Polycyclic croissant-like organic compounds are powerful superbases in the gas phase and acetonitrile--a DFT study

A new type of the π-electron polycyclic organic superbases is proposed exhibiting very high proton affinities in the gas phase spanning the range from 280 to 323 kcal mol(-1) and the pK(a) up to 41.4 units in the MeCN solutions. Their salient feature is formation of the (H(+))-bridge upon protonation and a strong cationic resonance effect in the corresponding conjugate acids.     

Application of furnace AAS for the determination of the lanthanoids and the study of related phenomena

Summary The lanthanoids were determined by furnace AAS. The influence of coating the graphite tube with pyrolytic graphite is discussed and standard conditions and detection limits (10^–8 to 10^–12 g absolute) are presented. Resemblance of atomization with flame AAS is discussed and a proposal as to its mechanism is given.

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Anwendung der Graphitofen-AAS zur Bestimmung von Lanthanoiden und Untersuchung damit zusammenhängender Erscheinungen

Zusammenfassung Der Einfluß einer Beschichtung der Graphitröhre mit pyrolytischem Graphit wird diskutiert und Standardbedingungen sowie Nachweisgrenzen (10^–8 bis 10^–12 g abs.) werden angegeben. Die Ähnlichkeit der Atomisierung bei der Flammen-AAS wird erörtert und der mögliche Mechanismus dargestellt.

     

Hydride affinities of some substituted alkynes: prediction by DFT calculations and rationalization by triadic formula

Hydride affinities (HAs) of the ethynes substituted by a wide range of different substituents are considered by using the B3LYP methodology. The computed values are in fair agreement with available experimental data, which are unfortunately scarce. The trend of changes of the HAs is rationalized by trichotomy formula. One of the important results of this analysis is a finding that similar HA values might result from completely different effects. Alternative sites of the H- attack are examined and the difference in energies relative to the most susceptible positions is interpreted. Structural features of substituted ethyne hydrides are briefly discussed.     

Comparison of Volatile Organic Compounds of Sideritis romana L. and Sideritis montana L. from Croatia

A study on the headspace volatile organic compounds (VOCs) profile of native populations of Sideritis romana L. and Sidertis montana L., Lamiaceae, from Croatia is reported herein, to elucidate the phytochemical composition of taxa from this plant genus, well-known for traditional use in countries of the Mediterranean and the Balkan region. Headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), using divinylbenzene/carboxene/polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) or polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB) fiber, coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was applied to analyze the dried aerial parts of six native populations in total. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted on the volatile constituents with an average relative percentage ≥1.0% in at least one of the samples. Clear separation between the two species was obtained using both fiber types. The VOCs profile for all investigated populations was characterized by sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, followed by monoterpene hydrocarbons, except for one population of S. romana, in which monoterpene hydrocarbons predominated. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the VOCs composition of natural populations of S. romana and S. montana from Croatia as well as the first reported HS-SPME/GC-MS analysis of S. romana and S. montana worldwide.     

On maximal abelian subgroups in finite 2-groups

We determine here up to isomorphism the structure of any finite nonabelian 2-group G in which every two distinct maximal abelian subgroups have cyclic intersection. We obtain five infinite classes of such 2-groups (Theorem 1.1). This solves for p = 2 the problem Nr. 521 stated by Berkovich (in preparation). The more general problem Nr. 258 stated by Berkovich (in preparation) about the structure of finite nonabelian p-groups G such that A ∩ B = Z(G) for every two distinct maximal abelian subgroups A and B is treated in Theorems 3.1 and 3.2. In Corollary 3.3 we get a new result for an arbitrary finite 2-group. As an application of Theorems 3.1 and 3.2, we solve for p = 2 a problem of Heineken-Mann (Problem Nr. 169 stated in Berkovich, in preparation), classifying finite 2-groups G such that A/Z(G) is cyclic for each maximal abelian subgroup A (Theorem 4.1).      

1,8-Bis(hexamethyltriaminophosphazenyl)naphthalene, HMPN: a superbasic bisphosphazene "proton sponge"

It is shown that a combination of Schwesinger's phosphazene base concept and the idea of the disubstituted 1,8-naphthalene spacer, first introduced by Alder in paradigmatic 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene (DMAN), yields a new superbase, HMPN, which represents the up to date most basic representative of this class of "proton sponges", as evidenced by the theoretically estimated proton affinity PA = 274 kcal/mol and the measured pK(BH+) (MeCN) 29.9 +/- 0.2. HMPN is by nearly 12 orders of magnitude more basic than Alder's classical 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene (DMAN). The title compound, HMPN, is prepared and fully characterized. The spatial structure of HMPN and its conjugate acid is determined by X-ray technique and theoretical DFT calculations. It is found that monoprotonated HMPN has an unsymmetrical intramolecular hydrogen bridge (IHB). This cooperative proton chelating effect renders the bisphosphazene more basic than Schwesinger's set of "monodentate" P1 phosphazene bases. The density functional calculations are in good accordance with the experimental results, providing some complementary information. They conclusively show that the high basicity of HMPN is a consequence of the high energy content of the base in its initial neutral state and the intramolecular hydrogen bonding in the resulting conjugate acid with contributions to proton affinity of 14.1 and 9.5 kcal/mol, respectively.     

Headspace Solid-Phase Micro-Extraction Versus Hydrodistillation of Volatile Compounds from Leaves of Cultivated Mentha Taxa: Markers of Safe Chemotypes

Various mint taxa are widely cultivated and are used not only for medicinal purposes but also in cosmetic and industrial applications. The development of new varieties or cultivars of mint generates difficulties in their correct identification and safe use. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the leaves of seven different taxa of the genus Mentha obtained by hydrodistillation (HD) and headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) were analyzed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Principal component analysis (PCA) was also performed. Comparative GC-MS analysis of the obtained extracts showed similarity in the major compounds. PCA data allowed the separation of two groups of chemotypes among the analyzed mints, characterized by the abundance of piperitenone oxide and carvone. Two out of seven analyzed taxa were not previously examined for VOC profile, one was examined only for patent application purposes, and six out of seven were investigated for the first time using the HS-SPME technique. The presented analysis provides new data on the abundance and qualitative characterization of VOCs in the studied mint plants and on the safety of their use, related to the possibility of the presence of potentially toxic components. HS-SPME is a valuable method to extend the characterization of the VOC profile obtained by hydrodistillation.