Hidden chemistry of substituted aniline radical cations in water: a mechanistic study

Absolute rate constants for hydroxyl radical, azide radical, and hydrated electron reactions with a sulfa drug 4,4'‐diamino diphenyl sulfone (dapsone) in water have been evaluated using electron pulse radiolysis technique. Absolute rate constants for hydroxyl radical and azide radical were determined as (8.4 ± 0.3) × 10⁹ and (5.6 ± 0.5) × 10⁹ M^?1 s^?1, respectively. The reduction of dapsone with the hydrated electron occurred with rate constant of (9.2 ± 0.1) × 10⁹ M^?1 s^?1. Hydroxyl radical reactions result in the synchronous formation of adduct as well as anilino radical. The interesting observation is that the yield of the anilino radical increases with increase in pH. Contrary to this, the yield of the adduct decreases with pH. We propose that hydroxyl radical adds predominantly to the aniline. In contrast, the reaction of azide radical with the dapsone suggests that the reaction occurs at the –NH₂ moiety of the aniline ring. The free radical electron transfer from dapsone to parent radical cation of non‐polar solvent also results in the formation of anilino radical only suggesting that the radical cation of dapsone has a short lifetime. The reaction of hydrated electrons with the dapsone suggests that the reaction occurs at different reaction site. The experimental results supported by theoretical calculations of this study provide fundamental mechanistic parameters that probably decide the fate of the radical cation of aniline derivatives. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of Surface Nano-Crystallization in Alloys by Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment (SMAT)

Nanometer-sized grain structures that exhibit a large number of grain boundaries on the surface of a bulk material demonstrate excellent properties relative to their coarse-grained (CG) equivalents. Surface modification using surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) is an option that cab be used to tailor the corrosion, tribological, mechanical, and chemical reaction properties of a surface. SMAT is an effective route to create the nanostructured surface layer. The SMAT process has unique advantages compared with the other coating and deposition techniques for surface nanocrystallization. For example, SMAT does not alter the chemical composition of the nanocrystalline surface layer in the matrix. In addition, SMAT has been demonstrated to activate the material surface layer by surface modification and enhance the atomic diffusivity. This article presents a review of the advantages offered by the SMAT technique for the creation of high performance surface layers. The influence of the created nanocrystalline layer on mechanical, physical, and chemical properties is assessed. Developments and the current status of the surface nanolayer that are formed are evaluated from a physical approach. Finally, prospects for the future development of grain refinement on the surface of a material matrix and potential applications are presented.     

Biofortification—A Frontier Novel Approach to Enrich Micronutrients in Field Crops to Encounter the Nutritional Security

Globally, many developing countries are facing silent epidemics of nutritional deficiencies in human beings and animals. The lack of diversity in diet, i.e., cereal-based crops deficient in mineral nutrients is an additional threat to nutritional quality. The present review accounts for the significance of biofortification as a process to enhance the productivity of crops and also an agricultural solution to address the issues of nutritional security. In this endeavor, different innovative and specific biofortification approaches have been discussed for nutrient enrichment of field crops including cereals, pulses, oilseeds and fodder crops. The agronomic approach increases the micronutrient density in crops with soil and foliar application of fertilizers including amendments. The biofortification through conventional breeding approach includes the selection of efficient genotypes, practicing crossing of plants with desirable nutritional traits without sacrificing agricultural and economic productivity. However, the transgenic/biotechnological approach involves the synthesis of transgenes for micronutrient re-translocation between tissues to enhance their bioavailability. Soil microorganisms enhance nutrient content in the rhizosphere through diverse mechanisms such as synthesis, mobilization, transformations and siderophore production which accumulate more minerals in plants. Different sources of micronutrients viz. mineral solutions, chelates and nanoparticles play a pivotal role in the process of biofortification as it regulates the absorption rates and mechanisms in plants. Apart from the quality parameters, biofortification also improved the crop yield to alleviate hidden hunger thus proving to be a sustainable and cost-effective approach. Thus, this review article conveys a message for researchers about the adequate potential of biofortification to increase crop productivity and nourish the crop with additional nutrient content to provide food security and nutritional quality to humans and livestock.     

Time domain measurement of dispersion in optical fibres

A time domain dispersion measurement apparatus was successfully built and tested at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. This instrument can measure directly the pulse broadening in a multimode optical fibre. The basic dispersion mechanisms in optical fibres and the design details of the system are discussed.     

Modified sub-population teaching-learning-based optimization for design of truss structures with natural frequency constraints

In this paper, a modified sub-population teaching-learning-based optimization (MS-TLBO) algorithm is proposed to improve the exploration and exploitation capacities by including the concept of number of teachers, adaptive teaching factor, learning through tutorial, and self-motivated learning in the basic TLBO algorithm. The multiple frequency responses to the structural optimization problems are challenging due to its search space, which is implicit, nonconvex, nonlinear, and often leading to divergence. The viability and efficiency of the proposed method are tested by five structural benchmark problems of shape and size optimization with multiple natural frequency constraints on the planar and space trusses. The results reveal that MS-TLBO is more effective as compared to the original TLBO and other state-of-the-art algorithms.     

Sulfuric acid-functionalized mesoporous benzene-silica with a molecular-scale periodicity in the walls

Novel sulfuric acid-functionalized mesoporous benzene-silicas with a molecular-scale periodicity in the walls were derived from the mesoporous benzene-silica possessing mercaptopropyl groups by the oxidative transformation of -SH into -SO3H.     

Organometalloidal derivatives of the transition metals: X. Photochemical,thermal, and SO2induced 1,2-phenyl and 1,2-sulphinatophenyl migratons from lead to transition metals in the system [(η5-C5H5)M(CO)nPbPh3] (M = Fe,Cr, Mo,W)

The complexes [(η⁵-C₅H₅)M(CO)_nPbPh₃] (M = Fe, Cr, Mo, W) have been studied with respect to their thermal and photochemical stability and their reactivity with respect to SO₂. The iron complex is the only complex that exhibits the ability to decompose via a 1,2-phenyl migration to the transition metal under thermal conditions, but photochemically the tungsten complex also exhibits this behaviour. All complexes react readily with SO₂ to yield the corresponding sulphinatophenyl complexes, LMSO₂Ph, in high yield.     

Mixed ligand complexes of ruthenium(III), rhodium(III) and iridium(III) with dipicolinic acid and some monobasic bidentate nitrogen,oxygen donor ligands

The trivalent ruthenium, rhodium and iridium complexes of dipicolinic acid and its mixed ligand complexes with several nitrogen, oxygen donor molecules, of types: Na[M(dipic)₂]·2H₂O and [M(dipic)(N-O)]·nH₂O (where M = Ru(III), Rh(III) or Ir(III); dipicH₂ = dipicolinic acid; NOH represents different nitrogen, oxygen donor molecules, viz., picolinic acid, nicotinic acid, isonicotinic acid, glycine, aminophenol, o- or p-aminobenzoic acid), have been synthesized and characterised on the basis of elemental analyses, electrical conductance, magnetic susceptibility measurements and spectral (electronic and infrared) data. The parent dipicolinic acid complexes are found to have a six-coordinate pseudooctahedral structure, whereas for mixed ligand complexes, a polymeric six-coordinate structure has been assigned. Various ligand field and nephelauxetic parameters have also been evaluated.