The structure of new lignans from the seeds of phytolacca americana

From the seeds of Phytolacca americana two new lignans, Americanin B and D, have been isolated and their structures elucidated mainly by spectroscopic methods     

Synthesis of thiadiazoles,triazoles and oxadiazoles from sulfonyl acetic acids via a common route

A new class of five membered heterocycles, thiadiazoles, triazoles and oxadiazoles were prepared from sulfonyl acetic acids via acid hydrazides.     

Reaction of sulphate radical anion (SO<Superscript>.</Superscript><Subscript>4</Subscript><Superscript>-</Superscript>) with hydroxy-and methyl-substituted pyrimidines: a pulse radiolysis study

Reactions of sulphate radical anion (SO·₄ ^-) with 4,6-dihydroxy-2-methyl pyrimidine (DHMP), 2,4-dimethyl-6-hydroxy pyrimidine (DMHP), 6-methyl uracil (MU) and 5,6-dimethyl uracil (DMU) have been studied by pulse radiolysis at pH 3 and at pH 10. The transient intermediate spectra were compared with those from the reaction of hydroxyl radical (·OH). It is proposed that SO·₄ ^- produces radical cations of these pyrimidines in the initial stage. These radical cations are short-lived except in the case of DMHP where a relatively longer lived radical cation is proposed to be formed. When there is a hydrogen atom attached to the N(1) or N(3) position, a deprotonation from these sites is highly favored. When there is no hydrogen attached to these sites, deprotonation from a substituted methyl group is favored. At acidic pH, deprotonation from nitrogen is observed for DHMP, MU and DMU. At basic pH, the radical cation reacts with OH^- leading to the formation of OH adducts.     

Electron impact induced fragmentation of some 1,2,4-triazole derivatives

The mass spectra of eight 1,2,4-triazole derivaties have been recorded and found tao reveal extensive hydrogen and skeletal migrations. The structures of the fragments have been confirmed by deuterium labelling and exact mass measurement. The compounds revealed striking differences in their spectra depending on the nature of the substituents.     

Substitution reactions under NH3 chemical ionization conditions in cis-/trans-1,2-dihydroxybenzosuberans

The nucleophilic substitution reaction under NH₃ chemical ionization (CI) conditions in cis- and trans-1,2-dihydroxybenzosuberans (1–4) has been studied with the help of ND₃ CI and metastable data. The results indicate that in the parent diols 1 (cis) and 2 (trans), the substitution ion [M_sH]⁺, is produced mainly by the loss of H₂O from the [MNH₄]⁺ ion (S_Ni reaction) while in their 7-methoxy derivatives 3 and 4, the ion-molecule reaction between [M? OH]⁺ and NH₃ seems to be the major pathway for the formation of [M_sH]⁺. The substitution ion from 1 and 2 and the [MH]⁺ ion from trans-1-amino-2-hydroxybenzosuberan give similar collision-induced dissociation mass-analysed ion kinetic energy spectra. Interestingly, their diacetates do not undergo the substitution reaction.     

Synthesis of 2-isopropylfuro(2,3-b)quinolines-a new synthesis of (±)-lunacrine, (±)-lunasine and (±)-demethoxylunacrine

A new and convenient synthesis of 2-isopropylfuro-(2,3-b)quinolines ($\text{4}$) from 3-(3-methylbut-1-enyl)-2-quinolones ($\text{2}$) is described. A neat synthesis of the alkaloids (±)-lunacrine ($\text{1a}$), (±)-lunasine ($\text{12a}$) and (±)-demethoxylunacrine ($\text{1b}$) is also reported.     

Structures of Addition Products of Acetylenedicarboxylic Acid Esters with Various Dinucleophiles. An application of C,H-spin-coupling constants

Heterocyclic compounds obtained by addition of acetylenedicarboxylic acid esters to thioureas, cyclic amidines and o-difunctionalized aromatic systems have been studied by ¹³C-NMR. In particular, C, H-spin-coupling constants over two and three bonds were used to differentiate between the various constitutional isomers and to establish the configuration of trisubstituted exocyclic C, C-double bonds. The configurational significance and diagnostic value of vicinal cis and trans C,H-spin coupling is again demonstrated in the present series.     

Solvent and thiourea adsorption/intercalation effects on the solid-state electrochemistry of α-phase nickel hydroxide nanoparticles

Nanoparticles of α-phase nickel hydroxide were synthesized by a single-step hydrothermal method using urea as the hydrolytic agent. Precipitated powders were of pure turbostratic α-phase as confirmed by x-ray diffraction profile. The ageing of α-Ni(OH)₂ in 1.0 M alkali solutions is investigated for pure non-intercalated α-Ni(OH)₂ and thiourea intercalated/absorbed α-phase nanomaterials. The α-Ni(OH)₂ powder immobilized on the surface of graphite electrodes shows a gradual α→β phase transformation with continuous voltammetric cycling, and the concentration gradient of water that exists in the layered-double-hydroxide-like interlayers of α-phase and the solution was shown to play a crucial role on the high electrochemical activity of this phase nickel hydroxide. To understand the role of water in the ageing process, concomitant entries of non-aqueous solvents like ethanol and acetonitrile along with thiourea were effected. Cyclic voltammetric measurements of thiourea-treated α-Ni(OH)₂ samples revealed that hydroxyl ion influx during the anodic oxidation depends on the counter flux of solvent molecules, and if the intercalated the solvent is acetonitrile, then the electrochemical activity of α-Ni(OH)₂ reduced drastically; Q _a/Q _c>1 for water as solvent in the interlayers α-Ni(OH)₂ and Q _a/Q _c<1 for ethanol and acetonitrile as solvents. The α-phase gets stabilized in the presence of thiourea with water and ethanol as co-intercalates. Transmission electron microscope images of α-Ni(OH)₂ and thiourea-treated samples show a change in particle size and morphology. Elemental CHNS analysis confirms the presence of sulphur in the thiourea intercalated samples.     

A spectrophotometric method for uranium determination

A very sensitive extraction spectrophotometric method for the analysis of uranium based on the extraction of a uranium—benzoate—crystal violet complex by a mixture of xylene and benzene is described. The absorbance maximum is at 606 nm and molar absorptivity is 4.28·10⁴ l·mol⁻¹·cm⁻¹. The interference due to a number of anions and cations studied without any pre-extraction was found to be within permissible limits. The method has been used for determining uranium in a synthetic solution, i.e., uranium in the presence of various other ions. The interference due to some cations was eliminated by the use of a masking agent (boric acid).     

Cellulose acetate and polyethersulfone blend ultrafiltration membranes. Part I: Preparation and characterizations

The overall objective of this investigation is to achieve high‐performance membranes with respect to flux and rejection characteristics, with an interplay of blending polymers having desired qualities. Thus, cellulose diacetate and polyethersulfone as candidate materials, in the presence of polyethylene glycol 600 as a pore forming agent, were blended in 100/0, 95/5, 90/10, 85/15, 80,20 and 75/25% compositions using N,N′‐dimethylformamide as solvent and membranes were prepared by the phase inversion technique. Polymer blend composition, additive concentration, and casting and gelation conditions were standardized for the preparation of asymmetric membranes with various pore statistics and morphology. These blend membranes were characterized for compaction in ultrafiltration experiments at 414 kPa pressure in order to attain steady state flux and is reached within 4–5 hr. The pure water flux was measured at 345 kPa pressure and is determined largely by the composition of polyethersulfone and additive concentration. The flux was found to reach the highest values of 66.5 and 275 1/(cm² hr) at 0 and 10 wt% additive concentrations respectively, at 25% SPS content of the blend. Membrane hydraulic resistance derived by measuring water flux at various transmembrane pressure and by using an algorithm was found to be inversely proportional to pure water flux. Water content is estimated by simple drying and weighing procedures and found proportional to pure water flux for all the membranes. The molecular weight cut‐offs (MWCOs) of different membranes were determined with proteins of different molecular weights and found to vary from 20–69 kDa (globular proteins) depending on the PEG and SPS content in the casting dope. Skin surface porosity of the membranes were analyzed by scanning the frozen membrane samples using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at different magnifications. The surface porosity is in direct correlation to the MWCO derived from solute retention experiments. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.