Curve crossing in two excited states of IBr studied by photofragmentation

Curve crossing in two excited states of IBr was studied by means of photodissociation with a pulse dye laser. The ratios of the formed ground state Br(²P_{$\text{3}\text{2}$} and excited Br(²P_{$\text{1}\text{2}$}) were measured at various wavelengths. They are compared with ratios calculated with the Landau-Zener formula, using parameters given by Child. The agreement between the measurements and the calculations is very good.     

Laccase-catalyzed carbon-carbon bond formation: oxidative dimerization of salicylic esters by air in aqueous solution

The laccase catalyzed oxidative dimerization of salicylic esters, a rare example of a laccase-catalyzed carbon-carbon bond formation, was studied. This reaction allows the use of air as stoichiometric oxidant and proceeds in aqueous solution. The preparative scope and the mechanism of the method, which provides a new and convenient access to functionalized biaryls under mild conditions, were investigated.     

Ion Chromatographic determination of trace anions and cations in high-purity water

An ion chromatographic measuring system for the off-line and on-line determination of some trace anions and cations in high-purity water is presented. The ng/L level of anions and cations in 20-130 mL high-purity water can be analyzed after preconcentration on ion exchange columns. The concentrated solutes are eluted by eluents from the trap column and separated using a Dionex analytical column. The quantification of each ion is achieved using the suppressor technique and conductivity detector. The influence of various parameters on the results is discussed. The detection limits of cations and anions are between 10 and 30 ng/L for chloride, bromide, nitrate, phosphate, sulphate, sodium, ammonium, potassium, magnesium and calcium ions.     

Probing macromolecular adsorbed layer structure and history dependence via the interfacial cavity function

Adsorbed layers of proteins and other macromolecules often relax structurally more slowly than they form, rendering layer growth an out-of-equilibrium process. We show here how the interfacial cavity function, Phi (the average Boltzmann factor for a single probe molecule), may be determined, using kinetic data available from optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy, and used as a continuous, in situ measure of history dependent adsorbed layer structure. The increase of Phi observed with residence time for fibronectin and lysozyme layers suggests post-adsorption clustering on a time scale longer than that predicted by a surface diffusion model.     

Diffuse-reflectance laser flash photolysis of 16-(1-pyrene)-hexadecanoic acid adsorbed on silica

The absorption and fluorescence of 16-(1-pyrene)-hexadecanoicacid adsorbed on silica have been investigated. Time-resolved transient diffuse reflectance spectra were recorded following pulsed nanosecond laser excitation at 355 nm of pyrene, 1-methylpyrene and 16-(1-pyrene)-hexadecanoicacid adsorbed on silica. In addition to a rapidly decaying transient, absorbing at 420 nm assigned as the triplet state, and of the radical cation, absorbing at 460 nm, another long living transient species absorbing at 420 nm was observed for 16-(1-pyrene)-hexadecanoic acid. The decay is reversible but complete recovery takes several hours. Although no definitive assignment could be made for this transient several possibilities are discussed. The radical cations of the investigated molecules are formed by a biphotonic process. The non-exponential decay of the radical cations could be analyzed in the framework of a Gaussian distribution of free energy barriers.     

Topological study of intramolecular hydrogen bonding in beta-hydroxyethylperoxy radical and beta-hydroxyethoxy radical along its dissociation pathway

The presence of intramolecular hydrogen bond (IHB) in beta-hydroxyethylperoxy and beta-hydroxyethoxy radicals was investigated using the QTAIM topological study on UB3LYP/6-311++G(2d,2p) charge densities. Only one of the two conformers of beta-hydroxyethylperoxy radical which were previously considered to present IHB displays a bond critical point (BCP) associated to an IHB. Furthermore, the atomic energies and electron populations indicate no evidence of IHB in the second conformer. Nevertheless, very small differences in molecular energies were obtained using several one-step and multi-step methods (G3, G3B3) between both conformers. No BCP is found between the hydroxyl hydrogen and the oxygen in the most stable conformer or in the transition state for the dissociation path of beta-hydroxyethoxy radical. However, a BCP is formed in the last steps of this path, thereby yielding H-bonded products.     

Electron microscopic study of dehydration transformations. I. Twin formation and mosaic structure in hematite derived from goethite

A study by means of electron microscopy at high resolution has enabled the analysis of the microstructure of hematite as produced by dehydration from goethite. The apparently “polycrystalline” structure is found to consist of aggregates of well-oriented twin-related hematite crystals, separated by regularly spaced H(001) walls of voids resulting from the loss of water. The material is thus broken up into blocks with sizes smaller than 50 Å. The crystallography of the twinned structure can be analyzed by electron diffraction data and dark-field imaging. These aggregates of hematite crystals provide an ideal mosaic structure. In particular the effect of this mosaic structure on the individual reflections of the diffraction patterns has been analyzed and discussed.