Pentacarbonyl{tris[4‐(methylsulfonyl)phenyl]stannyl}manganese(I): an unexpected tetragonal structure

The title compound, [MnSn(C₇H₇O₂S)₃(CO)₅], is asymmetric but crystallizes in the highly symmetric tetragonal space group I. This is achieved without the need for any disorder, either around the Sn atom or in any of the methyl­sulfonyl groups. The environment around the Sn atom has the following geometry: Sn—Mn = 2.6564 (7) Å, mean Sn—C = 2.175 (5) Å, mean C—Sn—C = 103 (2)° and mean C—Sn—Mn = 115 (6)°. The crystal packing is assisted by weak Sn?O interactions between adjacent columns of mol­ecules, with the resulting geometry at Sn approaching highly distorted trigonal–bipyramidal.     

Calculation of the (29)si NMR chemical shifts of aqueous silicate species

A DFT methodology for calculating (29)Si NMR chemical shifts of silicate species typically present prior to nucleation in zeolite synthesis solutions, incorporating solvent effects through an implicit representation is presented. We demonstrate how our methodology can reproduce the experimentally observed spectra and, by comparison to well characterized peaks in two different experimental studies, demonstrate the transferability and robustness of the methodology. We discuss certain cases in which caution must be exercised when implicit solvent representations are used for calculating silicate cluster geometries: those cases in which intramolecular hydrogen bonding can play a significant role in the geometry. A number of reassignments of previous tentative experimental assignments are proposed, and we also make assignments for the challenging substituted four-ring species. We present all of our computed chemical shift for previously observed species together with a number of other viable silicate clusters to serve as a reference point for future experimental studies.     

Zero-field NMR enhanced by parahydrogen in reversible exchange

We have recently demonstrated that sensitive and chemically specific NMR spectra can be recorded in the absence of a magnetic field using hydrogenative parahydrogen induced polarization (PHIP) (1-3) and detection with an optical atomic magnetometer. Here, we show that non-hydrogenative parahydrogen-induced polarization (4-6) (NH-PHIP) can also dramatically enhance the sensitivity of zero-field NMR. We demonstrate the detection of pyridine, at concentrations as low as 6 mM in a sample volume of 250 μL, with sufficient sensitivity to resolve all identifying spectral features, as supported by numerical simulations. Because the NH-PHIP mechanism is nonreactive, operates in situ, and eliminates the need for a prepolarizing magnet, its combination with optical atomic magnetometry will greatly broaden the analytical capabilities of zero-field and low-field NMR.     

Effective χ and surface segregation in blends of star and linear polystyrene

The existence in blends of linear and star branched polystyrenes (PS) of a bulk thermodynamic interaction due to differences in macromolecular architecture has been demonstrated with small angle neutron scattering measurements. It has also been demonstrated that a regularly star‐branched polystyrene material segregates preferentially to the surface of a blend of star and linear molecules.     

Direct comparison of the hygroscopic properties of ammonium sulfate and sodium chloride aerosol at relative humidities approaching saturation

Holographic optical tweezers are used to make comparative measurements of the hygroscopic properties of single component aqueous aerosol containing sodium chloride and ammonium sulfate over a range of relative humidity from 84% to 96%. The change in RH over the course of the experiment is monitored precisely using a sodium chloride probe droplet with accuracy better than ±0.09%. The measurements are used to assess the accuracy of thermodynamic treatments of the relationship between water activity and solute mass fraction with particular attention focused on the dilute solute limit approaching saturation vapor pressure. The consistency of the frequently used Clegg-Brimblecombe-Wexler (CBW) treatment for predicting the hygroscopic properties of sodium chloride and ammonium sulfate aerosol is confirmed. Measurements of the equilibrium size of ammonium sulfate aerosol are found to agree with predictions to within an uncertainty of ±0.2%. Given the accuracy of treating equilibrium composition, the inconsistencies highlighted in recent calibration measurements of critical supersaturations of sodium chloride and ammonium sulfate aerosol cannot be attributed to uncertainties associated with the thermodynamic predictions and must have an alternative origin. It is concluded that the CBW treatment can allow the critical supersaturation to be estimated for sodium chloride and ammonium sulfate aerosol with an accuracy of better than ±0.002% in RH. This corresponds to an uncertainty of ≤1% in the critical supersaturation for typical supersaturations of 0.2% and above. This supports the view that these systems can be used to accurately calibrate instruments that measure cloud condensation nuclei concentrations at selected supersaturations. These measurements represent the first study in which the equilibrium properties of two particles of chemically distinct composition have been compared simultaneously and directly alongside each other in the same environment.     

Studies in Cyciocopolymerization. XIII. A Study of Steric Effects in Cyciocopolymerization of Divinyl Ether with Substituted Electron-Acceptor Alkenes

The equilibrium constants for charge-transfer (CT) complex formation between divinyl ether (DVE) and several sub-stituted maleic anhydrides and 2-cyclopentene-l,4-dione were measured in CHC1₃ by use of UV spectroscopy. The copolymerizaticn of DVE with these acceptor monoolefins produced regular cyclocopolymers of constant 1:1 or 1:2 (DVE:monoolefin) composition regardless of the feed composition. Comparison of the CT complexation and the cyciocopolymerization leads to the following conclusions: 1) A strong CT complex gives regular cyclocopolymer of constant 1:1 composition having a copolymer backbone made up of only 1,4-diene units: 2) when a monoolefin is un-reactive (often sterically), the 1:1 cyclocopolymer is pro-duced: and 3) if CT complexation is weak and the monoolefin is reactive toward radicals (but not so reactive as to homo-polymerize easily), a 1:2 alternating cyclocopolymer is produced. A facile and quantitative elimination of hydrogen halides with dilute aqueous NaOH solution was found.     

Photodissociation of 1-bromo-2-butene, 4-bromo-1-butene, and cyclopropylmethyl bromide at 234 nm studied using velocity map imaging

We present photofragment imaging experiments to characterize potential photolytic precursors of three C4H7 radical isomers: 1-methylallyl, cyclopropylmethyl, and 3-buten-1-yl radicals. The experiments use 2+1 resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) with velocity map imaging to state-selectively detect the Br(2P(3/2)) and Br(2P(1/2)) atoms as a function of their recoil velocity imparted upon photodissociation of 1-bromo-2-butene, cyclopropylmethyl bromide, and 4-bromo-1-butene at 234 nm as well as the angular distributions of the photofragments. Energy and momentum conservation allows the internal energy distribution of the nascent momentum-matched radicals to be derived. The radicals are detected with single photon photoionization at 157 nm. In the case of the 1-methylallyl radical the photoionization cross section is expected to be independent of internal energy in the range of 7-30 kcal/mol. Thus, comparison of the product recoil kinetic energy distribution derived from the measurement of the 1-methylallyl velocity distribution, detecting the radicals with 157 nm photoionization, with a linear combination of the Br atom recoil kinetic energy distributions allows us to derive reliable REMPI line strength ratios for the detection of Br atoms and to test the assumption that the photoionization cross section does not strongly depend on the internal energy of the radical. This line strength ratio is then used to determine the branching to the Br(2P(3/2)) and Br(2P(1/2)) product channels for the other two photolytic systems and to determine the internal energy distribution of their momentum-matched radicals. (We also revisit earlier work on the photodissociation of cyclobutyl bromide which detected the Br atoms and momentum-matched cyclobutyl radicals.) This allows us to test whether the 157 nm photoionization of these radicals is insensitive to internal energy for the distribution of total internal (vibrational+rotational) energy produced. We find that 157 nm photoionization of cyclopropylmethyl radicals is relatively insensitive to internal energy, while 3-buten-1-yl radicals show a photoionization cross section that is markedly dependent on internal energy with the lowest internal energy radicals not efficiently detected by photoionization at 157 nm. We present electronic structure calculations of the radicals and their cations to understand the experimental results.     

Effects of laser ablation on cemented tungsten carbide surface quality

Although laser micromachining has been touted as being the most promising way to fabricate micro tools, there has been no proper evaluation of the effects of laser ablation on bulk material properties.     

Ratiometric Detection of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) in Water and Real‐Time Monitoring of Apyrase Activity with a Tripodal Zinc Complex

Two tripodal fluorescent probes Zn?L^{1 , 2} have been synthesised, and their anion‐binding capabilities were examined by using fluorescence spectroscopy. Probe Zn?L¹ allows the selective and ratiometric detection of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) at physiological pH, even in the presence of several competing anions, such as ADP, phosphate and bicarbonate. The probe was applied to the real‐time monitoring of the apyrase‐catalysed hydrolysis of ATP, in a medium that mimics an extracellular fluid.     

Pressure-induced enhancements of luminescence intensities and lifetimes correlated with emitting-state distortions for thiocyanate and selenocyanate complexes of platinum(II) and palladium(II)

The luminescence properties of thiocyanate and selenocyanate platinum(II) and palladium(II) complexes show strong variations with temperature and pressure. The d-d luminescence band maxima for [Pt(SCN)(4)](PPh(4))(2) (1), [Pt(SCN)(4)](n-Bu(4)N)(2) (2), and [Pt(SeCN)(4)](n-Bu(4)N)(2) (4) complexes are centered at ca. 14500 cm(-1) whereas those of the [Pd(SCN)(4)](n-Bu(4)N)(2) (3) and [Pd(SeCN)(4)](n-Bu(4)N)(2) (5) complexes are approximately 2000 cm(-1) lower in energy. Low-temperature luminescence spectra from single-crystal samples have broad bands with highly resolved vibronic structure indicating large displacements of the emitting-state potential energy minimum along several metal-ligand normal coordinates. The largest displacements involve the totally symmetric (a(1g)) stretching modes with frequencies of 295 cm(-1) (1), 303 cm(-1) (2), 274 cm(-1) (3), 195 cm(-1) (4), and 185 cm(-1) (5). The lower frequencies of these dominant progression-forming modes for the selenocyanate complexes lead to luminescence bands that are narrower by ca. 500 cm(-1) (fwhm) than those observed from the thiocyanate complexes. Under external pressures, the room-temperature luminescence intensities and lifetimes show considerable enhancement at pressures up to 40 kbar. This effect is largest for the palladium(II) complexes with lifetimes increasing from approximately 350 ns at ambient pressure up to 62 micros at 30 kbar, an increase by more than 2 orders of magnitude. The platinum(II) complexes exhibit a significant, but noticeably lesser increase of luminescence lifetimes and intensities with increasing pressure. The temperature- and pressure-dependent luminescence decay behavior is rationalized using the emitting-state molecular geometry determined from the resolved low-temperature luminescence spectra combined with the strong-coupling limit of radiationless decay theory.