Computational electrochemo-fluid dynamics modeling in a uranium electrowinning cell

A computational electrochemo-fluid dynamics model has been developed to describe the electrowinning behavior in an electrolyte stream through a planar electrode cell system. Electrode reaction of the uranium electrowinning process from a molten-salt electrolyte stream was modeled to illustrate the details of the flow-assisted mass transport of ions to the cathode. This modeling approach makes it possible to represent variations of the convective diffusion limited current density by taking into account the concentration profile at the electrode surface as a function of the flow characteristics and applied current density in a commercially available computational fluid dynamics platform. It was possible to predict the conventional current–voltage relation in addition to details of electrolyte fluid dynamics and electrochemical variables, such as the flow field, species concentrations, potential, and current distributions throughout the galvanostatic electrolysis cell.     

Colchicine production in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gloriosa superba calluses by feeding precursors</Emphasis>

Phenylalanine and tyrosine play a central role in Gloriosa superba L. calluses for the production of colchicine. The lack of biosynthetic precursors and signal inducing enzyme activity are responsible for the lower production of colchicine in vitro. B ₅ medium nutrient grown calluses have a low content of colchicine, indicating that an optimal precursors level is required to increase PAL and TAL activity for colchicine accumulation. These results suggest that precursors are an important regulatory factor in colchicine accumulation in in vitro.Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 410–412, September–October, 2004.     

A new entry to functionalized cycloalkylamines: diastereoselective intramolecular amidoalkylation of N,O-acetal TMS ether possessing allylsilane

Highly diastereoselective cyclization (>20:1) as a new entry to functionalized cycloalkylamines has been conducted with acyclic N,O-acetal TMS ethers possessing an allylsilane moiety.     

Efficient Hole‐Transporting Materials with Triazole Core for High‐Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cells

Efficient hole‐transporting materials (HTMs), TAZ‐[MeOTPA]₂ and TAZ‐[MeOTPATh]₂ incorporating two electron‐rich diphenylamino side arms, through direct linkage or thiophen bridges, respectively, on the C3‐ and C5‐positions of a 4‐phenyl‐1,2,4‐triazole core were synthesized. These synthetic HTMs with donor–acceptor type molecular structures exhibited effective intramolecular charge transfer for improving the hole‐transporting properties. The structural modification of HTMs by thiophene bridging might increase intermolecular π–π stacking in the solid state and afford a better spectral response because of their increased π‐conjugation length. Perovskite‐based cells using TAZ‐[MeOTPA]₂ and TAZ‐[MeOTPATh]₂ as HTMs afforded high power conversion efficiencies of 10.9 % and 14.4 %, respectively, showing a photovoltaic performance comparable to that obtained using spiro‐OMeTAD. These synthetically simple and inexpensive HTMs hold promise for replacing the more expensive spiro‐OMeTAD in high‐efficiency perovskite solar cells.     

Enantioselective total synthesis of a natural iridoid

The first total synthesis of 6-hydroxy-7-(hydroxymethyl)-4-methylenehexahydrocyclopenta[c]pyran-1(3H)-one has been accomplished. A key feature of the synthesis includes facile construction of the bicyclic lactone intermediate via intramolecular Pd(0)-catalyzed allylic alkylation and the efficient transformation of this intermediate into the iridoid skeleton employing silicon tethered radical cyclization.     

Encapsulation of anionic guests in a new hydantoinylamido molecular capsule

Resorcin[4]arene-based tetrakis(N-hydantoinylamido)cavitand 1 forms a stable molecular capsule in the presence of suitable anionic guests such as CH(3)OSO(3)(-) or BF(4)(-) in C(2)D(2)Cl(4). Molecular capsule G(2)@1(2) is stabilized by the eight intermolecular imide N-H···O═C hydrogen bondings, two from each four paired hydantoinyl units, and the eight intramolecular amide N-H···O-CH(2)-O hydrogen bondings, four on each two cavitands. The formations of molecular capsules were confirmed by (1)H, 2D NOESY, and 2D-DOSY NMR.     

New method for development of carbon clad silica phases for liquid chromatography: Part I. Preparation of carbon phases

Owing to its combination of unique selectivity and mechanical strength, commercial carbon clad zirconia (C/ZrO₂) has been widely used for many applications, including fast two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2DLC). However, the low surface area available (only 20–30 m²/g for commercial porous ZrO₂) limits its retentivity. We have recently addressed this limitation by developing a carbon phase coated on the high surface area of HPLC grade alumina (C/Al₂O₃). This material provides higher retentivity and comparable selectivity, but its use is still limited by how few HPLC quality types of alumina particles (e.g., particle size, surface area, and pore size) are available. In this work, we have developed useful carbon phases on silica particles, which are available in various particle sizes, pore sizes and forms of HPLC grade. To make the carbon phase on silica, we first treat the silica surface with a monolayer or less of metal cations that bind to deprotonated silanols to provide catalytic sites for carbon deposition. After Al (III) treatment, a carbon phase is formed on the silica surface by chemical vapor deposition at 700 °C using hexane as the carbon source. The amount of Al (III) on the surface was varied to assess its effect on carbon deposition, and the carbon loading was varied at different Al (III) levels to assess its effect on the chromatographic properties of the various carbon adsorbents. We observed that use of a concentration of Al (III) corresponding to a full monolayer leads to the most uniform carbon coating. A carbon coating sufficient to cover all the Al (III) sites, required about 4–5 monolayers in this work, provided the best chromatographic performance. The resulting carbon phases behave as reversed phases with reasonable efficiency (50,000–79,000 plates/m) for non-aromatic test species.     

Synthesis of annulated thiophene perylene bisimide analogues: their applications to bulk heterojunction organic solar cells

Annulated thiophene perylene bisimides and their triphenyl-amine based oligomers have been synthesized. One of the oligomers FPTTPA has been demonstrated to be an efficient electron donor in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells, giving a power conversion efficiency of 1.42%.     

Synthetic studies on bioactive natural polyketides: intramolecular nitrile oxide-olefin cycloaddition approach for construction of a macrolactone skeleton of macrosphelide B

Studies on the synthesis of macrosphelide B via an intramolecular nitrile oxide-olefin cycloaddition (INOC) is described. In particular, an asymmetric INOC approach using phase transfer catalysts seems to be a potentially efficient and versatile procedure for the construction of the macrolactone skeleton of macrosphelide B in terms of facial selectivity. Our preliminary and unprecedented stereoselective procedure is anticipated to be usefully applied through further studies for the synthesis of the macrosphelide family.     

Determination of total nitrofuran metabolites in shrimp muscle using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry in the atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mode

The method of MacMahon and Lohne for analysis of nitrofuran metabolites in shrimp was optimized to streamline the extraction processes and the LC analysis. This revised method includes 16 h of mild acid hydrolysis/derivatization followed by ethyl acetate extraction and analysis by LC/MS/MS in the atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mode. This revised method was validated in shrimp for concentrations of 0.25 to 2.0 ng/g. The LOQ was 0.25 ng/g for all metabolites. The LOD was 0.052 nglg for 1-aminohydantoin (AHD), 0.206 ng/g for 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone (AOZ), 0.108 ng/g for semicarbazide (SC), and 0.062 ng/g for 3-amino-5-morpholinomethyl-2-oxazolidinone (AMOZ). The spike recoveries with RSD into negative matrix at 1 ng/g were 100.2% (3.2%) for AHD, 102.5% (1.0%) for AOZ, 103.7% (2.3%) for SC, and 104.0% (3.3%) for AMOZ. The spike recoveries at 1 ng/g into unknown samples (n=108) containing varied levels of nitrofuran metabolites were 112.6% (25.7%) for AHD, 108.1% (12.1%) for AOZ, 103.0% (12.0%) for SC, and 100.3% (6.9%) for AMOZ. Interday precision with samples containing incurred AOZ concentrations of 0.92 to 17.8 ppb performed over a year was 10.4% RSD. The method is accurate and precise for determining nitrofuran concentrations in the edible tissue of shrimp.