Oxidation of propane to acrylic acid and acetic acid over alkaline earth-doped Mo-V-Sb-Ox catalysts

Alkaline earth metal (Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba)-doped Mo-V-Sb-Ox catalysts, prepared by a dry-up method, have been investigated for their catalytic performance in the oxidation of propane under different reaction conditions. The catalysts have been characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption, temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) of NH3, SEM and XRD. Influence of water vapor on the catalytic performance, particularly on the selectivities to acetic acid and acrylic acid, has also been studied. The selectivity to acrylic acid was improved significantly by the doping of alkaline earth metals to Mo-V-Sb-Ox catalysts. The surface acidic sites of the catalyst decreased with the doping of the catalyst with alkaline earth metals, which ultimately was found to be beneficial for obtaining high selectivity to acrylic acid. The catalytic activity and product selectivities were found to be influenced by the reaction temperature, C3H8/O2 ratio and space velocity. A significant improvement in the selectivity to acrylic acid has also been observed by the addition of water vapor in the feed of propane and oxygen in the oxidation of propane.     

A novel system for the synthesis of nitriles from carboxylic acids

A simple, mild and high yielding method for the conversion of various carboxylic acids to nitriles has been developed using diphosphorus tetraiodide in combination with ammonium carbonate at room temperature.     

Electronic and thermal properties of B2-type AlRE intermetallic compounds: A first principles study

The ground state electronic structure and thermal properties of B₂-type intermetallic compounds AlRE (RE: Pm, Sm, Eu, Tb, Gd and Dy) have been studied using a self-consistent tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital (TB-LMTO) method at ambient as well as at high pressure. These compounds show metallic behavior under ambient condition. The band structure, total energy, density of states and ground state properties like lattice parameter, bulk modulus are calculated in the present work. The Debye-Grüneisen model is used to calculate the Debye temperature and the Grüneisen constant. The calculated results are in good agreement with the reported experimental and other theoretical results. The variation in the Debye temperature with pressure has also been reported. We present a detailed analysis of the role of f electrons of RE in the AlRE system.     

Copper(II)-catalyzed exo and enantioselective cycloadditions of azomethine imines

A strategy for exo and enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine imines to 2-acryloyl-3-pyrazolidinone is described. The corresponding cycloadducts are isolated with high diastereoselectivities (up to >96:4 exo/endo) and enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee).     

On two alternative mechanisms of ethane activation over ZSM-5 zeolite modified by Zn2+ and Ga1+ cations

The activation of ethane over zinc- and gallium-modified HZSM-5 dehydrogenation catalysts was studied by diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy. Hydrocarbon activation on HZSM-5 modified by bivalent Zn and univalent Ga cations proceeds via two distinctly different mechanisms. The stronger molecular adsorption of ethane by the acid-base pairs formed by distantly separated cationic Zn2+ and basic oxygen sites results already at room temperature in strong polarizability of adsorbed ethane and subsequent heterolytic dissociative adsorption at moderate temperatures. In contrast, molecular adsorption of ethane on Ga+ cations is weak. At high temperatures dissociative hydrocarbon adsorption takes place, resulting in the formation of ethyl and hydride fragments coordinating to the cationic gallium species. Whereas in the zinc case a Br?nsted acid proton is formed upon ethane dissociation, decomposition of the ethyl fragment on gallium results in gallium dihydride species and does not lead to Br?nsted acid protons. This difference in alkane activation has direct consequences for hydrocarbon conversions involving dehydrogenation.     

AgNO3 Catalyzed Regio‐Selective Synthesis of 3‐Alkyl/Aryl‐idene‐3,4‐dihydro‐4‐tosyl‐2H‐1,4‐Benzoxazine: Novel Anti‐Tubercular Scaffolds

A facile and efficient method for the construction of 3‐alkyl/aryl substituted 1,4‐benzoxazine and benzoxazepine via AgNO₃ catalyzed cyclization of propargyloxy sulfonamides and their anti‐tubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H₃₇R_V is described. This cyclization proceeds through 6‐exo‐dig manner to generate the products in moderate to good yields.     

Branched polymers from a double-scaling limit of matrix models

Multicritical potentials and correlation functions are given for models of rectangular M × N matrices, in the limit that N goes to infinity. These models are soluble without using orthogonal polynomials, and describe filamentary random surfaces, or, equivalently, a phase of branched polymers. It is shown that the equations describing multicritical behaviour are obtained from the hierarchy of flows that preserve Burgers' equation. Instanton solutions are studied - they imply that only the k = 2 model is unitary, and that the coefficients (for arbitrary k) of g_st^l is the perturbative expansion of the specific heat grow as l!.     

Analogues of Euler and Poisson summation formulae

Euler-Maclaurin and Poisson analogues of the summations ε _{a <n ≤b} χ(n)f(n), have been obtained in a unified manner, where (χ(n)) is a periodic complex sequence;d(n) is the divisor function andf(x) is a sufficiently smooth function on [a, b]. We also state a generalised Abel’s summation formula, generalised Euler’s summation formula and Euler’s summation formula in several variables.     

A Note on Asymptotic Expansions to Approximate Eigenvalues of Integral Operators with Green's Kernels using the Iterated Galerkin Method

In this article, we consider approximation of eigenvalues of integral operators with Green's function-type kernels using the iterated Galerkin method. We obtain asymptotic expansions for approximate eigenvalues. The Richardson extrapolation is used to obtain eigenvalue approximations of higher order. A numerical example is considered in order to illustrate our theoretical results.     

Surface modification of Angora rabbit fibers using dielectric barrier discharge

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) of Helium and Helium + air modify the surface of Angora rabbit fibers. DBD treatment carried out at different power densities, changes the morphology and chemical composition of the surface of Angora fiber. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results reveal that the DBD treatment eliminates fibrosity from the fiber surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) spectrum confirm the increase in oxygen bonding at the surface. These changes reduce shedding of the fibers and improve dye-uptake property. However, even after 10 min of plasma exposure the thermal insulation (heat keeping ratio) of Angora fibers nearly remain unchanged. It has been noticed that DBD treatment (10 min) reduces whiteness of the fiber.