16-Demethoxymethyllycaconitine,a new norditerpenoid alkaloid from Delphinium cuneatum

A new norditerpenoid alkaloid has been isolated from the roots of Delphinium cuneatum. On the basis of ¹H, ¹³C NMR, IR, and mass spectra, the structure of the alkaloid was established as 1,6,14-trimethoxy-7,8-dihydroxy-18-(2-methyl)succinylanthranoyloxyaconane (16-demethoxymethyllycaconitine). The roots of Delphinium cuneatum also contain the known alkaloid methyllycaconitine and N,N"-di(methoxycarbonyl)-3,4-diaminotoluene.     

Nitration of 5-formyl-substituted 2-cyclopropylfurans and 2-methylfurans and the corresponding thiophenes

In the nitration of 5-formyl-substituted 2-cyclopropylfurans and the corresponding thiophenes, in addition to the formation of the corresponding 3-nitro derivative the replacement of the formyl group by a nitro group takes place. For a thiophene derivative the latter direction of the reaction is observed to a substantially smaller degree. Under nitration conditions, 5-formylsylvane is converted only into 5-nitrosylvane, while the corresponding formylmethylthiophene is nitrated exclusively in position 3. The difference observed in the behavior on nitration of the furans and thiophenes studied is explained by the different degrees of participation of the heteroatom in the delocalization of the charges in the heterocyclic ipso-ions formed as intermediates.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 4, pp. 455–460, April, 1980.     

Z/E PHOTOISOMERIZATION OF UROCANIC ACID*

The E ? Z photoisomerization of the title compound (UA) (a naturally occurring sunscreen) has been studied in aqueous solution. At a UA concentration of 6mM and using 313nm excitation, φ_E→z= 0.52, φ_Z→E= 0.47 and the photostationary state is 34% E. Under these conditions, loss of UA is minimal. Low energy triplet quenchers fail to impede the isomerization, but the reaction can be induced by several triplet sensitizers. The E_T for UA is estimated to be approximately 55 kcal/mol.     

Effect of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy nitroxide substituent on kinetic parameters of pseudoliving polymerization

The main kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of the pseudoliving radical polymerization of styrene mediated by 4-linoleamido-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy have been studied. It has been shown that the introduction of the said substituent into nitroxide leads to a marked reduction in the rate constant of reinitiation that is compensated for by the simultaneous reduction in the rate constant of reversible termination. As a result, the rate of pseudoliving polymerization, the rate of molecular mass growth, and the polydispersity of the polymer appear to be practically the same for processes mediated by both unsubstituted and substituted nitroxides.     

Methane conversion with carbon dioxide on nickel aluminides

The catalytic activity of several samples based on nickel aluminides in methane conversion with carbon dioxide was studied. Nickel aluminides were prepared by the method of self-propagating high-temperature synthesis. The Ni₃Al system containing the nickel metal phase exhibited high activity at temperatures above 1073 K. The systems based on Ni₂Al₃ and NiAl only containing intermetallic compound phases were inactive.     

Analysis of the spin exchange interactions of ferromagnetic CdVO3 in terms of first principles and qualitative electronic structure calculations

First principles spin-polarized electronic band structure calculations were carried out for three ordered spin states of CdVO₃, and the strengths of its corner- and edge-sharing spin exchange interactions were estimated. To gain insight into why CdVO₃ exhibits ferromagnetism while CaV₂O₅ does not despite their apparent structural similarity, the spin exchange interactions of CdVO₃ and CaV₂O₅ were compared in terms of spin dimer analysis using extended Hückel tight binding calculations, and the local geometries of their V⁴⁺ ions were examined.     

The influence of substituent groups on the resonance stabilization of benzene. An ab initio computational study

Accurate G3(MP2) calculations of the enthalpies of formation (Delta(f)H298) of organic molecules permit replication and extension of calculations that were formerly dependent on experimental thermochemical results. A case in point is Kistiakowski's classical calculation of the total stabilization enthalpy of benzene relative to that of cyclohexene, called for many years the "resonance energy". This paper investigates extension of the classical calculation to substituted benzenes. Slight modification of the usual procedure for Delta(f)H298 determination permits exclusion of all empirical information, leaving a purely ab initio result. Stabilization enthalpies relative to the corresponding 4-substituted cyclohexenes are presented for benzene, toluene, aniline, phenol, phenylacetylene, styrene, ethylbenzene, and phenylhydrazine. In the process of calculating these stabilization enthalpies, we have also obtained 42 values of Delta(f)H298 for monosubstituted benzenes, cyclohexenes, and cyclohexanes, 24 of which are not in the standard reference literature. For the remaining 18 G3(MP2) results, the unsigned mean difference between calculated Delta(f)H298 values and experimental results is +/-0.91 kcal x mol(-1).     

Geometrical structure of yttrium and metal-bromine complexes in solution: limitations of extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis (EXAFS)

An extensive study on the appearance of multi-electron features in the X-ray absorption spectra of several yttrium(III)-based compounds has been performed. The existence of a multi-electron transition of non-negligible intensity within the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) region of the Y K-edge spectra has been proven. The impact of such features in the EXAFS analysis is made evident for aqueous solutions of YBr3 x 6H2O in liquid and glassy states in the concentration range 0.005-2.0 M, in which this transition induces an overestimation in the coordination numbers derived from EXAFS. We have performed theoretical computation of cross-sections for the double-electron processes at the K-edge of both Y and Br. These computations have been applied to the experimental EXAFS K-edge spectra of both Y and Br in several solids and in aqueous solutions. While in the case of Y K-edge spectra the presence of such multi-electron transitions was seen to seriously affect the standard EXAFS analysis, its influence in the case of Br K-edge spectra was determined to be negligible.