Behaviour of a binary solvent mixture constituted by an amphiphilic ionic liquid, 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide and water Potentiometric and conductimetric studies

We investigated the properties of 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide (DMImBr), a molten salt at room temperature, and its mixtures with water in the whole proportions.At low concentrations, this salt behaved like a classical cationic amphiphile. Its critical micellar concentration (cmc) was determined by conductimetry and by measuring electromotive forces (EMF) with bromide or cationic surfactant-selective electrodes. Moreover, the association rate of the counter ion to micelle has been determined on a wide range of concentrations, allowing characterising the micellisation equilibrium by a solubility product.The conductivity of this liquid electrolyte in mixtures with water was maximal at high concentrations. We modelled this behaviour, taking into account the molar volume fraction of both phases.Our results show that these solutions, which are composed of dispersed aggregates, behave like mixtures of two phases that interpenetrate themselves.     

The role of hydrogen bonding in the crystal structures of zinc phosphate hydrates

The compounds alpha- and beta-hopeite have been synthesised by hydrothermal crystallisation from aqueous solution at 90 degrees C and 20 degrees C, respectively. The crystal structures of these polymorphic forms of zinc phosphate tetrahydrate (ZPT), Zn(3)(PO(4))(2).4 H(2)O, have been resolved. Single-crystal analysis proves that the main difference between the alpha and beta forms of ZPT is caused by the difference in orientation of one of the water molecules in the ZnO(6) octahedral network, indicating two different hydrogen-bonding patterns. A previously unknown hopeite, Zn(3)(HPO(4))(3).3 H(2)O (ZHPT), has been isolated and analysed. This helps to achieve a better understanding of the mechanism of formation of zinc phosphate compounds. Unambiguous identification of each phase is established by analysis of their unique thermal behaviour and thermodynamic interrelationship.     

Probing ionic association on metal oxide clusters by pulsed field gradient NMR spectroscopy: the example of Sn12-oxo clusters

Pulsed field gradient (1)H NMR spectroscopy has been applied to investigate the association behavior of the Sn(12)-oxo cluster macrocation [(BuSn)(12)O(14)(OH)(6)](2+) with two different and smaller anions, p-toluenesulfonate (PTS(-)) and diphenylphosphinate (Ph(2)PO(2) (-)). By monitoring the translational diffusion coefficients of the various species involved, it is shown that the association depends on the anion involved and on the solvent used. Moreover, the possibility to individually monitor the diffusion characteristics of multiple anionic and cationic species in mixtures, by virtue of resolved (1)H resonances available from each species, allows us to evidence the occurrence of ion exchange in such systems. Thus when [(BuSn)(12)O(14)(OH)(6)](PTS)(2) is mixed with two equivalents of Ph(2)PO(2)NMe(4), PTS(-) is displaced by Ph(2)PO(2) (-), highlighting the greater affinity of the organotin macrocation for the diphenylphosphinate. This example clearly illustrates the potential of pulsed field gradient (1)H NMR spectroscopy in inorganic/organometallic chemistry, to follow preferential ion pairing in multi-ion systems at the level of each individually charged species.     

Asymmetric synthesis of the AB ring system of lactonamycin

[reaction: see text] An enantiospecific synthesis of the AB fragment of lactonamycin (5) is achieved in eight steps from dimethyl D-tartrate. Ester enolate chemistry features prominently in the sequence.     

Enhanced two-photon absorption with novel octupolar propeller-shaped fluorophores derived from triphenylamine

[structure: see text] Novel octupolar fluorophores derived from the symmetrical functionalization of a triphenylamine core with strong acceptor peripheral groups via phenylene-ethynylene linkers have been synthesized and shown to exhibit high fluorescence quantum yields, very large TPA cross-sections in the red-NIR region, and suitable photostability.     

Full orthogonality between Dde and Fmoc: the direct synthesis of PNA--peptide conjugates

New deprotection conditions for the Dde amine protecting group that are fully orthogonal to Fmoc are described and successfully applied to the dual synthesis of PNA-peptide conjugates.     

Triterpenoid saponins from leaves of Hedera pastuchowii

Five new triterpenoid saponins, pastuchoside A (1), B (3), C (5), D (7) and E (9), were isolated from the leaves of Hedera pastuchowii. They have oleanolic acid or hederagenin as aglycone. The structures were established by NMR spectroscopy including gs (gradient selected)-COSY, gs-HSQC, gs-HSQC-TOCSY and gs-HMBC experiments, and mass spectrometry (ESI-HR-MS). Heptaoside saponins, compounds 1 and 3, are described for the first time in the genus Hedera.     

Modeling continuous aqueous two-phase systems for control purposes

A mathematical model was proposed to allow the analysis of steady-state and transient behaviors of single-stage continuous aqueous two-phase systems. Since the complete system of simultaneous equations contains more equations than unknown variables, a program based on the method of least squares was developed to solve the problem. The methodology was tested using a system composed of thaumatin, sodium chloride, and a contaminant protein. A poly(ethylene-glycol)/phosphate salt/water system was selected to isolate the thaumatin. For the steady-state and transient operations, a constrained optimization procedure--from the Matlab Optimization Toolbox (MathWork, Inc.)--was implemented after recasting the system of equations as a minimization problem. Euler's method was used in the transient case to discretize the differential equations. The steady-state concentrations agreed with published data. An input-output model based on a 4% step change decrease in the inlet stream flow rate showed that output variables such as concentrations of sodium chloride and phosphate salt settled to their final values in different time periods. The proposed analysis may be helpful in the dynamic control of large-scale commercial extractor units using advanced control schemes.     

Comparison of Simple Particle-Radiation Coupling Models Applied on a Plasma Black Process

The effect of soot formation on the radiative heat transfer inside a plasma reactor for carbon black synthesis has been modelled. For this purpose, three methods to quantify the soot volume fraction have been tested and evaluated: (1) Assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium, (2) assuming instantaneous conversion of the hydrocarbon and (3) using a single-step soot model. These approaches have been studied using a two-dimensional axis-symmetric and a three-dimensional steady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model based on the commercial software FLUENT (v.5.6). The CFD model includes turbulence effects (by standard k– model), an electric arc sub-model to describe the time-average and spatial-average Lorentz forces and ohmic heating generated by the three-phase power-supply, methane transport in a nitrogen plasma and radiation calculations. The calculations show that for the simulated operating conditions the resulting temperature distributions obtained are very similar with the three methods in spite of major differences in the treatment of particle formation in the different methods.