Preparation of Metallaiminophosphoranes and Their Reactivity

Treatment of [Cp*(CO) 2 M{P(NHPh)(OMe) 2 }]PF 6 (M = Fe and Ru) with NaNH 2 gives metallaiminophosphoranes, Cp*(CO) 2 M{P(NPh)(OMe) 2 }. The x-ray structures and reactivity of the complexes are reported.     

A novel derivatization reagent possessing a bromoquinolinium structure for biological carboxylic acids in HPLC‐ESI‐MS/MS

A novel bromoquinolinium reagent, i.e. 1‐(3‐aminopropyl)‐3‐bromoquinolinium bromide (APBQ), was synthesized for the analysis of carboxylic acids. A simple and practical precolumn derivatization procedure using the APBQ in RP chromatography and MS (HPLC‐MS) has been developed using bile acids and free fatty acids, as the representative carboxylic acids in biological samples. The APBQ efficiently reacted with carboxylic acids at 60°C for 60 min in the presence of N,N‐dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and pyridine as the activation reagents. Because the APBQ possesses a bromine atom in the structure, the identification of a series of carboxylic acids was easily achieved due to the characteristic bromine isotope pattern in the mass spectra. The APBQ also has a quaternary amine structure, thus the positively charged derivatives are predominate for the highly sensitive detection of carboxylic acids. The APBQ was successfully applied to the selective determination of biological carboxylic acids in human plasma. The bile acids (chenodeoxycholic acid and deoxycholic acid) and several saturated (stearic acid and palmitic acid) and unsaturated free fatty acids (oleic acid and linoleic acid) were reasonably determined by HPLC‐MS under the proposed procedure. Based on the results of analyses of human plasma and saliva, the proposed procedure using APBQ seems to be applicable for the qualitative and quantitative analyses of a series of carboxylic acids in biological samples.     

Defect Engineering and Anisotropic Modulation of Ionic Transport in Perovskite Solid Electrolyte LixLa(1−x)/3NbO3

Solid electrolytes, such as perovskite Li_3xLa_2/1−xTiO₃, Li_xLa_(1−x)/3NbO₃ and garnet Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ ceramic oxides, have attracted extensive attention in lithium-ion battery research due to their good chemical stability and the improvability of their ionic conductivity with great potential in solid electrolyte battery applications. These solid oxides eliminate safety issues and cycling instability, which are common challenges in the current commercial lithium-ion batteries based on organic liquid electrolytes. However, in practical applications, structural disorders such as point defects and grain boundaries play a dominating role in the ionic transport of these solid electrolytes, where defect engineering to tailor or improve the ionic conductive property is still seldom reported. Here, we demonstrate a defect engineering approach to alter the ionic conductive channels in Li_xLa_(1−x)/3NbO₃ (x = 0.1~0.13) electrolytes based on the rearrangements of La sites through a quenching process. The changes in the occupancy and interstitial defects of La ions lead to anisotropic modulation of ionic conductivity with the increase in quenching temperatures. Our trial in this work on the defect engineering of quenched electrolytes will offer opportunities to optimize ionic conductivity and benefit the solid electrolyte battery applications.     

Cross‐sectional structural characterization of the surface of exfoliated HOPG using HRTEM‐EELS

We analyzed the surface atomic structure of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrate exfoliated with adhesive tape, using high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy‐electron energy‐loss spectroscopy (STEM‐EELS). The surface step height of the exfoliated HOPG substrate was determined using high‐angle annular dark‐field‐scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF‐STEM) images and the depth profiles of the EELS spectra of a cross‐sectioned thin foil specimen prepared via focused ion beam milling. The exfoliated surface of the HOPG substrate presented disordered and curved graphene layers. The STEM‐EELS measurements indicated that upon exfoliation, the surface of the HOPG substrate reacted with atmospheric water and oxygen molecules.     

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy as a novel tool for crystallographic analysis in cellulose: the potentiality of being a new standard for evaluating crystallinity

Cellulose - Given that terahertz (THz) radiation responds to intermolecular forces such as hydrogen bonds, THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) has expanded possibilities in cellulose research....     

Estimation of 47Sc and 177Lu production rates from their natural targets in Kyoto University Research Reactor

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - To assess the capability of Kyoto University Research Reactor to supply the domestic needs of medical isotopes, its neutron flux has been fully...     

Production of 99Mo/99mTc by photonuclear reaction using a natMoO3 target

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Amount estimation of production of 99Mo required for medical applications was carried out by utilizing an electron linear accelerator with...     

InBr3-catalyzed reduction of ketones with a hydrosilane: deoxygenation of aromatic ketones and selective synthesis of secondary alcohols and symmetrical ethers from aliphatic ketones

An InBr₃-Et₃SiH reducing system was developed to selectively convert aliphatic ketones to a variety of secondary alcohols in moderate to good yields. An initial mixing of InBr₃ and PhSiH₃ was followed by the addition of aliphatic ketones and a solvent to afford the symmetrical ether derivatives.     

Pentagon stability: cyclic delocalization of lone pairs through sigma conjugation and design of polycyclophosphanes

The orbital-phase theory was applied to propose pentagon stability in a well-defined manner. Cyclic delocalization of the lone pair electrons on the five-membered ring atoms through the vicinal sigma bonds was shown to be favored by the orbital-phase properties. The pentagon stability was found to be outstanding in saturated phosphorus five-membered rings in the puckered conformation, and was substantiated by the negative strain energy of cyclopentaphosphane, P(5)H(5) (3). The relative increments of the remarkable increase in the strain energies of protonation on the different atoms in the most stable conformers supported the significance of the cyclic delocalization of the lone pairs. Pentagon stability led to the design of three novel polycyclic phosphanes, P(12)H(4) (18), P(13)H(3) (19), and P(14)H(2) (20), with low strain energies due to many puckered pentagon units in them. The low stability of the dodecahedron P(20) (22) was suggested by the high strain energy due to its planar pentagon units. The pentagon stability is less significant in the saturated nitrogen ring molecules due to the greater energy gap between the n and sigma orbitals.