Teaching Operational Research Technique

Good technique, i.e. competence in carrying out operational research, is as vital for the practitioner to acquire as competence in the traditional ‘techniques’. It is suggested that universities should teach students how to conduct simple projects prior to alerting them to more sophisticated methodological issues.As an aid to this task, the traditional five or six parts of an operational research project are broken down and extended into 39 steps, and regrouped into three phases. Also, five skills are identified as being conceptually essential to "good" operational research, which students can develop through tackling suitable case studies.     

Structure activity relationship by NMR and by computer: a comparative study

There has recently been considerable interest in using NMR spectroscopy to identify ligand binding sites of macromolecules. In particular, a modular approach has been put forward by Fesik et al. (Shuker, S. B.; Hajduk, P. J.; Meadows, R. P.; Fesik, S. W. Science 1996, 274, 1531-1534) in which small ligands that bind to a particular target are identified in a first round of screening and subsequently linked together to form ligands of higher affinity. Similar strategies have also been proposed for in silico drug design, where the binding sites of small chemical groups are identified, and complete ligands are subsequently assembled from different groups that have favorable interactions with the macromolecular target. In this paper, we compare experimental and computational results on a selected target (FKBP12). The binding sites of three small ligands ((2S)1-acetylprolinemethylester, 1-formylpiperidine, 1-piperidinecarboxamide) in FKBP12 were identified independently by NMR and by computational methods. The subsequent comparison of the experimental and computational data showed that the computational method identified and ranked favorably ligand positions that satisfy the experimental NOE constraints.     

Kinetic models for the chemisorption of organic compounds on oxide surfaces

A kinetic equation for chemisorption on amorphous oxide surfaces is proposed, and activation energies, pre-exponential factors for reactions of various organosilicon compounds with Si, Ti and Al oxide active sites are calculated. Relationships between the kinetic parameters and reagent structure were established.     

Hydrogen‐bonded frameworks of bis(2‐carboxypyridinium) hexafluorosilicate and bis(2‐carboxyquinolinium) hexafluorosilicate dihydrate

In bis(2‐carboxypyridinium) hexafluorosilicate, 2C₆H₆NO₂⁺·SiF₆²⁻, (I), and bis(2‐carboxyquinolinium) hexafluorosilicate dihydrate, 2C₁₀H₈NO₂⁺·SiF₆²⁻·2H₂O, (II), the Si atoms of the anions reside on crystallographic centres of inversion. Primary inter‐ion interactions in (I) occur via strong N—H...F and O—H...F hydrogen bonds, generating corrugated layers incorporating [SiF₆]²⁻ anions as four‐connected net nodes and organic cations as simple links in between. In (II), a set of strong N—H...F, O—H...O and O—H...F hydrogen bonds, involving water molecules, gives a three‐dimensional heterocoordinated rutile‐like framework that integrates [SiF₆]²⁻ anions as six‐connected and water molecules as three‐connected nodes. The carboxyl groups of the cation are hydrogen bonded to the water molecule [O...O = 2.5533 (13) Å], while the N—H group supports direct bonding to the anion [N...F = 2.7061 (12) Å].     

Deoxypegan-1-one derivatives. synthesis and borohydride reduction of 3-[(E)-arylmethylidene]-3,9-dihydropyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazolin-1(2H)-ones

3-[(E)-Arylmethylidene]-3,9-dihydropyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazolin-1(2H)-ones were prepared by reaction of quinazolyl-2-propionic acid hydrochloride with aromatic aldehydes in acetic anhydride in the presence of Et₃N. 3-[(E)-Arylmethylidene]-1,2,3,9-tetrahydropyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazolin-1-ols were formed by reduction of the 3-arylidene derivatives with sodium borohydride in methanol, readily lost water when heated with acids, and were converted into 3-[(E)-arylmethylidene]-3,9-dihydropyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazolines. __________ Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 463–467, September–October, 2006.     

Furan ring opening-furan ring closure: cascade rearrangement of novel 4-acetoxy-9-furylnaphtho[2,3-b]furans

The cascade rearrangement of novel 4-acetoxy-9-furylnaphtho[2,3-b]furans leading to tetracyclic naphthodifurans derivatives has been developed. The reaction proceeds via double recyclization of both furan rings of the initial molecule, one of the furan rings serving as a 1,3-dicarbonyl compound equivalent.     

Novel ruthenium(ii) and (iii) carborane complexes with diphosphine ligands and their application in radical polymerization

Ruthenium(ii) and (iii) carborane complexes containing XantPhos as a ligand were synthesized for the first time. It was shown that the reaction of the known complex exo-5,6,10-[Cl(Ph₃P)₂Ru]-5,6,10-(µ-H)₃-10-H-nido-7,8-C₂B₉H₈ with a 10% molar excess of XantPhos in benzene at 80 °C leads to a new closo-ruthenacarborane 3-Cl-3,3-[x²-XantPhos]-closo-3,1,2-RuC₂B9H₁₁, which can be easily converted to the corresponding acetonitrile complex 3-CH₃CN-3,3-[x²-XantPhos]-closo-3,1,2-RuC₂B₉H₁₁ by the reaction with isopropylamine in a dichloromethane—acetonitrile solvent mixture at 40 °C. These compounds, as well as previously synthesized ruthenium(ii) carborane complexes, were used as a basis for new catalyst systems allowing to conduct controlled radical polymerization at high rates even at low catalyst loading. The specific features of methyl methacrylate polymerization under the action of the indicated catalyst systems were considered and the mechanism of the process was investigated.

     

Effects of annulation on the mass spectral behaviour of monosubstituted bicyclo[4.3.0]-3-nonenes and bicyclo[4.3.0]-3,7-nonadienes

The mass spectra of the title compounds differ considerably depending on the annulation of the bicyclic skeleton. For a series of alkyl derivatives the cis-annulated compounds show a higher abundance of the products due to the retro Diels-Alder cleavage than the corresponding trans isomers. The cis-annulated esters and alcohols lose a molecule of ethanol and water, respectively, more easily than the corresponding trans isomers. Effects of conformation and configuration are discussed.     

Synthesis of non-equilibrium PtxOs1−x Solid solutions. Crystal structure of [Pt(NH3)4][OsCl6]

Several non-equilibrium solid solutions belonging to the platinum-osmium systems Os_0.9Pt_0.1, Os_0.8Pt_0.2, Os_0.5Pt_0.5, Os_0.7Pt_0.3, Os_0.75Pt_0.25 are prepared and studied. The thermal decomposition of [Pt(NH₃)₄][OsCl₆] in the hydrogen and helium atmosphere is investigated. It is found that the Pt_0.5Os_0.5 solid solution develops through the formation of (NH₄)₂[OsCl₆] and a metallic phase based on Pt. The crystal structure of a double complex salt [Pt(NH₃)₄][OsCl₆] is studied (X8-APEX Bruker, 1508 independent reflections, R = 2.04%). Crystal data for PtOsN₄Cl₆H₁₂ are: a = 11.6216(5) Å, b = 11.0016(5) Å, c = 10.3819(5) Å, V = 1327.4(1) ų, space group Cmca, Z = 4, d _x = 3.333 g/cm₃. The coordination polyhedron around Os is octahedral: 〈Os-Cl〉 2.357 Å, ∠Cl-Os-Cl 89.5–90.5°, while around Pt it is square-planar: Pt-N 2.046 Å, ∠ N-Pt-N 89.59° and 90.41°.     

The viscosity and density of the methanol + n-nonane, ethanol + n-nonane, and ethanol + n-decane systems

This work presents the results obtained in measurements of the kinematic viscosity and density of the methanol-n-nonane, ethanol-n-nonane, and ethanol-n-decane systems at various temperatures and low n-alkane concentrations (within the concentration range of miscibility). The dynamic viscosities of these systems at 298.15 K were calculated according to free volume theory. The results substantiated the existence of an anomaly in the behavior of viscosity of the methanol-n-nonane system (positive Δlnη values) and its absence for the ethanol-n-alkane systems.