Alkenylphosphonates: unexpected products from reactions of methyl 2-[(diethoxyphosphoryl)methyl]benzoate under Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons conditions

Methyl 2-[(diethoxyphosphoryl)methyl]benzoate reacts with several aldehydes to produce an alkenylphosphonate as the major product, together with varying amounts of the expected Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons product, a 1,2-disubstituted E-alkene. Use of a bulky aldehyde or the tert-butyl ester favours the normal HWE product.     

A chemical test of the principle of critical point universality: the solubility of nickel (II) oxide in isobutyric acid + water near the consolute point

A mixture of isobutyric acid + water has an upper consolute point at 38.8 mass?% isobutyric acid and temperature near 26?°C. Nickel (II) oxide dissolves in this mixture by reacting with the acid to produce water and nickel isobutyrate. The solubility of nickel (II) oxide in isobutyric acid + water has been measured as a function of temperature at compositions, 25, 38.8, and 60 mass?% isobutyric acid. For values of the temperature, T, which were at least 2 K in excess of the liquid-liquid phase transition temperature, the measured values of the solubility, s, lie on a straight line when plotted in van't Hoff form with ln?s versus 1∕T. The slope, (?ln?s∕?(1∕T)), of the line is negative indicating that the dissolution reaction is endothermic. When the temperature was within 2 K of the phase transition temperature, however, (?ln?s∕?(1∕T)) diverged toward negative infinity. The principle of critical point universality predicts that when excess solid nickel (II) oxide is in dissolution equilibrium with liquid isobutyric acid + water, (?ln?s∕?(1∕T)) should diverge upon approaching the consolute point along the critical isopleth at 38.8 mass?% isobutyric acid. As determined by the sign of the enthalpy of solution, the sign of this divergence is expected to be negative. Not only do our experiments confirm these predictions, but they also show that identical behavior can be observed at both 25 and 60 mass?% isobustyric acid, compositions which lie substantially to either side of the critical composition.     

Fatty acids as chemotaxonomic markers of marine macrophytes from Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil

The distribution of fatty acids in 13 species of macroalgae (Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta and Rhodophyta) and 1 seagrass (Spartina sp), collected on the Rio de Janeiro state coast was determined. The results were evaluated in search of correlations between the taxonomic and phylogenetic position of these macrophytes. Statistical analyses showed the effectiveness as taxonomic and phylogenetic markers of the distribution of the methyl fatty acid esters in these macrophytes.     

Comparison of experimental data with the numerical simulation of planar entry flow: Role of the constitutive equation

The goal of this research was to determine whether there is any interaction between the type of constitutive equation used and the degree of mesh refinement, as well as how the type of constitutive equation might affect the convergence and quality of the solution, for a planar 4:1 contraction in the finite eiement method. Five constitutive equations were used in this work: the Phan-Thien–Tanner (PTT), Johnson–Segalman (JS), White–Metzner (WM), Leonov-like and upper convected Maxwell (UCM) models. A penalty Galerkin finite element technique was used to solve the system of non-linear differential equations. The constitutive equations were fitted to the steady shear viscosity and normal stress data for a polystyrene melt. In general it was found that the convergence limit based on the Deborah number De and the Weissenberg number We varied from model to model and from mesh to mesh. From a practical point of view it was observed that the wall shear stress in the downstream region should also be indicated at the point where convergence is lost, since this parameter reflects the throughput conditions. Because of the dependence of convergence on the combination of mesh size and constitutive equation, predictions of the computations were compared with birefringence data obtained for the same polystyrene melt flowing through a 4:1 planar contraction. Refinement in the mesh led to better agreement between the predictions using the PTT model and flow birefringence, but the oscillations became worse in the corner region as the mesh was further refined, eventually leading to the loss of convergence of the numerical algorithm. In comparing results using different models at the same wall shear stress conditions and on the same mesh, it was found that the PTT model gave less overshoot of the stresses at the re-entrant corner. Away from the corner there were very small differences between the quality of the solutions obtained using different models. All the models predicted solutions with oscillations. However, the values of the solutions oscillated around the experimental birefringence data, even when the numerical algorithm would not converge. Whereas the stresses are predicted to oscillate, the streamlines and velocity field remained smooth. Predictions for the existence of vortices as well as for the entrance pressure loss (ΔP_ent) varied from model to model. The UCM and WM models predicted negative values for ΔP_ent.     

Preparation and reactions of some 2,2-difunctional 1,1-dibromocyclopropanes

The synthesis of 2,2-dibromocyclopropane-1,1-dicarboxylic acids is described. Reaction of substituted 1,1-dibromo-2-acyloxymethylcyclopropanes with methyl lithium at low temperature leads to a bromine-lithium exchange and then either formal protonation to give the corresponding monobromocyclopropanes or intramolecular cyclisation to give a substituted 3-oxabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane. Oxidative ring opening of these compounds leads stereoselectively to 1,1,2,2-tetrasubstituted cyclopropanes with four functionalities on the ring.     

A re-evaluation of isotope shift constants

The field isotope shift constantC _unif for a uniform nuclear charge distribution has been re-evaluated fors-electrons for elements with 10≦Z≦ 95. A table is given which permitsC _unif to be found for any isotope pair.     

Angular-dependent XPS valence-band spectra from single-crystal copper

High-resolution angular-dependent X-ray photoemission (XPS) valence-band spectra from a copper single crystal with (001) orientation are presented and analyzed in terms of a direct-transition model of photoemission. This model includes the effects of photon momentum, spectrometer geometry, and, for very low angles of emission, refraction of electrons in leaving the surface, but neglects matrix-element variation. Theoretical calculations are found to be in good agreement with experiment for six distinct emission directions. For low (grazing) angles of emission, a sharpening of the d-band peak is observed that may be associated with surface-specific band-structure changes.     

Backward-wave interaction using step periodic structures

Periodicities introduced into hollow waveguides with step and turn symmetry are shown to have characteristics useful for backward-wave interaction in microwave electron tubes. Using Floquet's theorem, it is shown that the modes of a hollow waveguide can be shifted in phase over one period of the structure. Interaction with the shifted backward-wave mode is then possible over a range of frequencies. A gyrotron backward-wave oscillator is particularly suited to this structure; the interaction could be magnetically tuned over a range of frequencies, while a low phase constant is maintained. A lower phase constant allows the electron beam to interact coherently with the backward wave over longer distances, since any velocity spread in the electron beam forces some of the electrons to be out of step with the backward wave, thus reducing efficiency. A solid waveguide has the added advantages of being easily built for high frequencies and rugged for high temperatures.