Gaseous alkyne ions

Using the relative abundance of metastable ions, collisional activation spectra, field ionization kinetic measurements, isotopic labelling, appearance energy and kinetic energy release data, it is shown that linear alkyne radical cations with more than six carbon atoms do not isomerize to equilibrating structures prior to decomposition. At the shortest ion lifetimes the molecular ions of linear alkynes decompose mainly by simple β-bond fission which allows an unequivocal localization of the triple bond. At medium ion lifetimes fragmentation occurs predominantly via a McLafferty rearrangement, while at long ion lifetimes competing alkyl losses prevail. These alkyl losses occur via cyclic intermediates leading to thermochemically stable cycloalkenyl ions. All these reactions occur with a high specificity with respect to the carbon and hydrogen atoms involved and are preceded by little or no hydrogen exchange reactions.     

Computational study on mechanistic details of the aminoethanol rearrangement catalyzed by the vitamin B12-dependent ethanolamine ammonia lyase: His and Asp/Glu acting simultaneously as catalytic auxiliaries

The rearrangement of aminoethanol catalyzed by ethanolamine ammonia lyase is investigated by computational means employing DFT (B3LYP/6-31G) and ab initio molecular orbital theory (QCISD/cc-pVDZ). The study aims at providing a detailed account on various crucial aspects, in particular a distinction between a direct intramolecular migration of the partially protonated NH(2) group vs elimination of NH(4)(+). Three mechanistic scenarios were explored: (i) According to the calculations, irrespective of the nature of the protonating species, intramolecular migration of the NH(3) group is energetically less demanding than elimination of NH(4)(+). However, all computed activation enthalpies exceed the experimentally derived activation enthalpy (15 kcal/mol) associated with the rate-determining step, i.e., the hydrogen abstraction from the 5'-deoxyadenosine by the product radical. For example, when imidazole is used as a model system for His interacting with the NH(3) group of the substrate, the activation enthalpy for the migration process amounts to 27.4 kcal/mol. If acetic acid is employed to mimic Asp or Glu, the activation enthalpy is somewhat lower, being equal to 24.2 kcal/mol. (ii) For a partial deprotonation of the substrate 2 at the OH group, the rearrangement mechanism consists of the dissociation of an NH(2) radical from C(2) and its association at C(1) atom. For all investigated proton acceptors (i.e., OH(-), HCOO(-), CH(3)COO(-), CH(2)NH, imidazole), the activation enthalpy for the dissociation step also exceeds 15 kcal/mol. Typical data are 20.2 kcal/mol for Ac(-) and 23.8 kcal/mol for imidazole. (iii) However, in a synergistic action of partial protonation of the NH(2) group and partial deprotonation of the OH group by the two conceivable catalytic auxiliaries Asp/Glu and His, the activation enthalpy computed is compatible with the experimental data. For imidazole and acetate as model systems, the activation enthalpy is equal to 13.7 kcal/mol. This synergistic action of the two catalytic groups is expected to take place in a physiologically realistic pH range of 6-9.5, and the present computational findings may help to further characterize the yet unknown structural details of the ethanolamine ammonia lyase's active site.     

Synthesis and properties of crosslinked polyvinylformamide and polyvinylamine hydrogels in conjunction with silica particles

Polyvinylamine hydrogels with silica particles encapsulated (PVAm/silica) were produced by a two‐step synthesis. In the first step, polyvinylformamide/silica (PVFA/silica) hybrids were synthesized from vinylformamide (VFA) and 1,3‐divinylimidazolidin‐2‐one (1,3‐bisvinylethyleneurea, BVU), as the crosslinker, by radical copolymerization in silica/water suspensions using different compositions of VFA/BVU. The target product PVAm/silica was obtained by acidic hydrolysis of the PVFA/silica hydrogels in a second step. The chemical structures of both hydrogels, PVFA/silica and PVAm/silica, respectively, were revealed by solid‐state ¹³C(¹H) cross‐polarity/magic‐angle spinning NMR spectroscopy. Both hydrogels swelled significantly in water. The swelling capacity of the two systems was characterized by the correlation length ξ (or hydrodynamic blob size) of the network meshes with small‐angle neutron scattering experiments. ξ is significantly larger for PVAm/silica than for PVFA/silica, which corresponds to the observed higher swelling capacity of this polyelectrolyte material. Furthermore, the swelling behavior of the hybrid hydrogels was quantitatively described in terms of free swell capacity, centrifuge‐retention capacity, adsorption against pressure, and free swell rate as compared with values of the corresponding copolymer hydrogels. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 3144–3152, 2002     

Neue Verbindungen mit Granatstruktur. III. Arsenate des Typs {NaCa2} [M] (As3)O12

Attempts to prepare phosphate granates were without success. However, three arsenate granates of the type {NaCa₂}[M](As₃)O₁₂ with M^II ? Mg, Co, Ni have been prepared by solid state reaction and their lattice constants determined. All these arsenates are characterised by a thermal transformation into a high-temperature form, proceeding monotropically for the Mg compound, and reversibly for the Ni and Co compound.     

Rapid chiral on-chip separation with simplified amperometric detection

The enantiomers of adrenaline, noradrenaline, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine were separated by capillary electrophoresis on a micromachined device. Detection was carried out with a new two-electrode amperometric detector, eliminating the need for individual counter and reference electrodes. Separation of the isomers was achieved by employing carboxymethyl-beta-cyclodextrin as chiral selector in the buffer, partly with the additional inclusion of the crown ether 18-crown-6. Plate numbers of up to 20,000, chiral resolutions of 2.5 and detection limits of the order of 10(-7) M were achieved. All separations were completed in less then 3 min.     

Dehydration of Alkanones by Bare FeO+ Involves the ω/(ω − 1) Positions: Exclusion of Iron Carbenes as Intermediates. Preliminary Communication

Fourier-transform ion-cyclotron-resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometry has been used to uncover the mechanisms by which FeO⁺ dehydrates heptan-4-one ( 5a ) and nonan-5-one ( 6a ) in the gas phase. The study of isotopomeric ketones provides evidence that H₂O loss is not due to a 1,1-elimination, thus ruling out the intermediacy of high-valent iron-carbene species. Rather, H₂O is generated in a formal 1,2-elimination involving the ω/ω ? 1 positions of the alkyl chain (‘remote C? H bond activation’). In the consecutive alkene/H₂O elimination, the olefins (ethylene from 5a and propene from 6a ) originate from the terminal part of one alkyl chain, and the H-atom is transferred to the FeO⁺ moiety in the course of this process, builds up together with an H-atom from the ω/ω-1 position of the other alkyl chain the H₂O molecule. In either case, the O-atom of H₂O is provided by the FeO⁺ species.     

Does ionized diacetylene have a positive proton affinity?

Singly and doubly charged C₄H₃^+/2+ ions generated upon electron ionization (EI) of the neutral precursors 1,3-butadiene, benzene, and exo-methylene cyclopropane, respectively, are examined by sector-field mass-spectrometry. Charge stripping of the mass-selected monocations affords the corresponding dications and charge exchange of the C₄H₃²⁺ dications allows for the reverse redox process. Refined analysis and additional MS/MS studies suggest that the monocations are mixtures of isomeric ions formed upon ionization, whereas only a single type of dication seems to be formed. As an average of energy-resolved measurements, a vertical ionization energy of IE_v(C₄H₃⁺)=16.5±0.4 eV is derived. In addition to the experimental work, density functional theory is used for a computational exploration of the mono- and dicationic species. The best theoretical estimates are IE_a(C₄H₃⁺)=16.33 eV and IE_v(C₄H₃⁺)=16.49 eV for the most stable isomer H₂C=C---CCH⁺. Combination of the experimental and theoretical findings leads to the conclusion that the diacetylene cation C₄H₂⁺ has indeed a positive proton affinity of PA(C₄H₂⁺)=1.50±0.42 eV.     

Transferability of some properties of localized molecular orbitals

The transferability of the first and second order electric moments of localized orbitals have been shown. Some moment characteristics have also been investigated. The standard deviation of first order localized moments is less than 2.0%. The standard deviation of second order electric moment components are larger: although they do not exceed 4.0% for bond orbitals, for lone pair ones they vary about 1.5–10.1%.     

Definitive Proof for the Operation of Isotopically Sensitive Branching (‘Metabolic Switching’) in FeI-Mediated C?H Bond Activation in the Gas Phase Short Communication

Rigorous regio- and stereospecific labeling experiments are performed to demonstrate the operation of the previously suggested operation of ‘isotopically sensitive branching’ in Fe^I-mediated C? H bond activation. For the hexane-1,6-diol/Fe⁺-complex, it is shown that dehydrogenation involves specifically the central C(3)/C(4) position, and the study of the stereospecifically labeled D ,L - and meso-[3,4-D₂]-isotompomers 1e and 1f demonstrates that dehydrogenation proceedes via two competing pathways (i.e. ‘anti’- vs. ‘syn’-route). The contribution of these routes to the product formation is – due to a kinetic isotope effect – controlled by the relative configuration at the labeled positions C(3)/C(4). For the D ,L -form 1e , we estimate a ratio of 49:1 in favor of the ‘anti’-route; due to an isotope effect, this ratio drops to 4.3:1 for the meso-form 1f .