Reactions of methyl fluorosulphonate and triethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate with metal complexes

Methyl fluorosulphonate and triethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate (which is less reactive) have been found to give four distinct types of reaction with transition metal complexes, viz. (a) halogen abstraction, (b) oxidative-addition, (c) alkylation of the coordinated ligands, and (d) oxidation at the metal atom.     

Management Adopts Operational Research: Session Report

Quantitative methods are derived to assist buyers purchasing commodities in fluctuating price markets. Demand is known whilst price is a stochastic variable which may contain trends or seasonal fluctuations. The essential feature of the problem is that the buyer has many opportunities to make a purchase.Mathematical models are formulated to describe particular commodity buying problems. The optimal purchasing policy is derived by using dynamic programming. It consists of a set of discrete price breaks at each buying opportunity together with the associated stock levels the buyer should aim to achieve at each price break with his purchase at this opportunity. The price breaks are dependent on the probability density functions of future prices and the number of future buying opportunities. Recurrence relations are derived to calculate these price breaks. The case of restrictions on the purchase quantity at each price offer, either because of supply limitations or by the buyer as a policy decision, and price discounts are also considered.A case study illustrating the techniques is given and the methods are extended to purchasing for a blending problem with substitutable commodities.     

The determination of lead in blood using isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS) was applied to the certification of Pb in four levels of NIST blood SRM, 955a. This standard reference material (SRM) represents a significant improvement over the previous blood reference material and will greatly aid method development. The lowest level, 47.76 ng/g Pb was determined with analysis uncertainty (95% CI, ID-ICP-MS uncertainties) of less than 1% and the highest level, 517.9 ng/g Pb to 0.3%. Uncertainty in the lowest level was due to sample inhomogeneity and variability in the analytical blank as the RSD on ratio measurements was typically better than 0.2%. Properly applied isotope dilution coupled with careful isotope ratio measurements on the ICP-MS offers precision and accuracy for blood Pb analyses beyond what is currently obtainable with routine methods.     

Basic hydrolysis of glyceryl nitrate esters. III. Trinitroglycerin

Kinetics of the basic hydrolysis of glyceryl trinitrate (TNG) were investigated in CO₂-free aqueous calcium hydroxide solutions. The hydrolysis reactions were carried out in a temperature controlled reactor vessel with provision for continuous N₂ sparging of the reaction mixture. TNG hydrolyzed via second-order reaction at 25°C, 18°C, and 10°C. The activation energy of the hydrolysis reaction of TNG was calculated from the kinetic data and found to be equal to 27.53 kcal/mol. The major products of the hydrolysis of TNG in solution of calcium hydroxide were calcium nitrate and calcium nitrite, accounting for approximately 50% of the degradation products. The minor identified products such as calcium oxalate and nitrate esters amounted to approximatey 6% of the products. The remaining 30% of the isolated products was a mixture of calcium formate, a nitrate ester, and unidentified volatiles, polymerlike substances, and other organic residue.     

Linear programming based analysis of marginal cost pricing in electric utility capacity expansion

This paper concerns methods for discretizing and approximating the annual load duration curve in the context of a linear programming model and its interpretation in electric utility expansion planning. The emphasis is upon the interpretation of the linear programming dual variables and their relationship with classical results of peak load pricing. In particular, for capacity planning in which one can choose from a diverse number of technological alternatives, we support the work of Wenders by precisely characterizing how off-peak periods bear partial responsibility of the capacity cost.