N-confused porphyrin-bearing meso-perfluorophenyl groups: a potential agent that forms stable square-planar complexes with Cu(II) and Ag(III)

[reaction: see text] N-Confused porphyrin (NCP) bearing pentafluorophenyl groups at meso-positions, which were obtained from N-confused dipyrromethane in ca. 20% yield, can form Cu(II) complex as well as Ag(III), Ni(II), and Pd(II) complexes. The square-planar structures of all these metal complexes were elucidated by X-ray single-crystal analyses.     

Selective hydrogenation of nitrate to nitrite in water over Cu-Pd bimetallic clusters supported on active carbon

Hydrogenation of nitrate (200 ppm) in water with H₂ over Cu-Pd clusters supported on active carbon (AC) was investigated at 333 K using a gas–liquid co-current flow system. Two types of Cu-Pd bimetallic clusters, stabilized with either poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) or sodium citrate (SC), revealed that the catalysts possessed similar activity (per unit weight of Pd) and high selectivity toward nitrite when pH was 10.5 at the outlet of the reactor. The high selectivity toward nitrite on PVP-stabilized cluster/AC was minimally influenced by the atomic ratio of Cu/Pd (=0.5–4.0); activity was maximal at a ratio of 1:1. Increasing pH to 12.4 by addition of NaOH enhanced the selectivity toward nitrite to 93% over SC-stabilized Cu_0.63-Pd cluster/AC, but caused a decrease in the reaction rate. Over Cu_0.63-Pd cluster/AC, hydrogenation of nitrite as an intermediate occurred much more slowly than that of nitrate at pH 10.5, suggesting that high selectivity toward nitrite is attained by OH⁻ inhibiting adsorption of nitrite. XRD and STEM gave the size of the Cu_0.63-Pd cluster on AC as 4 nm; the structure of the cluster remained almost unchanged during the reaction. The activity and selectivity of the Cu_0.63-Pd cluster/AC was superior to those of the Cu_0.63-Pd cluster on oxides such as TiO₂, Al₂O₃, and ZrO₂. In addition, the Cu_0.63-Pd cluster/AC was more active and selective than conventionally prepared Cu_0.63-Pd/AC, indicating that the Cu-Pd cluster is an excellent precursor for selective catalysts in the hydrogenation of nitrate to nitrite.     

Synthesis of monodisperse,magnetic latex particles with polystyrene core

A novel method for producing monodisperse, submicron-sized magnetic latex particles is described. The method provides coating of polymer particles with surface-modified magnetic particles during soap-free polymerization. Experiments were performed with styrene monomer, potassium persulfate initiator, Fe ₃O ₄ magnetic particles, and silane-coupling reagents of methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) and methacryloxypropyldimethoxysilane (MPDMS). The morphology of the magnetic particles depended on the silane-coupling reagents. Use of the tri-functional coupling reagent MPTMS produced particles having a disk-like or concave-like shape, whereas use of the di-functional coupling reagent MPDMS produced spherical particles that had a coefficient of variation of 4.4%, which was much smaller than the standard criteria of monodispersity, 10%.     

Lithiation at the 6-position of uridine with lithium hexamethyldisilazide: crucial role of temporary silylation

Lithium hexamethyldisilazide (LiHMDS) can mediate silylation at the 6-position of uridine, although LiHMDS alone is not able to generate the C-6-lithiated uridine. Experimental results showed that temporary silylation of O-4 (or N-3) of the uracil ring triggers the C-6 lithiation with LiHMDS. This finding allowed us to develop an efficient intramolecular alkylation of 5'-deoxy-5'-iodouridine to furnish 6,5'-C-cyclouridine. [reaction--see text]     

Electronic decay constant of carotenoid polyenes from single-molecule measurements

The conductance of carotenoid polyenes chemically bound at each end to gold contacts has been measured for single molecules containing 5, 7, 9, and 11 carbon-carbon double bonds in conjugation. The electronic decay constant, beta, is determined to be 0.22 +/- 0.04 A-1, in close agreement with the value obtained from first principles simulations (0.22 +/- 0.01 A-1). The absolute values of the molecular conductance are within a factor of 3 of those calculated from first principles. The small value of beta demonstrates that conductivity drops off only slowly with chain length, confirming that carotenoid conjugated chains are relatively good molecular "wires".     

PEACH 4 with ABINIT-MP: a general platform for classical and quantum simulations of biological molecules

A program package for molecular simulations of biological molecules was developed. The package, "PEACH version 4 with ABINIT-MP version 20021029," was constructed by incorporating ABINIT-MP, a program for the fragment molecular orbital (FMO) method [Chem.Phys. Lett. 313 (1999) 701], into PEACH, a program package for classical molecular dynamics simulations (MD). A few capabilities of the package were demonstrated. First, high parallel efficiency of FMO was demonstrated in a single point calculation of a protein. Second,FMO-MD simulations [Chem. Phys. Lett. 372 (2003) 342] of a peptide were performed with and without explicit solvent, and the simulations showed the influence of the solvent on the electronic state of the peptide.     

Large-scale synthesis of thiolated Au25 clusters via ligand exchange reactions of phosphine-stabilized Au11 clusters

Phosphine-stabilized Au11 clusters in chloroform were reacted with glutathione (GSH) in water under a nitrogen atmosphere. The resulting Au:SG clusters exhibit an optical absorption spectrum similar to that of Au25(SG)18, which was isolated as one of the major products from chemically prepared Au:SG clusters (Negishi, Y. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 5261). Rigorous characterization by optical spectroscopy, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis confirms that the Au25(SG)18 clusters were selectively obtained on the sub-100 mg scale by ligand exchange reaction under aerobic conditions. The ligand exchange strategy offers a practical and convenient method of synthesizing thiolated Au25 clusters on a large scale.     

Incorporation of porphyrins into mesopores of MCM-41

To introduce porphyrins such as the alcoholic-hydroxyl-group-appended free base porphyrin derivative (HP) of 5-[4-(3-hydroxylpropyloxycabonyl)phenyl]-10,15,20-triphenylphorphine into mesopores of MCM-41, samples were treated with 0-4.0 mmol dm-3 HP toluene solutions and the materials obtained were characterized by various means. The framework structure of MCM-41 was not altered by the treatment. With increasing HP concentration, the specific surface area and pore size decreased; in contrast, the number of HP molecules in the material increased almost linearly from 0 to 0.17 groups nm-2. These facts reveal that the HP molecules are incorporated into mesopores of MCM-41. IR results indicated that the hydroxyl group of the HP molecule reacts with surface free SiOH groups of the MCM-41 by a dehydration reaction. Diffuse reflection UV-vis spectra of the HP-introduced material were almost the same as that of pure HP molecules. The Beers plot suggested that the HP molecules in the material are dispersed at an HP concentration less than 1.0 mmol dm-3, and above that concentration, aggregation or flattening of the HP molecules on the MCM-41 surface takes place.     

Preparation of agglomeration-free hematite particles coated with silica and their reduction behavior in hydrogen

To prepare silica-coated hematite particles without agglomeration, the effects of solid fraction, ion content in solution, and designed layer thickness on agglomeration and dispersion behavior after silica coating were examined. Since the ion concentration remained high in suspension after the hematite particles were prepared, these particles formed aggregates by the compression of an electric double layer on the hematite and silica layer produced a solid bridge between primary hematite particles. Silica bridge formation and agglomeration were almost completely prevented by decreasing the ion concentration and solid fraction of the hematite particles. Furthermore, the effects of the silica-layer thickness and structure on the reduction of hematite to iron under hydrogen gas flow and the iron core stability under air were discussed. When the solid fraction was low in suspension to prevent agglomeration during coating, a densely packed structure of nanoparticles formed by heterogeneous nucleation was observed on the silica-layer surface. Since this structure could not completely prevent oxide diffusion, the layer thickness was increased to 40 nm to obtain a stable iron core under air. Although a dense uniform layer was produced at a high solid fraction during coating, its thickness was reduced to 20 nm to completely reduce hematite to iron.