Mono- and dihydryl-pentafluorosulfur-F-alkanes [1]

The systematic preparation of partially fluorinated pentafluorosulfur alkanes containing no additional halogens is reported. Thus, the indirect addition of “HF” (via KF/formamide) to SF₅CH=CF₂, SF₅CFCF₂, and SF₅C(CF₃)CF₂ produces SF₅CH(in2)CF₃, SF₅CHFCF₃, and SF₅C(CF₃)₂H respectively. The monohydryl-pentafluorosulfur-F- alkanes react readily with S₂O₆F₂ to form the corresponding fluorosulfates by oxidative displacement of hydrogen, while the dihydryl derivative undergoes cleavage to produce F-acetyl fluoride. Efforts to convert some of the new materials to the important but unknown pentafluorosulfur “ketone,” SF₅C(O)CF₃, were unsuccessful.     

Chronocoulometric study of the electrochemistry of Prussian blue

During the electrochemical oxidation of Prussian blue (PB) to Prussian yellow (PY), an electrocatalytic oxygen production proceeds at the electrode when aqueous electrolyte solutions are used. The formed oxygen is scavenged by the PY, probably by absorption, and it is consumed during the electrochemical reduction of PY to PB by a heterogeneous chemical reaction of PB with oxygen to PY and hydrogen peroxide. Because of this catalytic regeneration of PY, it is impossible to determine the amount of low-spin iron by chronocoulometry using a potential program in which PB is first oxidized to PY and then the charge is measured to reduce PY to PB. The latter charge is biased by the electrocatalytic PY regeneration.     

Synthesis and stereochemistry of (3α)-6β,7β-dihydroxy- and 6β-hydroxy-8-alkyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-3-spiro-5′-imidazoline-2′,4′-diones

The synthesis of 6β-hydroxy- and 6β,7β-dihydroxy-8-alkyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-3-spiro-5′-hydantoins was stereoselectively achieved by Bucherer-Bergs reaction of the corresponding ketones. An α configuration on C₃ was proposed for all hydantoins on the basis of spectral data.     

Cohesive energy densities of polyethers: Poly(hexamethylene oxide)

The solubility parameter of poly(hexamethylene oxide) has been estimated by measuring solution viscosities and by turbidimetric titrations in a series of solvents. From both experimental methods, a value of $\text{δ}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>p</mtext>}}\text{= 33.9}\text{J}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{cm}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ ($\text{8.1}\text{cal}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{cm}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$) was obtained, whence the cohesive energy density is 274.5 J cm^?3 (65.6 cal cm^?3). These experimental values are compared with those calculated by empirical methods.     

New aspects of the electroadsorption of ethyl xanthate on copper electrodes

The interaction of the ethyl xanthate (EX) anion with a copper electrode in a borate buffer solution, pH 9.2, has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and measurements of contact angle (CA) under controlled potential. The results obtained allow establishing that, in the potential range from -0.80 and -0.60 V, two parallel reactions were characterized. These reactions were the ethyl xanthate electroadsorption and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). This last reaction has not been described by previous authors. Besides, the EIS measurements show that the mechanism of the HER on copper electrodes is not affected by the presence of a ethyl xanthate species. The EQCM study shows that in the electrodesorption process the departure of each ethyl xanthate species from the copper electrode is accompanied with the simultaneous entry of four to five water molecules. This fact is in accordance with the number of copper atoms involved in the adsorption of one ethyl xanthate species.     

Synthesis and catalytic activity of a fluorous-tagged TEMPO radical

A fluorous-tagged TEMPO radical has been prepared and its catalytic activity in the chemoselective oxidation of alcohols to carbonyl compounds has been investigated. The new fluorous radical proved to be an efficient, selective and easily recoverable catalyst, which can be conveniently used in standard organic solvents and then isolated and recycled by fluorous liquid-liquid extraction.     

Domino reactions of 4,5-dicyanopyridazine with dihydroheterocycles: synthetic and mechanistic features

The title pyridazine 1 was found to react with both 2,3-dihydrofuran (2) and 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyran (9) to give the tetracyclic skeletons 5-8 and the phthalonitrile 12 through the intermediates 4 and 10, respectively. A more complex mechanism was ascertained for the reaction of 1 with the pyrroline 14 which, under suitable conditions, afforded the bicyclic derivative 19 as the predominant product; selective elaborations of this species into the 5,6-dicyanoindoles 22 and 23 are reported.     

Optimisation of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Systems for Complexation of Naproxen : Beta-Cyclodextrin

Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂)offers several attractive scenarios for thepharmaceutical processing as an alternativeto aqueous and organic solvents. In thiswork naproxen, a widely used non steroidalanti-inflammatory drug with analgesic andanti-inflammatory properties, was chosenas a model drug. Its complexation with cyclodextrinsimproves the rate and extent of dissolutionof the drug, increase its rate of absorption and mayreduce the unpleasant side-effects of the drug.The interest in using this supercritical technologyled us to develop an experimental unit for the useof supercritical CO₂ as a processing medium forthe complexation of naproxen with beta cyclodextrin (CD).     

Characterisation of different clones of Picea abies (L.) Karst using head-space sampling of cortical tissues combined with enantioselective capillary gas chromatography for the separation of chiral and non-chiral monoterpenes

Head-space sampling (HS) has been combined with enantioselective gas chromatography (GC) for the analysis of chiral and non-chiral monoterpenes present in the cortical tissues of five different Norway spruce clones. (1S)-(-)-alpha-Pinene, (1S,5S)-(-)sabinene, (1S)-(-)-beta-pinene, and (4S)-(-)limonene dominated over (1R)-(+)-alpha-pinene, (1R,5R)-(+)-sabinene, (1R)-(+)-beta-pinene, and (4R)-(+)-limonene. Results showed a large variation in the enantiomeric composition of cortical tissues between different clones. The development of HS-GC greatly increased the speed of precise analyses of chiral monoterpenes in small samples and therefore offer excellent opportunities in studies on the ecophysiological and chemotaxomic roles of these chiral components.     

Density functional theory study of the mechanism of the proline-catalyzed intermolecular aldol reaction

Transition structures associated with the C-C bond-formation step of the proline-catalyzed intermolecular aldol reaction between acetone and isobutyraldehyde have been studies using density functional theory methods at the B3LYP/6-31G** computational level. A continuum model has been selected to represent solvent effects. For this step, which is the stereocontrolling and rate-determining step, four reactive channels corresponding to the syn and anti arrangement of the active methylene of the enamine relative to the carboxylic acid group of l-proline and the re and si attack modes to both faces of the aldehyde carbonyl group have been analyzed. The B3LYP/6-31G** energies are in good agreement with experiment, allowing us to explain the origin of the catalysis and stereoselectivity for these proline-catalyzed aldol reactions. Received: 2 April 2002 / Accepted: 18 July 2002 / Published online: 11 October 2002 Acknowledgements. This work was supported by research funds provided by the Ministerio de Educación y Cultura of the Spanish Government by DGICYT (project PB98–1429). All the calculations were performed on a Cray–Silicon Graphics Origin 2000 of the Servicio de Informática de la Universidad de Valencia. We are most indebted to this center for providing us with computer capabilities. Correspondence to: L. R. Domingo e-mail: domingo@utopia.uv.es