A computational study of CO2, N2, and CH4 adsorption in zeolites

The adsorption properties of CO₂, N₂ and CH₄ in all-silica zeolites were studied using molecular simulations. Adsorption isotherms for single components in MFI were both measured and computed showing good agreement. In addition simulations in other all silica structures were performed for a wide range of pressures and temperatures and for single components as well as binary and ternary mixtures with varying bulk compositions. The adsorption selectivity was analyzed for mixtures with bulk composition of 50:50 CO₂/CH₄, 50:50 CO₂/N₂, 10:90 CO₂/N₂ and 5:90:5 CO₂/N₂/CH₄ in MFI, MOR, ISV, ITE, CHA and DDR showing high selectivity of adsorption of CO₂ over N₂ and CH₄ that varies with the type of crystal and with the mixture bulk composition.     

A comparative ab initio study of intramolecular proton transfer in model alpha-hydroxyalkoxides

A comparative ab initio study was performed on the intramolecular proton-transfer reaction that occurs in alpha-hydroxyethanoxy, alpha-hydroxyphenoxide, and alpha-hydroxyethenoxy anions. The intramolecular proton transfer occurs in a five-member atom arrangement, between two oxygen atoms separated by a carbon-carbon bond. The chosen systems serve as models for alpha-hydroxyalkoxide molecules where the carbon-carbon bond varies from a single bond (the glycolate anion or alpha-hydroxyethanoxide anion) to a part of an aromatic ring (the alpha-hydroxyphenoxide anion), and finally to a double bond (the alpha-hydroxyethenoxide anion). Particular attention was given to the evolution along the intrinsic reaction coordinate of such properties as energies, relevant structural parameters, Mulliken charges, dipole moments, and 1H-NMR chemical shifts to reveal the similarities and differences for the proton transfer in the model systems.     

Spectrophotometric flow-injection determination of ascorbic acid by generation of triiodide

A method is proposed for the flow-injection determination of ascorbic acid (0.1–40 μg ml^?1). Iodine is generated in the flow system as triiodide ion or the triiodide/starch complex giving a steady spectrophotometric signal at 350 or 580 nm, respectively; inverse peaks caused by ascorbic acid samples are measured. The method is applied to the determination of ascorbic acid in a fruit juice, jam and vitamin C preparation.     

Iron‐Catalyzed Stereoselective Cross‐Coupling Reactions of Stereodefined Enol Carbamates with Grignard Reagents

A practical and highly stereoselective iron‐catalyzed cross‐coupling reaction of stereodefined enol carbamates and Grignard reagents to yield tri‐ and tetrasubstituted acrylates is reported. A facile method for the stereoselective generation of these enol carbamates has also been developed.     

Electrochemical Immunosensors: The Evolution from Elisa to EμPADs

Electrochemical immunosensors comprise the merging of two different disciplines: molecular biology and electrochemistry. This review explains in depth the main parts of electrochemical immunosensors and how the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been integrated into sophisticated “lab-on-a-chip” and “point-of-care” devices. It also reviews how nanotechnology has been a powerful tool for achieving lower detection limits, more signal amplification, and constructing label-free devices. It finally explores the new perspectives on electrochemical immunosensors to integrate them in novel paper microfluidic devices called EμPADs. Colleagues introducing themselves to the topic for the first time will find in this review a comprehensive revision of how the basics of the technology have given rise to the emerging topic of EμPADs.     

Naphthalene adsorption on activated carbons using solvents of different polarity

The hydrophobic-hydrophilic character of a series of microporous activated carbons was explored as a key factor in competitive adsorption of a non-polar compound from liquid phase. The selectivity of the carbon surface towards naphthalene was explored by performing the adsorption isotherms in water, cyclohexane and heptane. Solvent polarity and adsorbent hydrophobic character were found to strongly influence the adsorption capacity of naphthalene. In aqueous media, despite the non-polar character of the adsorbate, surface acidity lowered adsorption capacity. This is attributed to the competition of water from the adsorption sites, via H-bonding with surface functionalities and the formation of hydration clusters that reduce the accessibility and affinity of naphthalene to the inner pore structure. In organic media the uptake decreased due to competition of the hydrophobic solvent for the active sites of the carbon and to solvation effects. This competitive effect of the solvent is minimized in oxidized carbons as opposed to the trend obtained in aqueous solutions. The results confirmed that although adsorption of naphthalene strongly depends on the narrow microporosity of the adsorbent, competitive adsorption of the solvent for the active sites becomes important.     

A general method for the preparation of N-sulfonyl aldimines and ketimines

[Reaction: see text] A simple procedure to obtain N-sulfonyl imines involving the condensation of carbonyl compounds with p-tolyl or tert-butyl sulfinamides followed by oxidation with m-CPBA of the resulting N-sulfinylimines is reported. The method is applicable to aldehydes (aliphatics and aromatics) and ketones (diaryl, dialkyl, and aryl alkyl), even those containing enolizable protons. It also does not affect C=N or C=C double bonds and does not epimerize alpha-stereogenic centers.     

Stability of Linear Inequality Systems in a Parametric Setting

In this paper, we propose a parametric approach to the stability theory for the solution set of a semi-infinite linear inequality system in the n-dimensional Euclidean space . The main feature of this approach is that the coefficient perturbations are modeled through the so-called mapping of parametrized systems, which assigns to each parameter, ranging in a metric space, a subset of . Each vector of this image set provides the coefficients of an inequality in and the whole image set defines the inequality system associated with the parameter. Thus, systems associated with different parameters are not required to have the same number (cardinality) of inequalities. The paper is focused mainly on the structural stability of the feasible set mapping, providing a characterization of the Berge lower-semicontinuity property. The role played by the strong Slater qualification is analyzed in detail.This research has been partially supported by Grant PB98-0975 from DGES (Spain), Grant BFM2002-04114-C02 (01–02) from MCYT (Spain), FEDER (European Union), and Bancaja-UMH (Spain).     

Modeling Evaporation Using a Nonlinear Diffusion Equation

A nonlinear model of the evaporation of a pure volatile liquid is presented in which the moving liquid–vapour interface appears very naturally. The model gives the same results as an earlier linear formulation for the Stefan diffusion problem, but far more simply.