Acid–Base Pairs in Lewis Acidic Zeolites Promote Direct Aldol Reactions by Soft Enolization

Hf‐, Sn‐, and Zr‐Beta zeolites catalyze the cross‐aldol condensation of aromatic aldehydes with acetone under mild reaction conditions with near quantitative yields. NMR studies with isotopically labeled molecules confirm that acid‐base pairs in the Si‐O‐M framework ensemble promote soft enolization through α‐proton abstraction. The Lewis acidic zeolites maintain activity in the presence of water and, unlike traditional base catalysts, in acidic solutions.     

Influence of the Position of the Connecting Spacer of the Chromophore on the Nonlinear Optical Response

A new chromophore, C1 , based on a similar DπA‐structure as in the FTC ‐chromophore but with a hydroxyalkyl spacer perpendicular to the direction of the dipole moment was synthesized. Both chromophores and the CLD ‐chromophore were used to prepare high T_g nonlinear optical vinyl polymers. The influence of the position of the spacer on the DπA‐system on the NLO response of the resulting polymers was investigated.

     

CH(A2Delta) Formation in hydrocarbon combustion: the temperature dependence of the rate constant of the reaction C2H + O2--> CH(A2Delta) + CO2

The temperature dependence of the rate constant of the chemiluminescence reaction C2H + O2 --> CH(A) + CO2, k1e, has been experimentally determined over the temperature range 316-837 K using pulsed laser photolysis techniques. The rate constant was found to have a pronounced positive temperature dependence given by k1e(T) = AT(4.4) exp(1150 +/- 150/T), where A = 1 x 10(-27) cm(3) s(-1). The preexponential factor for k1e, A, which is known only to within an order of magnitude, is based on a revised expression for the rate constant for the C2H + O(3P) --> CH(A) + CO reaction, k2b, of (1.0 +/- 0.5) x 10(-11) exp(-230 K/T) cm3 s(-1) [Devriendt, K.; Van Look, H.; Ceursters, B.; Peeters, J. Chem. Phys. Lett. 1996, 261, 450] and a k2b/k1e determination of this work of 1200 +/- 500 at 295 K. Using the temperature dependence of the rate constant k1e(T)/k1e(300 K), which is much more accurately and precisely determined than is A, we predict an increase in k(1e) of a factor 60 +/- 16 between 300 and 1500 K. The ratio of rate constants k2b/k1e is predicted to change from 1200 +/- 500 at 295 K to 40 +/- 25 at 1500 K. These results suggest that the reaction C2H + O2 --> CH(A) + CO2 contributes significantly to CH(A-->X) chemiluminescence in hot flames and especially under fuel-lean conditions where it probably dominates the reaction C2H + O(3P) --> CH(A) + CO.     

Liquid phase separation of polyaromatics on [Cu2(BDC)2(dabco)

The porous coordination polymer (PCP) [Cu(2)(BDC)(2)(dabco)] is capable of selectively adsorbing up to 25 wt % of either 1-methylnaphthalene or 2-methylnaphthalene. Uptakes of unsubstituted naphthalene and 1,4-dimethylnaphthalene are significantly lower (7-13 wt %), suggesting that monomethyl substituted polyaromatics can be separated from the other fractions. Furthermore, this PCP can perform the difficult separation of 1-methylnaphthalene from 2-methylnaphthalene with separation factors as high as 2.6, proving that specific interactions of the methyl group with the lattice play an important role in determining the adsorption selectivity.     

Incorporation of amphiphilic ruthenium(II) ammine complexes into Langmuir-Blodgett thin films with switchable quadratic nonlinear optical behavior

Nine nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophores with pyridinium electron acceptors have been synthesized by complexing new proligands with {Ru(II)(NH(3))(5)}(2+) electron-donor centers. The presence of long alkyl/fluoroalkyl chain substituents imparts amphiphilic properties, and these cationic complexes have been characterized as their PF(6)(-) salts by using various techniques including electronic absorption spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Each complex shows three reversible/quasireversible redox processes; a Ru(III/II) oxidation and two ligand-based reductions. The energies of the intense visible d → π* metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) absorptions correlate to some extent with the ligand reduction potentials. (1)H NMR spectroscopy also provides insights into the relative electron-withdrawing strengths of the new ligands. Single crystal X-ray structures have been determined for two of the proligand salts and one complex salt, [Ru(II)(NH(3))(5)(4-C(16)H(33)PhQ(+))]Cl(3)·3.25H(2)O (PhQ(+) = N-phenyl-4,4'-bipyridinium), showing centrosymmetric packing structures in each case. The PF(6)(-) analogue of the latter complex has been used to deposit reproducibly high-quality, multilayered Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) thin films. These films show a strong second harmonic generation (SHG) response from a 1064 nm laser; their MLCT absorbance increases linearly with the number of layers (N) and I(2ω)/I(ω)(2) (I(2ω) = intensity at 532 nm; I(ω) = intensity at 1064 nm) scales quadratically with N, consistent with homogeneous deposition. LB films on indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass show electrochemically induced switching of the SHG response, with a decrease in activity of about 50% on Ru(II) → Ru(III) oxidation. This effect is reversible, but reproducible over only a few cycles before the signal from the Ru(II) species diminishes. This work extrapolates our original solution studies (Coe, B. J. et al. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed.1999, 38, 366) to the first demonstration of redox-switching of NLO activity in a molecular material.     

Determination of geometrical factors in Layerwise Laser Melting using optical process monitoring

Layerwise Laser Melting (LLM) is a layerwise production technique enabling the production of complex metallic parts. In the process a thin layer of powder is first deposited on a base plate. With the energy of a scanning laser beam this layer is melted at selected places, according to a predefined scanning pattern. After scanning, a new layer of powder is deposited on top of the previous layer and selectively melted. This sequence of depositing and scanning is repeated until the complete part is built. The local geometry surrounding the melt pool has a large influence on the processing behavior. For process control issues, this influence must be known and quantified, in order to determine a priori optimal processing conditions and to interpret measured melt pool radiation. In order to study the melt pool behavior, optical process monitoring of LLM has been applied using a high speed near-infrared CMOS camera and a large area silicon photodiode sensor. Data processing rates up to 10 kHz and real-time process monitoring are achieved using image and signal processing on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Several case studies will be presented showing that the geometric influencing factors can be studied and quantified by analyzing the melt pool sensor output.