FORECASTING MINERAL SUPPLY FROM MINERAL RENT DATA

An optimal control model of exhaustible resources is used to clarify the long run relationship between mineral rent and depletion cost at the industry level. A standard first order condition of the time rate of change of rents is reformulated to reveal that rent data may be used to help forecast the rise in extraction costs resulting from resource depletion. This application of the theory of exhaustible resources is illustrated using historical mineral industry rent and extraction cost data. A forecast of U.S. coal extraction costs, following the method proposed in this paper, suggests that future rates of extraction cost increases will be similar to rates experienced in the past.     

Resonance enhanced three-photon absorption of molecular iodine

D ← X resonance enhanced three-photon excitation spectrum of iodine was observed by a cw intracavity absorption technique. Vibrational quantum numbers of D ← X transitions are given for every major spectral feature. The corresponding one-photon enhancement from the B state is evident from the one-photon vibrational assignment. The spectroscopic constants for the D state are v₀₀ = 40 998 cm^?1 ω′₀ = 113 cm^?1 and ω′₀χ′₀ = 0.045 cm^?.     

Carbon-bound diazeniumdiolates from the reaction of nitric oxide with amidines

[reaction: see text] The enediamine tautomer of a variety of substituted amidine free bases reacts with nitric oxide (NO) to produce compounds containing a carbon-bound diazeniumdiolate [R1R2R3C-N(O)=NO-] functional group (previously called "nitrosohydroxylamines"). The new reaction has been shown to be quite general, although the nature of the products does vary. Amidines containing more than one replaceable hydrogen produce polydiazeniumdiolates as intermolecular salts, while those in which only one diazeniumdiolation can occur provide zwitterionic salts. These diazeniumdiolated amidines are shown to be useful NO donor compounds which undergo very slow spontaneous dissociation on dissolution in pH 7.4 phosphate buffer to produce mixtures of NO and nitrous oxide containing mostly NO. The most advantageous manifestation of the new discovery is the preparation of the monodiazeniumdiolated amidine zwitterions. Reaction of the medically relevant alpha-adrenergic agonists tetrahydrozoline and idazoxan produced monodiazeniumdiolated amidine zwitterions from which NO release was observed for up to 28 days and showed little sign of ending. The reaction should be applicable to a variety of pharmaceutical agents, including NO synthase inhibitors, antitumor agents, and antibacterials.     

Electrode processes in the oxidation of tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives

The electrochemical oxidation of the alkaloid laudanosine (Ia) to O-methylflavinantine (II) has been studied in acetonitrile solvent. Using cyclic voltammetry, rotating disc voltammetry and preparative electrolyses on several alkaloids, simple aliphatic amines and aromatic compounds, some aspects of the mechanism of this coupling reaction are elucidated. The first anodic wave for laudanosine at platinum has E_p=0.55 V vs. Ag/Ag⁺. The electrode rapidly becomes partially passivated at potentials above 0.5 V. This is due to a film which “dissolves” below 0.5 V, at a rate independent of the potential. It is shown that the reaction (Ia)→(II) proceeds at 0.5 V by initial oxidation of the amine moiety. If acids such as sodium bicarbonate are added to the anolyte the amine is protonated causing the first wave to disappear. Oxidation at 1.1 V under these acidic conditions produces the same product, but more rapidly and in significantly higher yield because electrode filming and side reactions resulting from the amine oxidation are abrogated.     

Longitudinal nuclear relaxation measurements in hcp H2

Measurements of T₁ in the hep phase of H₂, over the temperature range 2°–12°K and the ortho concentration range between 0.5 and 0.97 are presented. At temperatures below 10°K, the thermally activated self-diffusion is negligible and the mechanism for nuclear relaxation is that attributed by Moryia and Motizuki and by Harris to intramolecular dipolar interaction, modulated by intennolecular electric quadrupole-quadrupole (EQQ) interaction. The gaussian approximation for the correlation function was used by these authors to predict T₁. From the comparison between experiment and theory, we determine the EQQ parameter Γ/k_B to be 0.67°K. Above 10°K the effect of diffusion influences T₁, and the experimental results for an 88 per cent ortho H₂ sample up to the melting point suggest that the relaxation mechanisms resulting from EQQ interaction and diffusion are not independent of one another.     

Polarity effects on wavelength dependence of the fluorescence quantum yield for indole

The change in fluorescence quantum yield for indole as a function of excitation wavelength between 250 and 220 nm is found to vary with the static dielectric constant of various alcohol—water mixtures at 296 K. The supports the intermediacy of a CTTS state in the photoionization process.     

Mass spectral study of ring E of taraxasterol and compounds with similar ring substitution

The origin of the [M–69]⁺ and [M–111]⁺ signals in the mass spectrum of taraxasterol was studied through the use of C(18), (19), (21), (22) and/or (30) deuteriated derivatives. The generality of these signals for ring systems with an exocyclic methylene group and a methyl moiety on an adjacent carbon was verified with 2-methylmethylenecyclohexane, 1-methyl-2-methylene-trans-decalin, 1,10-dimethyl-2-methylene-trans-decalin and some of their deuteriated derivatives. The most plausible mechanism for the formation of the [M–69]⁺ ion appears to involve cleavage of both bonds allylic to the exocyclic methylene group with a 1,3-hydrogen transfer from the adjacent ring. Genesis of the [M–111]⁺ ion is more complicated but a five-membered allylic ion generated from ring D is proposed.     

Separation of aromatic compounds on pellicular anion-exchange resins

Aromatic compounds including phenols, carboxylic acids and aldehydes, can be rapidly separated on pellicular anion-exchange resins in the acetate form by elution with a sodium acetate solution. Like the aromatic carboxylic acids, hydroxybenzaldehydes are held as counter ions in the resin. The affinity of the resin for corresponding anions as well as that for sorbed non-electrolytes is largely influenced by the aromatic ring and non-polar aliphatic substituents. Formation of hydrogen bonds between the resin and phenolic groups is less important.