From the study of naturally occurring N-allylated phenazines towards new Pd-mediated transformations

New Pd-mediated reductive heteroannulations of N-allyl diphenylamines accessible through Pd-catalyzed N-arylation and of O-allylethers are reported.     

Photon transport with a localized source in locally convex spaces

This paper deals with the study of a mathematical model of photon transport in an interstellar cloud where a localized source is present. The source is represented by a Dirac delta functional. The problem is studied in the setting of locally convex spaces. By means of the theory of semigroups on locally convex spaces and the adjoint approach, we prove existence and uniqueness of the solution. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aqueous nonionic copolymer-functionalized laponite clay. A thermodynamic and spectrophotometric study to characterize its behavior toward an organic material

The affinity of functionalized Laponite clay toward an organic material in the aqueous phase was explored. Functionalization was performed by using triblock copolymers based on ethylene oxide (EO) and propylene oxide (PO) units that are EO(11)PO(16)EO(11) (L35) and PO(8)EO(23)PO(8) (10R5). Phenol (PhOH) was chosen as organic compound, which represents a contaminant prototype. To this purpose, densities and enthalpies of mixing as well as PhOH UV-absorption spectra were determined. The enthalpy and the spectrophotometry revealed PhOH-Laponite interactions whereas the volume did not. It emerged that the area occupied by PhOH on the Laponite surface is equal to that computed from the partial molar volume of PhOH in water, corroborating the insensitivity of the experimental volumes to the adsorption process. The situation where both PhOH and copolymer are simultaneously present in the aqueous Laponite suspension was also investigated. It turned out that the copolymer replaces PhOH from the water/Laponite clay interface, resulting in L35 being the more efficient. Moreover, the lateral copolymer-phenol interactions enhance the anchoring of PhOH to the solid surface. The reverse copolymer exercises the most important relevant effect. The UV-absorption spectra of PhOH in the water + copolymer + Laponite mixtures provided information that is consistent with those given by the calorimetric experiments. In conclusion, the aqueous copolymer-functionalized Laponite presents surface properties very different from the bare Laponite, favoring the removal of the organic compound from the solid surface.     

Aqueous block copolymer-surfactant mixtures and their ability in solubilizing chlorinated organic compounds. A thermodynamic and SANS study

Within the topic of surfactant enhanced solubilization of additives sparingly soluble in water, volumetric, solubility, conductivity, and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiments on mixtures composed of alpha,omega-dichloroalkane, surfactant, copolymer, and water were carried out at 298 K. The triblock copolymers (ethylene oxide)132(propylene oxide)50(ethylene oxide)132 (F108) and (ethylene oxide)76(propylene oxide)29(ethylene oxide)76 (F68) were chosen to investigate the role of the molecular weight keeping constant the hydrophilic/hydrophobic ratio. The selected surfactants are sodium decanoate (NaDec) and decyltrimethylammonium bromide (DeTAB) with comparable hydrophobicity and different charged heads. The alpha,omega-dichloroalkanes were chosen as contaminant prototypes. For the water + surfactant + copolymer mixtures, both the volume and the SANS results straightforwardly evidenced that (1) monomers of NaDec and copolymer unimers generate small mixed aggregates, (2) monomers of DeTAB combined with copolymer unimers do not form aggregates, and (3) unimeric copolymer is solubilized into NaDec and DeTAB micelles. The alpha,omeaga-dichloroalkanes presence induces the F108 aggregation even at very low copolymer composition. The addition of surfactant disintegrates the F108 aggregates and, consequently, the additive is expelled into the aqueous phase. Once F108 is in the unimeric state, it forms copolymer-micelle aggregates which incorporate the oil. In the case of F68 both the volumetric and the SANS data reveal that the additive does not alter the copolymer unimeric state. Moreover, they show that for the aqueous DeTAB-F68 system the additive trapping in both the copolymer-micelle aggregate and the pure micelles takes place being enhanced in the former aggregate in agreement with solubility experiments. For the NaDec-F68 mixtures, an additional solubilization process in the premicellar copolymer-surfactant microstructures occurs. SANS and conductivity data show that the additive incorporation into the mixed and the pure micelles does not essentially influence the structural properties of the aggregates.     

Applications of B‐bounded nonlinear semigroups to particle transport problems

In this paper we study an application of nonlinear B‐bounded semigroups introduced in a previous paper. The application is similar to the particle transport problem which led to B‐bounded linear semigroups. We deal with a nonlinear particle transport problem, which can be solved by using B‐bounded nonlinear semigroups. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heuristics for container loading of furniture

We consider a container loading problem that occurs at a typical furniture manufacturer. Each furniture item has an associated profit. Given container dimensions and a set of furniture items, the problem is to determine a subset of items with maximal profit sum that is loadable in the container. In the studied company, the problem arises hundreds of times daily during transport planning. Instances may contain more than one hundred different items with irregular shapes. To solve this complex problem we apply a set of heuristics successively that each solve one part of the problem. Large items are combined in specific structures to ensure proper protection of the items during transportation and to simplify the problem. The solutions generated by the heuristic has an average loading utilization of 91.3% for the most general instances with average running times around 100 seconds.     

A Volumetric Study of Water–Decyltrimethylanimonium Bromide–Pentanol Ternary System from 25 to 130°C at 2 and 19 MPa

Density measurements on decyltrimethylammonium bromide (DeTAB)–water and pentanol (PentOH)–DeTAB–water systems as functions of both alcohol and surfactant m _S concentrations were carried out at 2 and 19 MPa from 25 to 130°C. From experimental data for the water–DeTAB binary system, the standard (infinite dilution) partial molar volumes, expansibilities, and compressibilities of DeTAB, and the corresponding properties in the micellar phase are calculated. The trends of the standard partial molar volumes of PentOH V _R ^o in DeTAB micellar solutions as functions of m _S reflect the transfer of PentOH from the aqueous to the micellar phase, except at 130°C and 19 MPa. On the basis of an equation previously used, the distribution constant of PentOH between the aqueous and the micellar phases and the standard partial molar volume of alcohol in the aqueous and the micellar phases are obtained from V _R ^o data. Comparisons with data for PentOH in dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide are made.     

Standard partial molar volumes of alcohols in aqueous dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide solutions

Density measurements of water-dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB)-alcohol ternary systems as a function of alcohol and surfactant concentrations were carried out at 25°C. The alcohols were propanol (PrOH), 2-propanol (2-PrOH) and hexanol (HexOH). The apparent molar volume V_,R of alcohols have been calculated and the standard (infinite dilution) partial molar volumes of alcohols V _R at each surfactant concentration were obtained by means of a least squares fit of V_,R vs. the alcohol concentration. The V _R vs. surfactant concentration curves have been rationalized in terms of the partial molar volume of alcohol in the aqueous V _f and the micellar V _b phases and the distribution constant of alcohol between the aqueous and the micellar phases K. The V _b values for PrOH and HexOH together with those of butanol and pentanol previously reported satisfy the additivity rule giving a methylene group contribution of 16.7 cm³-mol^–1 which is identical to that reported in the literature from the study of pure liquid alcohols. No difference between V _b for PrOH and 2-PrOH has been found. From density data of water-alcohol and water-surfactant binary systems and of water-surfactant-alcohol ternary system, the apparent molar volume of the surfactant in the water-alcohol mixed solvent V_,S have been calculated as a function of the surfactant concentration and of the mixed solvent composition. The effect of the alkyl chain length of the alcohols and the effect of isomerization of the alcohols on the V_,S vs. surfactant concentration trends have been analyzed.