Improvement of thermochromic property at low temperatures of CuMo0.94W0.06O4 by Zn substitution

Zinc-doped copper molybdenum oxide, Zn-doped CuMo_0.94W_0.06O₄, was synthesized, and the effects of the Zn doping on the thermochromic property of CuMo_0.94W_0.06O₄ were investigated at low temperatures. X-ray diffractometry and diffuse reflectance UV–Vis spectroscopy clarified that Zn doping for CuMo_0.94W_0.06O₄ promoted the structural phase transition of the γ-phase to the α-phase of CuMo_0.94W_0.06O₄ at low temperatures and Zn-doped CuMo_0.94W_0.06O₄ exhibited a drastic color change in the temperature range of 30–70 °C. Differential scanning calorimetry also confirmed that Zn doping changed the phase transition temperature of CuMo_0.94W_0.06O₄. Consequently, Cu_1?xZn_xMo_0.94W_0.06O₄ with x?=?0.01 exhibited a larger thermal change in the diffuse reflectance spectrum in the visible light range, compared with CuMo_0.94W_0.06O₄. An appropriate Zn-doping ratio was effective for enhancing the thermochromic property of the CuMo_0.94W_0.06O₄ pigment in the visible region in the temperature range of 30–70 °C.

     

Unexpected deprotection of silyl and THP ethers induced by serious disparity in the quality of Pd/C catalysts and elucidation of the mechanism

Commercial Pd/C catalysts show different catalytic activity toward the deprotection of silyl and THP ethers. The Pd/C purchased from Merck and ACROS exhibits marked tendency to cleave these protective groups unexpectedly without hydrogen conditions although Aldrich's Pd/C (20,569-9) is inactive in the absence of hydrogen. It was proved that the Pd/C disparity toward the deprotection of TES and THP ethers results from residual acids and/or palladium chloride in the production process of Pd/Cs. Although a TES ether cleavage reaction in the absence of hydrogen and a THP ether cleavage reaction in the presence of hydrogen using 10% Pd/C were recently published, we could conclude they were only an acid-catalyzed solvolysis, the acid being released from the catalyst. Hydrogen is essential for the actual 10% Pd/C-catalyzed cleavage of TES ethers and THP ethers which must be stable under the true Pd/C-catalyzed hydrogenation conditions.     

A remark on totally vicious space-time

If a space-time is vicious at a some point, then it is totally vicious.     

Anomalous volumetric behavior of water-hexane and water-decane mixtures in the vicinity of the critical region as studied by infrared spectroscopy

Infrared spectra of binary mixtures of water with hexane and decane were measured at temperatures and pressures in the 473-648 K and 70-350 bar ranges, respectively. Volumetric concentrations of water and the hydrocarbons in the mixtures were obtained from absorption intensities of the fundamental OH stretching band of HDO and combination transitions of the hydrocarbons. Using both the concentrations, densities of the aqueous mixtures were estimated and compared with densities before mixing, which were calculated using literature densities of the neat liquids. It is found that anomalously large volume expansion on mixing occurs in the vicinity of the critical region of the mixtures.     

Structural study of perovskite-type fine particles by synchrotron radiation powder diffraction

The crystal structures of BaTiO₃ and PbTiO₃ fine particles have been investigated by powder diffraction using synchrotron radiation high energy X-rays. It is revealed that a BaTiO₃ fine particle essentially consists of tetragonal and cubic structure components at 300 K, whereas a PbTiO₃ fine particle consists of a tetragonal structure. Adopting a structure model for the BaTiO₃ particle that a cubic shell covers a tetragonal core, the thickness of cubic BaTiO₃ shell is estimated at almost constant irrespective of particle sizes. Successive phase transitions are detected in 100 nm particles of BaTiO₃ near the phase-transition temperatures of a bulk crystal. The changes in diffraction profiles are small, but they are apparent for a most up-to-date powder diffractometry. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Interpolymer complex between poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(carboxylic acid)

An interpolymer complex was prepared by mixing aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and of a poly(carboxylic acid), i.e., poly(acrylic acid)(PAA), poly(methacrylic acid)(PMAA), or styrene-maleic acid copolymer(PSMA). The complexation mechanism was discussed on the basis of results of such experimental methods as viscosity, potentiometric titration, and turbidimetry. The hydrogen bond is primarily involved in these complexations, but the influence of hydrophobic interaction on complexation can not be ignored. If the degree of dissociation α of carboxylic acid or the degree of polymerization P_n of PEO was perceptibly changed, a stable complex was obtained at about α 0.1 or P_n (PEO) = 40 for PMAA, 200 for PAA. This fact indicates that more than a definite number of binding sites are necessary for a stable interpolymer complex to be formed and that cooperative interaction among active sites plays an important role in complex formation.     

Dress-up chiral columns for the enantioseparation of amino acids based on fluorous separation

In this paper, we report a new type of chiral high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) column—a so-called dress-up chiral column—featuring a chiral stationary phase adsorbed reversibly in a commercial fluorous HPLC column through fluorous interactions. We synthesized perfluroalkylated proline derivatives as chiral stationary phase compounds and then adsorbed them reversibly in the fluorous HPLC column through the pumping of their solutions. By using this dress-up chiral column and fluorophobic elution of an aqueous copper(II) sulfate/MeOH mixture, we could enantioseparate seven racemic amino acids within 40 min. When we washed the dress-up chiral column with fluorophilic tetrahydrofuran or MeOH, the adsorbed chiral stationary phase compounds desorbed from the column, completely destroying its enantioseparation ability. The relative standard deviation of the retention times, the number of theoretical plates, and the resolution for each of four preparations of the dress-up columns were all less than or equal to 9.53 % in 20-times repeated analysis, and were all less than or equal to 18.7 % in four different preparations, respectively.     

Enantiodivergent Chemoenzymatic Dynamic Kinetic Resolution: Conversion of Racemic Propargyl Alcohols into Both Enantiomers

Natural lipases typically recognize enantiomers of alcohols based on the size differences of substituents near the carbinol moiety and selectively react with the R enantiomers of secondary alcohols. Therefore, lipase-catalyzed dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of racemic secondary alcohols produces only R enantiomers. We report herein a method for obtaining S enantiomers by DKR of secondary 3-(trialkylsilyl)propargyl alcohols by using a well-known R-selective Pseudomonas fluorescens lipase in combination with a racemization catalyst VMPS4, in which the silyl group reverses the size relationship of substituents near the carbinol moiety. We have already reported R-selective DKR of the corresponding propargyl alcohols without substituents on the ethynyl terminal carbon, and the presence of an easily removable silyl group has enabled us to produce both enantiomers of propargyl alcohols in high chemical yields and with high enantiomeric excess. In addition, immobilization of the lipase on Celite was found to be important for achieving a high efficiency of the DKR.