Micellization of sodium dodecyl sulfate and polyoxyethylene dodecyl ethers in solution

The effect of polyoxyethylene type nonionic surfactants (C₁₂E _n n = 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8) on the aqueous solution of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in absence and presence of NaCl was examined using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and viscosity measurements. Upon addition of C₁₂E _n , micellar size of SDS was found to increase significantly, and such micellar elongation was further enhanced in the presence of NaCl. Micellar growth is most significant in presence of shorter moieties of C₁₂E _n (e.g., n = 3, 4) as compared to higher ethereal oxygen content. The results of structural investigations with SANS and DLS to confirm this assumption are reported. The cloud point of C₁₂E _n has increased upon addition of SDS and decrease with NaCl, and a typical behavior is observed when both SDS and NaCl were present.     

HAXPES beamline PES‐BL14 at the Indus‐2 synchrotron radiation source

The Hard X‐ray Photo‐Electron Spectroscopy (HAXPES) beamline (PES‐BL14), installed at the 1.5 T bending‐magnet port at the Indian synchrotron (Indus‐2), is now available to users. The beamline can be used for X‐ray photo‐emission electron spectroscopy measurements on solid samples. The PES beamline has an excitation energy range from 3 keV to 15 keV for increased bulk sensitivity. An in‐house‐developed double‐crystal monochromator [Si (111)] and a platinum‐coated X‐ray mirror are used for the beam monochromatization and manipulation, respectively. This beamline is equipped with a high‐energy (up to 15 keV) high‐resolution (meV) hemispherical analyzer with a microchannel plate and CCD detector system with SpecsLab Prodigy and CasaXPS software. Additional user facilities include a thin‐film laboratory for sample preparation and a workstation for on‐site data processing. In this article, the design details of the beamline, other facilities and some recent scientific results are described.     

Synthesis,spectral characterization,and single crystal structure studies of biologically relevant bis-indoline heterocyclic scaffold

The new biologically relevant compound, 5,5″-methoxy-1′-methyl-1H,1″H-[3,3′:3′,3″-terindol]-2′(1′H)-one was synthesized, in 89% yield, by the one-pot reaction between 5-methoxyindole and 1-methylisatin in the presence of a low-cost and environmentally benign commercially available sulfamic acid as an organocatalyst and have been characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectra, and single crystal X-ray analysis. The crystals are orthorhombic, sp. gr. Pbca, Z = 8. The structure is stabilized by N–H···O and C–H···O interactions.     

Deformation Theory of Dialgebras

We develop deformation theory of (associative) dialgebras and show that perturbation of algebraic structures of a dialgebra is controlled by the dialgebra cohomology.     

In situ UV-vis-NIR diffuse reflectance and Raman spectroscopy and catalytic activity studies of propane oxidative dehydrogenation over supported CrO3/ZrO2 catalysts

The molecular structures, oxidation states, and reactivity of 3 and 6% CrO3/ZrO2 catalysts prepared by incipient wetness impregnation were examined under different conditions. The in situ Raman spectroscopic studies under dehydrated conditions reveal that the 3 and 6% CrO3/ZrO2 catalysts possess equal amounts of monochromate and polychromate species. Consequently, monolayer coverage on this ZrO2 support is about 3% CrO3. The 6% CrO3/ZrO2 possesses an additional Raman band due to Cr2O3 crystals corresponding to the remaining 3% CrO3. Furthermore, during reaction conditions the polychromate species is preferentially reduced, the monochromate species are slightly affected, and the Cr2O3 crystals are not affected. The in situ UV-vis-NIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy results reveal that under steady-state reaction conditions the extent of reduction and edge energy position of surface Cr6+ cations increase with an increase in reduction environment for the 3 and 6% CrO3/ZrO2 samples. Propane oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) studies reveal that the catalytic activity expressed in moles of propane converted per gram catalyst per second is similar for the two catalysts, which is consistent with equal amounts of molecularly dispersed chromia present. The turnover frequency for the 6% CrO3/ZrO2 catalyst is, however, smaller than that for the 3% CrO3/ZrO2 sample due to the presence of Cr2O3 crystals, which are relatively inactive for propane ODH. For this catalytic system and for the experimental conditions used, propene, CO, and CO2 are primary products. Furthermore, the 33-39% propene selectivity is not affected by the C3H8/O2 ratio for both catalysts. Structure-reactivity studies suggest that the molecularly dispersed species are present in equal amounts in the 3 and 6% CrO3/ZrO2 samples as Cr6+ monochromate and polychromate species are the most effective catalytic active sites taking part in the propane ODH reaction.     

2,5-Dioxido-1,4-benzoquinonediimine (H2L2-), a hydrogen-bonding noninnocent bridging ligand related to aminated topaquinone: different oxidation state distributions in complexes [{(bpy)2Ru}2(mu-H2L)]n (n=0,+,2+,3+,4+) and [{(acac)2Ru}2(mu-H2L)]m (m=2-,-,0,+,2+)

The symmetrically dinuclear title compounds were isolated as diamagnetic [(bpy)2Ru(mu-H2L)Ru(bpy)2](ClO4)2 (1-(ClO4)2) and as paramagnetic [(acac)2Ru(mu-H2L)Ru(acac)2] (2) complexes (bpy=2,2'-bipyridine; acac- = acetylacetonate = 2,4-pentanedionato; H2L = 2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzoquinonediimine). The crystal structure of 22 H2O reveals an intricate hydrogen-bonding network: Two symmetry-related molecules 2 are closely connected through two NH(H2L2-)O(acac-) interactions, while the oxygen atoms of H2L2- of two such pairs are bridged by an (H2O)8 cluster at half-occupancy. The cluster consists of cyclic (H2O)6 arrangements with the remaining two exo-H2O molecules connecting two opposite sides of the cyclo-(H2O)6 cluster, and oxido oxygen atoms forming hydrogen bonds with the molecules of 2. Weak antiferromagnetic coupling of the two ruthenium(III) centers in 2 was established by using SQUID magnetometry and EPR spectroscopy. Geometry optimization by means of DFT calculations was carried out for 1(2+) and 2 in their singlet and triplet ground states, respectively. The nature of low-energy electronic transitions was explored by using time-dependent DFT methods. Five redox states were reversibly accessible for each of the complexes; all odd-electron intermediates exhibit comproportionation constants K(c)>10(8). UV-visible-NIR spectroelectrochemistry and EPR spectroscopy of the electrogenerated paramagnetic intermediates were used to ascertain the oxidation-state distribution. In general, the complexes 1n+ prefer the ruthenium(II) configuration with electron transfer occurring largely at the bridging ligand (mu-H2Ln-), as evident from radical-type EPR spectra for 13+ and (+. Higher metal oxidation states (iii, iv) appear to be favored by the complexes 2m; intense long-wavelength absorption bands and RuIII-type EPR signals suggest mixed-valent dimetal configurations of the paramagnetic intermediates 2+ and 2-.     

The triruthenium complex [[(acac)2Ru(II)]3(L)] containing a conjugated diquinoxaline[2,3-a:2',3'-c]phenazine (L) bridge and acetylacetonate (acac) as ancillary ligands. Synthesis, spectroelectrochemical and EPR investigation

The compound [[(acac)2Ru]3(L)] (1) undergoes three well-separated one-electron oxidation and reduction processes. The EPR results indicate electron removal from the ruthenium(II) centres on oxidation and the occupation of a largely L-based molecular orbital on reduction. In spite of well-separated (DeltaE > or = 340 mV) oxidation no obvious intervalence charge transfer bands were detected in the Vis, NIR or IR regions, suggesting very weak electronic coupling between the metal centres in the mixed-valent intermediates 1+ and 1(2+). The separated (DeltaE > or = 540 mV) stepwise reduction produces weak near-infrared features associated with partially occupied pi* orbitals of L, the unusually high g anisotropy in the EPR spectrum of 1- is attributed to the occupation of a degenerate MO by the unpaired electron.     

Mixed valence aspects of diruthenium complexes [((L)ClRu)2(mu-tppz)]n+ incorporating 2-(2-pyridyl)azoles (L) as ancillary functions and 2,3,5,6-tetrakis(2-pyridyl)pyrazine (Tppz) as bis-tridentate bridging ligand

Tppz [2,3,5,6-tetrakis(2-pyridyl)pyrazine]-bridged complexes [((L)ClRu)(2)(mu-tppz)]n+ with structurally similar but electronically different ancillary ligands, 2-(2-pyridyl)azoles (L), were synthesized as diruthenium(II) species. Cyclic voltammetry, EPR of paramagnetic states, and UV-vis-NIR spectroelectrochemistry show that the first two reduction processes occur at the tppz bridge and that oxidation involves mainly the metal centers. The mixed valent intermediates from one-electron oxidation exhibit moderate comproportionation constants 10(4) < K(c) < 10(5) but appear to be valence-averaged according to the Hush criterion. Redox potentials, EPR, and UV-vis-NIR results show the effect of increasing donor strength of the ancillary ligands along the sequence L(1) < L(2) < L(4) < L(3), L(1) = 2-(2-pyridyl)benzoxazole, L(2) = 2-(2-pyridyl)benzthiazole, L(3) = 2-(2-pyridyl)benzimidazolate, L(4) = 1-methyl-2-(2-pyridyl)-1H-benzimidazole. Whereas the mixed valent complexes with L(1) and L(2) remain EPR silent at 4 K, the analogues with L(4) and L(3) exhibit typical ruthenium(III) EPR signals, albeit with some noticeable ligand contribution in the case of the L(3)-containing complex. Intervalence charge transfer (IVCT) bands were found in the visible spectrum for the complex with L(3) but in the near-infrared range (at ca. 1500 nm) for the other systems.     

Kinetics and mechanism of nucleophilic substitution of dichloro{1-methyl-2-(arylazo)imidazole}palladium(II) by pyridine bases

The reaction of dichloro{1-methyl-2-(arylazo)imidazole}palladium(II), Pd(RaaiMe)Cl₂ where RaaiMe = p-R–C₆H₄N=N–C₃H₂N₂-1-Me; R = H(1), Me(2), Cl(3), with pyridine bases [RPY: R = H (a), 4-Me (b), 4-Cl (c), 2-Me (d), 2,6-Me₂ (e), 2,4,6-Me₃ (f)] has been studied spectrophotometrically in MeCN at 451 nm. The products (4) have been isolated and characterised as trans-Pd(RPy)₂Cl₂. The kinetics of the nucleophilic substitution has been examined under pseudo-first-order conditions at 298 K. A single phase reaction step has been observed for bases such as Hpy (a), 4-MePy (b) and 4-ClPy (c) and follows the rate law: rate = (a + k[RPy]²[Pd(RaaiMe)Cl₂]). The bases 2-MePy (d), 2,6-Me₂Py (e) and 2,4,6-Me₃Py (f) exhibits a bi-phasic reaction and follows the rate laws: rate–1 = (a + k[RPy][Pd(RaaiMe)Cl₂]) and rate–2 = (a + k[RPy][Pd(RaaiMe)-Cl₂]), where k is the third-order rate constant; k is the second-order first phase rate constant, k is the second-order second phase rate constant and a/a/a correspond to the solvent dependent constant of the respective reaction path. The rate data supports a nucleophilic association path. External addition of Cl^– (LiCl) suppresses the rate, which follows the order: k/k/k (3) > k/k,k (1) > k/k,k (2). The k values are linearly related to the Hammett constants. The 2-substituted pyridines (d–f) remarkably reduce the rate and show a bi-phasic reaction behaviour as compared with 4-Rpy (a–c). This is attributed to the steric effect that destabilises the transition state. The rate decreases with increasing steric crowding at the ortho-position and follows the order: (d) > (f) > (e). The 4-substituted pyridines control the rate via an inductive effect and follow the order: (b) > (a) > (c).