Bandgap widening in highly conducting CdO thin film by Ti incorporation through radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique

Transparent and highly conducting thin films of cadmium oxide (CdO) with titanium doping were synthesized by using radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique. The thin films were deposited on glass and silicon substrates with different percentages of titanium at a fixed substrate temperature 473 K and a fixed pressure of 0.1 mbar in Ar atmosphere. The deposited films were characterized by studying their crystallographic structure, optical and electrical properties. X-ray diffractometer, atomic force microscope, UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometer, and X-ray photoelectron spectrophotometer were used for different characterizations. All the films have a rock-salt structure. A systematic increase in the optical bandgap was found for the CdO thin films with Ti doping, so that it can be considered as a candidate material for different optoelectronic device applications. Electrical conductivity was also found to increase with Ti doping concentration.     

Copper-catalyzed Pummerer type reaction of α-thio aryl/heteroarylacetates: Synthesis of aryl/heteroaryl α-keto esters

A copper catalyzed Pummerer type reaction of α-thio aryl/heteroarylacetates is described for the first time. This transformation represents a new route to synthesize α-keto esters, which are important intermediates for pharmaceuticals and organic synthesis. The reaction proceeds via in situ generation of a thionium ion that undergoes hydrolysis to furnish α-keto esters in synthetically viable yields (up to 82%).     

Coumarin-based urea-amide scaffold in ratiometric fluorescence sensing of CN−

Coumarin-based urea and urea–amide scaffolds 1–3 have been designed and synthesized for the selective and naked eye detection of cyanide ion. Of the three, compound 3 exhibits ratiometric fluorescence change selectively in the presence of CN^? and validates the rationality in designing anion receptor. Upon interaction with CN^?, the color of the solution of 3 in CH₃CN under UV exposure becomes bright yellow, which is beneficial for its naked eye detection. Addition of CN^? of ～10^?4 M brings nice color change from colourless to yellow in ordinary light. The sensing event is supposed to be due to nucleophilic addition of CN^? to the coumarin unit enabling intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) mechanism.     

A facile and versatile protocol for the one-pot PhI(OAc)2 mediated divergent synthesis of quinazolines from 2-aminobenzylamine

In this present work iodobenzenediacetate (PIDA) has been found to be the key reagent in absence or presence of catalytic amount of molecular iodine (I₂)/zinc chloride (ZnCl₂) to construct quinazoline scaffold from 2-aminobenzylamine and a variety of easily available aldehydes, aryl and aliphatic amines, aliphatic and aryl alcohols and nitriles. This protocol provides mild and robust conditions along with great versatility to synthesize 2-substituted quinazolines from diverse starting materials in good to excellent yields. The developed protocol is also well applicable to reactants containing ease to oxidation prone functional groups.     

Isochronicity and limit cycle oscillation in chemical systems

Chemical oscillation is an interesting nonlinear dynamical phenomenon which arises due to complex stability condition of the steady state of a reaction far away from equilibrium which is usually characterised by a periodic attractor or a limit cycle around an interior stationary point. In this context Lienard equation is specifically used in the study of nonlinear dynamical properties of an open system which can be utilized to obtain the condition of limit cycle. In conjunction with the property of limit cycle oscillation, here we have shown the condition for isochronicity for different chemical oscillators with the help of renormalisation group method with multiple time scale analysis from a Lienard system. When two variable open system of equations are transformed into a Lienard system of equation the condition for limit cycle and isochronicity can be stated in a unified way. For any such nonlinear oscillator we have shown the route of a dynamical transformation of a limit cycle oscillation to a periodic orbit of centre type depending on the parameters of the system.     

Simultaneous separation of mercury and lignosulfonate from aqueous solution using supported liquid membrane

This paper presents an experimental investigation on facilitated and simultaneous transport of mercury and lignosulfonate (LS) through a flat sheet supported liquid membrane (SLM) having Nylon 6,6 as support, trioctylamine (TOA) as carrier and dichloroethane as solvent. The experiments were performed at various operating conditions such as strip phase concentration, feed pH, carrier concentration and feed concentration to find the best set of parameters that would yield the maximum separation of pure mercury as well as its mixture with LS. The experiments were performed in co-transport mode using NaOH as the strip phase. It was observed that extraction of mercury as well as its mixture increases with increase in concentration of NaOH up to a certain limit 0.1 M NaOH in case of pure solution and 0.2 M NaOH in case of mixture). Feed phase pH significantly affects the mercury separation process. However, initial feed concentration does not affect the extraction process appreciably. Separation of mixture of mercury and LS behaves in a similar way as their pure solution; however the extraction is low in comparison to pure solution. The extraction of mercury from its pure solution is about 81% in 1 h. The extraction of mercury and LS from their mixture is about 52.6% and 50.2%, respectively at optimum condition and in a period of 2 h.     

Montmorillonite K-10 clay catalyzed solvent-free synthesis of bis-indolylindane-1,3-dione, 2-(1′,3′-dihydro-1H-[2,3′]biindolyl-2′-ylidene)-indan-1,3-dione and bisindolylindeno[1,2-b]quinoxaline under microwave irradiation

An environmentally benign protocol has been described for the synthesis of novel 2-(1′,3′-dihydro-1H-[2,3′]biindolyl-2′-ylidene)-indan-1,3-diones/bis-indolylindane-1,3-diones from ninhydrin and 3-substituted/unsubstituted indoles. It uses montmorillonite K-10 as catalyst in a solvent-free condition under microwave irradiation. The method was also used for the synthesis of novel bisindolylindeno[1,2-b]quinoxaline derivatives.     

Biosorbents for hexavalent chromium elimination from industrial and municipal effluents

The presence of hexavalent chromium in wastewater is a potential hazard to aquatic animals and humans. There are various mechanisms proposed, kinetic models used and adsorption isotherms employed for the efficient removal of hexavalent chromium from industrial and municipal wastewaters using biosorbents. Biosorption of heavy metals is a most promising technology involved in the removal of toxic metals from industrial waste streams and natural waters. Metal removal treatment systems using microorganisms are cheap because of the low cost of sorbent materials used and may represent a practical replacement to conventional processes. The present review discusses hexavalent chromium biosorption properties of algae, bacteria, fungi, and agricultural products, as well as adsorption properties of non-living substances. Cell walls are responsible for biosorption of dead biomaterial; compositions of cell walls are discussed. Chemical modification of biosorbents, optimization of biosorption parameters, mixtures of different biosorbents and the study of biosorption mechanisms are the main keys to transfer the biosorption process from lab to industry.     

Functionalized proline with double hydrogen bonding potential: highly enantioselective Michael addition of carbonyl compounds to β-nitrostyrenes in brine

Simple synthetic manipulation of S-proline allows access to prolinamides 5-7 as organocatalysts capable of double hydrogen bonding for enantioselective Michael addition reactions of carbonyl compounds to β-nitrostyrenes. It is shown that prolinamide catalyst 7 leads to addition products with a high diastereo- as well as enantioselectivity. The transition state structure involving the binding of electrophilic nitrostyrene via two H-bonds is believed to be further stabilized by π,π stacking interactions mediated by the tosyl ring.