N-Heterocyclic Olefins as Electron Donors in Combination with Triarylborane Acceptors: Synthesis,Optical and Electronic Properties of D–π–A Compounds

N-heterocyclic olefins (NHOs), relatives of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), exhibit high nucleophilicity and soft Lewis basic character. To investigate their π-electron donating ability, NHOs were attached to triarylborane π-acceptors (A) giving donor (D)–π–A compounds 1 – 3 . In addition, an enamine π-donor analogue ( 4 ) was synthesized for comparison. UV–visible absorption studies show a larger red shift for the NHO-containing boranes than for the enamine analogue, a relative of cyclic (alkyl)(amino) carbenes (CAACs). Solvent-dependent emission studies indicate that 1 – 4 have moderate intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) behavior. Electrochemical investigations reveal that the NHO-containing boranes have extremely low reversible oxidation potentials (e.g., for 3 , =−0.40 V vs. ferrocene/ferrocenium, Fc/Fc⁺, in THF). Time-dependent (TD) DFT calculations show that the HOMOs of 1 – 3 are much more destabilized than that of the enamine-containing 4 , which confirms the stronger donating ability of NHOs.     

A novel general route for the preparation of enantiopure imidazolines

A novel procedure for the preparation of enantiopure 1,4-disubstituted 2-imidazolines is reported. Enantiopure beta-amino alcohols are converted into N-hydroxyethylamides, which are reacted with excess thionyl chloride, or with thionyl chloride followed by phosphorus pentachloride to yield N-chloroethylimidoyl chlorides. These intermediates are treated with amines and anilines to produce N-chloroethylamidines, which are converted into imidazolines upon workup with aqueous hydroxide. The method is simple and efficient and has been used to prepare a wide variety of enantiopure imidazolines, in a modular fashion, from readily available amino alcohols.     

Chemical separation activities in environmental management at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory

Besides a brief review of the INEEL, examples of chemical separation activities in environmental management are presented in this paper. Under development at the INEEL are separation technologies for the treatment of radioactive wastes, including highly radioactive liquid wastes, solid calcined wastes and mixed wastes, as well as contaminated groundwater and soils. An overview of these technologies, specific applications of the technologies, and the benefits from their use are discussed.     

Electrochemically Induced Iron Release of Adsorbed Horse Spleen Ferritin: Quantitation of Iron Using Long Optical Path Length Thin‐Layer Spectroelectrochemistry

In this work, long optical path length thin‐layer electrochemical cell was constructed using indium‐tin oxide on glass as the electrode material. Iron release from ferritin adsorbed on the electrode was induced by applying a negative potential sweep in the presence of 1,10‐phenanthroline. The usefulness of spectroelectrochemistry as a means of determining the quantity of iron released from an adsorbed layer of ferritin is demonstrated.     

Viscoelastic properties of dendrimers in the melt from nonequlibrium molecular dynamics

The viscoelastic properties of dendrimers of generation 1-4 are studied using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics. Flow properties of dendrimer melts under shear are compared to systems composed of linear chain polymers of the same molecular weight, and the influence of molecular architecture is discussed. Rheological material properties, such as the shear viscosity and normal stress coefficients, are calculated and compared for both systems. We also calculate and compare the microscopic properties of both linear chain and dendrimer molecules, such as their molecular alignment, order parameters and rotational velocities. We find that the highly symmetric shape of dendrimers and their highly constrained geometry allows for substantial differences in their material properties compared to traditional linear polymers of equivalent molecular weight.     

Hydrogen bond directed synthesis of pyridazine and naphthyridine containing macrocycles

This work describes a high-yielding, one-step synthesis of pyrizadine and naphthyridine containing macrocycles directed by intramolecular H-bonding.     

Valence bond studies of AH2 molecules

Minimal basis set (STO) molecular orbital and valence-bond calculations are reported for the³ B ₁ and¹ A ₁ states of CH₂. The open-shell molecular orbital calculations used the Roothaan formulation. The valence-bond calculations used the Prosser-Hagstrom biorthogonalisation technique to evaluate the cofactors required in using Löwdin's formulae. Optimisation of geometry and orbital exponents in the molecular orbital calculation on the³ B ₁ state gave a geometry of R_C-H=2.11 a.u. and H-C-H=123.2 °. The energy obtained was ?38.8355 a.u. The molecular orbital and valencebond calculations are compared. In the valence-bond calculations the variation with bond-length and bond-angle of the configuration energies was studied. Valence bond “build-up” studies are also reported. Valence-bond calculations using hybrid orbitals instead of natural atomic orbitals showed that the perfect-pairing approximation is not as good for CH₂ as BeH₂. The nature of the lone-pair and bonding orbitals is found to be significantly different between the³ B ₁ and¹ A ₁ states. In the³ B ₁ state the 2s and 2p orbitals are fairly equally mixed between both types of orbital. However in the¹ A ₁ state the bonding orbitals have mainly 2p character and the lone pair orbitals have mainly 2s character. As was found for H₂O, the bonding hybrid orbitals do not follow the hydrogen nuclei as the bond angle varies but continue to point approximately in their equilibrium directions.     

Comparison of Methionine α,γ‐Lyase and Homocysteine α,γ‐Lyase for Electrochemical Determination of Homocysteine

Recently, a novel enzymatic method was developed for determination of homocysteine. This method utilizes the electrochemical hydrogen sulfide sensor along with methionine α,γ‐lyase to accomplish the fast, accurate, sensitive and selective measurements. As a continuation of this work, another enzyme, homocysteine α,γ‐lyase, was used and the parallel experiments of using both enzymes were carried out against the effect of pH, sensitivity, linearity, and interferences, in an intended comparison between these two enzymes. The excellent linearity of amperometric currents against homocysteine concentrations, high sensitivities and low detection limits for both enzymes reconfirmed that the electrochemical method is superior over other analytical means. The high enzymatic activity of methionine α,γ‐lyase surpassing homocysteine α,γ‐lyase endowed the former higher sensitivity, lower detection limit and faster response than the latter, suggesting methionine α,γ‐lyase a better candidate for homocysteine measurement by electrochemical method. The differences between these two enzymes on the trends of response time and sensitivity at different pH environments, reactivity toward several forms of homocysteine as well as on the interference from several agents were also addressed and discussed.     

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of pretreated hardwoods

A series of correlations was made between the performance of 15 wood species in simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) and their respective chemical compositions. A compelling inverse trend (p < 0.001) was demonstrated between the percent conversion of glucan to ethanol during SSF and the Klason lignin content of the wood samples before dilute acid pretreatment. No significant relationships were found between the glucan, xylan, and ash compositions of the native wood samples and ethanol yield. This observation is unique and provides a convenient predictor of biomass conversion efficiency.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the oxidation of iron(II) ion by chlorine dioxide in aqueous solution

The mechanism by which an excess of iron(II) ion reacts with aqueous chlorine dioxide to produce iron(III) ion and chloride ion has been determined. The reaction proceeds via the formation of chlorite ion, which in turn reacts with additional iron(II) to produce the observed products. The first step of the process, the reduction of chlorine dioxide to chlorite ion, is fast compared to the subsequent reduction of chlorite by iron(II). The overall stoichiometry is The rate is independent of pH over the range from 3.5 to 7.5, but the reaction is assisted by the presence of acetate ion. Thus the rate law is given by At an ionic strength of 2.0 M and at 25°C, k_u = (3.9 ± 0.1) × 10³ L mol^?1 s^?1 and k_c = (6 ± 1) × 10⁴ L mol^?1 s^?1. The formation constant for the acetatoiron(II) complex, K_f, at an ionic strength of 2.0 M and 25°C was found to be (4.8 ± 0.8) × 10^?2 L mol^?1. The activation parameters for the reaction were determined and compared to those for iron(II) ion reacting directly with chlorite ion. At 0.1 M ionic strength, the activation parameters for the two reactions were found to be identical within experimental error. The values of ΔH? and ΔS? are 64 ± 3 kJ mol^?1 and + 40 ± 10 J K^?1 mol^?1 respectively. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 36: 554–565, 2004