FI spectrophotometric determination of Pd with DBOK-chlorophosphonazo

A flow injection method was developed for the determination of palladium, based on the reaction of palladium with DBOK-chlorophosphonazo with a detection limit of 0.07 μg/mL and a linear calibration range from 0.1 to 3.2 μg/mL of palladium. The reaction product has a maximum absorption at 630 nm. The method was applied to determine Pd²⁺ in catalysts and in anode mud samples. The relative error is less than 3% and the recovery of palladium is in the range 95% to 105% Received: 27 April 1998 / Revised: 24 August 1998 / Accepted: 26 August 1998     

A comparative mechanistic analysis of the stereoselectivity trends observed in the oxidation of chiral oxazolidinone-functionalized enecarbamates by singlet oxygen, ozone, and triazolinedione

The stereoselectivity in the reactions of the E/Z enecarbamates 1, equipped with the oxazolidinone chiral auxiliary, has been examined for singlet oxygen (¹O₂), ozone (O₃), and 4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (PTAD) in a variety of solvents as a function of temperature. The oxidative cleavage of the alkenyl functionality by ¹O₂ and O₃ releases the enantiomerically enriched methyldesoxybenzoin (MDB) product. The extent (% ee) as well as the sense (R vs S) of the stereoselectivity in the MDB formation depends on the electronic nature of the oxidant. A high stereoselectivity, substantially dependent on solvent and temperature, is displayed for the reactions with ¹O₂, whereas the ground-state reactants O₃ and PTAD are rather unaffected by solvent and temperature variations. The present comparative analysis clearly substantiates our hypothesis of stereoselective vibrational quenching of the attacking ¹O₂, whereas O₃ and PTAD are only subject to steric impositions. The electronically excited ¹O₂ is sensitive to all three stereochemically relevant structural characteristics embodied in the chiral enecarbamates, namely the R/S configuration at the C₄ position of the oxazolidinone chiral auxiliary, the Z/E geometry of the ‘alkene’ functionality, and R/S configuration at the C_3′ position of the enecarbamate side chain.     

Magnetic structure variation in manganese-oxide clusters

Negative-ion photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio simulations are used to study the variation in magnetic structure in Mn(x)O(y) (x = 3, 4[semicolon] y = 1, 2) clusters. The ferrimagnetic and antiferromagnetic ground-state structures of Mn(x)O(y) are 0.16-1.20 eV lower in energy than their ferromagnetic isomers. The presence of oxygen thus stabilizes low-spin isomers relative to the preferred high-spin ordering of bare Mn(3) and Mn(4). Each cluster has a preferred overall magnetic moment, and no evidence is seen of competing states with different spin multiplicities. However, non-degenerate isomags, which possess the same spin multiplicity but different arrangements of local moments, do contribute additional features and peak broadening in the photoelectron spectra. Proper accounting for all possible isomags is shown to be critical for accurate computational prediction of the spectra.     

Stability domain of a complexed lithium salt-poly(ethylene oxide) polymer electrolyte

The redox stability domain of a polyethylene oxide-lithium trifluoromethanesulphonate polymer electrolyte has been investigated using low-sweep-rate voltammetry, in the range 100–170°C. Below 140°C, its voltage stability window is in excess of 3.3 volts, making it a candidate for use with practical electrochemical couples. The electrolyte is not, however, a pure cation conductor, and problems associated with the observed significant anion mobility must be overcome in order to improve the polymer's suitability as a solid-state electrolyte for battery applications.     

Cationic copolymerization of tetrahydrofuran with epoxides. II. Characterization and gel-permeation chromatography of by-products formed during polymerization

The cyclic oligomers formed as by-products in the polymerization of propylene oxide. 1,2-butylene oxide, and n-propyl glycidyl ether, and in the copolymerization of these monomers with tetrahydrofuran have been studied by gel-permeation chromatography and otherwise and their structures have been determined. Some of the physical properties of the cyclic oligomers are described.     

Effect of counter-ion on the thermotropic liquid crystal behaviour of bis(alkyl)-tris(imidazolium salt) compounds

Recently, new thermotropic ionic liquid crystals (LCs) with a hexyl-linked tris(imidazolium bromide) core and two terminal alkyl chains were synthesised and characterised. To explore the effect of different counter-ions on the LC behaviour of this system, derivatives with BF₄^? and Tf₂N^? counter-ions were prepared and analysed. Five of the BF₄^? derivatives were found to exhibit thermotropic LC behaviour. The 12-, 14- and 16-carbon tail BF₄^? compounds form SmA phases. The 18- and 20-carbon tail homologues form what appears to be a smectic phase but are weakly mesogenic and harder to characterise. Only two of the Tf₂N^? derivatives exhibited mesogenic behaviour. The 18-carbon tail Tf₂N^? compound forms an as-yet unidentified, highly periodic smectic phase with positional order while the 20-carbon tail homologue forms a periodic SmA phase. The Tf₂N^? mesogens have much lower clearing points even though their LC phases have more order than the Br^? and BF₄^? mesogens. X-ray diffraction showed that these mesogens have different amounts of tail interdigitation between the smectic layers depending on the counter-ion present. Atomistic molecular dynamics simulations indicated that counter-ion size plays an important role in defining the density of the ionic region, which in turn affects the amount of interdigitation in the smectic phases.     

Dependence on surface profile in grating-assisted coupling of light to surface plasmon-polaritons

Grating coupling of light to surface plasmon-polaritons (SPPs) supported by a thin metal film depends on the detailed geometry of the grating used to couple the incident light to the SPP modes. Here we show experimental and theoretical evidence that, in the case of square gratings having the same pitch and depth, the maximum coupling of light to the SPPs is achieved when the ratio between the groove width and the pitch of the grating is equal to 1/2. A straightforward explanation involving a Fourier analysis of the different grating profiles is given and compared with the experimental results.