Preface

The fifth CBRATEC (V Congresso Brasileiro de Análise Térmica e Calorimetria) conference was held in April 02–05, 2006 in Poços de Caldas, MG. One third of the 370 participants was graduates and Ph.D. students well representing the continuous interest in thermal analysis among Brazilian researchers. The structure of conference was characteristic and refreshing, since every morning one of the leading Brazil thermoanalysts held an opened teaching course especially for the representatives of the young generation. After then plenary lecturers and keynote speakers (J. Rouquerol, Cs. Novák, D. Burlett, M. Suchyta and A. Riga) occupied the podium. The afternoon sessions consisted of mainly short lectures and poster exhibitions; both provided excellent possibility for the Ph.D. students to introduce their scientific work. The scope of conference covered practically all aspects of thermal analysis. Since 1998, when the first CBRATEC conference was held, the participation of young scientists and the organization of teaching courses played essential role for them. As an effort to increase international experiences, the universities pay continuous attention to foreign language education (first of all English), so the communication between the invited international researchers, the representatives of the instrument companies and the domestic conference attendants became much more efficient in recent years. During the conference the new Executive Committee was elected. Prof. Valter José Fernandes Junior was elected as President of ABRATEC supported by the members of the Executive (Jivaldo do Rosário Matos (Vice-President), Massao Ionashiro, Lázaro Moscardini D’Assunção, Clóvis Augusto Ribeiro, Elias Yuki Ionashiro, Carlos Isidoro Braga, Manoel Luiz Cunha Rodrigues, Rodrigo Maciel). In recognition of his continuous cooperation for the development of thermoanalytical researches in Brazil and its scientific divulgation in Thermal Analysis, the ‘Special Award’ of ABRATEC (Brazilian Association for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry) was presented to Prof. Csaba Novák. For their outstanding achievements in developing the international relation of ABRATEC, Honourable Membership of the Thermoanalytical Sub-Branch of the Hungarian Chemical Society was presented to Prof. Jivaldo do Rosário Matos, Massao Ionashiro, Prof. Valter José Fernandes Junior and Prof. Éder Tadeu Gomes Cavalheiro at the opening ceremony. At last but not least, according to the decision of ICTAC Council during the 13^th ICTAC (2004, Chia Laguna, Italy) Brazil was elected as the host of ICTAC 14 in 2008. The Brazilian thermoanalytical community feels extremely honored to be entrusted with the organization of the 14^thICTAC Conference that will take place in São Pedro, SP, in September 14–19, 2008, where the scientists, researchers and students, who are acting in the field of thermal analysis and calorimetry are cordially invited. The link to the conference site is www.ictac14.com.br.     

Investigation of the reactions of fluorinated isatins and N-acetylisatins with thiocarbohydrazide: Synthesis of a novel spiro system: 2-oxo-1′,2′,4′,5′-tetrahydrospiro[3H-indole-3,3′-1,2,4,5-tetrazine]-6′-thione

A novel system 2-oxo-1′,2′,4′,5′-tetrahydrospiro[3H-indole-3,3′-1,2,4,5-tetrazine]-6′-thione has been synthesized by the treatment of fluorinated isatins with thiocarbohydrazide in aqueous ethanolic medium. Under exactly similar conditions, N-acetylisatin gave exclusively thiocarbohydrazone. The spiro product, on treatment with acetic acid, gave fluorinated isoindigo. Characterization of these products have been done by elemental analyses, ir, pmr and mass spectral studies.     

4-t-Butylphenoxo complexes of oxovanadium(V)

Summary Complexes of composition [VOCl₂(OC₆H₄Bu-t-4)] (1) and [VOCl(OC₆H₄Bu-t-4)₂] (2) have been synthesized by the reaction of VOCl₃ with equimolar and bimolar amounts, respectively, of 4-t-BuC₆H₄OSiMe₃ in CCl₄ and characterized by physio-chemical techniques. The complexes react with -hydroxyaldehydes and ketones such as 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde (salicylaldehyde, salH), and 2-hydroxy-2-phenylacetophenone (benzoin, benzH), 2-hydroxyacetophenone (hapH) and also with the potassium salt of p-chlorobenzohydroxamic acid (KBHACl) in 11 and 12 molar ratios, to yield five- and six-coordinate complexes.     

Electrochemical study of triphenyltin piperidyl dithiocarbamate

The reduction of triphenyltin piperidyl dithiocarbamate in acetone has been investigated using d.c. polarography and cyclic voltammetry. Polarographic reduction yielded four well-defined waves, two of which were diffusion-controlled and two of which appear to represent adsorption processes. The cyclic voltammetric study yielded results in close agreement with the polarographic data. Results appear to indicate the release of the dithiocarbamate moiety, followed by reduction to form the triphenyltin radical, which undergoes dimerization, as well as reduction to the triphenyltin anion. For comparison, the polarographic reduction of triphenyltinchloride was investigated. A mechanism similar to that proposed by earlier authors for the polarographic behaviour of tributyltin oxide was found. For convenience, the more commonly used terminology of piperidyl dithiocarbamate is used throughout the paper, in place of (piperidine-1-carbodithioato) triphenyltin (IV).     

Differential scanning calorimetry studies on aged iron(III)-chromium(III)-hydroxide coprecipitates

DSC measurements in air from 20 to 800° are reported on aged iron(III)-chromium(III) coprecipitated hydroxides (with Fe³⁺Cr³⁺ wt% ratios of 91, 73, 11, 37 and 19). A comparison of the DSC profiles of aged coprecipitates with the thermal behaviour of freshly precipitated and well characterized samples provided information on the modification occurring in the structure and reactivity of the coprecipitates on prolonged aging.

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Zusammenfassung Es werden DSC-Messungen an gealterten kogefällten Eisen(III)Chrom(III)-hydroxiden (mit Fe³⁺Cr³⁺ Gewichtsanteilen von 91, 73, 11, 37 und 19) im Temperaturbereich von 20 bis 800° beschrieben. Ein Vergleich der DSC-Profile von gealterten Kofällungen mit dem thermischen Verhalten frisch gefällter und gut definierbarer Proben lieferte Informationen über die Veränderungen in Struktur und Reaktivität der Koniederschläge bei längerem Altern.

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Dedicated to Professor Wahid U. Malik, Founder-President, Indian Council of Chemists, India, with profound regards and fond memories of his youthful enthusiasm and ceaseless and pioneering efforts towards the development of chemical education and research activities at the University of Roorkee, Roorkee, India, on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

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Paper presented at the World Conference on Thermal Analysis, Capri (Italy), 1989.

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We thank Professor J. Pescia, Dr.G. Ablart and N. Favillier of Laboratoire de Magnétisme et d'Electronique Quantique for their interest in this work. A. C. Vajpei expresses his gratefulness to C.N.R.S. and C.N.O.U.S., Paris, for financial support of this work.     

On the long-lived transient absorption observed in nanosecond laser photolysis studies of two polymethine cyanine dyes

It is shown that the long-lived transient absorption which is observed when solutions of cryptocyanine and DDI (1, 1′-diethyl-2, 2′-dicarbocyanine iodide) in methanol and other alcohols are exposed to nanosecond ruby laser pulses arises from a photoproduct whose formation requires consecutive absorption of two photons.     

Lipid-protein interactions in the membrane: studies with model peptides

We have used fluorescence quenching of tryptophan-containing trans-membrane peptides by bromine-containing phospholipids to study the specificity of peptide-lipid interactions. We have synthesized peptides Ac-K2GLm WLnK2A-amide where m = 7 and n = 9 (L16) and m = 10 and n = 12 (L22). Binding constants of L22 for dioleoylphosphatidylserine [di(C18 : 1)PS] or dioleoylphosphatidic acid [di(C18 : 1)PA] relative to dieoleoylphosphatidylcholine [di(C18 : 1)PC] were close to 1. However, for L16, whilst the bulk of the di(C18 : 1)PA molecules bound with a binding constant relative to di(C18 : 1)PC close to 1, a small number of di(C18 : 1)PA molecules bound much more strongly. Assuming just one high affinity binding site on L16 for anionic lipid, the affinity of the site for di(C18 : 1)PS was calculated to be ca. 8 times that for di (C18 : 1)PC. The relative binding constant was little affected by ionic strength and close contact between the anionic headgroup of di(C18 : 1)PS and a lysine residue on the peptide was suggested. The relative binding constant for di(C18 : 1)PS at this high affinity site was less than for di(C18 : 1)PA. Cholesterol interacts with L22 with an affinity about 0.7 of that of di(C18 : 1)PC. The structure of the peptide itself is important. The peptide Ac-KKGYL6WL8YKKA-amide (Y2L14) incorporated into bilayers of dinervonylphosphatidylcholine [di(C24 : 1)PC] whereas L16 did not incorporate into this lipid. It is suggested that thinning of a lipid bilayer around a peptide to give optimal hydrophobic matching is less energetically unfavourable when a Tyr residue is located in the lipid/water interfacial region.     

Remote Raman and fluorescence studies of mineral samples

In the present study, we investigated remote laser-induced fluorescence (LIF), at a distance of 4.8 m, of a variety of natural minerals and rocks, and Hawaiian Ti (Cordyline terminalis) plant leaves. These minerals included calcite cleavage, calcite onex and calcite travertine, gypsum, fluorapatite, Dover flint and chalk, chalcedony and nephelene syenite, and rubies containing rock. Pulsed laser excitation of the samples at 355 and 266 nm often resulted in strong fluorescence. The LIF bands in the violet-blue region at approximately 413 and approximately 437 nm were observed only in the spectrum of calcite cleavage. The green LIF bands with band maxima in the narrow range of approximately 501-504 nm were observed in the spectra of all the minerals with the exception of the nephelene syenite and ruby rocks. The LIF red bands were observed in the range approximately 685-711 nm in all samples. Excitation with 532 nm wavelength laser gave broad but relatively low fluorescence background in the low-frequency region of the Raman spectra of these minerals. One microsecond signal gating was effective in removing nearly all background fluorescence (with peak at approximately 610 nm) from calcite cleavage Raman spectra, indicating that the fluorescence was probably from long-lifetime inorganic phosphorescence.     

Microwave assisted synthesis of an unusual dinitro phytochemical

A novel dinitro secondary metabolite, 2-nitro-4-(2^′-nitroethenyl)phenol from a marine source, has been prepared via highly accelerated, microwave assisted, nitration reactions using mild reagents. ipso-Substitution of a carboxy group by a nitro group is discussed.     

Solvolytic behaviour and the solubilities of various inorganic compounds, lewis acids and bases in fused monobromo acetic acid solvent system—II

Solubilities and the solvolytic behaviour of various inorganic compounds, Lewis acids and bases in fused monobromoacetic acid at 60 ± 0.5°C are discussed. Ionic compounds are fairly soluble, iodides and thiocyanates being comparatively more soluble than chlorides and bromides. Tetraalkyl ammonium halides are highly soluble in this solvent. Conductometric and spectroscopic studies of various Lewis acids and bases in fused monobromoacetic acid indicate their solvolytic behaviour and their subsequent ionization. The solvolyses products BBr₃·CH₂BrCOOH and SbCl₅·CH₂BrCOOH have been observed to be the strongest Bronsted acids. Auto-ionization of this solvent has been supported by acid/base titrations.