Electrocatalytic effect of iron sulfates on oxygen reduction. Influence of the solvation sphere of the mediator

The redox catalysis of oxygen reduction was performed on a platinum rotating disk electrode. The Fe(III)/Fe(II)/H₂SO₄ system at different pH's was used as a MEDIATOR. The catalytic effect of mediator was directly related to the solvation sphere of Fe(III) and Fe(II). Only the redox couple FeHSO ₄ ²⁺ /FeHSO ₄ ⁺ (pH<0) showed a catalytic effect on oxygen reduction.     

Transfer hydrogenation processes to mu(3)-alkylidyne groups on the organotitanium oxide [Ti(3)Cp*O(3)

The photochemical treatment of mu(3)-alkylidyne complexes [[TiCp*(mu-O)](3)(mu(3)-CR)] (R=H (1), Me (2), Cp*=eta(5)-C(5)Me(5)) with the amines (2,6-Me(2)C(6)H(3))NH(2), Et(2)NH, and Ph(2)NH and the imine Ph(2)C=NH leads to the partial hydrogenation of the alkylidyne moiety that is supported on the organometallic oxide, [Ti(3)Cp*O(3)], and the formation of new oxoderivatives [[TiCp*(3)(mu-CHR)(R'NR")] (R"=2,6-Me(2)C(6)H(3), R'=H, R=H (3), Me (4); R'=R"=Et, R=H (5), Me (6); R'=R"=Ph, R=H (7), Me (8)) and [[TiCp*(mu-O)](3)(mu-CHR)(N=CPh(2))] (R=H (9), R=Me (10)), respectively. A sequential transfer hydrogenation process occurs when complex 1 is treated with tBuNH(2), which initially gives the mu-methylene [[TiCp*(mu-O)](3)(mu-CH(2))(HNtBu)] (11) complex and finally, the alkyl derivative [[TiCp*(mu-O)](3)(mu-NtBu)Me] (12). Furthermore, irradiation of solutions of the mu(3)-alkylidyne complexes 1 or 2 in the presence of diamines o-C(6)H(4)(NH(2))(2) and H(2)NCH(2)CH(2)NH(2) (en) affords [[TiCp*(mu-O)](3)(mu(3)-eta(2)-NC(6)H(4)NH)] (13) and [[TiCp*(mu-O)](3)(mu(3)-eta(2)-NC(2)H(4)NH)] (14) by either methane or ethane elimination, respectively. In the reaction of 1 with en, an intermediate complex [[TiCp*(mu-O)](3)(mu-CH(2))(NHCH(2)CH(2)NH(2))] (15) is detected by (1)H NMR spectroscopy. Thermal treatment of the complexes 4-10 quantitatively regenerates the starting mu(3)-alkylidyne compounds and the amine R'(2)NH or the imine Ph(2)C=NH; however, heating of solutions of 3 or 4 in [D(6)]benzene or a equimolecular mixture of both at 170 degrees C produces methane, ethane, or both, and the complex [[TiCp*(mu-O)](3)[mu(3)-eta(2)-NC(6)H(3)(Me)CH(2)]] (16). The molecular structure of 8 has been established by single-crystal X-ray analysis.     

Adiabatic squeezing of molecular wave packets by laser pulses

Strong pulse sequences can be used to control the position and width of the molecular wave packet. In this paper we propose a new scheme to maximally compress the wave packet in a quasistatic way by freezing it at a peculiar adiabatic potential shaped by two laser pulses. The dynamic principles of the scheme and the characteristic effect of the different control parameters are presented and analyzed. We use two different molecular models, electronic potentials modeled by harmonic oscillators, with the same force constants, and the Na(2) dimer, to show the typical yield that can be obtained in compressing the initial (minimum width) molecular wave function.     

H-N HMBC as a valuable tool for the identification and characterization of nitrones

¹H-¹⁵N HMBC has been evaluated as an efficient and high-speed method to determine ¹⁵N chemical shifts for nitrones, which can be used to identify aromatic nitrones and to extract structural information by comparison with reference data. Substituent effects have been measured on C and N aryl groups separately, showing up the influence of electronic effects on C-aryl groups rather than N-aryl groups on the ¹⁵N chemical shifts. Steric effects are remarkable in the case of C-aryl-N-alkyl nitrones. Depending on N or C substitution, chemical shift changes in such an additive way that it is possible to predict chemical shifts for unknown nitrones.     

Asymmetric synthesis of 2H-azirines derived from phosphine oxides using solid-supported amines. Ring opening of azirines with carboxylic acids

A simple and efficient asymmetric synthesis of 2H-azirine-2-phosphine oxides 3 is described. The key step is a solid-phase bound achiral or chiral amine-mediated Neber reaction of beta-ketoxime tosylates derived from phosphine oxides 1. Reaction of 2H-azirines 3 and 11 with carboxylic acids 4 gives phosphorylated ketamides 5 and 12. Ring closure of ketamides 5 and 12 with triphenylphosphine and hexachloroethane in the presence of triethylamine leads to the formation of phosphorylated oxazoles 8 and 13.     

Synthesis of pyrazine-phosphonates and -phosphine oxides from 2H-azirines or oximes

[reaction: see text] Tetrasubstituted pyrazines containing two phosphonate groups 2 in positions 2 and 5 and trisubstituted pyrazines containing a phosphonate 5 or a phosphine oxide group 7 in position 2 are obtained by thermal treatment of 2H-azirine-2-phosphonates 1 and -phosphine oxides 6. These pyrazines can also be prepared from beta-ketoxime tosylates 9 and 10 or from oxime derived from phosphine oxide 11.     

On the additivity of basis set effects in some simple fluorine containing systems

The reactions F + H₂ → HF + H, HF → H + F, F → F⁺ + e^? and F + e^? → F^? were used as simple test cases to assess the additivity of basis set effects on reaction energetics computed at the MP4 level. The 6-31G and 6-311G basis sets were augmented with 1, 2, and 3 sets of polarization functions, higher angular momentum polarization functions, and diffuse functions (27 basis sets from 6-31Gd, p) to 6-31 ++ G(3df, 3pd) and likewise for the 6-311G series). For both series substantial nonadditivity was found between diffuse functions on the heavy atom and multiple polarization functions (e.g., 6-31 + G(3d, 3p) vs. 6-31 + G(d, p) and 6-31G(3d, 3p)). For the 6-311G series there is an extra nonadditivity between d functions on hydrogen and multiple polarization functions. Provided that these interactions are taken into account, the remaining basis set effects are additive to within ±0.5 kcal/mol for the reactions considered. Large basis set MP4 calculations can also be estimated to within ±0.5 kcal/mol using MP2 calculations, est. E_MP4(6-31 ++ G(3df, 3pd)) ≈ E_MP4(6-31G(d, p)) + E_MP2(6-31 ++ G(3df, 3pd)) – E_MP2(6-31G(d, p)) or E_MP4(6-31 + G(d, p) + E_MP2(6-31 ++ G(3df, 3pd)) – E_MP2(6-31 + G(d, p)) and likewise for the 6-311G series.     

Ethanol production from steam-explosion pretreated wheat straw

Bioconversion of cereal straw to bioethanol is becoming an attractive alternative to conventional fuel ethanol production from grains. In this work, the best operational conditions for steam-explosion pretreatment of wheat straw for ethanol production by a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process were studied, using diluted acid [H₂SO₄ 0.9% (w/w)] and water as preimpregnation agents. Acid-or water-impregnated biomass was steam-exploded at different temperatures (160–200°C) and residence times (5, 10, and 20 min). Composition of solid and filtrate obtained after pretreatment, enzymatic digestibility and ethanol production of pretreated wheat straw at different experimental conditions was analyzed. The best pretreatment conditions to obtain high conversion yield to ethanol (approx 80% of theoretical) of cellulose-rich residue after steam-explosion were 190°C and 10 min or 200°C and 5 min, in acid-impregnated straw. However, 180°C for 10 min in acid-impregnated biomass provided the highest ethanol yield referred to raw material (140 L/t wheat straw), and sugars recovery yield in the filtrate (300 g/kg wheat straw).     

Regioselectivity in acylation of oligosaccharides catalyzed by the metalloprotease thermolysin

Investigation of the acylation scope of carbohydrates by metalloprotease thermolysin immobilized on Celite as biocatalyst has been carried out. The reactions were performed in DMSO, a good solvent for carbohydrates, where the enzyme has previously shown its activity in transesterifications of sucrose, maltose and maltose-containing oligosaccharides. Surprisingly, no reaction was observed for glucose or the glucose-containing disaccharides, trehalose and lactose. In contrast, laurate monoesters of several sucrose-containing tri- and tetrasaccharides were synthetized through a one step transesterification using vinyl laurate as the acylating agent. Enzyme regioselectivity was accurately determined by HPLC/MS and the structure of the main regioisomers was established by a combination of NMR experiments. The preferred position of acylation in all cases was the 2-OH of the α-d-glucopyranose moiety linked 1→2 to the β-d-fructofuranose unit. These results correlate with the regioselectivity observed in the case of the disaccharide sucrose. A general carbohydrate binding motif for catalysis by thermolysin is proposed.     

Diffusion coefficients of 2-fluoroanisole, 2-bromoanisole, allylbenzene and 1,3-divinylbenzene at infinite dilution in supercritical carbon dioxide

The Taylor–Aris chromatographic technique was employed for the determination of diffusion coefficients of 2-fluoroanisole, 2-bromoanisole, allylbenzene and 1,3-divinylbenzene at infinite dilution in supercritical carbon dioxide from 313.16 to 333.16 K and pressures between 15 and 35 MPa. As expected, the diffusivities rise when temperature increases and pressure decreases. Numerous predictive equations are compared with experimental data: Lai–Tan, Liu–Ruckenstein cluster formula, Woerlee, Hippler–Schubert–Troe, Catchpole–King, Eaton–Akgerman, He, He–Yu, Liu–Silva–Macedo, Funazukuri and coworkers, Dariva–Coelho–Oliveira, Zhu–Lu–Zhou–Wang–Shi and the Liu–Ruckenstein RHS formula. The equations of He, He–Yu and Catchpole–King are the best of all, but cannot be used in the whole range of temperatures and solvent densities.