Pyridyl-based pentadentate ligands: base-catalyzed hydrolysis of asym-[Co(dmptacn)Cl]2+

The [Co(dmptacn)Cl](2+) (dmptacn = 1,4-bis(pyridylmethyl)-1,4,7-triazacyclononane) complex has been shown to be the asym isomer through 1D and 2D NMR studies, its optical resolution, and the single-crystal X-ray structure of its perchlorate salt. The kinetics of base-catalyzed hydrolysis establishes the usual [OH(-)] dependence (k(OH) = 0.040 M(-1) s(-1), 25 degrees C, I = 1.0 M, NaCl), but D-exchange experiments reveal that substantial if not complete reaction proceeds via the new pseudoaminate mechanism, i.e., via deprotonation at an alpha-CH(2) center rather than the NH. The significant kinetic isotope effect (k(H)/k(D) = 2.1) is interpreted in terms of rate-limiting deprotonation followed by reprotonation of the conjugate base at a rate competitive with loss of Cl(-). NMR and polarimetric studies establish geometric and optical retention for the hydrolysis reaction and exclude even the transient formation of a sym isomer intermediate.     

First Resolution of a Free Fluorophosphine Chiral at Phosphorus. Resolution and Reactions of Free and Coordinated (+/-)-Fluorophenylisopropylphosphine

The trivalent fluorophosphine (+/-)-PFPh(i-Pr), (+/-)-1, has been prepared by halogen exchange of the corresponding chlorophosphine with sodium fluoride in hot sulfolane. The neat fluorophosphine rapidly decomposes by equilibrium redox disproportionation into PF(3)Ph(i-Pr) and (R,R)/(R,S)-Ph(i-Pr)PPPh(i-Pr), but in benzene, (+/-)-1 has considerable thermodynamic stability. The resolution of (+/-)-1 was achieved by a fractional crystallization of the diastereomers (R,R(P))- and (R,S(P))-chloro[1-[1-(dimethylamino)ethyl]-2-naphthalenyl-C,N](fluorophenylisopropylphosphine)palladium(II), (R,R(P))- and (R,S(P))-5, whereby the less soluble (R,R(P)) diastereomer selectively crystallized in 64% yield in a typical second-order asymmetric transformation. Optically pure (S)-(-)-1, -210 (c 0.59, C(6)H(6)), was liberated from (R,R(P))-5 with (R,S)-1,2-phenylenebis(methylphenylphosphine). The optically active phosphine in benzene racemizes over 6 h without significant redox disproportionation. The methoxyphosphine (+/-)-P(OMe)Ph(i-Pr), (+/-)-9, was also resolved by the method of metal complexation. Thus, fractional crystallization of (R,R(P))- and (R,S(P))-chloro[1-[1-(dimethylamino)ethyl]-2-naphthalenyl-C,N](methoxyphenylisopropylphosphine)palladium(II), (R,R(P))- and (R,S(P))-8, followed by liberation of the respective optically active methoxyphosphines from the separated diastereomers with 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane, gave (R)-(+)- and (S)-(-)-9 of 92% and 96% ee, respectively. The barrier to unimolecular inversion for (+/-)-9 was determined to be >82.9 +/- 0.5 kJ mol(-)(1) by variable temperature (1)H NMR spectroscopy. The substitution of fluoride in (R,R(P))-5 by methoxide proceeds with predominant inversion of the configuration at phosphorus to give (R,R(P))- and (R,S(P))-8 with (R,S(P))/(R,R(P)) = (1)/(5). The crystal structures of (R,R(P))-5 and (R,R(P))-8 have been determined: (R,R(P))-5 (C(23)H(28)ClFNPPd) crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with a = 9.967(2) ?, b = 10.998(4) ?, c = 21.324(3) ?, Z = 4, and R = 0.031; (R,R(P))-8 (C(24)H(31)ClNOPPd) crystallizes in the space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with a = 10.444(3) ?, b = 12.146(3) ?, c = 19.047(2) ?, Z = 4, and R = 0.026.     

Neutron diffraction using an electron linear accelerator

The Harwell electron linear acceleratorhelios has been used for studying the crystal structures of polycrystalline materials by neutron diffraction. Atomic positions and atomic vibrational amplitudes can be determined equally well with the pulsed method as with the more conventional method employing a high-flux nuclear reactor as source. The powder pattern can be indexed more easily with pulsed neutrons.     

Spectroscopy and photophysics of self-organized zinc porphyrin nanolayers. 1. Optical spectroscopy of excitonic interactions involving the soret band

The photophysical properties of excited singlet states of zinc tetra-(p-octylphenyl)-porphyrin in 5-25-nm-thick films spin-coated onto quartz slides have been investigated by optical spectroscopy. Analysis of the polarized absorption spectra using a dipole-dipole exciton model with two mutually perpendicular transition dipole moments per molecule shows that the films are built from linear aggregates, i.e., stacks with a slipped-deck-of-cards configuration. The molecular planes of the porphyrins in the stacks are found to be perpendicularly oriented with respect to the substrate plane. Assuming a value of 2-3 for the dielectric constant of the film, from the excitonic shift, an angle of 44 degrees +/- 3 degrees and an interplanar distance of 0.35-0.36 nm between adjacent porphyrins are calculated, close to the ground-state geometry in solution. The ordering in these films was further investigated by the effects of various solvents and temperature annealing. Spin-coating from toluene as a solvent results in highly ordered films, and annealing of these films has little effect on their absorption spectra. However, spin-coating from chloroform or pyridine or exposure of the films to these solvents in their vapor phases changes their ordering presumably due to incorporation of residual solvent molecules. Annealing yields absorption spectra identical to those of films spin-coated from toluene. The absorption spectra are insensitive to atmospheric moisture, in contrast to those of zinc tetraphenylporphyrin films lacking octyl substituents.     

In Situ Molecular Dosimetry and Tumor Risk: UV-lnduced DNA Damage and Tumor Latency Time‡

In UV carcinogenesis there is a fundamental chain of causal events from UV-induced DNA damage through mutations up to tumor formation: each of the early events should be predictive of the ultimate tumor risk. Instead of the UV surface exposure, the in situ load of DNA damage should be a more direct measure of the carcinogenicity. To explore this further we measured cy-clobutane thymine dimer loads of epidermal cell suspensions from chronically UV-exposed hairless SKH-1 mice; skin samples were taken after various time periods under different daily exposures. Although the average load per cell decreased in the course of time due to dilution of damage in an increasing epidermal hyperplasia, the amount of thymine dimers in a column of epidermis (i.e. per mm2 of skin area) became stationary, and this amount increased with higher daily exposure. The median tumor latency time, tso, is inversely related to this stationary load. Extrapolation of a fitted relationship would imply a t50 between 450 and 1430 days for spontaneous skin carcinomas. The present data suggest that the skin strives to maintain a maximum level of tolerable DNA damage by lowering the average genotoxic load in vital cells in a hyperplastic reaction: pseudo-repair by dilution. This would also explain the strong hyperplastic reactions in DNA repair-deficient mouse strains. An understanding of these short-term adaptive reactions can refine our assessments of skin cancer risks in humans.     

Coordination modes of some fluorinated,potentially polydentate,ligands

Through the use of template condensation reactions, we have developed synthetic routes to a number of fluorinated ligands containing a number of donor atoms in combination with a fluorinated alkoxy group. Typical examples are:

We find all of these to be capable of coordination to transition metals, generally giving stable, neutral, complexes. However, the mode of coordination of (i) and (ii) differs according to the donor atoms present in the chain, with a higher degree of coordination for X = N than for X = O. With ligand (iii), a ‘tripod’ mode of coordination is favoured, with the six donor sites surrounding a 3+ metal ion such as iron(III), cobalt(III), or a lanthanide(III) species.     

The polarographic reduction of some dinitroaniline herbicides

Polarography of 2,6-dinitroaniline herbicides in aqueous ethanol revealed a marked pH dependence of the reduction potentials. The study included the herbicides trifluralin (I), benefin (II), isopropalin (III), dinitramine (IV), nitralin (V), and oryzalin (VI), for which E_{$\text{1}\text{2}$} values (mV vs. SCE) for the first polarographic wave, at pH 1.5, 5.1, 7.4, and 9.2, respectively, were (I) ?190, ?430, ?540, ?640; (II) ?190, ?430, ?540, ?640; (III) ?170, ?360, ?560, ?650; (IV) ?230, ?510, ?720, ?810; (V) ?160, ?330, ?540, ?650; (VI) ?160, ?370, ?540, ?680.     

Oxonia-cope rearrangement and side-chain exchange in the Prins cyclization

[reaction: see text] Evidence is presented here for the mechanism of the Prins cyclization of benzylic homoallylic alcohols, which shows that the outcome of the reaction is dependent upon the substituents on the aromatic ring. The presence of an electron-rich aromatic ring favors an oxonia-Cope rearrangement yielding a symmetrical tetrahydropyran as the major product formed via a side-chain exchange process. In contrast, with electron-deficient aromatic rings the expected 2,4,6-trisubstituted tetrahydropyran is formed.     

Properties of octadecylsilyl-coated electrodes in ionic micellar solutions

Cyclic voltammetry of ferrocene, hexaammineruthenium(III) and hexacyanoferrate(II) in micellar solution sof sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was studied at platinum and pyrolytic graphite electrodes treated with octadecyltrichlorosilane. The charge-transfer rates and surface spectra were consistent with near monolayer coverage of the electrodes with an octadecylsilyl (ODS) layer bound to the surface through SiOgroups. Both SDS and CTAB were detected by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on ODS-coated electrodes treated with micellar solutions. Compared with bare electrodes, the signal-to-noise ratio and reproducibility were better on ODS electrodes, which were stable when stored in air. Some control over electrochemical selectivity and reversibility was achieved with ODS-coated electrodes in ionic micellar solutions. For surfactant and electroactive ions of the same charge sign, significant inhibition to charge transfer was found. Ions of opposite charge from the surfactant had enhanced charge-transfer rates. The results are qualitatively consistent with the kinetic effects of an adsorbed layer of ionic surfactant on the ODS electrodes.     

Reactive ion surface scattering as an Eley-Rideal process: a molecular dynamics study into the abstraction reaction mechanism by low energy Cs+ from Pt(111).

We have employed a classical molecular dynamics simulation for the direct pick-up reaction of adsorbates by very low energy (1-60 eV) ions scattered at a surface. The system investigated is the reactive ion scattering (RIS) of Cs+ with an adsorbate on a Pt(111) surface. The ion-dipole attraction between the projectile and the physisorbed adsorbate drives the abstraction reaction, in which the ion projectile at first collides with the surface to release a substantial amount of its kinetic energy, and subsequently pulls the adsorbate along in the outgoing trajectory. Desorption induced by the ion-dipole attraction is a precursor to the formation of the Cs(+)-adsorbate product. This Eley-Rideal-type mechanism must accommodate the inertia of the adsorbate. Consequently, a successful abstraction works well only for low mass adsorbates and slow outgoing Cs+ ions. The efficient energy transfer to the Pt(111) surface makes Cs+ a better candidate for RIS than lighter projectile ions. Optimal conditions for the efficient RIS abstraction mechanism are found for physisorbed adsorbates with a mass below 32 amu, and for 10 eV Cs+ ions at a 45 degrees incidence.