The relationship between thermal degradation and flammability

The relationship between flammability and thermal degradation is the consequence of the burning cycle needed to sustain fire. Thermal degradation behaviour of polymers is discussed in relation to generation of fuel and other products, including flame quenchers, and the production of char. The thermal degradation behaviour of the main classes of fire retardant is considered and illustrated by examples of the ways in which specific fire retardants exert their effect on a particular polymer.     

Squaramides: physical properties, synthesis and applications

Squaramides are remarkable four-membered ring systems derived from squaric acid that are able to form up to four hydrogen bonds. A high affinity for hydrogen bonding is driven through a concomitant increase in aromaticity of the ring. This hydrogen bonding and aromatic switching, in combination with structural rigidity, have been exploited in many of the applications of squaramides. Substituted squaramides can be accessed via modular synthesis under relatively mild or aqueous conditions, making them ideal units for bioconjugation and supramolecular chemistry. In this tutorial review the fundamental electronic and structural properties of squaramides are explored to rationalise the geometry, conformation, reactivity and biological activity.     

Hexa- and octanuclear iron(III) salicylaldoxime clusters

The syntheses, structures and magnetic properties of six iron complexes stabilised with the derivatised salicylaldoxime ligands Me-saoH(2) (2-hydroxyethanone oxime) and Et-saoH(2) (2-hydroxypropiophenone oxime) are discussed. The four hexanuclear and two octanuclear complexes of formulae [Fe(8)O(2)(OMe)(4)(Me-sao)(6)Br(4)(py)(4)]·2Et(2)O·MeOH (1·2Et(2)O·MeOH), [Fe(8)O(2)(OMe)(3.85)(N(3))(4.15)(Me-sao)(6)(py)(2)] (2), [Fe(6)O(2)(O(2)CPh-4-NO(2))(4)(Me-sao)(2)(OMe)(4)Cl(2)(py)(2)] (3), [Fe(6)O(2)(O(2)CPh-4-NO(2))(4)(Et-sao)(2)(OMe)(4)Cl(2)(py)(2)]·2Et(2)O·MeOH (4·2Et(2)O·MeOH), [HNEt(3)](2)[Fe(6)O(2)(Me-sao)(4)(SO(4))(2)(OMe)(4)(MeOH)(2)] (5) and [HNEt(3)](2)[Fe(6)O(2)(Et-sao)(4)(SO(4))(2)(OMe)(4)(MeOH)(2)] (6) all are built from a series of edge-sharing [Fe(4)(μ(4)-O)](10+) tetrahedra. Complexes 1 and 2 display a new μ(4)-coordination mode of the oxime ligand and join a small group of Fe-phenolic oxime complexes with nuclearity greater than six.     

Modifying the adsorption properties of anionic surfactants onto hydrophilic silica using the pH dependence of the polyelectrolytes PEI, ethoxylated PEI, and polyamines

The manipulation of the adsorption of the anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS, onto hydrophilic silica by the polyelectrolytes, polyethyleneimine, PEI, ethoxylated PEI, and the polyamine, pentaethylenehexamine, has been studied using neutron reflectometry. The adsorption of a thin PEI layer onto hydrophilic silica promotes a strong reversible adsorption of the SDS through surface charge reversal induced by the PEI at pH 7. At pH 2.4, a much thicker adsorbed PEI layer is partially swelled by the SDS, and the SDS adsorption is now no longer completely reversible. At pH 10, there is some penetration of SDS and solvent into a thin PEI layer, and the SDS adsorption is again not fully reversible. Ethoxylation of the PEI (PEI-EO(1) and PEI-EO(7)) results in a much weaker and fragile PEI and SDS adsorption at both pH 3 and pH 10, and both polymer and surfactant desorb at higher surfactant concentrations (>critical micellar concentration, cmc). For the polyamine, pentaethylenehexamine, adsorption of a layer of intermediate thickness is observed at pH 10, but at pH 3, no polyamine adsorption is evident; and at both pH 3 and pH 10, no SDS adsorption is observed. The results presented here show that, for the amine-based polyelectrolytes, polymer architecture, molecular weight, and pH can be used to manipulate the surface affinity for anionic surfactant (SDS) adsorption onto polyelectrolyte-coated hydrophilic silica surfaces.     

Individually addressable microelectrode array for monitoring oxygen and nitric oxide release

We have fabricated a six individual addressable gold working electrode microarray. The device is wirebonded to an eight-pin DIL package that can be easily interconnected to an external multi-channel potentiostat. A polyion complex film coating on the electrode surface provides a suitable coating for the growth of cells. The responses of oxygen and nitric oxide were assessed on uncoated and coated devices using electroanalytical methods. The film coating reduced the diffusion current by approximately 20% in both cases. No changes in the electrochemical mechanism were observed. Simultaneous recordings were obtained for 2 h in the presence of the cells, thus the device is stable for the duration of the bioanalytical measurements. Measurements were conducted to study the simultaneous changes in oxygen and nitric oxide levels in cultured fibroblast cells in the presence of growth hormones that cause cell proliferation. Increases in oxygen consumption of the cells were coupled with increases in nitric oxide levels when in the presence of the growth hormones. Use of a biological detergent to cause an oxidative burst resulted in a large increase in the current for potentials set to detect nitric oxide and oxygen.     

Expression of chirality in salicyloxazolinate complexes of zirconium

Treatment of chiral non-racemic salicyloxazoline proligands HL with tetrabenzylzirconium(IV) gave species [L₂Zr(CH₂Ph)₂]. Reactions of KL with ZrCl₄(THF)₂ gave similar chloro complexes. One example of a benzyl complex was shown to exist as the Λ-trans,cis,cis diastereomer by X-ray crystallography. DFT calculations showed the observed isomer to be the most stable by 35 kJ mol⁻¹, indicating that thermodynamic diastereoselection for this species is excellent. Examination of the chiral environment about the benzyl co-ligands indicates however that the degree of expression of the chirality of the structure in what would be the site of metal-based reactions is poor in comparison to related systems. Variable temperature ¹H NMR data are consistent with this in that the low temperature spectrum exhibits a very small chemical shift difference between the chemically inequivalent benzylic CH atoms, and at higher temperatures dissociation of the portion of the ligand that contains the chiral information, i.e., the oxazoline unit, leads to apparent equivalence.     

Energy transfer in thermal and hyperthermal collisions between CN(X2Sigma+, v = 2) in selected rotational levels (Ni = 0, 1, 6, 10, 15 and 20) and N2

We report rate coefficients (k(tot,N(i))) for total removal of CN(X(2)Sigma(+), v = 2, N(i)) radicals from selected rotational levels (N(i) = 0, 1, 6, 10, 15 and 20) and for state-to-state rotational energy transfer (k(i-->f)) between levels N(i) and other rotational levels N(f) in single collisions with N(2). CN radicals have been generated using two sources: (a) the pulsed laser photolysis of ICN at 266 nm, which generates translationally 'hot' CN radicals; and (b) the pulsed laser photolysis of NCNO at 570 nm, which generates CN radicals with translational energies close to the average value at 298 K. Comparison of the values of k(tot,N(i)) obtained using these two sources of CN demonstrates: firstly, that the same results are obtained as long as time is allowed for the translationally hot CN radicals generated from ICN to be thermalised before radicals are promoted to a specific rotational level in v = 2 using a tuneable infrared 'pump' laser operating at ca. 2.45 micro m; and secondly, that the rate coefficients decrease, but the averaged cross-sections remain approximately constant, as the excess translational energy in CN radicals is moderated by collisions. With NCNO as the source of CN radicals, the observed values of k(tot,N(i)) do not depend on the delay between the pulses from the photolysis and pump lasers. Finally, we demonstrate that, for the non-reactive collision partner N(2) and with allowances made for the rate coefficients that are too small to measure directly, the sum of the state-to-state rate coefficients, Sigma(f)k(i-->f), for rotational energy transfer from a selected initial level N(i) agrees quite well with the value of k(tot,N(i)) for total transfer from the same initial level. The values of k(tot,N(i)) and of the state-to-state rate coefficients are compared with similar, earlier, results in which helium and argon were the collision partners. The relevance of these results to the study of collisions of CN with reactive collision partners is briefly discussed.     

Synthesis and characterization of new oxazoline-based palladacycles with bridging or terminal imidate ligands. Crystal structures of [{Pd(μ-dibromomaleimidate)(Phox)}2], [Pd(dibromomaleimidate)(Phox)(PPh3)] and [Pd(glutarimidate)(Phox)(PPh3)] (Phox = 2-(2-oxazolinyl)phenyl))

The dinuclear hydroxo complex [{Pd(μ-OH)(Phox)}₂] (I) (Phox = 2-(2-oxazolinyl)phenyl) reacts in a 1:2 molar ratio with several imidate ligands to yield new cyclometallated palladium complexes [{Pd(μ-NCO)(Phox)}₂] containing asymmetric imidate –NCO– bridging units. [–NCO– = succinimidate (succ) (1), phtalimidate (phtal) (2), maleimidate (mal) (3), 2,3-dibromomaleimidate (2,3-diBrmal) (4) and glutarimidate (glut) (5)]. The reaction of these complexes with tertiary phosphines provides novel mononuclear N-bonded imidate derivatives of the general formula [Pd(imidate)(Phox)(PR₃)] [R = Ph (a), 4-F–C₆H₄ (b) or CH₂CH₂CN (c)]. The new complexes were characterized by partial elemental analyses and spectroscopic methods (IR, FAB, ¹H, ¹³C and ³¹P). The single-crystal structures of compounds 4, 4a and 5a have been established.     

Structure of iron and manganese ions substituted in the framework of nanoporous AlPO-5 material

The structure of iron and managanese ions substituted in the framework of nanoporous AlPO-5 is determined by ex situ and in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Fe K-edge XANES and EXAFS studies clearly indicate that iron ions are present as Fe(III) in octahedral coordination in the assynthesised material and tetrahedral coordination in the calcined material in both pure FeAlPO-5 and FeMnalPO-5. XANES and EXAFS results also indicate that reaction with hydrogen peroxide causes the removal of Fe(III) ions from the framework. Mn K-edge XANES and EXAFS of FeMnAlPO-5 samples indicate that Mn(II) ions are present in the framework, tetrahedrally coordinated, in the as-synthesised material but upon calcination it is found that the Mn(II) ions are removed from the framework, suggesting a different synthesis strategy is necessary to stabilise the Mn(II) ions in the framework simultaneously with Fe(III) ions.     

Quantification of the In Vitro and In Vivo Metabolic Fates of 2-, 3- and 4-Bromobenzoic Acids Using High Temperature LC Coupled to ICP-MS and Linear Ion Trap MS

High temperature liquid chromatography (HTLC), with water as the mobile phase, combined with ICP-MS tuned to the detection of Br, for quantification, and a linear ion trap MS, for structural identification, were applied to determine the disposition and metabolic fate of 2-, 3- and 4-bromobenzoic acids (BBAs) following in vitro incubation with rat hepatocytes at 4 mM. The separation of the metabolites was performed using a thermal gradient to increase the eluotropic strength of the aqueous mobile phase through the run to elute less polar components. The use of highly aqueous solvents for separations involving ICP-MS is advantageous because the water does not change the conductivity of the plasma thereby providing a more stable system. The improved system stability resulted in better sensitivity, as shown by the increased signal intensity for HTLC compared to conventional reversed-phase separations. Using HTLC to investigate the in vitro metabolic fate of the BBAs showed the major route of metabolism to be glycine conjugation, irrespective of the structure of the parent, but with different amounts produced depending on the positional isomer. The comparison of HTLC with the conventional methodology showed that chromatography at elevated temperatures had no effect on the observed metabolite profile. HTLC was also applied to urine obtained from an in vivo sample and showed an improved chromatographic peak shape compared to conventional liquid chromatography (LC) whilst providing the same analytical result.