Thionin-sensitized intrazeolite photooxygenation of trisubstituted alkenes: substituent effects on the regioselectivity as probed through isotopic labeling

The regioselectivity for the intrazeolite photooxygenation of several trisubstituted alkenes with geminal dimethyl groups was examined. The length of the alkyl chain at the lone position was varied, and as end groups, the phenyl or the cyclohexyl functionalities were chosen. The general trend for all alkenes is a significant increase of the reactivity at the twin position compared to the photooxygenation in solution. For the cyclohexyl-substituted alkenes, it was found that the regioselectivity is nearly independent of the alkyl chain length. However, for the phenyl-substituted alkenes, the ene reactivity of the allylic methylene hydrogen atoms at the lone position and the twix/twin regioselectivity depend significantly on the distance of the phenyl group from the double bond. These trends are discussed in terms of cation-pi interactions and conformational effects. Intramolecular and intermolecular isotope effects in the intrazeolite photooxygenation of deuterium-labeled alkenes suggest that a perepoxide-type intermediate is formed in the rate-determining step. Type I photooxygenation that involves reaction of the radical cations of the alkenes with superoxide ion are unlikely.     

Survival and relaxation time, pore size distribution moments, and viscous permeability in random unidirectional fiber structures

Computer simulation results are presented for the mean survival time, principal relaxation time, mean pore size, and mean square pore size, for random porous structures consisting of parallel nonoverlapping or partially overlapping fibers. The numerical procedure is based on a discrete step-by-step random walk mechanism simulating the Brownian diffusion trajectories of molecules in the porous media. Numerical results on the viscous permeability of these structures are computed with a method based on electrical conduction principles and compared to a variational bound derived from the mean survival time. The results show that nonoverlapping fiber structures exhibit lower values of the dimensionless mean survival time, principal relaxation time, mean pore size, and mean square pore size than randomly overlapping fiber structures of the same porosity, while partially overlapping fiber structures show behavior intermediate to those of the two extreme cases. The mean square pore size (second moment of the pore size distribution) is found to be a very good predictor of the mean survival time for non-, partially, and randomly overlapping fiber structures. Dimensionless groups representing the deviation of variational bounds from our simulation results vary in practically the same range as the corresponding values reported earlier for beds of spherical particles. A universal scaling expression of the literature relating the mean survival time to structural properties [S. Torquato and C. L. Y. Yeong, J. Chem. Phys. 106, 8814 (1997)] agrees very well with our results for all examined fiber structures, thus validated for the first time for porous media formed by partially overlapping particles. The permeability behavior of partially overlapping fiber structures resembles that of nonoverlapping fiber structures for flow parallel to the fibers, but not for transverse flow, where percolation phenomena prevail. The permeability results for beds of unidirectional partially overlapping fibers of moderate and low hard-core porosity compliment successfully earlier numerical data on the permeability of similar structures originating from high-porosity beds of nonoverlapping fibers.     

A new class of ferromagnetically-coupled mixed valence vanadium(IV/V) polyoxometalates

Reaction of [V(VI)OCl(2)(thf)(2)] with a bidentate nitrogen-donor ligand (L: phen=1,10-phenanthroline, 5-mephen=5-methyl-1,10-phenanthroline, bipy=2,2'-bipyridine, 5,5'-me(2)bipy=5,5'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipy) in methyl alcohol, in the presence of triethylamine, leads to the formation of hexameric [V(2) (IV)V(4) (V)] oxo-alkoxo-vanadates of the general formula [V(6)O(12)(mu(2)-OCH(3))(4)(L)(4)].x H(2)O [L=phen (1.4 H(2)O), 5-mephen (2.6 H(2)O), bipy (3.4 H(2)O), 5,5'-me(2)bipy (4.H(2)O)]. X-ray structure analysis of 1.2 H(2)O and 4.8 CH(3)OH revealed a pair of V(3)O(13)N(4) trimeric units sharing two corners, with a centrosymmetric planar V(6)-core. In addition, a fully oxidized V(V) species [V(V) (4)O(8)(OCH(3))(2)(mu(3)-OCH(3))(2)(5,5'-me(2)bipy)(2)].3 CH(3)OH (5.3 CH(3)OH) was isolated from the reaction mixture used for the synthesis of 4.H(2)O. The crystal structure of 5.3 CH(3)OH revealed a dicubane-like framework with two missing vertices. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and variable temperature magnetic susceptibility studies for the hexamers 1.4 H(2)O and 3.4 H(2)O showed the complete localization of the single 3d electrons on the V(IV) ions and unusual ferromagnetic interaction between the two paramagnetic vanadium(IV) ions separated by a distance of about 5.1 A. Furthermore, intermolecular antiferromagnetic interactions through pi-contacts of phenyl rings were observed for these species below 8 K. The ferromagnetic exchange coupling observed in the hexanuclear compounds 1.4 H(2)O and 3.4 H(2)O is also discussed using ab initio UHF calculations on a model compound. The value of the exchange coupling constant (3.7 cm(-1)) for this model compound, calculated using the broken symmetry approach, is in good agreement, both in sign and magnitude, with the experimental J values (6.00 cm(-1) for 1.4 H(2)O and 8.54 cm(-1) for 3.4 H(2)O).     

Complementary liposomes based on phosphatidylcholine: interaction effectiveness vs protective coating

A prospective targeted drug delivery system was prepared by the introduction of complementary and protective moieties at the external surfaces of liposomes. Thus recognition between hydrogenated phosphatidylcholine-cholesterol-based liposomes was achieved by the interaction of the complementary phosphate and guanidinium groups incorporated in separate liposomes while polyethylene glycol chains (PEG) protected both liposomes from environmental factors. In general, protective coating of liposomes in the range of 5% molar incorporation exerted an inhibitory effect on their recognition but it also permitted effective interaction between complementary liposomes.     

Ene reaction of singlet oxygen,triazolinedione, and nitrosoarene with chiral deuterium-labeled allylic alcohols: the interdependence of diastereoselectivity and regioselectivity discloses mechanistic insights into the hydroxy-group directivity

The ene reaction of singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)), triazolinedione (TAD), and nitrosoarene, specifically 4-nitronitrosobenzene (ArNO), with the tetrasubstituted 1,3-allylically strained, chiral allylic alcohol 3,4-dimethylpent-3-en-2-ol (2) leads to the threo-configured ene products in high diastereoselectivity, a consequence of the hydroxy-group directivity. Hydrogen bonding favors formation of the threo-configured encounter complex threo-EC in the early stage of ene reaction. For the analogous twix deuterium-labeled allylic alcohol Z-2-d(3), a hitherto unrecognized dichotomy between (1)O(2) and the ArNO and TAD enophiles is disclosed in the regioselectivity of the tetrasubstituted alcohol: Whereas for ArNO and TAD, hydrogen bonding with the allylic hydroxy group dictates the regioselectivity (twix selectivity), for (1)O(2), the cis effect dominates (twin/trix selectivity). From the interdependence between the twix/twin regioselectivity and the threo/erythro diastereoselectivity, it has been recognized that the enophile also attacks the allylic alcohol from the erythro pi face without assistance by hydrogen bonding with the allylic hydroxy functionality.     

Footing Settlement on a Consolidating Soil Layer with Stochastic Properties

Geotechnical engineering applications are characterized by various sources of uncertainties, most of them attributed to the stochastic nature of soil parameters and their properties. In particular, soil’s inherent random heterogeneity, inexact measurements and insufficient data necessitate numerical methods that incorporate the stochastic soil properties for a realistic representation of the soil behavior. In this paper, the process of consolidation of saturated soils is examined on the basis of the coupled u–p finite element formulation. A generalized Newmark implicit time integration scheme is implemented to treat the time integration of the coupled consolidation equations. A benchmark geotechnical engineering problem of a strip footing resting on a saturated soil layer is analyzed. The soil permeability coefficient k, as well as the elastic modulus E, are treated as lognormal random fields in two dimensions. The investigation of the effect of the spatial variability of the soil properties on the response of a footing–soil system is examined by means of the direct Monte Carlo simulation. The influence of the coefficient of variation and correlation length of the stochastic fields is quantified in terms of footing settlements, as well as excess soil water pore pressure. The effects of spatial variability of the permeability coefficient k and the elastic modulus E on the system response are demonstrated. It is shown that the footing differential settlement, along with generated excess pore pressures, is highly affected by the variation of the soil properties considered, as well as the correlation length of the underlying random fields.