An Education in Robustness

A case study is presented of the application of robustness analysis to the choice of examination subjects to be made by a 14-year-old girl. The analysis is conducted in terms of the desirable future career options which may be preserved by different combinations of subjects, and also of the balance with topics selected for their intrinsic interest. The approach, which employs very limited technical apparatus, is justified on a number of grounds-in particular, the crucial importance of uncertainty, and the need for understanding and acceptance by a "client" very unlike the corporate manager. Some tentative conclusions are reached on the extension of such methods to other cases of decision-makers with little, if any, resources to control except their own lives.     

Zur hochspannungselektrophoretischen Trennung anorganischer Ionen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Platmmetalle

Zusammenfassung Die hochspannungselektrophoretische Wanderung der Halogenokomplexe der Platinmetalle und einer Reihe weiterer anorganischer Ionen wird mit Nitrilotriessigsäure und Äthylendiamintetraessigsäure als Elektrolyt in Abhängigkeit von verschiedenen Versuchsparametern (Elektrolytkonzentration,ph-Wert und Substanzmenge) untersucht. Die Wanderungsgeschwindigkeiten der verschiedenen Metallionen bzw.-komplexe zeigen charakteristische Abstufungen, die sich mit den für die hochspannungselektrophoretische Wanderung gültigen Gesetzmäßigkeiten erklären lassen. Beispielsweise beobachtet man eine Abnahme der Beweglichkeit bei Ersatz von Chlorid- durch Bromidionen (Masseneinfluß), Auswirkungen der vomph bzw. der Elektrolytkonzentration abhängigen unterschiedlichen Komplexierungen zwei- und dreiwertiger Ionen, Einflüsse der auf Hydrolyse zurückgehenden Änderungen der Ligandenzusammensetzung sowie Unterschiede der Wanderungsgeschwindigkeiten als Folge der Komplexierung mit NTE oder AeDTE.Durch die unter bestimmten Bedingungen erreichbare Abstufung der Beweglichkeiten können verschiedene Gemische, unter anderem auch die Chlorokomplexe der meisten Platinmetalle in der Reihenfolge Ir > Os Pt > Rh Pd > Ru (> Rh), getrennt werden. NTE ist dabei für Trennungen besser als AeDTE geeignet.

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The high tension electrophoretic separation of inorganic ions with special reference to the platinum metals. I

Summary The high tension electrophoretic migration of the halogeno complexes of the platinum metals and several other inorganic ions was investigated with nitrilotriacetic acid and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid as electrolytes in relation to the various experimental parameters (electrolyte concentration,ph-value, and amount of substance). The migration velocities of the various metal ions or complexes exhibit characteristic gradations that may be explained on the basis of the regularities that are valid for the high tension electrophoretic migration. Instances are: a decrease was observed in the mobility when chloride was replaced by bromide ions (mass effect), influence of different complexing of di- and trivalent ions that are related to changes in theph or electrolyte concentration, or influences of the changes due to hydrolysis in the composition of the ligands or alterations in the migration rates resulting from complexing with nitrolotriacetic acid or EDTA.The gradation of the mobility obtained under certain conditions are employed as the basis of a procedure for separating various mixtures, including also the chloro complexes of most of the platinum metals in the succession Ir > Os Pt > Rh Pd > Ru (> Rh). It has been found that NTE is better for separations than EDTA.

     

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.     

The small momentum transfer k L o C→K S 0 C regeneration at high energies

Results of the first elastic K _S ^o regeneration experiment on carbon, using magnetic spark chamber spectrometer, are presented in the beam momentum interval 10p50 GeV/c. The d ifferentia cross section d/dt is reconstructed in the range 0·0025–t0·02 (GeV/c)² and its slopeB is found to be momentum independent with an average valueB=(65±11) (GeV/c)^–2. The results are in agreement with the calculations using the coherent production model.     

Chemistry of thienopyridines. XVIII. Lithiation as a route to 2- and 3-substituted thieno[2,3-b]pyridines

Treatment of thieno[2,3-b]pyridine (1a) with n-butyllithium in hexane-tetramethylethylene-diamine at ?70° plus subsequent addition of dimethylformamide produced 2-formyl-Ia (66%). Halogen-metal exchange between 3-bromothieno[2,3-b]pyridine and n-butyllithium was effected in ether at ?70. Further reaction of the 3-lithio-Ia intermediate with a variety of carbonyl compounds gave 3-substituted thieno[2,3-b]pyridines bearing formyl (77%), acetyl, benzoyl, chloroacetyl, ethoxycarbonyl, N-phenylcarbamyl, and diphenyl hydroxymethyl groups. Common characteristics of these derivatives in pmr and mass spectra are noted.     

Palladium salicylaldimine complexes containing boronate esters

Reactions of salicylaldehydes with boronate ester derivatives of aniline have been examined. Addition of these Schiff base ligands to palladium acetate or Na₂PdCl₄ afforded novel boron-containing trans-bis(N-arylsalicylaldiminato) palladium complexes.Condensation of salicylaldehyde (2-HOC₆H₄C(O)H) with H₂NC₆H₄Bpin (pin=1,2-O₂C₂Me₄) afforded the boron-containing Schiff bases, 2-HOC₆H₄C(H)=NC₆H₄Bpin (1–3a). Similar reactivity with 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzaldehyde and 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde gave the corresponding Schiff bases (1-3b) and (1-3c), respectively. Reaction of Schiff bases (2) and (3) with palladium acetate or Na₂PdCl₄ afforded complexes of the type PdL₂ (4,5), where L=deprotonated Schiff base. The molecular structure of the nitro-salicylaldehyde 4-Bpin palladium complex (5b) was characterized by an X-ray diffraction study. All new palladium compounds have been characterized fully and tested for their antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus.     

Rapid separation of phenylthiohydantoin amino acids: ambient pressure ion-mobility mass spectrometry (IMMS)

An electrospray ionization (ESI) ambient pressure ion-mobility spectrometer (APIMS) interfaced to an orthogonal reflector time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS) was evaluated for the first time as a detector for the identification of phenylthiohydantoin (PTH)-derivatized amino acids, the final products in the Edman sequencing process of peptides and proteins. The drift and flight times of the twenty common PTH amino acids were characterized by a well-defined 2-D mobility/mass spectral pattern. The combination of mobility/mass modes of analysis gave rise to a unique trend-line formation for the series of PTH amino acids. In addition, each PTH amino acid had a unique reduced mobility constant K(o), thus enabling the differentiation of all the amino acid derivatives including the PTH-leucine and PTH-isoleucine isomers. More importantly it was shown that it was possible to resolve a complete reference mixture of PTH amino acids in a single experimental run in less than 1 min. Detection limits for the PTH amino acids were found to range from 1.04 to 3.52 ng; indicating that the limits of detection were less than 17.0 pmol for all of the PTH amino acids.     

Synthesis,crystal structure and luminescent property of a novel H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O-bridged cobalt(II) polymer with one-dimensional chain structure

The coordination compound [Co(C₁₀H₇COO)₂(H₂O)₃]_2n · 4nH₂O was prepared by the reaction of 1-naphthoic acid and cobalt(II) acetate tetrahydrate in basic solution, and was fully characterized by X-ray diffraction, element analysis, FTIR, TG-DTA and luminescent spectra. In the crystal the six-coordinated Co(II) centers are linked into one-dimensional zigzag chains by water molecules, which are further assembled into a two-dimensional network through weak inter-chain C–H···π interactions. The solid complex exhibits favorable fluorescent properties similar to those of free ligand at room temperature, which can be assigned to the intraligand electronic transfer.     

Synthesis of s-triazolocycloalkyl-, s-triazolobenzocycloalkyl-, and s-triazolocycloalkylhydrothiadiazines

The reaction of cyclic-α-haloketones with 5-subslituted-4-amino-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3-lhiols gave s-triãzolocycloalkylhydrothiadiazines and s-triazolobenzocycloalkylthiadiazines. Reduetion of the 5,5a-imine bond of the s-triazoloeycloalkylthiadiazines gave s-triazolocycloalkylhydrothia-diazines.     

Conversion of 3-benzoyl-1-methyl-4-phenyl-γ-piperidol by arylamines and arylhydrazines. Synthesis of 3-arylamino-1-oxo-1-phenylpropanes and 1,3-diarylpyrazoles and their fragmentation under electron impact

It has been established that on heating, 3-benzoyl-4-hydroxy-1-methyl-4-phenylpiperidine is ring-opened in the presence of arylamines by a type of retroaldol reaction, with subsequent transamination of the intermediate Mannich base and the formation of 3-arylamino-1-oxo-1-phenylpropanes. When using arylhydrazines this γ-piperidol is recyclized with the formation of 1,3-diarylpyrazoles and their 4,5-dihydro derivatives. The mass spectral behavior of a series of 3-arylamino-substituted 1-phenylpropanones has been studied. __________ Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 10, pp. 1486–1495, October, 2007.