4‐Aminopyridinium 2‐(anthracen‐9‐yl)‐3‐oxo‐3H‐inden‐1‐olate monohydrate

The title compound, 2C₅H₇N₂⁺·2C₂₃H₁₃O₂⁻·H₂O, formed as a by‐product in the attempted synthesis of a nonlinear optical candidate molecule, contains two independent 4‐aminopyridinium cations and 2‐(anthracen‐9‐yl)‐3‐oxo‐3H‐inden‐1‐olate anions with one solvent water molecule. This is the first reported structure containing these anions. The two anions are not planar, having different interplanar angles between the anthracenyl and inden‐1‐olate moieties of 59.07 (5) and 83.92 (5)°. The crystal packing, which involves strong classical hydrogen bonds and one C—H...π interaction, appears to account for both the nonplanarity and this difference.     

Superstructure formation and variation in Ni-GDC cermet anodes in SOFC

The microstructures and spatial distributions of constituent elements at the anode in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have been characterized by analytical transmission electron microscopy (TEM). High resolution TEM observations demonstrate two different types of superstructure formation in grain interiors and at grain boundaries. Energy-filtered TEM elemental imaging qualitatively reveals that mixture zones exist at metal-ceramic grain boundaries, which is also quantitatively verified by STEM energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. It was apparent that both metallic Ni and the rare-earth elements Ce/Gd in gadolinium-doped ceria can diffuse into each other with equal diffusion lengths (about 100 nm). This will lead to the existence of mutual diffusion zones at grain boundaries, accompanied by a change in the valence state of the diffusing ions, as identified by electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). Such mutual diffusion is believed to be the dominant factor that gives rise to superstructure formation at grain boundaries, while a different superstructure is formed at grain interiors, as a consequence solely of the reduction of Ce(4+) to Ce(3+) during H(2) treatment. This work will enhance the fundamental understanding of microstructural evolution at the anode, correlating with advancements in sample preparation in order to improve the performance of SOFC anodes.     

Kinetics of the reversible reaction of CO2(aq) with ammonia in aqueous solution

The kinetics of the interactions of aqueous ammonia with aqueous carbon dioxide/carbonate species has been investigated using stopped-flow techniques by monitoring the pH changes via indicators. The reactions include the reversible formation of ammonium carbamate/carbamic acid. A complete reaction mechanism has been established, and the temperature dependence of all rate and equilibrium constants including the protonation constant of the amine between 15 and 45 °C are reported and analyzed in terms of Arrhenius, Eyring, and van't Hoff relationships.     

A backward euler orthogonal spline collocation method for the time‐fractional Fokker–Planck equation

We formulate and analyze a novel numerical method for solving a time‐fractional Fokker–Planck equation which models an anomalous subdiffusion process. In this method, orthogonal spline collocation is used for the spatial discretization and the time‐stepping is done using a backward Euler method based on the L1 approximation to the Caputo derivative. The stability and convergence of the method are considered, and the theoretical results are supported by numerical examples, which also exhibit superconvergence. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 31: 1534–1550, 2015     

Activated Ion ETD Performed in a Modified Collision Cell on a Hybrid QLT-Oribtrap Mass Spectrometer

We describe the implementation and characterization of activated ion electron transfer dissociation (AI-ETD) on a hybrid QLT-Orbitrap mass spectrometer. AI-ETD was performed using a collision cell that was modified to enable ETD reactions, in addition to normal collisional activation. The instrument manifold was modified to enable irradiation of ions along the axis of this modified cell with IR photons from a CO₂ laser. Laser power settings were optimized for both charge (z) and mass to charge (m/z) and the instrument control firmware was updated to allow for automated adjustments to the level of irradiation. This implementation of AI-ETD yielded 1.6-fold more unique identifications than ETD in an nLC-MS/MS analysis of tryptic yeast peptides. Furthermore, we investigated the application of AI-ETD on large scale analysis of phosphopeptides, where laser power aids ETD, but can produce b- and y-type ions because of the phosphoryl moiety’s high IR adsorption. nLC-MS/MS analysis of phosphopeptides derived from human embryonic stem cells using AI-ETD yielded 2.4-fold more unique identifications than ETD alone, demonstrating a promising advance in ETD sequencing of PTM containing peptides.

A facile large scale synthesis of optically active 3-amino-5-(2-pyridyl)-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one derivatives

A facile method for the synthesis of 3-amino-5-(2-pyridyl)-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones (8) mediated by benzotriazole is described. The synthesis and optical resolution of the product by fractional crystallisation proceeds in high yield, under mild conditions and without recourse to toxic reagents or chromatographic separations and hence is amenable to the large scale preparation of these important precursors to potent CCK receptor ligands.     

Kinetic and thermodynamic evaluation of the reversible N-heterocyclic carbene-isothiocyanate coupling reaction: applications in latent catalysis

Using stopped flow and other spectroscopic techniques, the thermodynamic parameters of the coupling reaction between 1,3-dimesitylimidazolylidene and phenyl isothiocyanate were determined (H(o) = -96.1 kJ mol(-1) and ΔS(o) = -39.6 J mol(-1) K(-1)). On the basis of these data which indicated that the reaction was reversible (K(eq) = 5.94 × 10(14) M(-1) at 25 °C; k(f) = 252 M(-1) s(-1); k(r) = 4.24 × 10(-13) s(-1)), the adduct formed from the two aforementioned coupling partners was used as a latent catalyst to facilitate the [2 + 2 + 2] cyclotrimerization of phenyl isocyanate and the polymerization of DL-lactide.     

Investigating the imidazolium–anion interaction through the anion-templated construction of interpenetrated and interlocked assemblies

The interaction between imidazolium cations and coordinating anions is investigated through the anion‐templated assembly of interpenetrated and interlocked structures. The orientation of the imidazolium motif with respect to anion binding, and hence the hydrogen bond donor arrangement, was varied in acyclic receptors, interpenetrated assemblies, and the first mono‐imidazolium interlocked systems. Their anion recognition properties and co‐conformations were studied by solution‐phase ¹H NMR investigations, solid‐state structures, molecular dynamics simulations, and density functional theory calculations. Our findings suggest that the imidazolium‐anion binding interaction is dominated by electrostatics with hydrogen‐bonding contributions having weak orientational dependence.     

Stimulus-responsive self-assembly: reversible, redox-controlled micellization of polyferrocenylsilane diblock copolymers

In depth studies of the use of electron transfer reactions as a means to control the self-assembly of diblock copolymers with an electroactive metalloblock are reported. Specifically, the redox-triggered self-assembly of a series of polystyrene-block-polyferrocenylsilane (PS-b-PFS) diblock copolymers in dichloromethane solution is described. In the case of the amorphous polystyrene(n)-b-poly(ferrocenylphenylmethylsilane)(m) diblock copolymers (PS(n)-b-PFMPS(m): n = 548, m = 73; n = 71, m = 165; where n and m are the number-averaged degrees of polymerization), spherical micelles with an oxidized PFS core and a PS corona were formed upon oxidation of more than 50% of the ferrocenyl units by [N(C(6)H(4)Br-4)(3)][SbX(6)] (X = Cl, F). Analogous block copolymers containing a poly(ferrocenylethylmethylsilane) (PFEMS) metalloblock, which has a lower glass transition temperature, behaved similarly. However, in contrast, on replacement of the amorphous metallopolymer blocks by semicrystalline poly(ferrocenyldimethylsilane) (PFDMS) segments, a change in the observed morphology was detected with the formation of ribbon-like micelles upon oxidation of PS(535)-b-PFDMS(103) above the same threshold value. Again the coronas consisted of fully solvated PS and the core consisted of partially to fully oxidized PFS associated with the counteranions. When oxidation was performed with [N(C(6)H(4)Br-4)(3)][SbF(6)], reduction of the cores of the spherical or ribbon-like micelles with [Co(η-C(5)Me(5))(2)] enabled full recovery of the neutral chains and no significant chain scission was detected.