Studies on polymers and composites from lignin and fiber derived from sugar cane

Sugarcane fiber (i.e. bagasse) lignin has a larger fraction of aromatics unsubstitution in the ortho position than hardwood or softwood lignin and hence has the greater ability to be derivatized. Furthermore, organosolv lignin has a higher purity than sulfonated and kraft lignins. This work examines the purification of organosolv lignin derived from bagasse and the physico‐chemical properties of the lignin and lignin‐phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin coatings, and composites. The wetability tests have shown that lignin and lignin‐PF resin films are effective water barrier coatings, though the contact angles of lignin‐PF resin films were considerably less than the wax films. The overall mechanical properties (i.e. peak stress, peak strain and modulus) of the bagasse fiber composites were lower than the values obtained with the composites without the inclusion of bagasse fiber. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

3-Azido-1,2,4-triazine N-Oxides. Syntheses and structure elucidation

Several 3-azido-1,2,4-triazine 1-oxides were prepared by treating the appropriate 3-hy-drazino derivatives with nitrous acid. 3-Azido-1,2,4-triazine 2-oxide was prepared by reaching the corresponding 3-bromo derivative with either tetramethylguanidinium azide in chloroform or sodium azide in aqueous acetone. The azido derivatives which could cyclize to form the tetra-zolo isomers were proven to exist enitrely in the open chain form by a ¹³C nmr, ¹H nmr and infrared spectroscopic study.     

Proximal adsorption at glass surfaces: ionic strength, pH, chain length effects

The adsorption and desorption of pyridinium chloride surfactants on borosilicate glass are studied as a function of the separation between two glass-solution interfaces. Both the adsorption and desorption change exponentially with the separation; the decay is equal to the solution Debye length. Changes in adsorption are smaller at pH 1.8 (near the point of zero charge of glass) than at pH 6. These results are consistent with an electrostatic cause for the changes in adsorption. The magnitude of the adsorption regulation, however, depends on the length of the alkyl chain and the surface excess of the surfactant. Therefore, proximal adsorption in this system depends on the coupling between the long-range electrostatic forces and the short-range chain-chain interactions. The equation of state for the surfactant on a regulating surface is discussed with respect to changes in intersurface separation.     

Strategy for the study of paramagnetic proteins with slow electronic relaxation rates by nmr spectroscopy: application to oxidized human [2Fe-2S] ferredoxin

NMR studies of paramagnetic proteins are hampered by the rapid relaxation of nuclei near the paramagnetic center, which prevents the application of conventional methods to investigations of the most interesting regions of such molecules. This problem is particularly acute in systems with slow electronic relaxation rates. We present a strategy that can be used with a protein with slow electronic relaxation to identify and assign resonances from nuclei near the paramagnetic center. Oxidized human [2Fe-2S] ferredoxin (adrenodoxin) was used to test the approach. The strategy involves six steps: (1) NMR signals from (1)H, (13)C, and (15)N nuclei unaffected or minimally affected by paramagnetic effects are assigned by standard multinuclear two- and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) spectroscopic methods with protein samples labeled uniformly with (13)C and (15)N. (2) The very broad, hyperfine-shifted signals from carbons in the residues that ligate the metal center are classified by amino acid and atom type by selective (13)C labeling and one-dimensional (1D) (13)C NMR spectroscopy. (3) Spin systems involving carbons near the paramagnetic center that are broadened but not hyperfine-shifted are elucidated by (13)C[(13)C] constant time correlation spectroscopy (CT-COSY). (4) Signals from amide nitrogens affected by the paramagnetic center are assigned to amino acid type by selective (15)N labeling and 1D (15)N NMR spectroscopy. (5) Sequence-specific assignments of these carbon and nitrogen signals are determined by 1D (13)C[(15)N] difference decoupling experiments. (6) Signals from (1)H nuclei in these spin systems are assigned by paramagnetic-optimized 2D and 3D (1)H[(13)C] experiments. For oxidized human ferredoxin, this strategy led to assignments (to amino acid and atom type) for 88% of the carbons in the [2Fe-2S] cluster-binding loops (residues 43-58 and 89-94). These included complete carbon spin-system assignments for eight of the 22 residues and partial assignments for each of the others. Sequence-specific assignments were determined for the backbone (15)N signals from nine of the 22 residues and ambiguous assignments for five of the others.     

Synthesis of s-triazolocycloalkyl-, s-triazolobenzocycloalkyl-, and s-triazolocycloalkylhydrothiadiazines

The reaction of cyclic-α-haloketones with 5-subslituted-4-amino-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3-lhiols gave s-triãzolocycloalkylhydrothiadiazines and s-triazolobenzocycloalkylthiadiazines. Reduetion of the 5,5a-imine bond of the s-triazoloeycloalkylthiadiazines gave s-triazolocycloalkylhydrothia-diazines.     

Photophysical and ab Initio Studies of Mononuclear Copper(I) Complexes

Described are the photophysical properties of the mononuclear copper(I) complexes CuL(4)(+) (L = pyridine (py), 4-methylpyridine, 4-phenylpyridine, or acetonitrile), Cu(lut)(3)(+) (lut = 2,6-lutidine), and Cu(lut)(2)(+). Each of these compounds as their solid PF(6)(-) salts display a relatively long-lived (>1 &mgr;s), visible range emission at both ambient temperature and at 77 K but not in fluid solutions. Also reported are the results for ab initio calculations at the restricted Hartree-Fock self-consistent field level to probe the natures of lower energy excited states of the hypothetical species CuL(n)()(+) (L = NH(3), CH(3)CN, or py; n = 1-4). These results point to an assignment of the lowest energy, luminactive excited states as being largely metal centered, d --> s in character for each of the above complexes with the possible exception of the CuL(4)(+) species where L is py or a substituted analogue. In the case of Cu(py)(4)(+) the ab initiocalculations indicate a metal-to-ligand charge transfer to be the lowest energy Franck-Condon state, although the similarities of emission band shapes, energies, and lifetimes among the various complexes suggest a common d --> s assignment.     

A simple regioselective synthesis of ethyl 1,5-diarylpyrazole-3-carboxylates

Improved procedures for the regioselective preparation of ethyl 1,5-diarylpyrazole-3-carboxylates are described. The new procedures utilize readily prepared lithium aroylpyruvate intermediates which, when combined with arylphenylhydrazine hydrochlorides form 1,5-diarylpyrazole-3-carboxylates regioselectively in good to excellent yield.     

Uniform semiclassical self-consistent-field calculations of vibrational resonance energies and widths

Using the Breit—Wigner definition of a resonance, we calculate both resonance positions and widths for a model non-separable hamiltonian, using a uniform semiclassical self-consistent-field (SCF) method. Excellent agreement with recent complex-coordinate quantum SCF calculations is obtained.     

Benzene in the extended hückel approximation: an unexpected geometry

The equilibrium geometry predicted by the extended Hückel method for benzene with D_6h symmetry is found to correspond to a saddle point on the potential surface. The search for a more stable D_3h structure leads to the prediction that benzene is unstable in the EHT approximation. It is concluded that EHT calculations of molecular conformation are much less than has apparently been previously recognized.     

Raman spectra of ionic liquids: a simulation study of LaCl3 and its mixtures with alkali chlorides

Theoretical Raman spectra of the elpasolite-structured crystal Cs2NaLaCl6 and of molten mixtures of LaCl6 with NaCl and CsCl have been obtained from computer simulations in order to examine how the Raman spectra reflect the coordination structure around the La3+ ions. This system is a model for many other trivalent metal halides and for examining how the network structure of the pure melts is broken down by the addition of alkali halides with different structure-breaking powers. The results suggest a way of reconciling the conclusions of Raman studies about the structures of the melts with those of neutron and x-ray-diffraction studies, which have already been examined with the same simulation methods. The Raman spectra, both polarized and depolarized, are calculated from a model for the dependence of the polarizability of the system on the ionic coordinates which was inspired by electronic structure calculations of the polarizabilities of ions in a condensed phase environment. Some results on the lifetimes of the coordination complexes responsible for the appearance of the discrete Raman bands are discussed.