The interaction of dibutyltin dilaureate with tetraethyl orthosilicate in sol-gel systems

Sols composed of dibutyltin dilaureate (DTL) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) were prepared using a mixture of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and acetone as the solvent in order to study the interaction between the oligomeric Sn and Si species. The hydrolysis molar ratio r (r=nH₂O/nM (M: Si, Sn or Si+Sn) was 2. The use of an acid or basic catalyst was avoided, as the sols are intended to be used in the formulation of potential stone consolidants. The sols were studied by several spectroscopic techniques including Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS), ²⁹Si and ¹¹⁹Sn NMR, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). According to the spectroscopic results the lauric acid produced by the hydrolysis of DTL modifies the condensation path of the Si species, leading to the formation of two types of oligomeric chains: linear swollen and multiparticle diffusion-limited aggregates, depending on the molar ratio Sn/Si. The ²⁹Si NMR results indicated that the hydrolysis of DTL catalizes the condensation of the Si species, giving as a result higher condensation extents of the Si species in the Sn-Si sols compared to a pure Si sol. Based on the Radial Distribution functions (RDF) and the FTIR results, heterocondensation occurred.     

Influence of Al2O3 Nanoparticles on the Thermal Stability of Ultra-Fine Grained Copper Prepared by High Pressure Torsion

Summary.  Ultra-fine grained (UFG) Cu (grain size 80 nm) containing 0.5 wt.% Al₂O₃ nanoparticles (size 20 nm) was prepared by high pressure torsion (HPT). Positron lifetime spectroscopy was employed to characterize the microstructure of this material, especially with respect to types and concentration of lattice defects. The evolution of microstructure with increasing temperature was studied by positron lifetime spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements. The thermal stability of the Cu + 0.5 wt.% Al₂O₃ nanocomposite was compared with that of pure UFG Cu prepared by the same technique. The processes taking place during thermal recovery of the initial nanoscale structure in both studied materials are described. Received October 5, 2001. Accepted (revised) December 20, 2001     

An ab initio potential energy surface for the υ4 vibrational mode of hydrogen peroxide

In this paper, the levels and the torsional microstates of hydrogen peroxide are determined from fully optimized ab initio calculations using a nuclear model in one dimension. Calculations have been performed at the MP2 level with the 6-311 G(2df,2pd), 6-31 1+G(2df,2pd), cc-pVTZ and AUG-cc-pVTZ basis sets including polarization orbitals and diffuse functions. The most stable conformation, calculated with the MP2/AUG-cc-pVTZ approach, is a trans–gauche conformer lying at 67.5° from the trans structure. By using the same level of calculations, the heights of the trans and cis barriers have been determined to be 386.5 and 2643.8 cm⁻¹ in a good agreement with the experimental data. The variational torsional levels split into four components by the tunnelling effect of the barriers. The splitting of the fundamental level caused by the trans barrier has been found to be 11.8683 cm⁻¹, whereas the splitting caused by the cis barrier is insignificant under n=2. Current ab initio energies confirm the experimental assignments and verify the separability of the torsion from the rest of the vibrations. However, the experimental relation of dependence on the torsion of the rotational constants cannot be reproduced in one-dimension and depends on several additional vibrational effects.     

4,4′-Dipyridyl and 2,2′-dipyridyl complexes of rare-earth perchlorates

4,4-Dipyridyl and 2,2-dipyridyl complexes of rare-earth perchlorates of the formulaLn(4-dipy)₈(ClO₄)₃HClO₄ · 4H₂O (Ln=La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb, Lu, Y, 4-dipy=4,4-dipyridyl) andLn(2-dipy)₃(ClO₄)₃ · 6H₂O (Ln=Pr, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb, Lu, Y, 2-dipy = 2,2-dipyridyl) have been synthesized. The IR spectra of these compounds and other physical properties are discussed.

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4,4-Dipyridyl- und 2,2-Dipyridylkomplexe von Seltenerdmetallperchloraten

Zusammenfassung Es wurden 4,4-Dipyridylkomplexe des TypsLn(4-dipy)₈(ClO₄)₃HClO₄ · · 4 H₂O mitLn=La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb, Lu, Y und 2,2-Dipyridylkomplexe des TypsLn(2-dipy)₃(ClO₄)₃ · 6 H₂O mitLn=Pr, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb, Lu und Y dargestellt. Die IR-Spektren und andere physikalische Eigenschaften werden diskutiert.

     

The ν(OH/OD) band shape of strong hydrogen bonded dimers of phosphinic acids. Phenomenology and formation models

The infrared spectra of phosphinic acid R₂POOH dimers (R=CH₃, CH₂Cl, C₆H₅) have been studied in CCl₄ and CH₂Cl₂ solutions (T=300 K). The infrared spectra of deuterated R₂POOD dimers (R=CH₃, CH₂Cl) were also studied in the gas phase (T=400–550 K) and solid state (T=100–300 K). They are compared with previously studied spectra of the light (non-deuterated) dimers in the gas phase, in the solid state and in low-temperature argon matrices (T=12–30 K) in the 4000–400 cm⁻¹ spectral region. It is found that the strong and broad ν(OH) dimer bands have similar shapes, nearly equal values of bandwidth and low-frequency shift, and possess the Hadzi ABC structure irrespective of the type of acid, significant differences of dimerization enthalpies, influence of solvent, the type of H-bonded complexes (cyclic dimers in the gas phase, in solutions, and in inert matrices, and infinite chains in the solid state), and temperature in the range 12–600 K. Isotopic ratio of the first moments of light and deuterated acid bands has been measured. Analysis of the ν(OH/OD) band of hydrogen bonded dimers of phosphinic acids shows that the interaction between the two intermolecular bonds O–HOP in a cyclic complex plays virtually no role in the mechanism of the ν(OH/OD) band formation; the shape of ν(OH/OD) band is controlled mainly by the POOH(D)O fragment; and the band shape of strong hydrogen bonded complexes is formed by a number of vibrational transitions from the ground state to different combination levels in the region 3500–1500 cm⁻¹.     

Vibrational frequencies and structural determination of phosphirane

The normal mode frequencies and corresponding vibrational assignments of phosphirane in are examined theoretically using the GAUSSIAN 98 set of quantum chemistry codes. All normal modes were successfully assigned to one of nine types of motion (C–C stretch, P–C stretch C–H stretch, P–H stretch, CH₂ scissors, CH₂ wag, CH₂ rock, CH₂ twist, and P–H wag) predicted by a group theoretical analysis. Comparing the vibrational frequencies with IR and Raman spectra available in the literature, a set of scaling factors are derived. Predicted infrared and Raman intensities are reported.     

Comparison of zinc and cadmium plasma parameters produced by laser-ablation

We report the measurement of the zinc and cadmium plasma parameters produced by the fundamental, second, and third harmonics of the neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet laser. The excitation temperature has been determined from the Boltzmann plot method, whereas the electron number density is estimated from the Stark broadened profile of several spectral lines. The temporal evolution of the plasma has also been investigated. Besides, we present experimental relative transition probabilities of the Zn (4s5s ³S₁ → 4s4p ³P_0,1,2) and Cd (5s6s ³S₁ → 5s5p ³P_0,1,2) triplets and compare our data with that listed in the National Institute of Standards and Technology database. The experiments have been performed in air but also in He, Ne and Ar atmosphere to study the effects of ambient gas environment on the emission intensity of the atomic and ionic lines and on the plasma parameters.     

Analysis of the effects of catalytic bleaching on cotton

Hydrogen peroxide can be catalyzed to bleach cotton fibers at temperatures as low as 30°C by incorporating dinuclear tri-μ-oxo bridged manganese(IV) complex of the ligand 1,4,7-trimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane (MnTACN) as the catalyst in the bleaching solution. The catalytic system was found to be more selective under the conditions applied than the non-catalytic H₂O₂ system, showing better bleaching performance while causing slightly lower decrease in degree of polymerization (DP) of cellulose. In order to gain fundamental knowledge of the bleach effect on cotton fibers and cellulose as its main component, especially after catalytic bleaching, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was used to study surface chemical effects. The Washburn method was applied to investigate wetting properties, and liquid porosity was used to obtain pore volume distribution (PVD) plots. Parallel analyzes performed on model cotton fabric, i.e. “clean” cotton fabric stained with morin - a pigment regularly found in native cotton fiber, helped to differentiate between pigment oxidation and other bleaching effects produced on the (regular) industrially scoured cotton fabric. Bleaching was not limited to the chemical action but also affected cotton fiber capillary parameters most likely due to the removal of non-cellulosic materials as well as chain-shortened cellulose.     

Investigation of the Interactions of β‐Peptides with DNA Duplexes by Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy

The interaction of β‐peptides with the DNA duplexes of dA₂₀dT₂₀ and a GCN4‐binding CRE sequence was examined. To gauge the factors that govern these interactions, two β‐pentadecapeptides, 1 and 2 , a β‐dodecapeptide, 3 , three β‐decapeptides, 4 – 6 , three β‐heptapeptides, 7 – 9 , and β‐octaarginine 10 were designed and synthesized. The β‐peptides were conceived to adopt a β‐peptide 3₁₄ helix, in which the side chains at position i and i + 3 are aligned vertically along one side of the helix. The side chains of Lys, Asn, and Arg were positioned such that potential H‐bonding sites were created for a helical conformation to interact with the base pairs of DNA. CD Analysis showed that β‐peptides 1, 2 , and 10 interacted with dA₂₀dT₂₀. In addition, β‐peptides 1 and 2 showed significant interaction with a DNA‐duplex 20mer containing the ATF/CREB recognition sequence for the regulatory protein GCN4. It is impossible, at this stage of the investigation, to make a safe proposal about the actual nature of the interaction of the structures(s) of the complexes, the formation of which is suggested by the CD spectra reported herein.