L-shell ionization in Au by O5+-and Ni5+-ion impact

TheL X-ray production cross sections in gold by 60 to 72 MeV O⁵⁺ ions and 58 to 87 MeV Ni⁵⁺-ions have been measured. TheL-subshell ionization cross sections derived from these experimental results have been compared with the direct ionization theories viz. plane wave Born approximation (PWBA) theory and modified perturbed-stationary-state theory with energy loss, Coulomb deflection and relativistic effects (MECPSSR). A new procedure has been described to account for the change in the yield ratioLβ₁/Lβ_{2, 15} with energy, for Ni⁵⁺-ion impact on gold. TheL sub-shell ionization cross sections have been derived fromLβ₁,Lβ₄ andLβ_{2, 15} lines of theLβ group in addition to those calculated by the conventional Datz TRY3 technique usingLα,Lγ₁ andLγ_{2, 3} X-ray lines. From the shift in the energies of variousL X-ray lines and changes in their intensities, 3 and 5 spectator vacancies in theM- andN-shells in gold have been estimated with O⁵⁺-ion impact while 7, 20 and 4 to 6 spectator vacancies have been inferred in theM-,N-andO-shells respectively with Ni⁵⁺-ion impact in the energy range of the projectiles undertaken in the present studies.     

Titrimetric determination of thiols: Tetrathionate, iron(III), cystine and hexacyanoferrate(III) as thiol reagents

Four analytical reagents, tetrathionate, iron(III), cystine and hexacyanoferrate(III) have been tested with respect to their specificity for oxidation of thiols to disulphides. Of a number of thiols studied, most have a strong tendency to oxidize beyond the disulphide stage with several of the commonly employed reagents. Tetrathionate, cystine and hexacyanoferrate(III) function in phosphate buffer of pH 7, but iron(III) does not require rigid control of pH, although the solution should be only feebly acidic. The reagents were used in excess and the thiosulphate or cysteine formed in the reaction of thiols with tetrathionate or cystine respectively was determined. The residual iron(III) was measured by adding ascorbic acid or mercaptoacetic acid and titrating with 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol or iodine monochloride respectively; surplus hexacyanoferrate(III) was back-titrated with ascorbic acid. All four reagents react selectively with thiols even in the presence of several possible interfering substances and afford results that are accurate and precise.     

Anomalous dielectric relaxation of water molecules at the surface of an aqueous micelle

Dielectric relaxation of aqueous solutions of micelles, proteins, and many complex systems shows an anomalous dispersion at frequencies intermediate between those corresponding to the rotational motion of bulk water and that of the organized assembly or macromolecule. The precise origin of this anomalous dispersion is not well-understood. In this work we employ large scale atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the dielectric relaxation (DR) of water molecules in an aqueous micellar solution of cesium pentadecafluorooctanoate. The simulations clearly show the presence of a slow component in the moment-moment time correlation function [PhiMW(t)] of water molecules, with a time constant of about 40 ps, in contrast to only 9 ps for bulk water. Interestingly, the orientational time correlation function [Cmu(t)] of individual water molecules at the surface exhibits a component with a time constant of about 19 ps. We show that these two time constants can be related by the well-known micro-macrorelations of statistical mechanics. In addition, the reorientation of surface water molecules exhibits a very slow component that decays with a time constant of about 500 ps. An analysis of hydrogen bond lifetime and of the rotational relaxation in the coordinate frame fixed on the micellar body seems to suggest that the 500 ps component owes its origin to the existence of an extended hydrogen bond network of water molecules at the surface. However, this ultraslow component is not found in the total moment-moment time correlation function of water molecules in the solution. The slow DR of hydration water is found to be well correlated with the slow solvation dynamics of cesium ions at the water-micelle interface.     

Odoriferous Cyclic Ethers via Co‐Halogenation Reaction: Facile Preparation of Nerol Oxide,Florol®, Florol® Methyl Ether,and Pityol® Methyl Ether

A series of odoriferous cyclic ethers, including nerol oxide ( 1 ), Florol^® ( 2 ), Florol methyl ether ( 3 ), and Pityol^® methyl ether ( 4b ), were prepared by a versatile synthetic protocol based on co‐halogenation with 1,3‐dibromo‐5,5‐dimethylhydantoin (= 1,3‐dibromo‐5,5‐dimethylimidazolidine‐2,4‐dione; DDH) as the key step. The methodology provides a facile access to important perfumery molecules from abundantly available monoterpene alcohols.     

Ultrafast surface solvation dynamics and functionality of an enzyme alpha-chymotrypsin upon interfacial binding to a cationic micelle

In this contribution we report studies on enzymatic activity of alpha-chymotrypsin (CHT) upon complexation with cationic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) micelle. With picosecond time resolution, we examined solvation dynamics at the interface of CHT-micelle complex, and rigidity of the binding. We have used 5-(dimethyl amino) naphthalene-1-sulfonyl chloride (dansyl chloride; DC) that is covalently attached to the enzyme at the surface sites. The solvation processes at the surface of CHT in buffer solution are found to be mostly in the sub-50 ps time scale. However, at the interface the solvation correlation function decays with time constant 150 ps (65%) and 500 ps (35%), which is significantly different from those found at the enzyme and micellar surfaces. The binding structure of the enzyme-micelle complex was examined by local orientational motion of the probe DC and compared with the case without micelle. The orientational dynamics of the probe DC in the complex reveals a structural perturbation at the surface sites of CHT upon complexation, consistent with other reported structural studies. We also found possible entanglement of charge transfer dynamics of the probe DC on the measured solvation processes by using time-resolved area normalized emission spectroscopic technique. The interfacial solvation process and complex rigidity elucidate the strong recognition mechanism between CHT and the micelle, which is important to understand the biological function of CHT upon complexation with the micelle.     

Metal complexes of pyrimidine derived ligands – Syntheses,characterization and X-ray crystal structures of Ni(II), Co(III) and Fe(III) complexes of Schiff base ligands derived from S-methyl/S-benzyl dithiocarbazate and 2-S-methylmercapto-6-methylpyrimidine-4-carbaldehyde

Two new pyrimidine based NNS tridentate Schiff base ligands S-methyl-3-((2-S-methyl-6-methyl-4-pyrimidyl)methyl)dithiocarbazate [HL₁] and S-benzyl-3-((2-S-methyl-6-methyl-4-pyrimidyl)methyl)dithiocarbazate [HL₂] have been synthesised by the 1:1 condensation of 2-S-methylmercapto-6-methylpyrimidine-4-carbaldehyde and S-methyl/S-benzyl dithiocarbazate. A Ni(II) complex of HL₁ and Co(III) and Fe(III) complexes of HL₂ have been prepared and characterized by elemental analyses, molar conductivities, magnetic susceptibilities and spectroscopic studies. All the bis-chelate complexes have a distorted octahedral arrangement with an N₄S₂ chromophore around the central metal ion. Each ligand molecule binds the metal ion using the pyrimidyl and azomethine nitrogen and thiolato sulfur atoms (except in the nickel complex, one ligand molecule uses the thione sulfur in lieu of thiolato sulfur atom). In the Ni(II) complex, one of the ligand molecules behaves as a neutral tridentate and the other molecule functions as a uninegative tridentate, whereas in the Co(III) and Fe(III) complexes, the ligand molecules behave as monoanionic tridentate. All the complexes were analyzed by single crystal X-ray diffraction and significant differences concerning the distortion from an octahedral geometry of the coordination environment were observed.     

Titrimetric microdetermination of silver, lead and cadmium with thioglycollic acid and of mercury(II) with 2-mercaptopropanoic acid

A simple and rapid titrimetric method is described for the microdetermination of Ag(+), Cd(2+) and Pb(2+), based on their formation of mercaptides with a measured excess of 2-mercaptopropanoic acid, and similar determination of Hg(2+) with thioglycollic acid. Univalent and bivalent metal ions release one and two thiol protons respectively, which along with the carboxyl protons of the thiol reagent are titrated with standard alkali. The difference from the blank titration gives the increase in acidity which is a function of the metal-ion concentration. The proposed procedure is applicable to samples containing 0.025-0.25 mmole of these ions, the average deviation being in the range 0.2-0.5%.     

Preparation of cesium trimolybdate by the thermal decomposition of a new oxomolybdenum(VI) oxalato complex

A new molybdenum(VI) complex Cs₂(NH₄)2[Mo₃O₈(C₂O₄)₃] (CAMO) has been prepared and characterized by chemical analysis and IR spectral studies. Thermal decomposition studies have been made using TG, DTA and DTG techniques. The compound is anhydrous and stable up to 160°C. Thereafter it decomposes in three stages. The first and the second stages occur in the temperature ranges 160–220°C and 220–280°C to give the intermediate compounds having the tentative compositions Cs₄(NH₄)₂[Mo₆O₁₆(C₂O₄)₃(CO₃)₂] and Cs₄[Mo₆O₁₆(C₂O₄)₂(CO₃)₂] respectively, the later then decomposing to give the end product Cs₂Mo₃O₁₀ at 370°C. The end product was characterized by chemical analysis, IR spectral and X-ray studies.