Modified Magnetite Nanoparticles for Hexavalent Chromium Removal from Water

Water treatment is an important concern of human societies. Using magnetic nanoparticles as adsorbents for metal removal has been greatly considered due to their particular characteristics such as small sizes, high surface area to volume ratios, and good magnetic properties. In the present study, a modification was implemented in magnetite particles by functionalized carbon nanotubes and carboxylic groups to enhance the performance of magnetite particles in removing hexavalent chromium from water using the adsorption method. The applicability of the nanoadsorbent and magnetic nanoparticles was compared based on adsorption factors affecting the chromium removal including pH, contact time, pollutant concentration, and the adsorbent amount. Properties of the nanocomposites were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that the highest percentage of Cr (VI) removal for both adsorbents was under acidic ambient conditions and lasted less than 45 minutes. The study of Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherms in the prediction of adsorption behavior revealed that the Langmuir model better fitted the adsorption equilibrium data. The kinetic analysis of pseudo-first and second-order equations showed that the pseudo-second-order equation was more suitable for describing the kinetic behavior of data. Moreover, the obtained nanocomposite had a better performance in Cr (VI) removal from water in comparison to magnetite nanoparticles.     

Betti base‐modified magnetic nanoparticles as a novel basic nanocatalyst in Knoevenagel condensation and its related palladium nanocatalyst in Suzuki coupling reactions

Betti base‐modified Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles have been successfully designed and synthesized for the first time through the condensation of Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles coated by (3‐aminopropyl)triethoxysilane with β‐naphthol and benzaldehyde. Their application as a novel magnetic nanocatalyst in the Knoevenagel condensation and also application to immobilization of palladium nanoparticles for Suzuki coupling reactions have been investigated which opens a new field for application of Betti base derivatives in organic transformations. The synthesized inorganic–organic hybrid nanocatalyst has been fully been characterized using Fourier transform infrared, X‐ray diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometry, transmission and scanning electron microscopies, energy‐dispersive X‐ray, wavelength‐dispersive X‐ray and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopies and inductively coupled plasma techniques. The catalyst was easily separated with the assistance of an external magnet from the reaction mixture and reused for several consecutive runs with no significant loss of its catalytic efficiency. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficient organocatalytic α-sulfenylation of substituted piperazine-2,5-diones

Organocatalytic α-sulfenylation of substituted piperazine-2,5-diones is reported through the use of cinchona alkaloids as Lewis bases and electrophilic sulfur transfer reagents. 1-Phenylsulfanyl[1,2,4]triazole, a novel sulfur transfer reagent, gave excellent product yields with a number of substituted piperazine-2,5-diones under mild conditions. Catalyst loading, stoichiometry of sulfur electrophile, temperature, and solvent were optimized to achieve high product yields.     

On the equality of interfacial and critical composition

It is shown that interfacial composition of the liquid–liquid interfaces is equal to the critical composition. The idea has been rigorously proven for binary regular solutions and has been reasonably supported for non-regular multicomponents, making use of the experimental mutual solubility data and the available information on titration, pulsed gradient spin-echo NMR, and differential scanning calorimetry of some W/O and O/W microemulsions. Using this finding, we, moreover, developed a simple equation for prediction of plait point concentration, having known just one tie-line data. The equation suggests a simple consistency test for measured solubility data, which is shown reliable for a large number of ternary systems. A molecular dynamic simulation also has been performed to support the idea.     

Pseudo four-component synthesis of benzopyranopyrimidines

An efficient and simple method for the synthesis of new benzopyranopyrimidines via a pseudo four-component reaction of salicylic aldehydes, malononitrile and various amines in the presence of a catalytic amount of LiClO₄ is reported. The advantages of this procedure are mild reaction conditions, high yields of products and operational simplicity.     

THE APPLICATION OF N,N′DIBROMO-N,N′-1,2-ETHANEDIYL BIS(P-TOLUENESULFONAMIDE) AS A POWERFUL REAGENT FOR CONVERSION OF CARBOXYLIC ACIDS INTO ESTERS AND AMIDES WITH TRIPHENYLPHOSPHINE

In the presence of equivalent amounts of triphenylphenylphosphine and N,N′-dibromo-N,N′-1,2-ethanediylbis(p-toluenesulphonamide) ester and amide compounds can be generated in high yields from the corresponding carboxylic acid and alcohols or amines.