Tetramethyl(perfluoroalkyl)cyclopentadienyl rhodium(I) complexes with ethylene or diene ligands. Crystal structure of [(η-C5Me4C6F13)Rh(CO)2]

Tetramethyl(perfluoroalkyl)cyclopentadienyl rhodium(I) complexes with ethylene or diene (norbornadiene, cycloocta-1,5-diene, 2,3-dimethylbuta-1,3-diene, cyclohexa-1,3-diene) ligands were obtained by reduction of tetramethyl(perfluoroalkyl)rhodium(III) dichloro dimers by zinc in THF or by propan-2-ol/sodium carbonate in the presence of the ligands. Reduction in the presence of cycloocta-1,3-diene gave a different product, an η³-cyclooctenyl complex, which was not reduced further. During the reduction in the presence of ethylene, a new tetramethyl(perfluoroalkyl)-η⁴-cyclopentadiene complex was observed by NMR. This compound, formed by hydrogen transfer from the metal to the ligand, is probably in an equilibrium with the parent hydridocyclopentadienyl complex. Crystal and molecular structure of dicarbonyltetramethyl(perfluorohexyl)cyclopentadienylrhodium(I) complex was determined by X-ray diffraction. The structure shows a moderate ring slippage of the rhodium atom which was not observed in the only other known structure of a complex with the same ligand, the rhodium(III) dichloro dimer.     

Tungsten carbide precursors as an example for influence of a binder on the particle formation in the nanosecond laser ablation of powdered materials

A study of LA-ICP-MS analysis of pressed powdered tungsten carbide precursors was performed to show the advantages and problems of nanosecond laser ablation of matrix-unified samples. Five samples with different compositions were pressed into pellets both with silver powder as a binder serving to keep the matrix unified, and without any binder. The laser ablation was performed by nanosecond Nd:YAG laser working at 213 nm.The particle formation during ablation of both sets of pellets was studied using an optical aerosol spectrometer allowing the measurement of particle concentration in two size ranges (10-250 nm and 0.25-17 μm) and particle size distribution in the range of 0.25-17 μm. Additionally, the structure of the laser-generated particles was studied after their collection on a filter using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the particle chemical composition was determined by an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDS).The matrix effect was proved to be reduced using the same silver powdered binder for pellet preparation in the case of the laser ablation of powdered materials.The LA-ICP-MS signal dependence on the element content present in the material showed an improved correlation for Co, Ti, Ta and Nb of the matrix-unified samples compared to the non-matrix-unified pellets. In the case of W, the ICP-MS signal of matrix-unified pellets was influenced by the changes in the particle formation.     

Stereoselective hetero-Diels-Alder reaction of 3-nitro-2-trihalomethyl-2H-chromenes with 2,3-dihydrofuran and ethyl vinyl ether under solvent-free conditions

3-Nitro-2-trifluoro(trichloro)methyl-2H-chromenes undergo heterodiene cycloaddition to 2,3-dihydrofuran and ethyl vinyl ether under solvent-free conditions producing novel cyclic nitronates with high stereoselectivity and in good yields. 3,6-Dinitro-2-trifluoromethyl-2H-chromene reacts with two molecules of ethyl vinyl ether to give the tandem [4+2]/[3+2] cycloaddition adduct in 48% yield. The stereochemistry of the products was established based on 2D COSY, NOESY, HSQC, and HMBC experiments and an X-ray diffraction study.     

Electronic properties of N(5)-ethyl flavinium ion

We investigated the electronic properties of N(5)-ethyl flavinium perchlorate (Et-Fl(+)) and compared them to those of its parent compound, 3-methyllumiflavin (Fl). Absorption and fluorescence spectra of Fl and Et-Fl(+) exhibit similar spectral features, but the absorption energy of Et-Fl(+) is substantially lower than that of Fl. We calculated the absorption signatures of Fl and Et-Fl(+) using time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) methods and found that the main absorption bands of Fl and Et-Fl(+) are (π,π*) transitions for the S(1) and S(3) excited states. Furthermore, calculations predict that the S(2) state has (n,π*) character. Using cyclic voltammetry and a simplistic consideration of the orbital energies, we compared the HOMO/LUMO energies of Fl and Et-Fl(+). We found that both HOMO and LUMO orbitals of Et-Fl(+) are stabilized relative to those in Fl, although the stabilization of the LUMO level was more pronounced. Visible and mid-IR pump-probe experiments demonstrate that Et-Fl(+) exhibits a shorter excited-state lifetime (590 ps) relative to that of Fl (several nanoseconds), possibly due to faster thermal deactivation in Et-Fl(+), as dictated by the energy gap law. Furthermore, we observed a fast (23-30 ps) S(2) → S(0) internal conversion in transient absorption spectra of both Fl and Et-Fl(+) in experiments that utilized pump excitations with higher energy.     

First steps towards dissolution of NaSO4- by water

NaSO(4)(-)(H(2)O)(n) (n = 0-4) clusters have been generated in the gas phase as model systems to simulate the first dissolution steps of sulfate salts in water; photoelectron spectroscopy and theoretical calculations indicate that the first three water molecules strongly interact with both Na(+) and SO(4)(2-), forming a three-water solvation ring to start to pry apart the Na(+)SO(4)(2-) contact ion pair.     

Specific ion effects at protein surfaces: a molecular dynamics study of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor and horseradish peroxidase in selected salt solutions

The distribution of sodium, choline, sulfate, and chloride ions around two proteins, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI), is investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulations with the aim to elucidate ion adsorption at the protein surface. Although the two proteins under investigation are very different from each other, the ion distributions around them are remarkably similar. Sulfate is always strongly attached to the proteins, choline shows a significant, but unspecific, propensity for the protein surfaces, and sodium ions have a weak surface affinity, while chloride has virtually no preference for the protein surface. In mixtures of all four ion species in protein solutions, the resulting distributions are almost a superposition of the distributions of sodium sulfate and choline chloride, except that sodium partially replaces choline close to the proteins. The present simulations support a picture of ions interacting with individual ionic and polar amino acid groups rather than with an averaged protein surface. The results thus show how subtle the so-called Hofmeister and electroselectivity effects are in salt solution of proteins, making all simplified interaction models questionable.     

How the stabilization of INK4 tumor suppressor 3D structure evaluated by quantum chemical and molecular mechanics calculations corresponds well with experimental results: interplay of association enthalpy, entropy, and solvation effects

The folding free energy of the INK4c tumor suppressor core, consisting of 10 helices, was determined as the sum of gas-phase interaction enthalpy, gas-phase interaction entropy, and dehydration and hydration free energy. The interaction energy and the hydration free energy were determined using the nonempirical density functional theory (DFT) method, augmented by a dispersion-energy correction term, the semiempirical density-functional tight-binding method covering the dispersion energy, and the density functional theory/conductor-like screening model (DFT/COSMO) procedure, whereas the interaction entropy was calculated with the empirical Cornell et al. force field. Alternatively, all contributions were evaluated consistently using empirical methods. All the values of the interaction energy of helix pairs are stabilizing, and the dominant stabilizing terms stem from the London dispersion energy and, in the case of charged systems, the electrostatic energy. The stabilization energy of the core, determined as the difference of the energy of the core and 10 separate helices, amounts to approximately 450 kcal/mol. Systematically, the difference in the hydration free energy of a helix pair and its separate components is smaller in magnitude than the interaction energy, and it is negative for some pairs while positive for others. The average total free energy of a core formation amounts to -29.6 kcal/mol (yielded by scaled quantum-chemical methods) and +13.9 kcal/mol (resulting from empirical methods). These values are considerably smaller than their single components, which are dominated by the interaction energy. The computationally predicted interval encloses the experimental value of the folding free energy (-2.8 kcal/mol).     

Disaster preparedness in humanitarian logistics: A collaborative approach for resource management in floods

The logistical deployment of resources to provide relief to disaster victims and the appropriate planning of these activities are critical to reduce the suffering caused. Disaster management attracts many organisations working alongside each other and sharing resources to cope with an emergency. Consequently, successful operations rely heavily on the collaboration of different organisations. Despite this, there is little research considering the appropriate management of resources from multiple organisations, and none optimising the number of actors required to avoid shortages or convergence.This research introduces a disaster preparedness system based on a combination of multi-objective optimisation and geographical information systems to aid multi-organisational decision-making. A cartographic model is used to avoid the selection of floodable facilities, informing a bi-objective optimisation model used to determine the location of emergency facilities, stock prepositioning, resource allocation and relief distribution, along with the number of actors required to perform these activities.The real conditions of the flood of 2013 in Acapulco, Mexico, provided evidence of the inability of any single organisation to cope with the situation independently. Moreover, data collected showed the unavailability of enough resources to manage a disaster of that magnitude at the time. The results highlighted that the number of government organisations deployed to handle the situation was excessive, leading to high cost without achieving the best possible level of satisfaction. The system proposed showed the potential to achieve better performance in terms of cost and level of service than the approach currently employed by the authorities.     

100-W class diode-pumped Nd:YAG MOPA system with a double-stage relay-optics scheme

We describe a diode-pumped master-oscillator power-amplifier system with two-rod Nd:YAG media and double-stage relay optics scheme. At the repetition rate of 2.4 kHz it delivers an average power of 108 W with Q-switched pulses of 47 ns duration. The laser beam is characterized by an M² factor of 2.5×2.7. A model of amplification, which takes into account the temporal overlap between the beams that propagate forwards and backwards in the amplifier stage, was developed to explain the experimental results.     

Synthesis of novel β-dialkylamino-α,β-unsaturated trifluoromethylketones containing cyclobutene fragment and their reactions with organolithium and Grignard reagents

The highly reactive trifluoromethylenaminoketones, with a strained cyclobutene and norbornadiene moieties were firstly prepared from the corresponding β-halogeno-α,β-unsaturated trifluoromethylketones in almost quantitative yields. The ambident properties of these compounds in the reactions with organolithiums were discovered. The simple methods to control the selectivity of 1,2- or 1,4-addition of lithiated nucleophiles have been investigated.