Hydration structure in dilute hydrofluoric acid

We have performed the multistate empirical valence bond (MS-EVB) molecular dynamics simulations of a dilute hydrofluoric acid solution at ambient temperature to study the hydration structure associated with its weak acidity. The developed MS-EVB model showed reasonable agreement with experimental and previous ab initio molecular dynamics and reference interaction site model self-consistent field simulations for the free energy and structural properties. The local tetrahedral and translational order parameters around the fluorine atom significantly increase in the transition and product states of the HF dissociation reaction. This indicates that the angular and translational rearrangements of the hydrogen-bond topology are necessary especially around the fluorine atom. At the transition state of the proton transfer, the tetrahedral order parameters are very large, whereas the translational order parameters are not. This suggests that for the proton transfer to occur the large angular rearrangements of the hydrogen-bond topology are more necessary than the translational ones.     

A novel ring transformation of uracil into the benzene ring system

Reaction of 5-formyl-1,3-dimethyluracil with some active methylene compounds in the presence of base causes novel ring transformations to give the p-hydroxybenzoates and the nicotinate.     

Use of high molecular weight amines for end-point indication in the complexometric titration of Iron(III) with thiocyanate as indicator

Summary A new type of end-point indication for the complexometric titration of iron(III) is proposed. A 10% carbon tetrachloride solution of Amberlite LA-1 is applied for the extraction of the thiocyanate complexes. Very sharp color change of the organic phase from red to pale yellow gives the accurate end point for titrations with 0.01M EDTA as in the Variamine Blue B method.

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Zusammenfassung Eine neue Methode zur Endpunktanzeige bei der komplexometrischen Titration, von Eisen(III) wird vorgeschlagen. Eine 10%ige Tetrachlorkohlen-stofflösung von Amberlite LA-1 wird zum Ausschütteln der Thiocyanatkomplexe angewendet. Ein sehr scharfer Farbumschlag der organischen Phase von rot nach blaßgelb zeigt den Endpunkt für Titrationen mit 0,01-m ÄDTA so genau wie bei der Variaminblau-B-Methode an.

     

Specific isolation of N-terminal fragments from proteins and their high-fidelity de novo sequencing

A new method to determine N-terminal amino acid sequences of multiple proteins at low pmol level by a parallel processing has been developed. The method contains the following five steps: (1) reduction, S-alkylation and guanidination for targeted proteins; (2) coupling with sulfosucccimidyl-2-(biotinamido)ethyl-1,3-dithiopropionate(sulfo-NHS-SS-biotin) to N(alpha)-amino groups of proteins; (3) digestion of the modified proteins by an appropriate protease; (4) specific isolation of N-terminal fragments of proteins by affinity capture using the biotin-avidin system; (5) de novo sequence analysis of peptides by MALDI-TOF-/MALDI-TOF-PSD mass spectrometry with effective utilization of the CAF (chemically assisted fragmentation) method.1 This method is also effective for N-terminal sequencing of each protein in a mixture of several proteins, and for sequencing components of a multiprotein complex. It is expected to become an essential proteomics tool for identifying proteins, especially when used in combination with a C-terminal sequencing method.     

Planarized Phenyldithienylboranes: Effects of the Bridging Moieties and π-Extension on the Photophysical Properties and Lewis Acidity

Two kinds of planarized phenyldithienylboranes, which contain (CH₃)₂C- or CH₂-bridging moieties, were synthesized. The difference of the bridging moieties affects their packing structures and photophysical properties. In particular, the (CH₃)₂C-bridged derivative exhibits a large Stokes shift, unusual for such planarized compounds, that results from a large structural relaxation in the excited state. A series of π-extended derivatives was synthesized, among which a p-(diphenylamino)phenyl-substituted derivative shows large solvatochromism in the fluorescence spectra, while maintaining high quantum yields even in polar solvents. The Lewis acidity of the phenyldithienylborane derivatives was also assessed by titration with pyridine. The Lewis acidity of the boron center is affected not only by the difference in the steric bulk of the bridging moieties, but also by the electronic effect of the substituents introduced at remote positions relative to the boron atom. These results demonstrate the characteristic features of planarized phenyldithienylboranes as building blocks for boron-based π-electron materials.     

Magnetic susceptibilities of UO2ThO2 solid solutions

The magnetic susceptibility of UO₂ThO₂ solid solutions has been measured from room temperature to 2.0 K. The magnetic moment and the Weiss constant have been determined in the temperature range in which the Curie-Weiss law holds. For the solid solutions showing antiferromagnetic transition, the Néel temperature has been also determined. These values decrease monotonically with increasing ThO₂ concentration. The results were analyzed using the molecular field theory which includes the interaction between next-nearest neighbor spins. The interactions between nearest neighbor spins, J₁, and those between next-nearest neighbor spins, J₂, both decrease with increasing ThO₂ concentration. The change of J₁ with composition is larger than that of J₂. The effect of magnetic dilution with ThO₂ is considered to be stronger on the interaction between nearest neighbor uranium ions.     

Changes of electrochemical responses of the bulk solution species by thermotropic permeability of liquid crystalline membranes coated on electrodes

Liquid crystalline/polymer composite membrane-coated electrodes were prepared by casting a 1,2-dichloroethane solution of N-(4-ethoxybenzylidene)-4′-n-butylaniline (EBBA) and polycarbonate (PC) on an electrode surface. The temperature-dependence of the permeability of the EBBA/PC composite membrane on electrodes to Fe(CN)^3?₆ ion as a solution-phase redox ion was investigated by means of hydrodynamic voltammetry at a rotating disk electrode. The permeability changed with temperature over the range of the crystalline-nematic-phase transition temperature of EBBA. It is demonstrated that the observed temperature-dependence of the permeability reflects the thermotropic properties of EBBA in the EBBA/PC composite membrane. Furthermore, the dependence of the limiting current of the steady-state current-potential curves for the reduction of Fe(CN)^—₆ at the EBBA/PC composite membrane-coated electrode upon the membrane thickness, the blend ratio of EBBA and PC and the concentration of Fe(CN)^3?₆ in a bulk solution was examined in order to understand the transport process of Fe(CN)^?3₆ through the EBBA/PC composite membrane from the membrane/solution interface to the electrode/membrane interface. The transport process of Fe(CN)^3?₆ within the membrane was found to obey Fick's Law.     

Novel ring transformation of thiazolidine to oxazolidine: acyl halide-promoted intramolecular rearrangement of 4(R)-hydroxymethyl-3-methyl-1,3-thiazolidine

An interesting transformation occurs during acylation of 4(R)-hydroxymethyl-3-methyl-1,3-thiazolidine when 4(R)-acylthiomethyl-3-methyl-1,3-oxazolidines are yielded: the reaction competing with O-acylation is controlled by the bulkiness of the acyl group.     

Synthesis of 5H-pyrido[2,3-a]phenoxazin-5-one and 5H-pyrido[3,2-a]phenoxazin-5-one derivatives

The 5H-pyrido[2,3-a]phenoxazin-5-one derivatives and 5H-pyrido[3,2-a]phenoxazin-5-one derivatives were prepared by the condensation of substituted 2-aminophenols with 6,7-dibromo-5,8-quinolinequinone followed by dehalogenation in the presence of sodium hydrosulfite dissolved in aqueous pyridine under a nitrogen atmosphere.     

Fabrication of PbTiO3 Ceramic Fibers by Sol-Gel Processing

The sol-gel processing was applied to the fabrication of PbTiO₃ fibers. Pb(CH₃COO)₂·3H₂O and Ti(OC₃H ₇ ⁱ )₄ were refluxed with stirring in 2-methoxyethanol to form Pb-methoxyethoxide and Ti-methoxyethoxide, respectively, followed by mixing with stirring in 2-methoxyethanol to form Pb−Ti double alkoxide. The hydrolysis and polycondensation reaction of this double alkoxide gave polymerized products, and as a result the viscosity of the solution increased, suggesting that linear polymers were produced through the hydrolysis and polycondensation reaction. Homogeneous PbTiO₃ gel fibers were drawn from the spinnable viscous solutions, which were wellcrystallized into perovskite type PbTiO₃ at 650°C. The heat-treated fibers were a few centimeters long and from 10 to 100 μm in diameter. The fiber was made up of extremely uniform grains. Electron diffraction revealed a preferred growth of (101) planes along the fiber axis, which might be due to the linear molecular characteristics of the alkoxide.