Synthesis of homoharringtonine and its derivative by partial esterification of cephalotaxine.

Homoharringtonine $\text{2}$ and dehydrodesoxy homoharringtonine $\text{4}$ were synthesized by partial esterification of cephalotaxine.     

New indices for analysing partial ranking diagrams

Interest is growing in decision making strategies and several techniques are now available. The assessment of priorities is a typical premise before final decisions are taken. Total and partial order ranking (POR) strategies, which from a mathematical point of view are based on elementary methods of discrete mathematics, appear as an attractive and simple tool to asses priorities. Despite the well-known total ranking strategies, which are scalar methods combining the different criteria values into a global index which always ranks elements in an ordered sequence, the partial order ranking is a vectorial approach which recognises that not all the elements can be directly compared with all the others. In fact when many criteria are considered, contradictions in the ranking are bound to exist and the higher the number of criteria, the higher the probability that contradictions in the ranking occur. The Hasse diagram technique (HDT) is a very useful tool to perform partial order ranking. The results of the partial order ranking are visualised in a diagram, called Hasse diagram. Incomparable elements are located at the same geometrical height and as high as possible in the diagram, thus incomparable elements are arranged in levels. The quality of a ranking procedure has to be evaluated by a deep analysis and by several indices, i.e. scalar functions that describe features of an ordered set and allow comparison among different rankings. For this purpose, new indices for ranking analysis are proposed here, compared with the ones found in literature and tested on theoretical examples and on real data.     

Effect of temperature on the solubility of carnallite type double salts

A method based on Pitzer's model has been used for calculation of the solubilities of carnallite type double salts crystallizing in the systems MeX–MgX₂–H₂O (Me=Li, NH₄, K, Rb, Cs; X=Cl, Br). The solubility of congruently soluble double salts was also determined experimentally at 25–75°C. The results from studies of the solubility diagrams of ternary carnallite type water-salt systems over a wide temperature range are summarized. It is found that the width of the crystallization region for each of the salts can be explained by the relative differences in the solubilities of the ternary solution components (MeX, MgX₂·6H₂O and MeX·MgX₂·6H₂O) and by a change of temperature, and by the effect of temperature on the solubility. A method is proposed for calculating Pitzer's ternary parameters of interionic interaction (_MN and _MNX) on the basis of experimental data for the solubility in water of the double salts crystallizing in the corresponding ternary water-salt systems.     

Molecular structure and conformation of gaseous bromoacetyl chloride and bromoacetyl bromide as determined by electron diffraction

Bromoacetyl chloride and bromoacetyl bromide are studied by gas phase electron diffraction at nozzle-tip temperatures of 70°C and 77°C, respectively. Both compounds exist as mixtures of anti and gauche conformers. The mole fraction anti, with uncertainties estimated at 2σ, was found to be 0.474(0.080) for bromoacetyl chloride and 0.615(0.069) for bromoacetyl bromide. The results for the distance (r_a)and angle (∠α) parameters, with parenthesized uncertainties of 2σ including estimated uncertainty in the electron wave length and correlation effects are as follows: (1) bromoacetyl chloride, r(C-H) = 1.086(0.062) Å, r(CO) = 1.188(0.009) Å, r(C-C) = 1.519(0.018) Å, r(C-Cl) = 1.789(0.011) Å, r(C-Br) = 1.935(0.012) Å, ∠C-CO = 127.6(1.3)°, ∠C-C-Cl = 111.3(1.1)°, ∠C-C-Br = 111.0(1.5)°, ∠H-C-H = 109.5°(assumed), $\text{}\text{?}$/o (gauche torsion angle relative to 0° for the anti form) = 110.0°(assumed); (2) bromoacetyl bromide, r(C-H) =1.110(0.088) Å, r(C=O) = 1.175(0.013) Å, r(C-C) = 1.513(0.020) Å, r(CO-Br) = 1.987(0.020) Å, r(CH₂-Br) = 1.915(0.020) Å, ∠C-CO = 129.4(1.7)°, ∠CH₂-CO-Br = 110.7(1.5)°, ∠CO-CH₂-Br = 111.7(1.8)°, ∠H-C-H = 109.5°(assumed), ∠ø (gauche torsion angle relative to 0° for the anti form) = 105.0°(assumed). The structural results are discussed in connection with the structures of related molecules.     

Clathrate formation in binary aqueous systems with CH2Cl2, CHCl3 and CCl4 at high pressures

P,T,X phase diagrams of the CH₂Cl₂-H₂O, the CHCl₃-H₂O and the CCl₄-H₂) systems have been studied by DTA in the pressure range 10^–3 to 5.0 kbar. Under pressure the cubic structure II (CS-II) hydrates forming in all the systems are replaced by hydrates with the composition M·7.3 H₂O whose stoichiometry and positive dT/dP values of melting lead us to believe that they are CS-I hydrates.In the CH₂Cl₂ and CHCl₃ systems the nonvariant point coordinates of the hydrate transformationQ ₂ ^h (l₁h17h7l₂, where l₁ and l₂ are liquid phases abundant in water and hydrate former, respectively, h₁₇ and h₇ are hydrates with hydrate numbers 17 and 7, respectively) areP = 0.6 kbar, T = –1.5°C andP =2.65 kbar,T = –10.5°C, respectively. In the CCl₄ system the 4-phaseQ ₃ ^h point (l₁h₁₇h₇s, where s is crystalline CCl₄) has coordinatesP = 0.75 kbar and T = 0.4°C.The main obstacle of the present study, the very slow achievement of equilibrium, has been eliminated by adding small amounts (0.25% by mass) of surfactants followed by ultrasonic mixing. We have shown that this accelerates the achievement of equilibrium without changing its position.     

Correlation of the volumes and heat capacities of solutions with their solid-liquid phase diagrams

Liquid systems which have strong non-idealities, as seen from their thermodynamic properties, often show evidence of these interactions in the solid-liquid phase diagrams. This suggests that some of the structures present in the solid state can persist in the solution state, on a time average, up to temperatures much higher than the melting point. Volumes and heat capacities of typical systems were either taken from the literature or measured to illustrate this correlation with the phase diagrams. With mixtures of aprotic solvents which show nearly-ideal simple eutectic phase diagrams, the properties of the solutions are also nearly ideal. Examples of systems investigated which show strong non-idealities are ionic surfactant solutions, alcohol-water mixtures, chloroform-triethylamine mixtures and lithium salts in aprotic solvents.Paper written in the honor of Loren Hepler on the occasion of his retirement.     

Elektronenstoss-induzierter zerfall von benzol-tricarbonyl-chrom- und -wolfram-derivaten; ein vergleich

The Electron impact mass spectra of (CO)₃ MC₆H₅—X complexes (M = Cr, W; X = OCH₃, OC₄H₉, CO₂CH₃, CO₂C₄H₉) were recorded. From metastable transitions and by high-resolution measurements complete fragmentation diagrams were obtained; in some cases comparative structure determinations of fragment ions were carried out by collisional activation. The fragmentation of the tungsten complexes considerably differs from that of the chromium compounds. The differences may be attributed to the stronger-electrophilic character as well as to the more pronounced tendency of tungsten to attain higher oxidation states.     

Valency and molecular structure

Valency is defined for each molecular orbital. The molecular orbital valency values are shown to be a good measure of the bonding nature of the molecular orbital. Comparisons are made with photoelectron spectral studies and Mulliken overlap population analysis.The variation of molecular valency and molecular orbital valency with bond angle is studied. It is found that for all the molecules presently considered, energy is linearly related to valency and that the molecular valency reaches a maximum at the equilibrium bond angle. It is also shown that the molecular orbital valency can serve as a quantitatively reliable ordinate for Mulliken-Walsh diagrams.     

Some thermodynamic aspects of highT c superconductors

Thermochemical and thermodynamical properties of HTSC phases are reviewed for the Y-Ba-Cu-O system and also presented for the newly calculated Bi-Sr-Cu-O system stressing out stoichiometric and phenomenological viewpoints. Simulated data are listed for (H ₂₉₈ ^o -H _o ^o , phase transformation temperatures, standard entropies, standard enthalpies of formation, heat capacities in crystalline phase, etc. Pseudobinary phase diagrams are treated showing the effect of oxygen partial pressure particularly illustrated on the (Sr, Bi, Ba)-Cu-O system.The work was carried out under the project No. A 2010532 supported by the Grant Agency of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the grant No. 104/97/0589 financed by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic.     

Some selected problems of nonaqueous microemulsions — phase diagrams and variation of the composition in the quaternary and ternary systems

A variety of quaternary and ternary systems of the type of dodecane/aliphatic alcohols/Na-dodecyl sulphate/water or a water-replacing component (formamide, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, propylene carbonate, dimethylsulfoxide, acetonitrile) were subjected to a comparative analysis of microemulsification. The compositions of the systems of the type of oil/surfactant/cosurfactant/water or nonaqueous liquid were changed with respect to surfactant (Na-dodecyl sulfate and triton X 114) concentration, cosurfactant (homologous aliphatic alcohols) concentration and mixing ratio of water and water-replacing component. The appertaining phase diagrams were plotted and compared with those of aqueous systems.The experimental results suggest that the phase regions, which are designated as nonaqueous microemulsions, probably represent, not only microemulsions in the usual sense, but a separate kind of mixed phase whose microstructure is examined by special studies. Analogously to aqueous microemulsion systems, transparency and spontaneous formation of homogeneous multicomponent systems cannot serve as the sole criteria for waterless microemulsion formation. But they are important guiding properties of microemulsion formation in multicomponent systems.The variety of components involved in the chemical composition and the current insufficient knowledge do not permit to generally decide whether nonaqueous systems can be assigned to microemulsions or to molecular solutions. For clarifying this problem a detailed examination of the miscibility behavior, especially that of binary systems as a function of temperature, and the role that surfactant and cosurfactant play in the formation of homogeneous systems will be necessary.