Hydroboration and diimide reduction of caryophyllene and isocaryophyllene

The monohydroboration of caryophyllene with dicyclohexylborane followed by oxidation brought about the participation of the (E)-trisubstituted double bond in preference to the exocyclic double bond during hydroboration to the corresponding unsaturated alcohol. This alcohol gave the corresponding ketone by oxidation. Isocaryophyllene under similar conditions provided the unsaturated alcohol as the major product, wherein the participation of the exocyclic double bond took place during hydroboration. Our attempts to achieve cyclic hydroboration with caryophyllene or isocaryophyllene using thexylborane resulted in the formation of the corresponding unsaturated alcohol. We achieved partial regioselective reduction of caryophyllene and isocaryphyllene with diimide to produce the corresponding dihydroderivative.     

Fluorimetric determination of boron with resacetophenone as a reagent

Summary A method has been developed for the fluorimetric determination of boric acid, which gives a blue fluorescence with resacetophenone in sulphuric acid or phosphoric acid medium. The method has the advantage that the reaction does not require much time, because the fluorescence intensity reaches its maximum immediately after mixing the reagents and does not also decrease with time. The intensity of fluorescence can be measured with a fluorimeter and the amount of boric acid determined from a calibration curve.     

2-Nitrodiphenylamine as a versatile high-potential reversible oxidation-reduction indicator

The use of 2-nitrodiphenylamine as a reversible indicator has been investigated in the titration of iron(II) with cerium(IV) sulphate, potassium dichromate and sodium vanadate in sulphuric acid media. Accurate results can be obtained with cerium(IV) sulphate in 0.5–5.0 M acid, with potassium dichromate in 5.0–7.0 M acid, and with sodium vanadate in 5.0–7.5 M acid. With cerium(IV) sulphate the titrations are preferably conducted in 2.0 M sulphuric acid or in a 1.0 M. sulphuric acid-1.0 M pechloric acid medium. Tungstic acid, acetic acid, arsenic(III) and manganese(II) do not interfere. In titrations of iron(II) with dichromate and vanadate, the colour changes at the end-point are much more vivid with 2-nitrodiphenylamine than with ferroin.     

Preparation of Y2Ba4Cu7O15-δ Superconductor without High Oxygen Pressure

The synthesis of bulk Y₂Ba₄Cu₇O_15-δ superconductor at atmospheric oxygen pressure via solid state sintering is reported. Temperature ranging from 860 to 890 °C as well as time interval over 2 to 15 days were used to investigate the formation of the Y₂Ba₄Cu₇O_15-δ phase. A time-temperature profile characterizing the conditions for the preparation of Y₂Ba₄Cu₇O_15-δ phase suggests the optimal condition to be sintering at 890 °C for over 10 days. Detailed results of X-ray diffraction, electrical resistivity, iodometric titration and magnetization measurements are described.     

Graft polymers from poly(vinyl chloride) and chlorinated rubber

Graft polymers from poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and chlorinated rubber (CIR) with side chains of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA), or poly(ethyl methacrylate) (PEMA) were synthesized. For this purpose, a vinyl monomer was polymerized in the presence of small quantities of PVC or CIR with benzoyl peroxide as catalyst. The graft polymers were separated from both homopolymers by precipitation with methanol from methyl ethyl ketone solutions of the reaction products and the grafting efficiency was calculated. The graft polymers were characterized by infrared spectra, elemental analysis, NMR, and osmometric or light-scattering determinations. From the results it is concluded that the PVC or CIR molecules contain side chains of PMMA, PMA, or PEMA. The graft polymers showed higher molecular weights, and the values of second virial coefficient for these polymers were much different from those of the starting polymers.     

Itinerant electron ferromagnetism in Sr2+-, Ca2+-, and Ba2+-doped rare-earth orthocobaltites (Ln3+1−xM2+xCoO3)

Electronic and magnetic properties of Ln_1?xSr_xCoO₃ (Ln = Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, and Gd) systems show that above a critical value of x, the d electrons become itinerant while the materials become ferromagnetic at low temperatures. The ferromagnetic component increases with increase in x and decrease in temperature. The Curie temperature increases with x and decreases with decrease in the size of the rare-earth ion. Incorporation of Ba²⁺ in LaCoO₃ favors itinerant electron ferromagnetism relative to Sr²⁺ while Ca²⁺ is less favorable than Sr²⁺.     

Isopoly-molybdic acids

From the measurements of conductivity, diffusion coefficient etc., Jander indicated the presence of several isopoly-anions of molybdenum under different pH conditions. He and subsequent workers in the field dealt with solutions only. In the present work one free molybdic acid, and one ammonium acid molybdate were isolated in solid condition at pH 4.6 and 2. On analysis, their compositions were found to be H₄Mo₃O₁₁ and NH₄H₅Mo₆O₂₁ (or (NH₄)₂H₄Mo₇O₂₄) respectively.     

Inter-ring rotational potential of biphenyl and its effect on poly(p-phenylene)

Detailed ab initio studies have been done on the inter-ring torsional states of the biphenyl molecule using self-consistent field molecular orbital method. The potential goes through a minimum at an angle of 38°. The height of the potential barrier for the coplanar state is 2.01 kcal/mol. When the phenyl rings are perpendicular to each other, this height increases to 2.37 kcal/mol. The role of correlation and polarization is found to be important. The shape of the potential suggests that polyparaphenylene may possibly exist as a super helix.     

Potential energy surfaces for HenNe+ ions: ab initio and diatomics-in-molecule results

The potential energy surface of He2Ne+ has been reinvestigated using a combination of ab initio and diatomics-in-molecule (DIM) calculations. In contrast to the reports of two recent studies the ion is found to have an asymmetric linear He-Ne-He structure, with no barrier to formation from the separated atoms on the ground-state surface. The He-Ne+ bond lengths at the potential minimum are 1.51 and 1.81 A, and the total bonding energy is 0.717 eV. Comparing the He2Ne+ energy to that of HeNe+, the bonding energy for the second helium atom is 0.06 eV, about 10% of that of the first He atom. The saddle point between the two equivalent minima is a symmetric structure, 0.0074 eV above the potential minimum. A symmetric geometry becomes the overall potential minimum if the 2s hole on the Ne is excluded from the reference states of a multireference configuration interaction calculation. A DIM potential was created for the HenNe+ family of ions. The DIM potential is consistent with the asymmetric He2Ne+ ion serving as a core; it predicts a slightly more asymmetric geometry than the ab initio results. Additional helium atoms form five-membered rings around the bonds of the core ion to fill the first shell and then add to the ends of the cluster. The asymmetric core ion and the highly compact structure help to account for the lack of apparent shell structure in the mass spectrometry of HenNe+ clusters. Finally, we recommend that the value De=0.63+/-0.04 eV be adopted for the ground state of HeNe+.     

Spectrophotometric determination of ziram (dithiocarbamate fungicide) by thiocyanate and rhodamine 6G method

A sensitive spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of ziram in water, vegetables and grains. The method is based on the dissociation of dithiocarbamate complex of zinc with thiocyanate and rhodamine 6G at pH 4 to form a pink coloured complex that is stabilized by gelatin. The method is simple and Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration range of 0.05-1 ppm of ziram. The method is free from interference of similar dithiocarbamate fungicides containing Mn(2+) and Fe(3+) ions.