Selective oxidation of sulfides and oxidative bromination of organic substrates catalyzed by polymer anchored Cu(II) complex

A new polymer-anchored Cu(II) complex has been synthesized and characterized. The catalytic performance of the complex has been tested for the oxidation of sulfides and in oxidative bromination reaction with hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant. Sulfides have been selectively oxidized to the corresponding sulfoxides in excellent yields and in the presence of KBr as the bromine source, organic substrates have been selectively converted to mono bromo substituted compounds using polymer-anchored Cu(II) catalyst. This catalyst showed excellent catalytic activity, high selectivity, and recyclability. The polymer-anchored Cu(II) catalyst could be easily recovered by filtration and reused more than five times without appreciable loss of its initial activity.     

Synthesis,structure and antibacterial activity of manganese(III) complexes of a Schiff base derived from furfurylamine

Two new mononuclear complexes of manganese(III) viz. [MnL₂(LH)₂]ClO₄ (1) and [MnL₂(N₃)]·0.5CH₃OH (2) have been synthesized by reacting manganese perchlorate with furfurylamine and salicylaldehyde (plus sodium azide in 2) where L = (2-hydroxybenzyl-2-furylmethyl)imine, an asymmetric bidentate Schiff base formed in situ to bind the Mn(III) ion. The complexes have been characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, TGA and single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Structural studies reveal that the complexes 1 and 2 adopt an octahedral and a square pyramidal geometry, respectively. The antibacterial activity of the complexes has been tested against Gram(+) and Gram(?) bacteria.     

Macroscopic quantum coherence in ferritin

In a breakthrough experiment, Awschalom et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 3092 (1992)] have demonstrated that the antiferromagnetic core in ferritin resonates between two states with oppositely directed Néel vectors, making it the first observation of MQC. A theory has been developed for this resonance including the effect of the 100 or so⁵⁷Fe nuclear spins expected in each ferritin core. Since the hyperfine coupling is known to be ～68 MHz and the MQC frequency is ～1 MHz, the degeneracy of the Néel states, and with it, the MQC resonance, is destroyed in all ferritin particles except those with zero total staggered nuclear spin. From the measured size of λ″(ω), the energy being absorbed by the ferritin is at least 4000 times larger than the maximum permissible. Hence, the true importance of these experiments lies not in the narrow issue of MQC, but in the disproof of long cherished theoretical conservation laws.     

Boronic acid based dynamic click chemistry: recent advances and emergent applications

Recently, reversible click reactions have found numerous applications in chemical biology, supramolecular chemistry, and biomedical applications. Boronic acid (BA)-mediated cis-diol conjugation is one of the best-studied reactions among them. An excellent understanding of the chemical properties and biocompatibility of BA-based compounds has inspired the exploration of novel chemistries using boron to fuel emergent sciences. This topical review focuses on the recent progress of iminoboronate and salicylhydroxamic–boronate constituted reversible click chemistries in the past decade. We highlight the mechanism of reversible kinetics and its applications in chemical biology, medicinal chemistry, biomedical devices, and material chemistry. This article also emphasizes the fundamental reactivity of these two conjugate chemistries with assorted nucleophiles at variable pHs, which is of utmost importance to any stimuli-responsive biological and material chemistry explorations.

Fundamental progress, current developments, and rapidly growing applications of iminoboronate and salicylhydroxamic–boronate conjugate esters are deliberated.     

Tosic Acid-on-Silica Gel: A Cheap and Eco-friendly Catalyst for a Convenient One-pot Synthesis of Substituted Benzimidazoles

Summary. 2-Substituted and 1,2-disubstited benzimidazoles were prepared efficiently from o-phenylenediamines and aryl aldehydes using p-toluenesulphonic acid (5 mol%)-on-silica gel as a cheap and environmentally benign catalyst.     

Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays,cosmological constant,and theta vacua

We propose that the origin of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays beyond the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cutoff and the origin of small cosmological constant can both be explained by vacuum tunneling effects in a theory with degenerate vacua and fermionic doublets. By considering the possibility of tunneling from a particular winding number state, accompanied by violation of some global quantum number of fermions, the small value of the vacuum dark energy and the production of high energy cosmic rays are shown to be related. We predict that the energy of such cosmic rays should be at least 5x10(14) GeV.     

Improvement of Seed Germination Rate,Agronomic Traits,Enzymatic Activity and Nutritional Composition of Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum) Using Low-Frequency Glow Discharge Plasma

Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing - Plasma agriculture is an emerging field. In this report, we studied the effect of medium pressure (~?10 torr) low-frequency...     

Elecrochemical Determination of Ethanol by a Palladium Modified Graphene Nanocomposite Glassy Carbon Electrode

Pristine palladium nanoparticles were decorated on graphene nanosheets for the development of a low-cost, nonenzymatic ethanol sensor. The nanocomposite was characterized by ultraviolet–visible absorbance spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry were used to quantify ethanol in alkaline media. A graphene palladium nanocomposite-modified glassy carbon electrode provided a detection limit of 2?mM with a linear dynamic range of 2–210?mM for ethanol determination. The nanocomposite exhibited excellent stability for 100 cyclic voltammetry scans. Ethanol oxidation was performed across a range of temperatures, unlike enzymatic based sensors. Moreover, the catalytic material showed a low activation energy and low onset potentials for the oxidation of ethanol. Interference studies with congeners of ethanol in fermentation chambers showed good selectivity for the analyte. The enhanced catalytic activity for ethanol detection involves the combination of pristine palladium nanoparticles with the enhanced conductivity of graphene.     

Raman efficiencies of natural rocks and minerals: performance of a remote Raman system for planetary exploration at a distance of 10 meters

Raman spectroscopy is a powerful technique for materials analysis, and we are developing and analyzing a remote Raman system for use on a planetary lander or rover. We have acquired data at a distance of 10m from a variety of geologic materials using different instrument designs. We have employed a pulsed laser with both an ungated detector and a gated detector. A gated detector can reduce long-lived fluorescence while still collecting all Raman signal. In order to design a flight instrument, we need to quantify how natural surfaces will respond to laser stimulus. We define remote Raman efficiency of natural surfaces as the ratio of radiant exitance leaving a natural surface to the irradiance of the incident laser. The radiant exitance of a natural surface is the product of the sample radiance, the projected solid angle, and the full-width-half-maximum of the Raman signal. We have determined the remote Raman efficiency for a variety of rocks and minerals. The best efficiencies are achieved for large, clear, single crystals that produce the most radiant exitance, while darker fine-grained mineral mixtures produce lower efficiencies. By implementing a pulsed laser, gated detector system we have improved the signal detection and have generally decreased the integration time necessary to detect Raman signal from natural surfaces.