Conductivity Studies of Dilute Aqueous Solutions of Oxalic Acid and Neutral Oxalates of Sodium, Potassium, Cesium, and Ammonium from 5 to 35°C

Conductivity measurements of oxalic acid and neutral oxalates (disodium oxalate, dipotassium oxalate, dicesium, and diammonium oxalate) were performed on dilute aqueous solutions, c < 3 × 10^–3 mol-dm^–3, from 5 to 35°C. These data and those available from the literature were analyzed in terms of dissociation steps of oxalic acid, the Onsager conductivity equation for neutral oxalates, the Quint–Viallard conductivity equation for the acid, and the Debye–Hückel equation for activity coefficients, to give the limiting equivalent conductances of bioxalate anion ;(HC₂O₄ ^–) and oxalate anion (1/2C₂O₄ ^2–) and the corresponding dissociation constants K ₁ and K ₂.     

Solid-phase synthesis of amidines by the reduction of amidoximes

Amidines can be prepared on a solid support by reducing polymer-bound amidoximes with SnCl₂·2H₂O. The method has proved to be straightforward and highly efficient. Amidoximes attached to the solid support are readily available by treating resin-bound nitriles with hydroxylamine.     

Characterization of methacrylate monoliths for purification of DNA molecules

The suitability of methacrylate based anion exchange monolithic supports for the separation and purification of plasmid and genomic DNA has been explored. The effect of the size of the channels, ionic strength of the solution, and ligand density on the dynamic binding capacity has been investigated. The dynamic binding capacity was found to be flow independent, at least up to a linear velocity of 700 cm h(-1), and exceeded 9 mg mL(-1) for all types of DNA. The recovery depends on the pH value of the mobile phase and its ionic strength as well as on the density of the active groups. Under optimal conditions recoveries exceeding 80% were obtained even for genomic DNA. Finally, the suitability of this approach is demonstrated by purification of a real-life sample.     

Silver(I) undecafluorodiantimonate(V)

The reaction between AgBF4 and excess of SbF5 in anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (aHF) yields the white solid AgSb2F11 after the solvent and the excess of SbF5 have been pumped off. Reaction between equimolar amounts of AgSb2F11 and AgBF4 yields AgSbF6. Meanwhile, oxidation of solvolyzed AgSb2F11 in aHF by elemental fluorine yields a clear blue solution of solvated Ag(II) cations and SbF6- anions. AgSb2F11 is orthorhombic, at 250 K, Pbca, with a=1091.80(7) pm, b=1246.28(8) pm, c=3880.2(3) pm, V=5.2797(6) nm3, and Z=24. The crystal structure of AgSb2F11 is related to the already known crystal structure of H3OSb2F11. Vibrational spectra of AgSb2F11 entirely match the literature-reported vibrational spectra of beta-Ag(SbF6)2, for which a formulation of a mixed-valence AgI/AgIII compound was suggested (AgIAgIII(SbF6)4). On the basis of obtained results it can be concluded that previously reported beta-Ag(SbF6)2 is in fact Ag(I) compound with composition AgSb2F11.     

Molecular dynamics integration meets standard theory of molecular vibrations

An iterative SISM (split integration symplectic method) for molecular dynamics (MD) integration is described. This work explores an alternative for the internal coordinate system prediction in the SISM introduced by JaneZic et al. (J. Chem. Phys. 2005, 122, 174101). The SISM, which employs a standard theory of molecular vibrations, analytically resolves the internal high-frequency molecular vibrations. This is accomplished by introducing a translating and rotating internal coordinate system of a molecule and calculating normal modes of an isolated molecule only. The Eckart frame, which is usually used in the standard theory of molecular vibrations as an internal coordinate system of a molecule, is adopted to be used within the framework of the second order generalized leapfrog scheme. In the presented MD integrator the internal coordinate frame at the end of the integration step is predicted halfway through the integration step using a predictor-corrector type iterative approach thus ensuring the method's time reversibility. The iterative SISM, which is applicable to any system of molecules with one equilibrium configuration, was applied here to perform all-atom MD simulations of liquid CO2 and SO2. The simulation results indicate that for the same level of accuracy, this algorithm allows significantly longer integration time steps than the standard second-order leapfrog Verlet (LFV) method.     

Determination of heavy metal concentrations in plants exposed to different degrees of pollution using ICP-AES

Plant samples (Plantago lanceolata - narrow leaf plantain and Cichorium endiviae - endive) were collected in the surroundings of heavy metal emission sources and in other less contaminated areas. After digestion in a closed microwave system using HNO(3), the concentrations of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, and Zn were determined using ICP-AES. Detection limits for all the elements of interest are given. Differences in heavy metal uptake rate between both plant species were observed. The uptake is more intensive for endive than for narrow leaf plantain. High concentrations of some heavy metals were determined in the unwashed plant samples as a result of exposure to aerosols. Tukey's statistical test was used to confirm the discrepancy of Cr concentration in plant samples from various areas. Washing the leaves with water was found to remove a large amount of water-soluble aerosols.     

Improving the performance of molecular dynamics simulations on parallel clusters

In this article a procedure is derived to obtain a performance gain for molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on existing parallel clusters. Parallel clusters use a wide array of interconnection technologies to connect multiple processors together, often at different speeds, such as multiple processor computers and networking. It is demonstrated how to configure existing programs for MD simulations to efficiently handle collective communication on parallel clusters with processor interconnections of different speeds.     

Copper(I) hexafluoroantimonate - an example of a compound with Cu in a solely fluorine environment

Yellow-orange single crystals of CuSbF₆, were prepared by reacting Cu wire (∼10 mmol) with SbF₅ (∼3 mmol) in liquid anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (aHF) and by reduction of Cu(SbF₆)₂ with Cu metal in aHF. CuSbF₆ crystallizes rhombohedral at 296 K with the LiSbF₆ structure type, with a = 530.4(4) pm, c = 1453(1) pm and Z = 3, space group R (no. 148). The structure is dominated by isolated layers of regular [SbF₆]⁻ octahedra and Cu⁺ cations.An attempt to prepare CuF by reaction between CuSbF₆ and CsF in aHF at ∼190 K failed. Instead of CuF, a mixture of Cu and CuF₂ was obtained.     

Surface structure and electrochemical characteristics of natural graphite fluorinated by ClF3

Natural graphite samples with average particle sizes of 5, 10 and 15 μm (NG5 μm, NG10 μm and NG15 μm, respectively) were fluorinated by ClF₃ (3 × 10⁴ Pa) at 200 and 300 °C for 2 min. X-ray photoelectron spectra of surface-fluorinated samples showed that surface fluorine concentration increased with increase in the particle size of graphite and reaction temperature. Small amounts of chlorine were also detected in all the fluorinated samples. Raman spectra of original and surface-fluorinated samples indicated that the surface disordering was increased for NG10 μm and NG15 μm. Surface areas were decreased by the fluorination for NG5 μm and NG10 μm but unchanged for NG15 μm. The mesopores with diameter of 1.5-2 nm increased while those of 2-3 nm decreased for all the samples. First coulombic efficiencies for NG10 μm and NG15 μm were highly increased by surface fluorination in 1 mol/dm³ LiClO₄-EC/DEC/PC (EC: ethylene carbonate, DEC: diethyl carbonate, PC: propylene carbonate) solution.     

Synthesis and Transformation of Methyl 2‐(6‐Hydroxy‐2‐phenylpyrimidin‐4‐yl)acetate: Simple Preparation of Pyrimidines with Heterocyclic Substituents

A simple and efficient synthesis of four new substituted pyrimidines, compounds 9a – d , from the title compound 3 is described. Conversion of 3 to methyl (E)‐3‐(dimethylamino)‐2‐(6‐methoxy‐2‐phenylpyrimidin‐4‐yl)prop‐2‐enoate ( 4 ), followed by condensation with various dinucleophiles according to the ‘enaminone methodology’, afforded the target compounds 9 in medium‐to‐good yields.