Potentiometric titration of low concentrations of boric acid anhydride in deuterium oxide and in ordinary water

A precision of 99.5 per cent, or better, is obtainable for the determination of boric acid anhydride (50 to 150 mg per liter) in deuterium oxide or ordinary water solution; titrations may be performed with concentrations as low as 0.76 mg per liter. Sufficient mannitol is added so that the potentiometric curve is duplicable. Glycerol is not satisfactory, in deuterium oxide, at low molar concentrations of boric acid anhydride.Differences in pH end-points for water and deuterium oxide solutions were noted.     

Extraction studies of metal complexes with some macrocyclic tetraaza ligands and xanthene dyes : Spectrophotometric determination of Cadmium(II) with Tetramethyltetraazacyclotetradecane and Erythrosin A

The liquid-liquid extraction of ion-pair complexes of zinc(II), copper(II) and cadmium(II) is described. The macrocyclic ligands 1,4,8,11-tetramethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane (4Me-cyclam-14) and rac-5,7,7,12,14,14-hexamethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane (Tet b) are used with xanthene dyes as the counter ions. The apparent extraction constants (D′_c) are reported. The sequences of extraction efficiency of both ligands are related to the structure of the complexes. The apparent molar absorptivity of the Cd(4Me-cyclam-14)—erythrosin A ion-associate is 1.1 × 10⁵ l mol^? cm^?1. The calibration graph is linear over the range 0—10^?5 M, which allows even 0.05 μg ml^?1 cadmium to be determined in a 0.5 M sodium hydroxide medium. No interference was observed from Ni²⁺, Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mg²⁺, Sn⁴⁺, Ga³⁺, Al³⁺ and Fe³⁺. Interferences were Cu²⁺, Hg²⁺, Ag⁺ and large anions.     

Broken inter-C60 bonds as the cause of magnetism in polymeric C60: a density functional study using C60 dimers

Bond breaking in C60-C60 dimeric units is believed to play an important role in the onset of magnetism in 2D polymeric C60. On the basis of density-functional theory, the calculations we present here provide further insight into this mechanism through a quantitative characterization of the bond-breaking processes in the isolated dumbbell-shaped C60 dimer. In particular, the analysis of the calculated potential energy surfaces for the low-lying singlet and triplet states identifies and locates the S0-T2 crossing point, which is crucial for the transition to a magnetic state to take place under thermal conditions. These results also suggest a possible new approach to the production of magnetic polymeric C60.     

Spectroscopic characterization of site-specific [Fe(4)S(4)] cluster chemistry in ferredoxin:thioredoxin reductase: implications for the catalytic mechanism

Light regulation of enzyme activities in oxygenic photosynthesis is mediated by ferredoxin:thioredoxin reductase (FTR), a novel class of disulfide reductase with an active site comprising a [Fe(4)S(4)](2+) cluster and an adjacent disulfide, that catalyzes reduction of the thioredoxin disulfide in two sequential one-electron steps using a [Fe(2)S(2)](2+/+) ferredoxin as the electron donor. In this work, we report on spectroscopic (EPR, VTMCD, resonance Raman, and M?ssbauer) and redox characterization of the active site of FTR in various forms of the enzyme, including wild-type FTR, point-mutation variants at each of the active-site cysteine residues, and stable analogues of the one-electron-reduced FTR-Trx heterodisulfide intermediate. The results reveal novel site-specific Fe(4)S(4)-cluster chemistry in oxidized, one-electron-reduced, and two-electron-reduced forms of FTR. In the resting enzyme, a weak interaction between the Fe(4)S(4) cluster and the active-site disulfide promotes charge buildup at a unique Fe site and primes the active site to accept an electron from ferredoxin to break the disulfide bond. In one-electron-reduced analogues, cleavage of the active-site disulfide is accompanied by coordination of one of the cysteine residues that form the active-site disulfide to yield a [Fe(4)S(4)](3+) cluster with two cysteinate ligands at a unique Fe site. The most intriguing result is that two-electron-reduced FTR in which the disulfide is reduced to a dithiol contains an unprecedented electron-rich [Fe(4)S(4)](2+) cluster comprising both valence-delocalized and valence-localized Fe(2+)Fe(3+) pairs. These results provide molecular level insights into the catalytic mechanism of FTR, and two viable mechanisms are proposed.     

Spectral, magnetic and thermal investigations of some d-electron element 3-methoxy-4-methylbenzoates

Conditions for the preparation of Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II) 3-methoxy-4-methylbenzoates were investigated and their quantitative composition and magnetic moments were determined. The IR spectra and powder diffraction patterns of the complexes prepared of general formula M(C₉H₉O₃)₂·nH₂O (n=2 for Mn, Co n=1 for Ni, Cu, n=0 for Zn, Cd) were prepared and their thermal decomposition in air was studied. Their solubility in water at 293 K is of the order 10^–2 (Mn)–10^–4 (Cu) mol dm^–3. IR spectra of the prepared 3-methoxy-4-methylbenzoates suggest that carboxylate groups are bidentate bridging. The magnetic moments for the paramagnetic complexes of Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) attain values 5.50, 4.45, 3.16 and 1.79 B. M., respectively. During heating the hydrated complexes lose crystallization water molecules in one step and then the anhydrous complexes decompose directly to oxides MO and Mn3O4. Only Co(II) complex decomposes to Co₃O₄ with intermediate formation CoO.     

α-Hydroxymethylaspartic acid: Synthesis and absolute configuration by X-ray analysis of its derivative (+)-4-benzoylamino-4-carboxy-γ-butyrolactone

(+)-4-Benzoylamino-4-carboxy--butyrolactone was synthesized, and its structure solved by direct methods and refined toR=0.033. The molecule adopts a skew conformation with a C7-N1-C8-C12 torsion angle of 59.6(2)°. The lactone ring has an envelope conformation, with the C(8) atom deflected from the ring plane. The absolute configuration of (+)-benzylami-no-4-carboxy--butyrolactone5 was assigned asR by the application of Hamilton's test to the unique diffraction data, and confirmed by the estimation of the Bijvoet coefficientB fromhkl and diffraction data. This result proves theR configuration for (+) enantiomer of the parent-hydroxymethylaspartic acid.     

Enzyme-promoted desymmetrization of bis(2-hydroxymethylphenyl) sulfoxide as a route to tridentate chiral catalysts

The desymmetrization of prochiral bis(2-hydroxymethylphenyl) sulfoxide 3 was efficiently performed via acetylation promoted by commonly available lipases. Two lipases, namely, CAL-B and LPL proved particularly efficient to give 2-acetoxymethylphenyl 2-hydroxymethylphenyl sulfoxide 4 in up to 98% yield and with up to 98% ee. On the basis of an X-ray analysis, the absolute configuration of 4 was determined as (+)-(R). The enantiomerically pure product 4 was then transformed into a series of enantiomerically pure diastereomeric 2-aminomethylphenyl 2-hydroxymethylphenyl sulfoxides 8 in which the amino groups originated from enantiomerically pure amines having additional C-stereogenic centres. Compounds 8 were examined as possible tridentate chiral catalysts in a reference reaction of diethylzinc with benzaldehyde to give the expected product, 1-phenylpropan-1-ol, in moderate yields and with ee’s of up to 50%.     

Practical synthesis of the calcimimetic agent, cinacalcet

A practical synthesis of cinacalcet (Sensipar^®, Mimpara^®) is described. The synthesis starts from readily available starting materials and relies on safe and practical reaction conditions. The sequence comprises three synthetic steps and only one isolation point. The overall yield for the sequence is 85%.     

Metal-carbon nanotube contacts: the link between Schottky barrier and chemical bonding

The field effect transistor based on carbon nanotubes (CNT) is a very promising candidate for post-CMOS microelectronics. Transport in the CNT channel is dominated by the Schottky barriers existing at the metal source contacts. The nature of the metal and the geometry of the contact appear to influence strongly the electrical behavior, but the mechanism is still rather obscure. Extensive calculations based on density functional theory performed for both end and side contacts and for two metals of very different nature, namely, Al and Pd, allow us to identify a clear connection between the character of the chemical bonding and the height of the Schottky barrier (SBH). Our results emphasize that a low SBH for hole conduction in a CNT implies that the pi-electron system of the latter is almost exclusively involved in the chemical bonding with the metal atoms at the interface and that the bonding is not too strong so that both orbital hybridization and topology are preserved. This is the case for Pd in both end and side configurations and to a large extent for Al but in the side geometry only. On the other hand, the coupling of the metal states with the sigma-like system or, in other words, the perturbation of the conjugation of the pi-system via sp3 C-hybridization is the mechanism that enhances the SBH. This is especially evident in the end contact with Al. By showing how the chemistry at the interfaces determines the SBH, our findings open the possibility of better controlling and designing "good contacts".