Characterization of high level waste for minor actinides by chemical separation and alpha spectrometry

The high level waste (HLW) generated from the reprocessing of the spent fuel of pressurized heavy water reactor has been characterized for the minor actinides. The radiation dose of the waste solution was reduced by radiochemical separation of cesium from HLW by solvent extraction with chlorinated cobalt dicarbollide dissolved in 20% nitrobenzene in xylene. Minor actinides (Np, Pu, Am, Cm) in the high level waste were assayed by alpha spectrometry following radiochemical separation. The gross alpha activity determined by liquid scintillation agrees well (within 10%) with the cumulative quantities of actinides determined by alpha spectrometry.     

Aging effect of diethanolamine derived precursor sol on TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> films deposited at different annealing temperatures

A diethanolamine stabilized precursor sol has been utilized for studying the effect of sol aging and annealing temperature on key properties of TiO₂ films. X-ray diffraction investigations have shown increased crystallite size in the films as a function of both sol aging and the thermal treatment. Fourier transform infrared studies have elucidated that cleavage of the bond involving diethanolamine and the alkoxide in the films requires high temperature annealing treatment upon the use of aged sol for the deposition of the films. Multiple step chronoamperometry has shown the ion storage capacity of the films increases as a function of sol aging, with the highest extent of Li ion insertion being obtained for films produced from as-prepared and aged sols and subsequently annealed at, 300 and 350 °C, respectively. Films with excellent optical quality were obtained. Ellipsometry revealed that the refractive indices of the films vary from 1.67 to 2.02. The highest thickness obtained in these films was nearly 900 nm. The bandgaps of the films for both direct and indirect transitions decreased as a function of precursor sol’s aging. In addition, although the indirect bandgap values have shown a decrease with increasing annealing temperature, the direct bandgap values reveal a slight increase as a function of annealing temperature.     

Metal Complexes of Singly,Doubly and Triply Linked Porphyrins and Corroles: An Insight into the Physicochemical Properties

Metal complexes of multi-porphyrins and multi-corroles are unique systems that display a host of extremely interesting properties. Availability of free meso and β positions allow formation of different types of directly linked bis-porphyrins giving rise to intriguing optical and electronic properties. While the fields of metalloporphyrin and corroles monomer have seen exponential growth in the last decades, the chemistry of metal complexes of bis-porphyrins and bis-corroles remain rather underexplored. Therefore, the impact of covalent linkages on the optical, electronic, (spectro)electrochemical, magnetic and electrocatalytic activities of metal complexes of bis-porphyrins and -corroles has been summarized in this review article. This article shows that despite the (still) somewhat difficult synthetic access to these molecules, their extremely exciting properties do make a strong case for pursuing research on these classes of compounds.     

Doubling Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Efficiency in Proteins with Extrinsic Thioamide Probes: Implications for Thiomodified Nucleobases

Designing a potential protein–ligand pair is pivotal, not only to track the protein structure dynamics, but also to assist in an atomistic understanding of drug delivery. Herein, the potential of a small model thioamide probe being used to study albumin proteins is reported. By monitoring the Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) dynamics with the help of fluorescence spectroscopic techniques, a twofold enhancement in the FRET efficiency of 2-thiopyridone (2TPY), relative to that of its amide analogue, is observed. Molecular dynamics simulations depict the relative position of the free energy minimum to be quite stable in the case of 2TPY through noncovalent interactions with sulfur, which help to enhance the FRET efficiency. Finally, its application is shown by pairing thiouracils with protein. It is found that the site-selective sulfur atom substitution approach and noncovalent interactions with sulfur can substantially enhance the FRET efficiency, which could be a potential avenue to explore in the design of FRET probes to study the structure and dynamics of biomolecules.     

Tuning the antioxidant property of potential calixdrug calix[4]tyrosol: role of aza and thia linkages

Structural Chemistry - Calix[4]arenes are the most renowned and widely studied calix[n]arenes, which are established to have quite a few biological (e.g., antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant,...     

OptDesign: extending optimizable k-dissimilarity selection to combinatorial library design

Optimizable k-dissimilarity (OptiSim) selection entails drawing a series of subsamples of size k from a population and choosing the "best" candidate from each such subsample for inclusion in the selection set. By varying the size of the subsample, one can control the balance between representativeness and diversity in the selection set obtained. In the original formulation, a uniform random sampling from among valid candidates was used to draw the subsamples from a single target population. Here we describe in detail two key modifications that serve to extend the OptiSim methodology to vector selection for interdependent variables, specifically as applied to the design of combinatorial sublibraries. The first modification involves pivoting between variables: subsamples are drawn from each reagent pool in turn, with the viability of each candidate being evaluated in isolation as well as in terms of the products it will produce from complementary reagents already selected. The filters applied may be static or dynamic in nature, with molecular weight and hydrophobicity being examples of the former and structural diversity with respect to reagents already selected being an example of the latter. The second key modification is adding the ability to bias the selection of candidate reagents for inclusion in the subsamples. Taken together, these modifications support the efficient generation of multiblock and other sparse matrix designs that are both representative and diverse, and for which "backfilling" of designs edited to remove undesirable reagents or products is straightforward. The method is intrinsically fast and efficient, since enumeration of the full combinatorial is not required- only those candidates actually considered for inclusion need be evaluated. Moreover, because the subsample selection step is separate from the diversity-based selection of the "best" candidate, incorporating such bias in favor of a competing criterion such as low price provides a "natural," nonparametric mechanism for generating designs that are likely to be "good" in a double-objective, Pareto sense.     

A facile synthesis of natural products chaetomellic acid A and 1,7(Z)- nonadecadiene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid

Synthesis of recently isolated bioactive natural products chaetomellic acid A anhydride (1) and a novel 1,7(Z)-nonadecadiene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid (2) have been described. Chemoselective carbon[bond]carbon S(N)2' coupling reactions of appropriate Grignard reagents with dimethyl bromomethylfumarate (7) in diethyl ether in the presence of HMPA at room temperature furnished the corresponding diesters 8 and 15 in 60-62% yields. The formed diesters 8 and 15 on hydrolysis gave respectively the corresponding desired diacids 9 and 2 in quantitative yields. Acetic anhydride induced ring closure of diacids 9 and 2 respectively gave the chaetomellic acid A anhydride (1) and isochaetomellic acid B anhydride (16) with 38-39% overall yields in five steps.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and ionic compositions of atmospheric bulk deposition samples at a national park under the influence of intense barbecue smoke

The main aim of this study was to present the effects of barbecue smoke on a small-scale environment, a national park under the influence of intense barbecue smoke, and to scientifically support the sustainable usage of the park. Twelve-weekly bulk deposition samples were collected directly at the barbecuing area, and the samples were analysed for 16 US EPA’s priority PAH compounds and major ions. The mean concentrations of the individual PAHs in the bulk deposition samples ranged from 11.8 ng L^?1 (Ane) to 1085 ± 581 ng L^?1 (IcdP). The most frequently observed PAH compounds in the bulk deposition samples were Np, Anp, Flr, Phe, An, Flu, BkF, BaP and IcdP. The mean total PAH deposition fluxes were determined as 3.6 ± 5.6 µg m^?2 day^?1. The chloride, potassium and the sulphate fluxes were determined as 145.2 ± 267.8 µg m^?2 day^?1, 182.9 ± 291.9 µg m^?2 day^?1, and 111.9 ± 65.9 µg m^?2 day^?1, respectively. Dominant ions in the bulk deposition samples were potassium ion, chloride and sulphate which addressed as the fingerprint of barbecue grilling.     

Theoretical and experimental studies of asymmetric organozinc additions to benzaldehyde catalyzed by flexible and constrained gamma-amino alcohols

The cis-decalin based gamma-amino alcohols, 1-5, were synthesized, resolved, and employed as catalysts in the addition of organozincs to benzaldehyde. Despite large facial differentiation in the RZn adducts of the ligands, the enantioselectivities were found to be moderate. Transition structure calculations were done using several quantum chemical methods to examine the underlying causes of the selectivity for three gamma-amino alcohols, 1, 2, and 3. The tricyclic mu-oxo (6/4/4), rather than the bicyclic six-membered (6/6), transition structures were found to explain the observed enantioselectivity for 2 and 3. MP2 calculations gave the best correlation to the experimental results compared to B3LYP and HF calculations. The conformational flexibility of the chiral ligands was found to be an important factor in the selectivity.     

Spectroscopic Properties of Lumiflavin: A Quantum Chemical Study

In this work, the electronic structure and spectroscopic properties of lumiflavin are calculated using various quantum chemical methods. The excitation energies for ten singlet and triplet states as well as the analysis of the electron density difference are assessed using various wave function‐based methods and density functionals. The relative order of singlet and triplet excited states is established on the basis of the coupled cluster method CC2. We find that at least seven singlet excited states are required to assign all peaks in the UV/Vis spectrum. In addition, we have studied the solvatochromic effect on the excitation energies and found differential effects except for the first bright excited state. Vibrational frequencies as well as IR, Raman and resonance Raman intensities are simulated and compared to their experimental counterparts. We have assigned peaks, assessed the effect of anharmonicity, and confirmed the previous assignments in case of the most intense transitions. Finally, we have studied the NMR shieldings and established the effect of the solvent polarity. The present study provides data for lumiflavin in the gas phase and in implicit solvent model that can be used as a reference for the protein‐embedded flavin simulations and assignment of experimental spectra.