Understanding the formation and evolution of ceria nanoparticles under hydrothermal conditions

Supercritical growth: The formation and evolution of ceria nanoparticles during hydrothermal synthesis was investigated by in?situ total scattering and powder diffraction. The nucleation of pristine crystalline ceria nanoparticles originated from previously unknown cerium dimer complexes. The nanoparticle growth was highly accelerated under supercritical conditions.     

The Enzyme Source Effect on the Performance of a Catalase Organic Phase Enzyme Electrode

Summary. The role of the enzyme source was studied in the reaction of hydrogen peroxide decomposition by immobilised catalase in acetonitrile. Enzymes isolated from bacterial and mammalian sources were conveniently immobilised on a spectroscopic graphite to obtain an organic-phase enzyme electrode (OPEE). Amperometry at constant potential was employed as basic analytical approach in this study.     

Substituent effects on thermal decolorization rates of bisbenzospiropyrans

[reaction: see text] A novel application of photochromic molecules is to mimic physiological oscillatory calcium signals by reversibly binding and releasing calcium ions in response to light. Substituent changes on the largely unexplored photochromic bisbenzospiropyran scaffold led to significant changes in thermal fading rates in several organic solvents. Excellent correlations have been found between fading rates and empirical Hammett constants as well as calculated ground-state energies. These correlations can be used to improve scaffold design.     

Redox properties and radical anions of fluorinated 2,1,3‐benzothia(selena)diazoles and related compounds

In comparison with 2,1,3‐benzothia(selena)diazoles, electrochemical oxidation and reduction of their 4,5,6,7‐tetrafluoro derivatives and a number of related compounds were studied by cyclic voltammetry. For nine examples of this class, the first reduction peaks are reversible and corresponding radical anions (RAs) are long‐lived at 295 K in MeCN and especially in DMF. The oxidation peaks were irreversible and corresponding radical cations were not observed. Electrochemically generated RAs were characterized by EPR measurements and DFT calculations at the UB3LYP/6‐31+G(d) level. The spin density distribution in the RAs is analyzed in connection with effects of S substitution by Se and/or H by F. The prospects of the studied RAs in the design and synthesis of magnetically active materials are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of stereoregularity of the polymer chain on interactions with surfactants: binding of cetylpyridinium chloride by isotactic and atactic poly(methacrylic acid)

Association of a cationic surfactant cetylpyridinium chloride, CPC, with isotactic and atactic poly(methacrylic acid), i-PMA and a-PMA, respectively, in aqueous 0.01 M NaCl solutions was studied by pH and fluorescence measurements in conjunction with potentiometric studies using a surfactant-sensitive membrane electrode. pH measurements have demonstrated that the presence of an oppositely charged surfactant increases ionization of carboxyl groups on PMA at low degrees of neutralization. The increase is more pronounced in the case of i-PMA. The isotactic form of PMA is not soluble in water at zero degrees of neutralization but can be rendered soluble by the addition of CPC at the surfactant to a polyion molar ratio of around 0.4. In the solubilized complex, the positive charge of the CPC molecule is facing the polar solvent, whereas surfactant tails are oriented toward the i-PMA compact coil. Binding isotherms and cooperativity parameters show that chain tacticity has an important influence on the interaction of cetylpyridinium cation with polymethacrylate anion. At the onset of cooperative binding, the association is stronger with i-PMA than with the atactic form, as demonstrated by lower CAC values and higher values of the cooperativity parameters. In contrast, more surfactant is bound by a-PMA in the region where polyion becomes saturated with surfactant ions. Results are interpreted by taking into account local chain conformations as obtained from quantum mechanical semiempirical molecular orbital calculations. Greater hydrophobicity and possibly higher charge density of i-PMA on one hand and more flexibility of the a-PMA chain on the other are held responsible for these observations.     

Microwave-assisted generation of alkoxyl radicals and their use in additions, beta-fragmentations, and remote functionalizations

Microwave irradiation (2.45 GHz, 300-500 W) of N-(alkoxy)thiazole-2(3H)-thiones in low-absorbing solvents affords alkoxyl radicals, which were identified by (i) spin adduct formation (EPR-spectroscopy) and (ii) fingerprint-type selectivities in intramolecular additions (stereoselective synthesis of disubstituted tetrahydrofurans), beta-fragmentations (formation of carbonyl compounds), and C,H-activation of aliphatic subunits, by delta-selective hydrogen atom transfer. C-Radicals formed from oxygen-centered intermediates were trapped either by Bu(3)SnH, L-cysteine ethyl ester, the reduced form of glutathione (reductive trapping), or by bromine atom donor BrCCl(3) (heteroatom functionalization) The results suggest that microwave activation is superior to UV/Vis-photolysis and conductive heating for alkoxyl radical generation from N-(alkoxy)thiazolethiones. It offers by far the shortest reaction times along with the option to reduce the amount of trapping reagent significantly.     

Method for detecting and characterising actinide-bearing micro-particles in soils and sediment of the Fukushima Prefecture,Japan

An aqueous biphasic system has been used for selective extraction of U(VI) ions from Th(IV), Sm(III) and Ce(III). Role of different biomolecules like morin, catechin, hesperidin and 4-hydroxycoumarin have been studied. Morin serves as the best reagent when citrate ions are used as a masking agent. Citrate forms stronger complexes with the other metal ions than morin thereby restricting their extractions. Contrarily, U(VI) forms a stronger complex with morin than citrate and is selectively extracted under the same conditions. It was also observed that morin can act as a spectrophotometric reagent for ratiometric detection and analysis of U(VI) ions.

     

Luminescence Spectroscopy of Rhodamine Homodimer Dications in Vacuo Reveals Strong Dye-Dye Interactions

Being alone or together makes a difference for the photophysics of dyes but for ionic dyes it is difficult to quantify the interactions due to solvent screening and nearby counter ions. Gas-phase luminescence experiments are desirable and now possible based on recent developments in mass spectrometry. Here we present results on tailor-made rhodamine homodimers where two dye cations are separated by methylene linkers, (CH₂)_n. In solution the fluorescence is almost identical to that from the monomer whereas the emission from bare cation dimers redshifts with decreasing n. In the absence of screening, the electric field from the charge on one dye is strong enough to polarize the other dye, both in the ground state and in the excited state. An electrostatic model based on symmetric dye responses (equal induced-dipole moments in ground state) captures the underlying physics and demonstrates interaction even at large distances. Our results have possible implications for gas-phase Förster Resonance Energy Transfer.     

Synthesis and rheological properties of star-shaped polydimethylsiloxanes based on carbosilane dendrimers

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