Titania supported copper catalysts for methanol synthesis from carbon dioxide

The effect of co-catalyst (ZnO or ZrO₂) has been tested for hydrogenation of CO₂ on CuO/TiO₂ and CuO/Al₂O₃. CuO−ZnO/TiO₂ catalyst showed the highest activity for methanol synthesis. Kinetic parameters were also determined.     

Photoinduced electron transfer at the polymer-solution interface. I. Surface property-reactivity relation

Photooxidation of leuco crystal violet(LCV) to the dye(CV⁺) by interfacial sensitization with polymer-bonded pyrenyl groups was studied. Poly(ethylene-g-acrylic acid) was esterified by 1-hydroxymethylpyrene in tetrahydrofuran (THF) (Film 1) or in acetonitrile (Film 2). Film 2 had a more condensed but thinner pyrene-containing surface layer than Film 1. Differences in surface structure were investigated by fluorescence and absorption spectra, as well as by measuring contant angle to water as a function of the total amount of bonded pyrene. Films 1 and 2 behaved differently in the photoreaction, which was interpreted as due to the difference in the affinity of LCV solution to the film surface, hence the diffusion of LCV into the film. The quantum efficiency of CV⁺ formation (?cv⁺) is therefore the function of the thickness of the photoabsorbing layer and the effective reaction volume determined by the depth of LCV diffusion. The role of excimer formation and energy migration among pyrenyl groups was concluded to be of minor importance.     

Screening, substrate specificity and stereoselectivity of yeast strains, which reduce sterically hindered isopropyl ketones

Towards the synthesis of sterically hindered optically active secondary alcohol 2, yeast strains (Candida floricola IAM 13115 and Trichosporon cutaneum IAM 12206) with si-face hydride attack on isopropyl phenylsulfonylmethyl ketone 1 were developed by screening. Strains with complementary re-facial selectivity (Pichia angusta IAM 12895 and Pichia minuta IAM 12215) were also found. Based on the substrate specificity studies of these four strains, microbial reduction was applied to the synthesis of (3S,5S)-2,6-dimethyl-3,5-heptanediol 12a.     

Preparation and characterization of fluorine-containing aromatic condensation polymers. II. Preparation and characterization of fluorine-containing aromatic polyformal and copolyformals by solution polycondensation of 2,2-bis (4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropane and/or 2,2-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane with dichloromethane

A series of fluorine-containing aromatic homopolyformal and copolyformals with a wide range of unit ratio were synthesized by the solution polycondensation of 2,2-bis (4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropane (Bisphenol AF) and/or 2,2-bis (4-hydroxyphenyl)propane (Bisphenol A) with dichloromethane, and the effect of the fluorine substitution on the preparation and properties of these polymers was investigated by comparing with those of Bisphenol-A-based homopolyformal without fluorine. Irrespective of the ratio of Bisphenol AF, high-molecular-weight, fluorine-containing polyformals with reduced viscosities of 1.4–5.3 dL/g were obtained in high yields by using dichloromethane as both comonomer and solvent, potassium hydroxide as a base, and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone as a comedium at 75°C for 4 h. Their solubility increased markedly by the introduction of fluorine atom. Colorless, transparent, and tough films were cast from chloroform solution irrespective of fluorine content. These films had good mechanical properties comparable to that of Bisphenol-A-based homopolyformal. The contact angles by water were larger than 90°, regardless of their fluorine contents, at 25°C. The glass transition temperature and thermal stability increased monotonically with increasing fluorine content. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Aromatic foldamers with iminodicarbonyl linkers: their structures and optical properties

[structure: see text] Carboxamides possessing naphthalene rings connected by multiple iminodicarbonyl linkers were synthesized. These molecules forced the naphthalene rings to be placed in the positions facing each other, and they form helical foldamers both in solution and in the crystalline state. Their folding structures were investigated by single-crystal X-ray analysis and (1)H NMR spectroscopy. Their absorption and fluorescence spectra showed a red shift as the number of naphthalene moieties increased. This remarkable change is based on the intramolecular interaction between naphthalene moieties. Helicity of the foldamer can be controlled by the introduction of chiral auxiliaries at imide nitrogen atoms, which results in an observation of induced circular dichroism.     

Hexamethylene bridged cycloheptatrienes and tropone

The novel, bridged bromocycloheptatriene (4) is obtained by the thermolysis of a tricyclo[6.4.1.0^1,8]tridecane derivative (6), and the observed anti stereochemistry of the Br atom on C(13) is accounted for by assuming the suprafacial [1,5] hydrogen shift in the intermediate 7. The mother hydrocarbon (8) and syn-methyltropylidene (9), as well as tropone (10), are derived from 4, and the structures of these products are examined spectrometrically. The covalent CBr bond of 4 remains intact under various reaction conditions of nucleophilic substitution, and this is ascribed to the conformational rigidity constrained by the short hexamethylene bridge. The attempted transformation of 4 or 10 to the corresponding tropyllium ion 12 or 14 fails to success and this is again attributed to the bridge effect.     

Roles of hydrophobic interaction in a volume phase transition of alkylacrylamide gel induced by the hydrogen-bond-driving alkylphenol binding

It was found that a degree of the binding of alkylphenols to N-alkylacrylamide gel increased transitionally to induce the volume phase transition of gel. Binding isotherms of nonylphenol (n-Ph), propylphenol (p-Ph), ethylphenol (e-Ph), methylphenol (m-Ph), and phenol (Ph) to N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPA), N,N-diethylacrylamide (DEA), N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMA), and acrylamide (AM) gels were examined. Two types of binding, the site binding at beta < 1 and the multimolecular binding at beta > 1, were observed, where beta was a degree of binding to a monomeric unit of the chain. The former binding was analyzed with the Hill equation applicable to the cooperative binding and the latter binding with the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) equation applicable to the multilayer adsorption. The binding constant, K, and the Hill coefficient, N, decreased and increased, respectively, in the order of DEA, NIPA, and DMA gels in the case where the binding alkylphenol was the same. The K value increased in the order of Ph, m-Ph, e-Ph, p-Ph, and n-Ph that bound to the same type of gel. The N value was found to change little with the type of binding alkylphenol. The complexes of N-alkylamide with alkylphenol were condensed to form the ordered nanostructures that were observed as broad scattering peaks in small-angle X-ray scattering experiments. The fluorescence excimer emission was observed for the phenol-binding DMA gel, which corresponded to the condensed state of phenol.     

Chromoionophores Based on Crown Ethers and Related Structures for Alkali Metal Ion Sensing in Aqueous Media

Recent progress in chromoionophores based on (1) spherand and hemispherand, (2) cryptand, and (3) dibenzo-16-crown-5 and calix[4]crown which selectively respond to alkali metal ions in aqueous media is reviewed in relation to their molecular structure and photometric function. The design concept of the chromoionophores for colorimetry in aqueous media is discussed in the light of their acid dissociation and metal complex formation equilibria.     

A New Approach to 1,2,4-Trioxanes form Cyclic Allylic Hydroperoxides

Summary The reaction of 4,5-dimethyl-4-hydroperoxy-1(4H)-nephthalenone ( 9 ) with acetaldehyde, pivalaldehyde, benzaldehyde, and p-chlorobenzaldehyde in CH₂Cl₂ in the presence of Amberlyst-15 as catalyst gave the corresponding cis-3-methyl, t -butyl, phenyl and p -chlorophenyl derivatives of 10,10b-dimethylnaphtono[2,1-e][1,2,4]trioxin-6(5)H-one in 80-95% yields. Acetone reacted similarly with 9 to give the 3,3′ -dimethyl derivative. Configurations of all trioxinones were assigned by comparison of their spectral properties with that of the p -chloro derivative whose structure was determined by X-ray. 2,5-Diphenyl-2-hydroperoxypyrrole was less efficient that 9 , but it condensed with acetaldehyde and pivaladehyde under the same conditions giving the cis - 3-methyl and cis - 3-(t -butyl) derivatives of 6,7a-diphenyl-4a, 7a-dihydro-3H, 5H -[1,2,4]trio-xino[3,2-e]pyrrole in 24 and 20% yield, respectively.