New engineering polymers for blow-moulding

The combination of using high performance flexible engineering polymers and their processing by blow moulding technology allows traditional rubber and rubber-metal composite parts to be replaced to obtain improved performance, lower cost and greater design freedom. Two examples of automobile applications are detailed to support this concept - constant velocity joint boots and engine air ducting.     

Atomic-Scale Insights into Electrode Surface Dynamics by High-Speed Scanning Probe Microscopy

Atomic-scale processes at electrode surfaces in liquid electrolytes are central elemental steps of electrochemical reactions. Detailed insights into the structure of these interfaces can be obtained with in situ scanning tunnelling and atomic force microscopy. By increasing the time resolution of these methods into the millisecond range, highly dynamic processes at electrode surfaces become directly observable. This review gives an overview of in situ studies with video-rate scanning probe microscopy techniques. Firstly, quantitative investigations into the dynamic behaviour of individual adsorbed atoms and molecules are described. These reveal a complex dependence of adsorbate surface diffusion on potential and co-adsorbed species and provide data on adsorbate–adsorbate and adsorbate–substrate interactions in a liquid environment. Secondly, results on collective dynamic phenomena are discussed, such as molecular self-assembly, the dynamics of nanoscale structures, nucleation and growth, and surface restructuring due to phase-formation processes.     

Actinide Organometallic Complexes with π-Ligands

Recent developments and results from the organometallic chemistry of the actinides are reviewed. In the last one and a half years the structural data of about 15 organometallic complexes of transuranium actinides (Np or Pu) have been published, all involving π-ligands in the coordination sphere of the metal ion. On the basis of these data, a comparison of these molecules is presented. Depending on the steric demands of the ligands, effects like the actinide contraction seem to be stronger or weaker in the structural features. This indicates that the interplay between the actinide ion and the π-ligand is rather flexible, enabling the formation of stable bonds over a broad range of actinide ion oxidation states.     

A Categorical Definition of Semidirect Products

For any punctured category, a definition of a semidirect product and its dual counterpart, a semidirect sum, is given. Several examples are studied, among which are semidirect products of commutative Banach algebras and locally compact topological groups, and semidirect sums of compact Hausdorff spaces with basepoint. Also, further applications to commutative Banach algebras are given.     

Mechanistic pathways of the hydroxyl radical reactions of quinoline. 2. Computational analysis of hydroxyl radical attack at C atoms

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations are employed to compare the mechanism of the *OH attacks at all carbon atoms in quinoline. The computational analysis of the energy surface for the reaction of *OH with quinoline reveals that the formation of OH adducts proceeds through exothermic formation of pi-complexes/H-bonded complexes. The gas-phase reactions have activation energies ranging from <1.3 kcal/mol for the attack at positions C3 through C8 to 8.6 kcal/mol for the attack at the C2 position. Solvation, as described by the CPCM cavity model, lowers these activation barriers so that the attack at all carbon atoms except C2 is effectively barrierless. The *OH attack at C2 in solution is significantly different than at all other quinoline positions because it involves the only transition structure with energy higher than that of the starting materials and with an energetic barrier of 5.1 kcal/mol. The specific solvation approach also corroborates this finding because the attack at C2 was shown to have an energy barrier of 2.3 kcal/mol compared to the barrierless attack at C5. These results are in agreement with our recent experimental studies but differ from literature reports on the degradation of quinoline using the photo-Fenton reaction.     

Synthesis, photophysical, photochemical, and computational studies of coumarin-labeled nicotinamide derivatives

The syntheses and photophysical/photochemical properties of two amide-tethered coumarin-labeled nicotinamides are described. Photochemical studies of 6-bromo-7-hydroxycoumarin-4-ylmethylnicotinamide (BHC-nicotinamide) revealed an unexpected solvent effect. This result is rationalized by computational studies of the different protonation states using TD-DFT with the M06L/6-311+G** method with implicit and explicit solvation models. Molecular orbital energies responsible for the λ(max) excitation show that the functionalization of the coumarin ring results in a strong red-shift from 330 to 370 nm when the pH of solution is increased from 3.06 to 8.07. From this MO analysis, a model for solvent interactions has been proposed. The BHC-nicotinamide proved to be photochemically stable, which is also interpreted in terms of NBO calculations. The results provide a set of principles for the rational design of either photostable labeling reagents or photolabile cage compounds.     

On the structure and dynamics of duplex GNA

Glycol nucleic acid (GNA), with a nucleotide backbone comprising of just three carbons and the stereocenter derived from propylene glycol (1,2-propanediol), is a structural analog of nucleic acids with intriguing biophysical properties, such as formation of highly stable antiparallel duplexes with high Watson-Crick base pairing fidelity. Previous crystallographic studies of double stranded GNA (dsGNA) indicated two forms of backbone conformations, an elongated M-type (containing metallo-base pairs) and the condensed N-type (containing brominated base pairs). A herein presented new crystal structure of a GNA duplex at 1.8 ? resolution from self-complementary 3'-CTC(Br)UAGAG-2' GNA oligonucleotides reveals an N-type conformation with alternating gauche-anti torsions along its (O3'-C3'-C2'-O2') backbone. To elucidate the conformational state of dsGNA in solution, molecular dynamic simulations over a period of 20 ns were performed with the now available repertoire of structural information. Interestingly, dsGNA adopts conformational states in solution intermediate between experimentally observed backbone conformations: simulated dsGNA shows the all-gauche conformation characteristic of M-type GNA with the higher helical twist common to N-type GNA structures. The so far counterintuitive, smaller loss of entropy upon duplex formation as compared to DNA can be traced back to the conformational flexibility inherent to dsGNA but missing in dsDNA. Besides extensive interstrand base stacking and conformational preorganization of single strands, this flexibility contributes to the extraordinary thermal stability of GNA.     

Tuning the spin-transition properties of pyrene-decorated 2,6-bispyrazolylpyridine based Fe(II) complexes

Two 2,6-bispyrazolylpyridine ligands (bpp) were functionalized with pyrene moieties through linkers of different lengths. In the ligand 2,6-di(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-4-(pyren-1-yl)pyridine (L1) the pyrene group is directly connected to the bpp moiety via a C-C single bond, while in the ligand 4-(2,6-di(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridin-4-yl)benzyl-4-(pyren-1-yl)butanoate (L2) it is separated by a benzyl ester group involving a flexible butanoic chain. Subsequent complexation of Fe(II) salts revealed dramatic the influence of the nature of the pyrene substitution on the spin-transition behaviour of the resulting complexes. Thus, compound [Fe(L1)(2)](ClO(4))(2) (1) is blocked in its high spin state due to constraints caused by a strong intermolecular π-π stacking in its structure. On the other hand, the flexible chain of ligand L2 in compounds [Fe(L2)(2)](ClO(4))(2) (2) and [Fe(L2)(2)](BF(4))(2)·CH(3)CN·H(2)O (3) prevents structural constraints allowing for reversible spin transitions. Temperature-dependent studies of the photophysical properties of compound 3 do not reveal any obvious correlation between the fluorescence of the pyrene group and the spin state of the spin transition core.     

Ethanol/water solutions as certified reference materials for breath alcohol analyzer calibration

The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Germany, has issued a series of large volume ethanol in water certified reference materials (CRMs), primarily developed for the calibration of evidential breath alcohol analyzers in Germany. The certified parameter is the ethanol mass concentration at 20 °C. When used in a wet bath simulator, the solutions deliver gas samples that meet the requirements set by the Organization of Legal Metrology for calibration of breathalyzers. The materials were prepared gravimetrically by spiking of ethanol into water in single 5 L units. A complete uncertainty budget for the preparation process has been established. The purity of the commercial ethanol stock solution was identified to be the main source of uncertainty. For stability and homogeneity measurements and for the verification of the gravimetric mass concentration of the CRMs, a robust high-precision gas chromatography, with flame-ionization detection method for ethanol determination in aqueous samples was developed and validated. The good performance of this method has been demonstrated in several international comparisons organized by the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance—Metrology in Chemistry at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.