has been studied and the method was applied to the determination of cobalt in alloys, with good results.