The chemistry of the azanonaborane cluster RNH2---B8H11NHR

The preparation and properties of the R¹R²NH---B₈H₁₁NHR cluster are described. The cluster is stable to aqueous solutions and can be made water-soluble by the introduction of a few hydrophilic groups. This makes the cluster a good candidate as the boron moiety in compounds for boron neutron capture therapy. The chemistry of the cluster preparation, the stability of the cluster, and conditions for reactions of the organic moieties are reviewed. Pyridine derivatives of the cluster show electronic interaction between the cluster and the pyridine.     

Computerized separation of chromatographically unresolved peaks

A computerized peak deconvolution software and mass spectra were successfully applied for the deconvolution of overlapped peak cluster in the chromatogram obtained separating the complex mixture of pesticides by retention time locking gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. The method based on the unique fragment ions in the spectra can be used for deconvolution of peak clusters if mass spectra of overlapped peaks differ. This method allows determining actual retention times of overlapped peaks. Peak areas found by this method however, cannot be used naturally for the quantitative purposes as the abundance of fragment ions used for this deconvolution procedure can dramatically differ. Computer assisted deconvolution of peaks in the peak clusters gives more realistic peak area ratios as at this method it is supposed equal response for all peaks overlapped in a cluster.     

Quantitative separation of zinc traces from cadmium matrices by solid-phase extraction with polyurethane foam

A system for separation of zinc traces from large amounts of cadmium is proposed in this paper. It is based on the solid-phase extraction of the zinc in the form of thiocyanate complexes by the polyurethane foam. The following parameters were studied: effect of pH and of the thiocyanate concentration on the zinc extraction, shaking time required for quantitative extraction, amount of PU foam necessary for complete extraction, conditions for the separation of zinc from cadmium, influence of other cations and anions on the zinc sorption by PU foam, and required conditions for back extraction of zinc from the PU foam. The results show that zinc traces can be separated from large amounts of cadmium at pH 3.0±0.50, with the range of thiocyanate concentration from 0.15 to 0.20 mol l⁻¹, and the shaking time of 5 min. The back extraction of zinc can be done by shaking it with water for 10 min. Calcium, barium, strontium, magnesium, aluminum, nickel and iron(II) are efficiently separated. Iron(III), copper(II) and cobalt(II) are extracted simultaneously with zinc, but the iron reduction with ascorbic acid and the use of citrate to mask copper(II) and cobalt(II) increase the selectivity of the zinc extraction. The anions nitrate, chloride, sulfate, acetate, thiosulphate, tartarate, oxalate, fluoride, citrate, and carbonate do not affect the zinc extraction. Phosphate and EDTA must be absent. The method proposed was applied to determine zinc in cadmium salts using 4-(2-pyridylazo)-resorcinol (PAR) as a spectrophotometric reagent. The result achieved did not show significant difference in the accuracy and precision (95% confidence level) with those obtained by ICP–AES analysis.     

Flavonoids in Leguminosae: analysis of extracts of T. pratense L., T. dubium L., T. repens L., and L. corniculatus L. leaves using liquid chromatography with UV, mass spectrometric and fluorescence detection

Reversed-phase LC on C-18 bonded silica with a methanol–ammonium formate gradient was used to determine the main flavonoids in leaves of four species of the Leguminosae family. The detection modes were diode-array UV absorbance, fluorescence, and (tandem) mass spectrometry. LC–UV was used for a general screening, sub-classification, and the calculation of total flavonoid contents. LC–FLU was included to identify isoflavones on the basis of their native fluorescence. Most structural information regarding aglycons, sugar moieties, and acidic groups was derived from LC–MS in both the full-scan and extracted-ion mode, using negative-ion atmospheric pressure chemical ionization. MS/MS did not provide much additional information, because the same fragments were observed as in full-scan MS.In T. pratense and T. repens, the main constituents were flavonoid glucoside–(di)malonates, while T. dubium and L. corniculatus mainly contained flavonoid (di)glycosides. Satellite sets comprising an aglycon, the glucoside and glucoside–malonates or –acetates, were abundantly present only in T. pratense. Generally speaking, the main aglycons and sugars in the four plant species are surprisingly different. In addition, while the results for T. pratense are similar to those reported in the literature, there is little agreement in the case of the other species. Finally, total flavonoid contents ranged from 50–65 mg/g for L. corniculatus and T. dubium, to 15 mg/g for T. pratense and only 1 mg/g for T. repens.     

Adaption of a fragment analysis technique to an automated high-throughput multicapillary electrophoresis device for the precise qualitative and quantitative characterization of microbial communities

The analysis of microbial communities is of increasing importance in life sciences and bioengineering. Traditional techniques of investigations like culture or cloning methods suffer from many disadvantages. They are unable to give a complete qualitative and quantitative view of the total amount of microorganisms themselves, their interactions among each other and with their environment. Obviously, the determination of static or dynamic balances among microorganisms is of fast growing interest. The generation of species specific and fluorescently labeled 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) fragments by the terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) technique is a suitable tool to overcome the problems other methods have. For the separation of these fragments polyacrylamide gel sequencers are preferred as compared to capillary sequencers using linear polymers until now because of their higher electrophoretic resolution and therefore sizing accuracy. But modern capillary sequencers, especially multicapillary sequencers, offer an advanced grade of automation and an increased throughput necessary for the investigation of complex communities in long-time studies. Therefore, we adapted a T-RFLP technique to an automated high-throughput multicapillary electrophoresis device (ABI 3100 Genetic Analysis) with regard to a precise qualitative and quantitative characterization of microbial communities.     

Propene polymerization using homogeneous MAO-activated metallocene catalysts: Me2Si(Benz[e]Indenyl)2ZrCl2/MAO vs. Me2Si(2-Me-Benz[e]Indenyl)2ZrCl2/MAO

Propene was polymerized at 40°C and 2-bar propene in toluene using methylalumoxane (MAO) activated rac-Me₂Si(Benz[e]Indenyl)₂ZrCl₂ ( BI ) and rac-Me₂Si(2-Me-Benz[e]Indenyl)₂ZrCl₂ ( MBI ). Catalyst BI /MAO polymerizes propene with high activity to afford low molecular weight polypropylene, whereas MBI /MAO is less active and produces high molecular weight polypropylene. Variation of reaction conditions such as propene concentration, temperature, concentration of catalyst components, and addition of hydrogen reveals that the lower molecular weight polypropylene produced with BI /MAO results from chain transfer to propene monomer following a 2,1-insertion. A large fraction of both metallocene catalyst systems is deactivated upon 2,1-insertion. Such dormant sites can be reactivated by H₂-addition, which affords active metallocene hydrides. This effect of H₂-addition is reflected by a decreasing content of head-to-head enchainment and the formation of polypropylene with n-butyl end groups. Both catalysts show a strong dependence of activity on propene concentration that indicates a formal reaction order of 1.7 with respect to propene. MBI /MAO shows a much higher dependence of the activity on temperature than BI /MAO. At elevated temperatures, MBI /MAO polymerizes propene faster than BI /MAO. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Torsionsabhängige Beiträge zur Spin-Bahn-Kopplung in organischen Molekülen

Zusammenfassung Die Spin-Bahn-Kopplung der niedrigen elektronischen Anregungszustände von organischen Molekülen wird untersucht. Es wird gezeigt, daß die Zerstörung der aromatischen Ebene durch Torsionen oder Schwingungen zu nicht-verschwindenden Zweizentrenbeiträgen führt. Am Beispiel des Triphenylmethyl-Kations wird mit Hilfe der LCAO MO SCF-Methode die Größenordnung der auftretenden Wechselwirkungen ermittelt. Diese haben wahrscheinlich großen Einfluß auf die strahlungslosen Prozesse in Molekülen mit leicht beweglichen Gruppen.

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Spin-orbit coupling of the lower excited electronic states of organic molecules has been investigated. It is shown that any destruction of the aromatic plane through torsions or vibrations leads to non-vanishing contributions from two-centre integrals. The order of magnitude of this type of interactions is determined for the triphenylmethyl-cation with the aid of the LCAO MO SCF method. These interactions probably have much influence on radiationless transitions in molecules containing mobile groups.

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Résumé Etude du couplage spin-orbite dans les états électroniques exités les plus bas des molécules organiques. Toute non planéité aromatique créée par torsions ou vibrations entraîne une contribution non nulle de la part des intégrales bicentriques. L'ordre de grandeur de ce type d'interaction est detérminé, à l'aide de la méthode L.C.A.O. M.O. SCF, pour le cation triphenylméthyle. Ces interactions ont probablement beaucoup d'influence sur les transitions non radiatives dans les molécules contenant des groupements mobiles.

     

The first 1,2-dibora-[2]ferrocenophane and its dynamic behaviour in solution

1,2-Bis(dimethylamino)-1,2-dibora-[2]ferrocenophane (1) was prepared by the reaction of 1,1′-dilithioferrocene with 1,2-dichlorobis(dimethylamino)diborane(4). In addition to hindered rotation about the B-N bond (ΔG^‡ > 80 kJ mol⁻¹), another dynamic process was revealed by ¹H and ¹³C NMR in solution at low temperature, and interpreted as motion of the cyclopentadienyl rings between staggered and eclipsed conformations (ΔG_{(233 K)}^‡ = 44 ± 1 kJ mol⁻¹).     

Die Reaktionen von Eisen(III)-chlorid mit Trithiazylchlorid. Die Kristallstruktur von [S4N4Cl]+[FeCl4]⊖

Reactions of Iron Trichloride with Trithyazyl Chloride. Crystal Structure of [S₄N₄Cl]⁺[FeCl₄]^? Iron trichloride reacts with (NSCl)₃ yielding S₄N₄[FeCl₄]₂, S₃N₃Cl₂[FeCl₄] or S₄N₄Cl[FeCl₄], depending on the reaction conditions. The i.r. spectra prove the presence of [FeCl₄]^? ions for all three compounds. The ⁵⁷Fe-Mössbauer spectra show a slight quadrupole splitting at 80 K for S₃N₃Cl₂[FeCl₄] (ΔE^Q = 0.42 mm · s^?1) and S₄N₄Cl[FeCl₄] (ΔE^Q = 0.23 mm · s^?1), which indicates a slight deformation of the FeCl₄^? tetrahedra. The crystal structure of S₄N₄Cl[FeCl₄] was determined and refined with X-ray diffraction data (2549 independent reflexions, R = 0.026). S₄N₄Cl[FeCl₄] crystallizes in the triclinic space group P1 with two formula units per unit cell. The lattice constants are a = 712, b = 911, c = 1006 pm, α = 76.5°, β = 83.8° and γ = 80.5°. The structure consists of the so far unknown [S₄N₄Cl]^⊕ cations and slightly deformed FeCl₄^? ions. The [S₄N₄Cl]^⊕ ion consists of a S₄N₄ ring built up of two nearly planar S₃N₂ fragments having a dihedral angle of 136°. The average SN bond length is 157 pm, the SCI bond length 214 pm.