The separation of mixtures of organic liquids by hyperfiltration

Two solid-membrane methods exist for separating mixtures of organic liquids. They are pervaporation, in which the product phase is a vapour, and hyperfiltration in which feed and product phases are both liquid. Technically hyperfiltration is similar to reverse osmosis but, if that term is to be used at all, it should be restricted to dilute solutions of solutes to which the membrane is almost semi-permeable. The polymer membranes which have been found so far to give significant degrees of separation and fluxes with organic liquid mixtures have been crystalline polar polymers with high glass temperatures. The problems of membrane preparation are thus more severe than with almost amorphous, freely soluble polymers such as cellulose acetate.The absorption of liquids from a mixture by a polymer and their permeation in the polymer have received relatively little attention and it is not yet possible to infer the behaviour from that of the polymer towards each liquid alone. Nevertheless a theory of hyperfiltration can be developed based on Henry's and Fick's laws and neglecting any direct coupling of flows. The equations which predict the separation and fluxes are useful in the first place to predict the thermodynamic restraints on any potentially useful separation process. It turns out that relatively large pressures are required, 100 atm or more, and hyperfiltration is better adapted to further purifying a relatively good product than to recovering a small amount of a valuable substance from a large volume of waste.The equations lend themselves to a direct experimental test. An apparatus for doing this has been constructed and two liquid mixtures and membranes have been studied. They are toluene + n-heptane with an asymmetric polyacrylonitrile membrane and methanol + isobutanol with a uniform cellulose membrane. The mixtures were chosen as being thermodynamically close to ideal because this simplifies the interpretation of the data. Their nonideality has been taken fully into account.The results show that the simple theory accounts very well for the observed facts. For the first system the selectivity coefficient was about 2 and for the second, about 15.The mechanism of transport is found to be the normal solution-diffusion mechanism for permeation of organic solvents in polymers. There is some positive frictional coupling between the two liquids as a result of which the improvements in separation to be expected from an increase in the applied pressure are not achieved quantitatively. The increasing absorption of liquid by the membrane as the mole fraction of the preferentially absorbed liquid in the mixture is increased increases its permeability to both components by about     

Der Virialkoeffizienten-Isotopieeffekt von Ammoniak

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Stereoselective synthesis of alpha-C-glucosyl serine and alanine via a cross-metathesis/cyclization strategy

C-Glycosyl amino acids represent stable mimics of monomeric units within natural O-linked glycoproteins. Olefin cross-metathesis has been used to provide alkene precursors for a mercury(II)-mediated cyclization, yielding alpha-C-glucosyl serine and alanine.     

Branching fractions for psi(2S)-to-J/psi transitions

We describe new measurements of the inclusive and exclusive branching fractions for psi(2S) transitions to J/psi using e(+)e(-) collision data collected with the CLEO detector operating at CESR. All branching fractions and ratios of branching fractions reported here represent either the most precise measurements to date or the first direct measurements. Indirectly and in combination with other CLEO measurements, we determine B(chi(cJ) --> gamma(J/psi)) and B[psi(2S) --> light hadrons].     

Improved measurement of the form factors in the decay lambda+c-->lambda + nue

Using the CLEO detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring, we have studied the distribution of kinematic variables in the decay lambda(+)(c)lambda--> e(+)nu(e). By performing a four-dimensional maximum likelihood fit, we determine the form factor ratio, R= f(2)/f(1) = -0.31 +/- 0.05(stat) +/- 0.04(syst), the pole mass, M(pole) = [2.21 +/- 0.08(stat) +/- 0.14(syst)] GeV/c(2), and the decay asymmetry parameter of the lambda(+)(c), alpha (lambda(c)) = -0.86 +/-0.03(stat) +/- 0.02(syst), for q(2) = 0.67 (GeV/c(2))(2). We compare the angular distributions of the lambda(+)(c) and lambda(-)(c) and find no evidence for CP violation: A(lambda(c)) = (alpha(lambda(c)) + alpha (lambda(c)))/(alpha(lambda(c))-alpha(lambda(c))) = 0.00 +/- 0.03(stat) +/- 0.01(syst) +/- 0.02, where the third error is from the uncertainty in the world average of the CP-violating parameter, A(lambda), for ppi(-).     

Measurement of the muonic branching fractions of the narrow upsilon resonances

The decay branching fractions of the three narrow Upsilon resonances to mu(+)mu(-) have been measured by analyzing about 4.3 fb(-1) e(+)e(-) data collected with the CLEO III detector. The branching fraction B(Upsilon(1S)-->mu(+)mu(-))=(2.49+/-0.02+/-0.07)% is consistent with the current world average, but B(Upsilon(2S)-->mu(+)mu(-))=(2.03+/-0.03+/-0.08)% and B(Upsilon(3S)-->mu(+)mu(-))=(2.39+/-0.07+/-0.10)% are significantly larger than prior results. These new muonic branching fractions imply a narrower total decay width for the Upsilon(2S) and Upsilon(3S) resonances and lower other branching fractions that rely on these decays in their determination.     

Study of the semileptonic charm decays D(0)-->pi(-)l(+)nu and D(0)-->K(-)l(+)nu

We investigate the decays D(0)-->pi(-)l(+)nu and D(0)-->K(-)l(+)nu, where l is e or mu, using approximately 7 fb(-1) of data collected with the CLEO III detector. We find R(0) identical with B(D(0)-->pi(-)e(+)nu)/B(D(0)-->K(-)e(+)nu)=0.082+/-0.006+/-0.005. Fits to the kinematic distributions of the data provide parameters describing the form factor of each mode. Combining the form factor results and R(0) gives |f(pi)(+)(0)|(2)|V(cd)|(2)/|f(K)(+)(0)|(2)|V(cs)|(2)=0.038(+0.006+0.005)(-0.007-0.003).     

Search for rare and forbidden decays D+ --> h+/- e+/- e+

Using 0.8 x 10(6) D+ D- pairs collected with the CLEO-c detector at the psi(3770) resonance, we have searched for flavor-changing neutral current and lepton-number-violating decays of D+ mesons to final states with dielectrons. We find no indication of either, obtaining 90% confidence level upper limits of B(D+ --> pi+ e+ e-) < 7.4 x 10(-6), B(D+ --> pi- e+ d+) < 3.6 x 10(-6), B(D+ --> K+ e+ e-) < 6.2 x 10(-6), and B(D+ --> K- e+ e+) < 4.5 x 10(-6).     

Computational study of the vibrational spectra of alpha- and beta-Keggin polyoxometalates

The structures and vibrational frequencies of the alpha- and beta-isomers of the phosphomolybdate Keggin anion [PMo(12)O(40)](3-) have been calculated by using density functional theory. Good agreement between the calculated unscaled vibrational frequencies and those determined experimentally and between the calculated and observed IR traces has been obtained allowing the IR and Raman spectra to be assigned. For the alpha-isomer, the agreement with experiment using the current level of theory is superior to that obtained previously. For the beta-isomer, for which no non-empirical study has previously been reported, the agreement with experiment is slightly poorer but still allows the spectrum to be assigned unambiguously. To calculate the structure and vibrational spectra of these large molydate cluster ions requires large basis sets and a good treatment of electron correlation and relativistic effects. For the 53-atom [PMo(12)O(40)](3-) ions, the computational demands are very high, requiring several months computational time. The calculated IR spectral traces for the two isomers are quite similar due to the relative flexibility of the molybdates, where the slight weakening of the bonding of the rotated trimetallic unit to the rest of the cluster in the beta-isomer is compensated by contraction of the bonds within the unit, and the structure of the [MO(6)] and [PO(4)] units in the two isomers is nearly identical. The vibrations characteristic of the bridging Mo-O-Mo bonds involve both the "2-2" junctions between rotated [M(3)O(13)] units and the "1-2" junctions between rotated and unrotated units. The separation of "ligand" and "interligand" vibrations is not clear. The vibrational analyses confirm the high symmetry, namely T(d) and C(3v) for the alpha- and beta-isomers, respectively, assumed by previous workers in this field. The characteristic group frequencies for the Type I polyoxometalates containing both edge- and corner-sharing I octahedra have been identified.     

The first direct evaluation of the two-active site mechanism for chitin synthase

Chitin synthase polymerizes UDP-GlcNAc to form chitin (poly-beta(1,4)-GlcNAc) and is essential for fungal cell wall biosynthesis. The alternating orientation of the GlcNAc residues within the chitin chain has led to the proposal that chitin synthase possesses two active sites. We report the results of the first direct test of this possibility. Two simple uridine-derived dimeric inhibitors are shown to exhibit 10-fold greater inhibition than a monomeric control, consistent with the presence of two active sites. This observation has important implications for the development of antifungal agents, as well as the understanding of polymerizing glycosyltransferases.