A Novel Method for the Regeneration of Alcohols from Toluene Sulphonates Using CeCl3. 7H2O-NaI System

Treatment of aryl and alkyl tosylates with Cerium(III) chloride hepta hydrate and sodium iodide in acetonitrile provides a simple, convenient and chemoselective procedure for the de tosylation.     

Titanium and zirconium complexes containing modified TREN ligands for the polymerization of 1‐alkenes—A comparative study

The titanium and zirconium complexes in C₃ and C_s symmetric forms synthesized from corresponding aminotriols in combination with MAO polymerized 1‐hexene in a controlled manner. When the polymerization temperature was lowered, they gave high molecular weight monodisperse polyhexene with narrow polydispersities indicating quazi‐living systems. The isotactic polyhexene obtained from C₃ titanium catalyst has the molecular weight of around 46,500 with PDI of 1.3 and the hemi‐isotactic polymer from C_s titanium catalyst has the molecular weight of around 617,000 with PDI of 1.3. The analogues zirconium complexes upon activation with MAO polymerize hexene to give polyhexene having molecular weight of 53,000 (C₃) and 626,000 (pseudo‐C_s) with PDI ranging from 1.2 to 1.4. The MIX‐titanium catalyst prepared from the 50:50 mixture of aminotriols was also able to polymerize 1‐hexene and the GPC traces of the polyhexene suggests that even though the catalyst was formed from the mixture of aminotriols, the C₃ and C_s symmetry of the catalysts retain its originality avoiding the formation of aggregates or polymeric forms. When one of the arms of aminotriol was methylated yield C₂ and meso aminodiol ligands and their corresponding titanium and zirconium complexes gave higher molecular weight polyhexenes with lower PDI (C₂‐Zr‐M_n: 260,000; PDI: 1.05–1.10; mesoZr‐M_n: 220,000; PDI: 1.05–1.10) possibly suggesting that these systems are close to living systems. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 5470–5479, 2007     

Steering Scholl Oxidative Heterocoupling by Tuning Topology and Electronics for Building Thiananographenes and Their Functional N−/C−Congeners

While intramolecular Scholl oxidative coupling between two arenes is common, successful C−C heterocoupling between thiophene and arene is scarce. The latter is due to the notorious reactivity of thiophene towards polymerization under oxidative conditions. This report systematically demonstrates how topological variation of electronics and reactivity in thiophene substrates can lead to efficient oxidative heterocoupling. Bis(biaryl)thiophenes having reactive α- and β-positions open are the choice of substrates. The cyclizing arene partners are so electronically tuned for thiophene's reactivity (at α- and β-) as to establish C−C bond oxidatively generating symmetrical as well as unsymmetrical diphenanthrothiophenes which are basic thiananographenes. Depending on the cyclizing-couple's electronics, either arene- or thiophene-centered oxidation initiates C−C heterocoupling. The potential utility of these simple thiananographenes is further unfurled by converting them to functional N−/C-graphene segments that are aza-corannulene precursor and tetrabenzospirobifluorene. Their bright emission and extended electrochemical stability are remarkable that may be potentially important and applicable.     

Ultrasonic investigation of interpenetrating networks of poly(methyl methacrylate) and polyurethane

Interpenetrating networks are the most recent development in polymeric blend materials. Due to the crosslinking of both the continuous and dispersed phases, a high degree of molecular mixing is achieved in these materials. Notwith-standing that poly(methyl methacrylate)-polyurethane (PMMA-PUR) interpene-trating and semi-interpenetrating networks have been extensively investigated by Meyer et al., ultrasonic relaxation technique has been applied here for the first time. These materials were found to be highly ultrasound absorbing.It is observed that ultrasonic absorption has a peak at a particular composition of PMMA-PUR interpenetrating network. The absorption coefficient increases with frequencyf. The absorption is of relaxational nature and is not due to the scattering of ultrasonic waves by the domains of the dispersed phase. At every composition of the interpenetrating network, the/f ² vs.f curve indicates the presence of a relaxation frequency below 2 MHz and that the absorption increases with the temperature at some compositions which indicates the presence of thermal relaxation. An attempt is made to relate the absorption with the relaxation of pendent groups of polyurethane in the continuous phase.     

Web‐spline‐based finite element approximation of some quasi‐newtonian flows: Existence‐uniqueness and error bound

This article deals with the web‐spline‐based finite element approximation of quasi‐Newtonian flows. First, we consider the scalar elliptic p‐Laplace problem. Then, we consider quasi‐Newtonian flows where viscosity obeys power law or Carreau law. We prove well‐posedness at the continuous as well as the discrete level. We give some error bounds for the solution of quasi‐Newtonian flow problem based on the web‐spline method. Finally, we provide the numerical results for the p‐Laplace problem. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq31: 54–77, 2015     

Identification of destabilized metal hydrides for hydrogen storage using first principles calculations

Hydrides of period 2 and 3 elements are promising candidates for hydrogen storage but typically have heats of reaction that are too high to be of use for fuel cell vehicles. Recent experimental work has focused on destabilizing metal hydrides through alloying with other elements. A very large number of possible destabilized metal hydride reaction schemes exist. The thermodynamic data required to assess the enthalpies of these reactions, however, are not available in many cases. We have used first principles density functional theory calculations to predict the reaction enthalpies for more than 100 destabilization reactions that have not previously been reported. Many of these reactions are predicted not be useful for reversible hydrogen storage, having calculated reaction enthalpies that are either too high or too low. More importantly, our calculations identify five promising reaction schemes that merit experimental study: 3LiNH(2) + 2LiH + Si --> Li(5)N(3)Si + 4H(2), 4LiBH(4) + MgH(2) --> 4LiH + MgB(4) + 7H(2), 7LiBH(4) + MgH(2) --> 7LiH + MgB(7) + 11.5H(2), CaH(2) + 6LiBH(4) --> CaB(6) + 6LiH + 10H(2), and LiNH(2) + MgH(2) --> LiMgN + 2H(2).     

Effect of Atomic‐Scale Differences on the Self‐Assembly of Thiophene‐based Polycatenars in Liquid Crystalline and Organogel States

Two series of polycatenars are reported that contain a central thiophene moiety connected to two substituted oxadiazole or thiadiazole units. The number, position, and length of the peripheral chains connected to these molecules were varied. The oxadiazole‐based polycatenars exhibited columnar phases with rectangular and hexagonal or oblique symmetry, whereas the thiadiazole‐based polycatenars exhibited columnar phases with rectangular and/or hexagonal symmetry. All of the compounds exhibited bright emission in the solution and thin‐film states. Two oxadiazole‐based molecules and one thiadiazole‐based molecule exhibited supergelation ability in hydrocarbon solvents, which is mainly supported by attractive π–π interactions. These gels showed aggregation‐induced enhanced emission, which is of high technological importance for applications in solid‐state emissive displays. X‐ray diffraction studies of the xerogel fibers of oxadiazole‐based polycatenars revealed a columnar rectangular organization, whereas a hexagonal columnar arrangement was observed for thiadiazole‐based polycatenars. Rheological measurements carried out on the samples quantitatively confirmed the formation of gels and showed that these gels are mechanically robust. The impact of an atomic‐scale difference (oxygen to sulfur, <2 % of the molecular weight) on the self‐assembly and the macroscopic properties of those self‐assembled structures are clearly visualized.     

Phosphorescence quenching by conjugated polymers

Energy transfer between phosphors and conjugated polymers was investigated using a fluorene trimer (F3) as a model conjugated material. The phosphors studied were bis-cyclometalated iridium complexes (FP, PPY, BT, PQ, and BTP), with triplet energies of 2.6, 2.4, 2.2, 2.1, and 2.0 eV, respectively (based on phosphorescence spectra). Stern-Volmer analysis of luminescent quenching shows that energy transfer from either FP or PPY to F3 is an exothermic process with Stern-Volmer quenching constants (kqSV) of near 109 M-1 s-1 while energy transfer from BT, PQ, and BTP is endothermic (kqSV = 107-106 M-1 s-1). On the the basis of above results, the triplet energy of F3 is estimated to be less than 2.3 eV (530 nm). This study suggests that conjugated polymers, which typically have lower T1 energies than F3, should also quench phosphorescent emission in thin films and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) incorporating these and related phosphorescent dopants.     

Synthesis and Antibacterial Activity of Some 3,5‐Diphenyl and 1,3,5‐Triphenyl‐2‐pyrazolines

Some new 3,5‐diphenyl and 1,3,5‐triphenyl‐2‐pyrazolines derivatives were synthesized by reacting 1,3‐diphenyl‐2‐propen‐1‐ones with hydrazine hydrates and phenyl hydrazine in ethanol. The structural elucidation of the compounds was performed by IR, ¹H NMR and elemental analysis. All examined compounds showed appreciable antibacterial activity.     

Volumetric and acoustic studies of aqueous l-arginine·HCl and l-proline in electrolytic and non-electrolytic solutions at various temperatures

Densities and speed of sound of l-arginine hydrochloride and l-proline within the concentration range (0.03–0.2) mol.kg^?1 in water and in aqueous NaCl and Urea are determined between temperatures 288.15 K and 318.15 K and at one atmospheric pressure. Densities and speeds of sound have been used to calculate apparent molar volume of solute ($V_{\phi }$), isentropic compressibility of solution (${\kappa }_S$), apparent molar isentropic compressibility ($K_{S,\phi }$) of solute, limiting apparent molar volume ($V_{\phi }^0$), limiting apparent molar volume of transfer (${\Delta }_{tr}{V}_{\phi }^0$), limiting apparent molar expansibility ($E_{\phi }^0$), limiting apparent molar isentropic compressibility ($K_{S,\phi }^0$) and limiting apparent molar isentropic compressibility of transfer (${\Delta }_{tr}{K}_{S,\phi }^0$). These results are then interpreted in terms of intermolecular interactions. The concentration dependencies of the calculated quantities, their limiting values and temperature characteristics are discussed in terms of solute - solvent and solute - solute interactions at experimental conditions.