Growth of porous single-crystal Cr2O3 in a 3-D mesopore system

Single-crystal Cr2O3 with regular mesopores has been synthesized using mesoporous silica KIT-6 as a template and characterized by using XRD, HRTEM and nitrogen adsorption/desorption.     

Theoretical studies of dissociative phosphoryl transfer in interconversion of phosphoenolpyruvate to phosphonopyruvate: solvent effects, thio effects, and implications for enzymatic reactions

The conversion of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to phosphonopyruvate (P-pyr) is catalyzed by PEP mutase via a dissociative mechanism. In this work, we investigate the uncatalyzed reaction using ab initio methods, density functional theory, and the semiempirical MNDO/d method. Comparisons of geometries and relative energies of stationary points (minima and transition states) with density functional results indicate that the semiempirical method is reasonably accurate. Solvent effects are examined using implicit solvent models, including the recently extended smooth conductor-like screening model. Due to the large negative charge carried by the system, solvation is found to drastically alter the location and energy of stationary points along the dissociative reaction pathways. The influence of substituting a nonbridging phosphoryl oxygen by sulfur (thio effects) was also investigated. Implications of these results for the enzymatic reaction are discussed.     

硒与消化系统癌关系的探讨

据不同地貌、地质条件在30个县市按剖面、同步、随机取土壤样品372份．测定硒等微量元素含量．作等级相关分析显示。土壤硒含量与消化系统癌呈负相关关系．作相对危险度、剂量-效应及多因素分析,认为此负相关关系并非偶然现象．     

Polyparametric modification equation for estimating thermodynamic properties of energetic nitro compounds

Calculation methods, based on hybrid density-functional theory with the basis sets of B3LYP/ 6-311+G (2d, p)//B3LYP/6-31G(d, p)and B3LYP/6-31+G(d)//B3LYP/6-31G(d, p), were applied to determine the thermodynamic characteristics of various energetic nitro compounds. A parametric modification equation and the least-squares approach were used to identify 21 of the energetic research compounds. The atomization energies of these 21 compounds have an average relative error of 0.21–0.25% of the experimental values. The enthalpy (H _f) and the Gibbs energy (G _f) of formation have mean absolute errors of 10.8–11.4 kJ/ mol (2.6–2.7 kcal/mol) and 10.0–10.3 kJ/mol (2.4 kcal/ mol), respectively. The enthalpy and the Gibbs energy of formation obtained exceed those in the literature obtained by semiempirical calculations. The calibrated least-squares parameters and parametric equations were used to predict H _f and G _f for the five newly developed energetic nitro compounds for further applications.Acknowledgements. The authors would like to thank the National Science Council of the Republic of China for financial support of this work under grant no. NSC-91-2113-M-014-003. The National Center for High-Performance Computing providing the computation facility is also acknowledged.     

Halogen-substituted thiophenol molecules on Cu(111)

Para-halosubstituted thiophenols (X-TPs, where X is Br, Cl, or F) form ordered islands and monolayers on Cu(111) at temperatures as low as 81 K. At incomplete coverages, all X-TPs adsorb with the dehydrogenated thiol group attached to the substrate and the substituted ring inclined toward the surface, as verified experimentally and theoretically. The structure of ordered islands has a pronounced dependence on the nature of the halogen substituent: while unsubstituted TP and pentafluoro-TP molecules do not self-assemble into extended ordered patterns at 81 K, X-TP molecules form a range of different structures which depend both on the size and electronegativity of the substituent, as well as on the coverage.     

Sandwich-type flow-through fiber-optic cells for optical absorbance measurements

The sandwich cell described by Pavon et al. and a similar sandwich cell, except with angled (45 degrees, confocal) single strand optical fibers and a conventional Z-type cell of 6-mm path length have been studied with respect to their performance for absorbance detection. Both sandwich cells show less susceptibility by one order of magnitude to artifact absorbance signals from RI changes than the Z-cell. The light throughput in the sandwich cells increase by an order of magnitude when an inert metallized reflector is used and this improves S/N. The overall light throughput is substantially greater for the angled entrance single strand fiber optic cell rather than the cell with the bifurcated fiber optic. Attainable limits of detection with these cells appear to be related to the pathlength for the cell dimensions studied.     

Synthesis and crystallization kinetics of the novel ion exchanger Na<Subscript>4</Subscript>Ti<Subscript>4</Subscript>Si<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>10</Subscript> for cesium removal

Thermodynamics and crystallization kinetics of the hydrothermal synthesis of Na₄Ti₄Si₃O₁₀ (NaTS) were systemically studied by both experiments and model simulation. Experimental results showed that the curve of crystallinity with time was a characteristic signmoid in the shape that indicated the crystallization of Na₄Ti₄Si₃O₁₀ was a typical spontaneous nucleation process on the laboratory scale. Crystallization of NaTS belongs to the liquid-liquid transformation mechanism and the reaction is endothermic (ΔH = 15.3 kJ/mol). A mathematic model of crystallization kinetics was developed to simulate the synthesis of NaTS. Runge-Kutta and simplex methods were adopted to solve the partial differential equations. Model results fitted well with the experimental data and showed that the synthesis process belongs to spontaneous nucleation and crystal growth. Moreover, the very small crystal growth constant (5.6·10⁻⁷) and gel dissolution constant (7.0·10⁻⁷) indicate they are the rate-limiting steps of the whole synthesis process.     

Thermal characterization and thermal degradation of poly(norbornene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid dialkyl esters) synthesized by vinyl addition polymerization

The thermal properties and degradation behaviors of poly(norbornene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid dialkyl esters) (PNB-dialkyl esters) (alkyl = Me (PNB-Me), Et (PNB-Et), Pr (PNB-Pr), and Bu (PNB-Bu)) were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in dynamic conditions and by infrared (IR) spectroscopy. The PNB-dialkyl esters show good thermal stability up to 350 °C, and the thermal stability decreases in the order Me > Et > Pr > Bu with the increase in size of side chain. The effect of side-chain size on the thermal degradation behaviors of PNB-dialkyl esters is evidenced by one-step thermal degradation profile for PNB-Me while two-step thermal degradation profile for PNB-Et, PNB-Pr, and PNB-Bu. Transformation is deduced to undergo β-hydrogen elimination and formation of anhydride group in the first stage of thermal degradation reaction according to TGA and IR results for PNB-Et, PNB-Pr, and PNB-Bu. The apparent activation energy and thermal degradation model of PNB-dialkyl esters are estimated by means of Ozawa-Flynn-wall method and Phadnis-Deshpande method, respectively.     

Oxidation of some catecholamines by sodium N-chloro-p-toluenesulfonamide in acid medium: A kinetic and mechanistic approach

The kinetics of the oxidation of five catecholamines viz., dopamine (A), L-dopa (B), methyldopa (C), epinephrine (D) and norepinephrine (E) by sodium N-chloro-p-toluenesulfonamide or chloramine-T (CAT) in presence of HClO₄ was studied at 30±0.1 °C. The five reactions followed identical kinetics with a first-order dependence on [CAT] _o , fractional-order in [substrate] _o , and inverse fractional-order in [H⁺]. Under comparable experimental conditions, the rate of oxidation of catecholamines increases in the order D>E>A>B>C. The variation of ionic strength of the medium and the addition of p-toluenesulfonamide or halide ions had no significant effect on the reaction rate. The rate increased with decreasing dielectric constant of the medium. The solvent isotope effect was studied using D₂O. A Michaelis-Menten type mechanism has been suggested to explain the results. Equilibrium and decomposition constants for CAT-catecholamine complexes have been evaluated. CH₃C₆H₄SO₂NHCl of the oxidant has been postulated as the reactive oxidizing species and oxidation products were identified. An isokinetic relationship is observed with β=361 K, indicating that enthalpy factors control the reaction rate. The mechanism proposed and the derived rate law are consistent with the observed kinetics.     

Carbonylation of Benzyl Halides Over Two-Phase Catalyst of Iron Pentacarbonyl

Carbonylation of benzyl halides to phenylacetic acid was studied in a two-phase system with iron pentacarbonyl as the catalyst precursor. The solutions consisted of a benzyl halide and iron pentacarbonyl in benzene and tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate in aqueous sodium hydroxide. Stirring under carbon monoxide readily produced phenylacetic salts in aqueous phase which were then acidified and extracted with ether. The yields of phenylacetic acid from benzyl iodide and from benzyl bromide were similar at a evel of about 50percnt;, that of the latter being higher by 1%. The yield from benzyl chloride was far less, at a level of only 21%. The rate as studied with gas chromatography was found to decrease in the order benzyl iodide>benzyl bromide>benzyl chloride.