Effect of Solvent Characteristics on the Photophysics of Hydroxyl Aromatic Compounds

The effect of solvent characteristics on the absorption and emission properties of 1- and 2-naphthols have been studied and the results interpreted in terms of the general and specific solute-solvent interactions. Measurements were performed in several solvents and analysis of the absorption and emission wavelengths were made using Lippert’s model for general solvent effects. A near linear relationship between the Stokes shift (D[`(n)]\Delta\bar{\nu}) and the orientation polarizability (Δf) were observed for both 1- and 2-naphthols in most of the alkanols, thus showing evidence of a general solvent effect. However, in 1,4-dioxane–water mixtures the plots deviate from linearity indicating the dominance of specific solvent effects that are not included in Lippert’s equation. In the case of interactions between the fluorophores and dioxane–water mixtures, excess Stokes’ shifts are observed in the order of dioxane composition 10%>20%>30%>50%>60%>80%. This may be due to excited state proton transfer (ESPT) and the involvement of hydrogen bonding between the protic group of the fluorophore and the solvents.     

Conformation-changing aggregation in hydroxyacetone: a combined low-temperature FTIR, jet, and crystallographic study

Aggregation in hydroxyacetone (HA) is studied using low-temperature FTIR, supersonic jet expansion, and X-ray crystallographic (in situ cryocrystallization) techniques. Along with quantum chemical methods (MP2 and DFT), the experiments unravel the conformational preferences of HA upon aggregation to dimers and oligomers. The O-H···O═C intramolecular hydrogen bond present in the gas-phase monomer partially opens upon aggregation in supersonic expansions, giving rise to intermolecular cooperatively enhanced O-H···O-H hydrogen bonds in competition with isolated O-H···O═C hydrogen bonds. On the other hand, low-temperature IR studies on the neat solid and X-ray crystallographic data reveal that HA undergoes profound conformational changes upon crystallization, with the HOCC dihedral angle changing from ~0° in the gas phase to ~180° in the crystalline phase, hence giving rise to a completely new conformation. These conclusions are supported by theoretical calculations performed on the geometry derived from the crystalline phase.     

Catalytic Oxidation of Alcohols and Amines to Value‐Added Chemicals using Water as the Solvent

Designing reactions in aqueous media has been one of the major challenges in modern organic synthesis, especially to avoid the use of large amounts of organic solvents whose disposal is a matter of grave concern from an environmental perspective. The oxidation of alcohols and amines is an essential and important step in the synthesis of many valuable products including polymers and pharmaceuticals. In recent times, there has been a surge in the use of water as a solvent in many organic reactions. This review focuses specifically on the oxidation reactions of alcohols and amines carried out in water media using transition metal catalysts, metal‐free catalysts and photocatalysts.     

Polarity-Induced Excited-State Intramolecular Proton Transfer (ESIPT) in a Pair of Supramolecular Isomeric Multifunctional Dynamic Metal–Organic Frameworks

A pair of supramolecular isomers of Cd^II-based MOF have been synthesized by utilizing a flexible N,N′-donor linker and a dicarboxylate with ESIPT (excited-state intramolecular proton transfer) fluorophore by varying the reaction media. One of the MOFs has a 3D four-fold interpenetrating framework with guest solvent in the structure that undergoes a solvent-dependent crystalline-to-crystalline structural transformation, which has been extensively studied by powder XRD and IR spectroscopy. The other MOF is structurally rigid in nature and has a two-fold interpenetrating structure without any guest molecules. Both the compounds show moderate CO₂ adsorption and one of them, the MOF with the four-fold interpenetrating structure, also shows moderately high H₂ adsorption. Furthermore, both the compounds show interesting luminescence behavior. In the solid state, the two compounds show single-peak spectra, whereas upon suspension of these compounds in polar solvents, the maxima split into two peaks with a large Stokes shift. On the other hand, in nonpolar solvents, only one emission maximum is observed. This solvatochromic dual-emission phenomenon is due to ESIPT, which has been extensively studied.     

General acid catalysis in benzoic acid–Crystal Violet carbinol base reactions in toluene

Kinetics of benzoic acid–dye carbinol base reactions in an apolar aprotic solvent exhibit a complex dependence on the concentration of the acid, indicating the occurrence of general acid catalysis, the acid playing the dual role of the substrate and the catalyst. The complex kinetic behavior observed for 23 ortho‐ and meta‐substituted benzoic acids has been traced to overlapping participations of the monomer acid, hyperacidic open chain homoconjugated complex (dimeric and trimeric) acids, and nonreactive cyclic dimer and trimer acids. It has been found that although the degree of proton transfer in the transition state is 50–60% when the acid acts exclusively in the monomeric form, it gets enhanced to as high as more than 90% when the role of homoconjugated complex acids is taken into consideration. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 44: 570–576, 2012     

Surface characterisation of ethylene-propylene-diene rubber upon exposure to aqueous acidic solution

Two types of pure ethylene propylene diene rubbers were exposed to two different acids for varying period of time. Surface characterisation was carried out using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Two EPDM rubbers selected for this study were comparable in co-monomer compositions but significantly different with respect to molar mass and the presence of long chain branching. Both rubbers contained 5-ethylidene-2-norbornene (ENB) as diene. Solution cast films of pure EPDM samples were exposed in two different acidic solutions, viz. chromosulphuric (Cr (VI)/H₂SO₄) and sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) (20%, v/v) at ambient temperature from 1 to 12 weeks. XPS analysis indicated that several oxygenated species were formed on the surface of both rubbers after exposure. It was postulated from the XPS analyses that both aqueous acidic solutions attacked the olefinic double bonds (CC) of ENB. Furthermore, 20% Cr (VI)/H₂SO₄ also attacked the allylic carbon-hydrogen (CH) bonds of ENB resulting in more oxygenated species on the surface compared to 20% H₂SO₄ under identical conditions. Cr (VI) in the 20% Cr (VI)/H₂SO₄ was found to play an important role in alteration of surface chemistry. Studies using a model system consisting of EPDM mixed with Cr (VI) and Cr (III) salts revealed that the change of oxidation state from Cr (VI) to Cr (III) as a consequence of direct involvement of Cr (VI) in the chemical alteration of EPDM surfaces. Interestingly, the presence of long chain branching and molar mass did not significantly influence the chemical processes owing to the acid treatment.     

Structures and absolute stereochemistry of (-)-echitoveniline, (-)-11-methoxyechitoveniline and (-)-11-methoxyechitovenedine—new indole alkaloids of

Structures and absolute stereochemistry of (-)-echitoveniline, (-)-11-methoxyechitoveniline and (-)-11-methoxyechitovenedine, three new indole alkaloids of the vincadifformine type, isolated from the fruits and leaves of Alstonia venenata R.Br., have been established as 3b, 3c and 3d, respectively, on the basis of spectral and chemical evidence. A plausible mechanism of the LAH reduction of the δ-lactones8b and8c to the corresponding diols 9b and 9c has been discussed.     

Strong reduction of optimum pump power for efficient wave conversion in optical fibers with dual-frequency circularly polarized pump waves

We present experiments that show achievement of highly efficient generation of parametric sidebands in an optical fiber with dual-frequency, circularly polarized pump waves. An appropriate choice of the separation between the pump frequencies permits a strong reduction of the optimum power for highly efficient frequency conversion.     

Analytical method for designing dispersion-managed fiber systems

Using the equations of motion of pulse width and chirp, we present an analytical method for designing dispersion-managed (DM) fiber systems without optical losses. We show that the initial Gaussian pulse considered for the analytical design of periodically amplified DM fiber systems with losses will propagate as a proximity fixed point. Then averaging the DM soliton fields obtained from the slow dynamics of the proximity fixed point will yield the exact fixed point.