Polymer‐anchored mononuclear and binuclear CuII Schiff‐base complexes: Impact of heterogenization on liquid phase catalytic oxidation of a series of alkenes

Liquid phase catalytic oxidation of a number of alkenes, for example, cyclohexene, cis‐cyclooctene, styrene, 1‐methyl cyclohexene and 1‐hexene, was performed using polymer‐anchored copper (II) complexes PS‐[Cu (sal‐sch)Cl] ( 5 ), PS‐[Cu (sal‐tch)Cl] ( 6 ), PS‐[CH₂{Cu (sal‐sch)Cl}₂] ( 7 ) and PS‐[CH₂{Cu (sal‐tch)Cl}₂] ( 8 ). Neat complexes [Cu (sal‐sch)Cl] ( 1 ), [Cu (sal‐tch)Cl] ( 2 ), [CH₂{Cu (sal‐sch)Cl}₂] ( 3 ) and [CH₂{Cu (sal‐tch)Cl}₂] ( 4 ) were isolated by reacting CuCl₂·2H₂O with [Hsal‐sch] ( I ), [Hsal‐tch] ( II ), [H₂bissal‐sch] ( III ) and [H₂bissal‐tch] ( IV ), respectively, in refluxing methanol. Complexes 1–4 have been covalently anchored in Merrifield resin through the amine nitrogen of the semicarbazide or thiosemicarbazide moiety. A number of analytical, spectroscopic and thermal techniques, such as CHNS analysis, Fourier transform‐infrared, UV–Vis, PMR, ¹³C‐NMR, electron paramagnetic resonance, scanning electron microscopy, energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, atomic force microscopy, atomic absorption spectroscopy, and electrospray ionization‐mass spectrometry, were used to analyze and establish the molecular structure of the ligands ( I )–( IV ) and complexes ( 1 )–( 8 ) in solid state as well as in solution state. Grafted complexes 5 – 8 were employed as active catalysts for the oxidation of a series of alkenes in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Copper hydroperoxo species ([Cu^III (sal‐sch)‐O‐O‐H]), which is believed to be the active intermediate, generated during the catalytic oxidation of alkenes, are identified. It was found that supported catalysts are very economical, green and efficient in contrast to their neat complexes as well as most of the recently reported heterogeneous catalysts.     

Visible‐Light/Photoredox‐Mediated sp3 CH Functionalization and Coupling of Secondary Amines with Vinyl Azides in Flow Microreactors

Structurally diverse imidazole derivatives were synthesized by a visible‐light/[Ru(bpy)₃][(PF₆)₂]‐mediated coupling of vinyl azides and secondary amines in flow microreactors. This operationally simple and atom‐economical protocol allows the formation of three new C?N bonds through the functionalization of sp³ C?H bonds adjacent to the secondary nitrogen atom. In order to get mechanistic insight of the coupling reaction, several control experiments were carried out and discussed.     

High‐performance liquid chromatographic determination of anti‐ hypertensive drugs on dried blood spots using a fluorescence detector – method development and validation

A selective and sensitive high‐performance liquid chromatography method with fluorescence detection for simultaneous determination of irbesartan, losartan and valsartan on dried blood spots (DBS) has been developed and validated. It involves solvent extraction of a punch of DBS followed by reversed‐phase liquid chromatography on a Lichrospher^® 100 RP‐18e column. Fluorescence detection was performed at 259 and 385 nm as excitation and emission wavelengths, respectively. The detection limits of irbesartan, losartan and valsartan were 1.8, 3.6 and 1.8 ng/mL respectively. The mean recoveries of irbesartan, losartan and valsartan were 98.68, 98.42 and 97.81%, respectively. The mean inter‐day and intra‐day precisions of irbesartan, losartan and valsartan were 2.07 and 1.34%, 1.42 and 1.48%, and 3.20 and 2.15% respectively. The proposed method was simple and rapid. Design of experiments was used to evaluate the robustness of the method. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Extensive enhancement in power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell by using Al-doped TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> photoanode

In this work, we have prepared Al-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles via a hydrothermal method and used it for making photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Material characterizations were done using XRD, AFM, SEM, TEM and EDAX. XPS results reveal that Al is introduced successfully into the structure of TiO₂ creating new impurity energy levels in the forbidden gap. This resulted in tuning of the conduction band of TiO₂ and reduced charge recombination which led to better current conversion efficiency of DSSC. Greater dye loading and enhanced surface area was obtained for Al-doped TiO₂ compared to un-doped TiO₂. I-V analysis, EIS and Bode plots are employed to evaluate photovoltaic performance. The short-circuit current density (J _sc) and efficiency (η) of cell employing Al-doped TiO₂ photoanode were extensively enhanced compared to the cell using un-doped TiO₂. The optical band gap (E _g) for Al-doped and un-doped TiO₂ was obtained as 2.8 and 3.2 eV, respectively. J _sc and η were 13.39 mAcm^?2 and 4.27%, respectively, under illumination of 100 mWcm^?2 light intensity when thin films of 1% Al-doped TiO₂ was employed as photoanode in DSSC using N719 as the sensitizer dye. With the use of un-doped TiO₂ as photoanode under similar conditions, J _sc 5.12 mAcm^?2 and η 1.06% only could be obtained. The maximum IPCE% obtained with Al-doped TiO₂ and un-doped TiO₂ was 67 and 38% respectively at the characteristic wavelength of dye (λ _max = 540 nm). The EIS analyses revealed resistive and capacitive elements that provided an insight into various interfacial processes in terms of the charge transport. It was observed that Al-doping reduced the interfacial resistance leading to better charge transport which has improved both photocurrent density and conversion efficiency. Higher electron mobility and fast diffusion resulting in greater charge collection efficiency was obtained for Al-doped TiO₂ compared to the un-doped TiO₂. Using the Mott–Schottky plot, the donor density was calculated for un-doped and Al-doped TiO₂. The work demonstrated that the Al-doped TiO₂ is potential photoanode material for low-cost and high-efficiency DSSC.     

Highly diastereoselective synthesis of spiro[cyclopropane-1,3′-indolin]-2′-ones via catalyst-free cyclopropanation using ethyl diazoacetate

Substituted 3-methyleneindolin-2-ones were efficiently cyclopropanated with ethyl diazoacetate to yield spiro[cyclopropane-1,3′-indolin]-2′-ones in a catalyst-free and highly diastereoselective reaction in a mixture of ethanol–acetonitrile (1:1 v/v) as solvent.     

Preparation and characterization of MgB2 superconductor

The MgB₂ superconductor, synthesized using solid-state and liquid-phase sintering methods, have been characterized for various properties. The upper critical field, irreversibility line and critical current density have been determined using magnetization data. The current-voltage characteristics recorded under an applied magnetic field revealed the existence of vortex glass transition. The surface analysis using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows that MgB₂ is sensitive to atmospheric degradation.