Synthesis,molecular and supramolecular structures,electrochemistry and magnetic properties of two macrocyclic dicopper(II) complexes: Microporous supramolecular assembly

Synthesis, molecular and supramolecular structures, electrochemistry and magnetic properties of two diphenoxo-bridged dicopper(II) compounds [Cu^II₂L(H₂O)(ClO₄)]·ClO₄·2H₂O (1) and [Cu^II₂L(N₃)₂]·2H₂O (2) derived from a tetraimino diphenolate macrocyclic ligand H₂L, obtained on [2+2] condensation of 4-methyl-2,6-diformylphenol and 2,2′-dimethyl-1,3-diaminopropane, are presented. Supramolecular structure of both 1 and 2 are three-dimensional resulting from hydrogen bonding interactions. Interestingly, the 3-D self-assembly of 2 contains micropores having the dimension of 0.35 nm. Electrochemical analyses reveal that both of these compounds exhibit two-step couples in the reduction window. Variable-temperature (2–300 K) magnetic susceptibilities measurements of the two compounds reveal that the metal centers in both of the complexes are coupled by strong antiferromagnetic interactions with J values (H = ?JS₁·S₂) ?776 and ?836 cm^?1 for 1 and 2, respectively.     

Theoretical study of14N pure quadrupole resonance in amino acids

The theoretical hybridization model of Vega is adapted to the tetrahedral environment around the nitrogen nucleus in eleven amino acids to estimate the orbital occupation numbers using the experimental values of the quadrupole coupling constant and asymmetry parameter of¹⁴N quadrupole resonance and the results are discussed.     

Role of the transition metal complexes of 2,2′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1′-binaphthyl (BINAP) in asymmetric catalysis

Metal complexes of 2,2′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1′-binaphthyl (BINAP) are being used as a chiral catalysts in many organic reactions. This review highlights recent developments on synthesis of metal BINAPs and its application in various organic synthesis. The studies done on the application of metal BINAPs show a unique reactivity, which enables its use in entirely different sets of chemical transformation.     

A New Spectrophotometric Method for the Determination of Ascorbic Acid Using Leuco Malachite Green

A new simple and sensitive and selective spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of ascorbic acid (AA) at trace level using a new reagent, leuco malachite green (LMG). AAreacts with potassium iodide‐iodate solution under acidic conditions to liberate iodine and the liberated iodine selectively oxidizes LMG to MG dye. The colour of the dye was measured at 620 nm. Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration range of 0.8–8 iμg μAA per 25 mL of final solution (0.032–0.32 ppm). The apparent molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity of the method were found to be 2.98 × 10⁵ l mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹, 0.0042 μg cm⁻², and respectively. Statistical treatment of the experimental results indicates that the method is precise and accurate. The method is free from interference of common ions and many of the ingredients commonly found in pharmaceuticals. The reliability of the method was established by parallel determination against Leucocrystal violet (LCV) method. The method described was satisfactorily applied for the determination of AA in fruit juices, pharmaceuticals and biological samples.     

Comparative evaluation of software for retention time alignment of gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry-based metabonomic data

In chromatography-based metabonomic research, retention time (RT) alignment of chromatographic peaks poses a challenge for the accurate profiling of biomarkers. Although a number of RT alignment software has been reported, the performance of these software packages have not been comprehensively evaluated. This study aimed to evaluate the RT alignment accuracy of publicly available and commercial RT alignment software. Two gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) datasets acquired from a mixture of standard metabolites and human bladder cancer urine samples, were used to assess three publicly available software packages, MetAlign, MZmine and TagFinder, and two commercial applications comprising the Calibration feature and Statistical Compare of ChromaTOF software. The overall RT alignment accuracies in aligning standard compounds mixture were 93, 92, 74, 73 and 42% for Calibration feature, MZmine, MetAlign, Statistical Compare and TagFinder, respectively. Additionally, unique trends were observed for the individual software with regards to the different experimental conditions related to extent and direction of RT shifts. Conflicting performance was observed for human urine samples suggesting that RT misalignments still occurred despite the use of RT alignment software. While RT alignment remains an inevitable step in data preprocessing, metabonomic researchers are recommended to perform manual check on the RT alignment of important biomarkers as part of their validation process.     

RF-PACVD of water repellent and protective HMDSO coatings on bell metal surfaces: Correlation between discharge parameters and film properties

Hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) films have been deposited on bell metal using radiofrequency plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition (RF-PACVD) technique. The protective performances of the HMDSO films and their water repellency have been investigated as a function of DC self-bias voltage on the substrates during deposition. Plasma potential measurements during film deposition process are carried out by self-compensated emissive probe. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) analyses of the plasma during deposition reveal no significant change in the plasma composition within the DC self-bias voltage range of −40 V to −160 V that is used. Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies are carried out for film chemistry analysis and indicate that the impinging ion energy on the substrates influences the physio-chemical properties of the HMDSO films. At critical ion energy of 113 qV (corresponding to DC self-bias voltage of −100 V), the deposited HMDSO film exhibits least defective Si-O-Si chemical structure and highest inorganic character and this contributes to its best corrosion resistance behavior. The hardness and elastic modulus of the films are found to be bias dependent and are 1.27 GPa and 5.36 GPa for films deposited at −100 V. The critical load for delamination is also bias dependent and is 11 mN for this film. The water repellency of the HMDSO films is observed to be dependent on the variation in surface roughness. The results of the investigations suggest that HMDSO films deposited by RF-PACVD can be used as protective coatings on bell metal surfaces.     

Magnetism of Fe in SrFe2As2: Local investigation by time differential perturbed angular distribution (TDPAD) spectroscopy

Employing the γ-ray perturbed angular distribution technique, we have measured the magnetic hyperfine field of ⁵⁴Fe in tetragonal and orthorhombic structural phases of SrFe₂As₂. In the tetragonal phase, the magnetic response of ⁵⁴Fe shows Curie-Weiss type local susceptibility, indicating the presence of localized moment on Fe. The temperature dependence of the hyperfine field of ⁵⁴Fe reflects quasi-two dimensional first order magnetic transition at 200 K. Our data indicate that Fe moments in the magnetically ordered phase of SrFe₂As₂ may be canted out of the ab-plane.