Laboratory and Industrial Applications of Microwave Techniques

The use of microwave techniques in scientific research is reviewed. Also some semicommercial-scale microwave units are examined.     

High-Sensitivity Determination of Hydrocarbon Impurities in Arsine by Reaction Gas Chromatography

It is shown that the results of determining methane in high-purity arsine by reaction gas chromatography can be overestimated by more than two orders of magnitude. This overestimation is caused by the formation of methane as a side product of the reaction. Cryogenic preconcentration at the injection stage is proposed to improve the accuracy of determination of methane, and the cryofocusing of impurity hydrocarbons is proposed to improve separation. Detection limits of (3–10) × 10^–6 vol % are achieved for C₁–C₅ hydrocarbons.     

Mechanism of Deuterium Distribution in Ethanols

Deuterium distribution in ethanols produced by sulfuric acid hydration of ethylene was studied by quantitative NMR spectroscopy.     

Stabilization of Graphite Nitrate by Intercalation of Organic Compounds

New thermally stable intercalation compounds of graphite were obtained by the further intercalation of a series of organic compounds into graphite nitrate. The stabilization is explained by the formation of hydrogen bonds between the protonated form of the modifying substance and neutral surrounding molecules.     

Effect of Mechanochemical Activation on the Catalytic Properties of Ferrites with the Spinel Structure

It was found experimentally that stacking defects formed in the mechanochemical activation of zinc ferrite enhanced the specific catalytic activity in the reaction of CO oxidation. The specific rate of CO oxidation was a linear function of defect concentration, which was determined using Mössbauer spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. A conclusion was drawn that the same centers are responsible for an increase in the catalytic activity, the sorption capacity for hydrogen sulfide, and the reactivity of zinc ferrite in the interaction with hydrochloric acid. It was assumed that analogous factors caused an increase in the catalytic activity and reactivity of magnesium ferrite.     

Diffusion Modification of Polymethyl Methacrylate with Oligoglycol Acrylates

The structural transformations of oligoglycol acrylates in the surface layers of polymethyl methacrylate were studied.     

Composition and Physicochemical Properties of Schungite Sorbent as Influenced by Thermal Treatment

The chemical composition, specific surface area, and pore structure of a schungite sorbent were studied as influenced by the conditions of thermal treatment.     

Synthesis of Aryl Ethers by Nonactivated Aromatic Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions

The results of a kinetic study of model reactions between substituted phenols and bromobenzene in the presence of potassium carbonate and the copper(I) chloride–8-hydroxyquinoline catalytic complex in N,N-dimethylformamide are presented. The reactions were found to obey a first-order rate law. Both orbital and charge interactions should be taken into account in a consideration of the effect of the structural characteristics of reactants on the rate of reaction. The kinetics of substitution of the phenoxide anion for an aromatically bound halogen atom in activated and nonactivated systems with the formation of practically valuable aryl ethers were comparatively studied. The results presented provide an opportunity to distinguish the common features and regularities of activated and nonactivated aromatic substitution in the test systems.     

Vibrational spectra and structure of 4-cyano-4′-pentalkoxybiphenyl in different physical states

The polymorphism, conformation mobility and structure of 4-cyano-4′-pentalkoxybiphenyl (5OCB) in different physical states are studied by IR spectroscopy. The spectra were measured in the frequency range 400–4000 cm⁻¹ at temperatures from 300 to 350 K. The IR spectra of 5OCB are modeled using the concept of conformational mobility of these molecules. An analysis of the experimental and theoretical spectra reveals absorption bands whose spectroscopic parameters are sensitive to variations of temperature (experiment) and conformation (theory); a relationship between these changes is established. It is concluded that the polymorphism of 5OCB is of conformation type. In the solid crystalline state, 5OCB molecules have conformations with a planar biphenyl fragment; the angle of orientation of the plane of the carbon framework of the alkyl radical relative to the biphenyl fragment decreases as the temperature increases from 35° in the solid crystalline state to 10° in the liquid crystalline and isotropic liquid states. In both of these states the biphenyl fragment becomes nonplanar. The angle between the phenyl rings is up to 30°. Saratov State University. Institute of Physics, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Samarkand State University. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 55–60, January–February, 1998. This work was supported by RFFR grant No. 97-03-32175a.