A study of some potassium hexachlorometallate complexes using electron spectroscopy

X-ray photoelectron (ESCA) spectra of the core (Cl 2p K 2p and metal 4f, if present) and valence orbitals are reported for K₂ReCl₆, K₂OsCl₆, K₂IrCl₆· 3 H₂O, K₂PtCl₆, K₃MoCl₆, and K₂SnCl₆. The K 2p_{$\text{3}\text{2}$} binding energy was found to be nearly constant (292.7 eV) and that of Cl to increase very slightly with increasing atomic number for the third row transition metals. The chemical shifts of Re(IV), Os(IV), Ir(IV), and Pt(IV) relative to the metals were in qualitative agreement with atomic calculations utilizing configurations obtained from extended Hückel calculations. The valence spectra of the transition metal complexes exhibit a three-band structure. On the basis of MO results and intensity considerations the high binding energy band is assigned as a composite of the a_1g, e_g, 1t_2g MO's. The middle band represents the t_2u, 2t_1g MO's; and the low binding energy band the 2t_2g MO. Calculated nd orbital photoionization cross sections correlate reasonably well with the relative intensifies of the valence manifolds. Comparison of band separations and charge-transfer transition energies suggests that interelectronic repulsion and MO energy separation contribute about equally to the overall charge-transfer energy.     

Characterization of isopoly tungstate using time-of-flight electrospray mass spectrometry

Electrospray time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry has been carried out on aqueous solutions of isopoly tungstate. A number of factors affecting the speciation of tungstate were studied, including concentration, and pH. The concentrations of the solutions ranged from 10(-2) to 10(-5) M. At all concentrations studied, the pH range was sufficient to investigate all major species expected to be in aqueous solution. In all cases, the results obtained by electrospray showed changes in speciation which were limited to protonation and solvation effects; the tungstate core remained intact.     

Radiative decay ofJ/ψ into γ π+ π−

The radiative decayJ/ψ → γ π⁺ π^? has been studied using the 8.6 millionJ/ψ produced in the DM2 experiment at the DCIe ⁺e^? storage rings at Orsay. The π⁺ π^? mass spectrum shows a cleanf ₂ (1270) signal, and the possible presence of two other states at thef ₂ (1720) andf ₄ (2030) masses. For thef ₂ (1270), the branching ratio BR(J/ψ →γf)xBR(f→π⁺ π^?) is measured to be (7.50±0.30±1.12)×10^?4, and the spin analysis prefers theJ=2 assignment, with helicity parametersx=0.83±0.06 andy=0.01±0.06. The existence of higher mass states is discussed.     

Direct quantitative analysis of peptides using matrix assisted laser desorption ionization

The protocol and various matrices were examined for quantification of biomolecules in both the low ca. 1200 amu and mid mass 6000–12000 amu ranges using an internal standard. Comparative studies of different matrices of MALDI quantitative analysis showed that the best accuracy and standard curve linearity were obtained for two matrices: (a) 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB) combined with a comatrix of fucose and 5-methoxysalicylic acid (MSA) and (b) ferulic acid/fucose. In the low mass range, the quantitative limit was in the 30 fmol range and in the mid mass range the quantitative limit was in the 250 fmol range. Linear response was observed over 2–3 decades of analyte concentration. The relative error of the standard curve slope was 1.3–1.8% with correlation coefficients of 0.996–0.998.The main problem for quantitative measurement was suppression of the signal of the less concentrated component (analyte or internal standard) by the more concentrated component. The effect was identified with saturation of the matrix by the analyte. The threshold of matrix saturation was found to be in the range of 1/(3000–5000) analyte/matrix molar ratio. To avoid matrix saturation the (analyte+internal standard) to matrix molar ratio should be below this threshold. Thus the internal standard concentration should be as low as possible.DHB/MSA/fucose and ferulic acid/fucose matrices demonstrated good accuracy and linearity for standard curves even when the internal standard had chemical properties different from the analyte. However, use of an internal standard with different chemical properties requires highly stable instrumental parameters as well as constant (analyte+internal standard)/matrix molar ratio for all samples.     

Non-planar smoulder propagation governed by diffusion

The steady propagation of a thin smouldering front in a half-spacehas been considered. A suitable coordinate transformation hasallowed the region near the leading edge of the front to beexamined for both a maintained planar surface and with surfacecollapse due to material shrinkage. The change in the oxidizerconcentration for a small increment in the propagation speedfor large time and surface collapse has been determined. Theinfluence of two types of nonlinear diffusion on the shape ofthe smouldering front has been found; other cases can be dealtwith in a similar manner.     

Correlations between ESCA chemical shifts and modified sanderson electronegativity calculations

Correlations are given between ESCA chemical shifts and partial atomic changes calculated by the modified Sanderson method. Elements included are boron, carbon, silicon, germanium, tin, nitrogen, phosphorus, arsenic, oxygen, sulfur, selenium, fluorine, chlorine and bromine. Successful correlations were obtained for most elements; the best success was for situations involving a constant number of σ bonds. The method was least successful for nitrogen, oxygen, chlorine and bromine. The modified Sanderson method performed comparably to CNDO and Jolly electronegativity calculations in most cases. Correction for molecular potential is automatically achieved using the modified Sanderson method.When the data for all elements are considered the MS model seems to work reasonably well. Correlations for B, C, Ge, F, N, As and Se seem to be as good as most methods applied to these elements. The MS method works particularly well for Si, Sn, P and S. It is inapplicable to O, Cl and Br.For compounds of elements which exist in more than one formal oxidation state, it is necessary to obtain a separate plot of E_B, versus q_i for each oxidation state. Once this is done, the calculated and experimental binding energies show good correlation. The slopes and intercepts given in Table 3 may be used for this purpose.The reason for separate correlation lines in the case of multiple oxidation states may be understood when one considers the method by which Sanderson originally calculated his atomic E values. Sanderson's original E values were calculated as the ratio of the electron density of an element stripped of all its valence electrons to the electron density of the corresponding inert gas. By considering only the inert shell configuration, Sanderson's E values are valid for filled electron shell oxidation states. However, no allowance for lone electron pairs is made. Thus, charges calculated by Sanderson's method for elements bound in less than their maximum oxidation state may not be correct relative to other oxidation states of the same element. Attempts to correct for this neglect of lone pairs were made during the course of this work by assigning E values for an electron pair or by calculating E values for non-inert shell valence configurations met with failure.The low slopes of the binding energy-charge correlations for oxygen and the halogens may also be explained by the method Sanderson used to calculate his atomic E values. Sanderson assumed that all elements shared all valence electrons in bonding. This is not the case for the halogens or oxygen which retain essentially inert lone electron pairs. Since the effect of these lone pairs is not specifically dealt with, the charges calculated by Sanderson's method and the MS method are larger than they should be in the case of elements which retain nonbonded lone pairs.Throughout these studies, it has been noted that the MS method needs no correction for molecular potential. This may be explained by the manner in which group E values are calculated. Since the electronegativities of the atoms comprising a group are “sequentially” equalized from the terminal atom of a group inward to the site of the central atom, through bond inductive effects are accounted for. This procedure reduces a multiatom group to a form in which it may be treated as a single atom attached to the atom of interest. In this form, a molecule is reduced to Pauling's “nearest neighbor” picture. Thomas¹⁹ has found that Pauling's “nearest neighbor” approximation works well for correlating ESCA data of small (e.g. methane-line) molecules without additional correction for molecular potential. Thus, the MS method has reduced a molecule to a form where the “nearest neighbor” approximation is applicable.The MS method works well for covalent molecules. As was pointed out earlier, the method fails for ionic solids primarily because of anomalies introduced by the Madelung potential. It is speculated that the MS method will work well for isolated ionic molecules in the gas-phase.