Synthesis and Mesogenic Properties of Liquid Crystals Containing Terminal Cyclohexylmethanol,Cyclopentylmethanol, Cyclobutylmethanol and Cyclopropylmethanol Moiety

Four series of compounds 11?50 containing terminal alicyclic rings such as cyclohexylmethyl, cyclopentylmethyl, cyclobutylmethyl, and cyclopropylmethyl rings were synthesized and their liquid crystal behavior studied. The ring size and the length of flexible alkoxy chain influence the phase formation in different ways. While the smaller ring and the shorter alkoxy chain tend to favor the formation of the N phase, the larger ring and the longer alkoxy chain tend to favor the formation of the SmC phase. All the compounds except 11 and 21 exhibit SmA phases. The widest temperature range of the N, SmA, and SmC phases are found in the compounds 41 , 46 , and 20 , respectively, which are 75 °C for 41 , 115 °C for 46 , and 100 °C for 20 .     

Thermodynamic molecular switch in sequence‐specific hydrophobic interactions

This communication will demonstrate the existence of a thermodynamic molecular switch in the pairwise, sequence‐specific hydrophobic interaction of Ile–Ile, Leu–Ile, Val–Leu, or Ala–Leu over the temperature range of 273–333 K reported by Nemethy and Scheraga in 1962. Based on Chun's development of the Planck–Benzinger methodology, the change in inherent chemical bond energy at 0 K, ΔH°(T₀), is 3.0 kcal mol^?1 for Ile–Ile, 2.4 for Leu–Ile, 1.8 for Val–Leu, and 1.2 kcal mol^?1 for Ala–Leu. The value of ΔH°(T₀) decreases as the length of the hydrophobic side chain decreases. It is clear that the strength and stability of the hydrophobic interaction is determined by the packing density of the side chains, with Ala–Leu being the most stable. At 〈T_m〉, the thermal agitation energy, $\int^{T}_{0}\Delta Cp^{\circ}(T)\,dT$, is about five times greater than ΔH°(T₀) in each case. Additionally, the thermal agitation energy for the same series, evaluated at 〈T_m〉, decreases in the same order, that is, as the length of the side chain decreases. This pairwise, sequence‐specific hydrophobic interaction is highly similar in its thermodynamic behavior to that of other biological systems, except that the negative Gibbs free energy change minimum at 〈T_s〉 occurs at a considerably higher temperature, 355 K compared to about 300 K. The melting temperature, 〈T_m〉, is also high, 470 K compared to 343 K in a biological system. The implication is that the negative Gibbs free energy minimum at a well‐defined 〈T_s〉 has it origin in the hydrophobic interactions, which are highly dependent on details of molecular structure. In addition to the four specific dipeptide interactions described, we have shown in our unpublished work the existence of a thermodynamic molecular switch in the interactions of 32 dipeptides wherein a change of sign in ΔCp°(T)_reaction leads to a true negative minimum in the Gibbs free energy of reaction, and hence, a maximum in the related K_eq. Indeed, all interacting biological systems that we have thus far examined using the Planck–Benzinger approach point to the universality of thermodynamic molecular switches. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2001     

Ionic-liquid-supported peptide synthesis demonstrated by the synthesis of Leu(5)-enkephalin

A new strategy for the synthesis of oligopeptides was developed using an ionic liquid as a soluble support. The efficiency of this ionic liquid-phase approach was demonstrated by the synthesis of a bioactive pentapeptide, Leu(5)-enkephalin, in good yield and reasonable purity. The structures and purities of the reaction intermediates in each step were verified easily by routine spectroscopic analysis, and no chromatographic procedures were needed during the synthesis.     

Kinetic investigation of the textile bleaching process

Volumetric H₂-uptake measurements on an Mo₂N (79 m²g^–1) sample reduced at 673 K have been carried out and the uptake isotherms in the temperature range of 308–623 K have been determined. Both the total and reversible hydrogen uptake increased with the uptake temperature. The irreversible hydrogen uptake increased abruptly when the uptake temperature was raised up to 423 K. The maximum of irreversible hydrogen uptake was measured at 473 K. The H_IR/Mo ratio calculated from the uptakes obtained in the temperature range of 308–623 K varies in the range of 0.0010–0.0202. One possible mechanism for hydrogen adsorption is proposed to be heterolytic dissociation on Mo-N paris, in which the molybdenum atoms are in unsaturated coordination.     

水中矿物元素的ICP-MS分析

用ICP－MS对地下水、地表水和饮用水中的矿物元素进行了分析测定，实验证明用ICP－MS可以同时测定地下水，地表水和饮用水中矿物元素；该法灵敏度、精密度和准确度都能满足有关标准的要求，具有多元素同时分析，样品前处理简单，干扰少，测定快速，省事省力等优点。     

Determination of V(V), Nb(V) and Ta(V) as their 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol chelates by reversed-phase HPLC

This paper reports the separation and determination of V(V), Nb(V) and Ta(V) by RP-HPLC using 5-Br-PADAP as a precolumn derivatizing reagent. On C(18) column, the three metal chelates can be separated on a baseline in 9 min with the mobile phase of methanol-water (59:41, v/v) containing tartaric acid (0.2%) and acetate buffer (pH 3.5, 10 mM). The detection limits of V(V), Nb(V) and Ta(V) are 0.13 ppb, 0.22 ppb and 1.79 ppb, respectively when S/N is 3. This method is simple and rapid, and has been used in mineral analysis with satisfactory results.     

Reduction and reconstruction of Co3O4 nanocubes upon carbon deposition

We describe a synthetic investigation on the formation of carbon nanofibers using a preshaped free-standing metal-oxide catalyst (single-crystal cobalt oxide (Co(3)O(4)) nanocubes). In reacting with acetylene (C(2)H(2)) vapor, Co(3)O(4) nanocubes are reduced and reconstructed into metallic cobalt. The resultant metal catalyst with a 2-fold symmetry leads to a bilateral base growth for carbon nanofibers. Our findings indicate that an understanding of catalyst-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) mechanisms can be acquired, when the shape, size, and crystal orientation of pristine metal catalysts are made known to the CVD process. By tracing their evolutional changes in structure and composition, the shape-designed model catalysts may offer new opportunities for mechanistic investigations on the chemical reactivity of nanoparticles, general catalyst-assisted material synthesis, and metal intercalation chemistry.     

CeO2—LnO1.5固溶体的表征及其甲烷催化燃烧性能

向CeO2中引入Ln3 离子后形成的CeO2－LnO1.5（Ln=La，Nd，Sm，Gd）固溶体（n（Ce）：n（Ln）=1：1）是一种无贵金属的新型高效甲烷燃烧催化剂．比表面、XRD、Raman、TEM等分析证实，这类固溶体具有部分畸变的萤石结构，Ln3 进入晶格后诱发的结构变化使得团溶体的表面和本体能同时参与氧化还原反应．实验表明，该固态溶液体系是甲烷催化燃烧的良好催化剂．     

Synthesis and magnetic properties of poly(p‐phthaloyl‐disacetylaceton‐ethylenediimine) metal complexes

Macrocyclic Schiff‐base ligand, bisacetylaceton‐ethylenediimine (BAE) and its transition metal complexes M(BAE) (M = Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺) were synthesized. The complexes having characteristics of aromatic systems and well‐defined one‐dimensional structures, reacted with p‐phthaloyl chloride, to obtain polymer complexes. The complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, inductively coupled plasma (ICP), FT‐IR, and thermal analysis and show good thermal stability. ESR spectra analysis discovered that there are free radicals in the chain of polymers, indicating that a weak magnetic spin‐exchange interaction operates between the metal ions and free radicals. It is found that, as the bridging p‐phthaloyl group is able to propagate the magnetic exchange interaction, the polymer complexes show paramagnetic properties by measurement of temperature dependence of the magnetic property, and obey Curie–Weiss law. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.