Propene polymerization using homogeneous MAO-activated metallocene catalysts: Me2Si(Benz[e]Indenyl)2ZrCl2/MAO vs. Me2Si(2-Me-Benz[e]Indenyl)2ZrCl2/MAO

Propene was polymerized at 40°C and 2-bar propene in toluene using methylalumoxane (MAO) activated rac-Me₂Si(Benz[e]Indenyl)₂ZrCl₂ ( BI ) and rac-Me₂Si(2-Me-Benz[e]Indenyl)₂ZrCl₂ ( MBI ). Catalyst BI /MAO polymerizes propene with high activity to afford low molecular weight polypropylene, whereas MBI /MAO is less active and produces high molecular weight polypropylene. Variation of reaction conditions such as propene concentration, temperature, concentration of catalyst components, and addition of hydrogen reveals that the lower molecular weight polypropylene produced with BI /MAO results from chain transfer to propene monomer following a 2,1-insertion. A large fraction of both metallocene catalyst systems is deactivated upon 2,1-insertion. Such dormant sites can be reactivated by H₂-addition, which affords active metallocene hydrides. This effect of H₂-addition is reflected by a decreasing content of head-to-head enchainment and the formation of polypropylene with n-butyl end groups. Both catalysts show a strong dependence of activity on propene concentration that indicates a formal reaction order of 1.7 with respect to propene. MBI /MAO shows a much higher dependence of the activity on temperature than BI /MAO. At elevated temperatures, MBI /MAO polymerizes propene faster than BI /MAO. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Acridinium ester chemiluminescence: pH dependent hydrolysis of reagents and flow injection analysis of hydrogen peroxide and glutamate

An automated analysis system is described for the measurement of hydrogen peroxide based on a chemiluminescence reaction with phenyl 10-methylacridinium-9-carboxylate (PMAC). A reversed FIA experimental arrangement is used to establish the operating conditions for the measurement of submicromolar levels of hydrogen peroxide. The carrier stream consists of hydrogen peroxide standards prepared in a pH 9.0, boric acid buffer and the flow rate for this carrier/sample stream is 4 ml/min. Twenty microliters of a 10 mM PMAC solution, prepared in a pH 3 phosphate buffer, are injected into the carrier/sample stream. Hydrogen peroxide mixes with the PMAC reagent in an incubation coil that is constructed by wrapping 107 cm of polyethylene tubing around a 1 cm o.d. plastic rod. The chemiluminescence reaction is then initiated by adding base just before the sample passes in front of a photomultiplier tube (PMT) detector. The calculated limit of detection (S/N = 3) for hydrogen peroxide is 0.25 M. In addition, the pH dependent hydrolysis of the PMAC reagent is characterized by an HPLC method which has been specifically developed for the separation and detection of the hydrolysis products of PMAC. Results indicate that a pH of 3.0 is required for long term stability of the PMAC reagent. Finally, this system has been successfully extended to the measurement of glutamate by coupling a bioreactor column of glutamate oxidase with the hydrogen peroxide detection scheme. A detection limit (S/N = 3) of 0.5 M has been established for glutamate with a throughput of 200 samples per hour.     

Basis Set Orbital Relaxation in Atomic and Molecular Hydrogen Systems

Orbital relaxation (OR) amounts to variation of the orbital exponents in hydrogen molecules and ions relative to the exponents of the isolated atom; it is represented as the sum of the one- and two-center contributions depending on the effective atomic charge and on the presence of other atoms in the molecule. The procedure for isolating the contributions of the exponent includes treatment of the OR of hydrogen in a special set of neutral and charged atoms and molecules with certain multiplicities of their electronic states. Within the framework of the spin-unrestricted Hartree-Fock method, we found and discussed the optimal values of the exponents of the basis orbitals of hydrogen atoms and molecules using the minimal split valence-shell basis set, the basis set that includes the polarization function, and the expanded set of grouped natural orbitals. A simple energy model is suggested for OR. Expressions are derived for evaluating the exponents of the relaxed orbitals in hydrogen-containing systems.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by A. I. Ermakov, A. E. Merkulov, A. A. Svechnikova, and V. V. Belousov__________Translated from Zhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 45, No. 6, pp. 973–978, November–December, 2004.     

Sequential injection system with higher dimensional electrochemical sensor signals Part 1. Voltammetric e-tongue for the determination of oxidizable compounds

A sequential injection analysis (SIA) system was developed with the aim of obtaining an automatic and versatile way to prepare standards needed in the study of systems with higher dimensional sensor signals. To illustrate this, different analytical techniques were used in determinations of several analytes. Automated potentiometric calibrations of different potentiometric sensors, with and without interference, were carried out. Useful determinations of selectivity coefficients with two degrees of freedom were obtained. Simultaneous voltammetric determinations have also been done. Firstly, simultaneous determinations of lead and cadmium, using epoxy-graphite composite as the working electrode, have enabled a separate calibration for each metal to be obtained. Next, a voltammetric electronic tongue was designed and applied to the determination of oxidizable species. The use of artificial neural networks has solved the overlapped signal of ascorbic acid, 4-aminophenol and 4-acetamidophenol (paracetamol). A set of 63 data points was prepared automatically and has facilitated the training of an electronic tongue for these three analytes. Accurate predictions of test solutions, in the range of 12–410 μM for ascorbic acid, 17–530 μM for 4-aminophenol and 10–420 μM for paracetamol, have been achieved with RMSEs lower than 0.10 μM.     

Correlation analysis of quantum chemical data and the polarizability effect in H-complexes

The study is concerned with analysis of the energies of formation (E), frequency shifts (Δν) in IR spectra, ionization potentials (IP) of H-complexes, hydrogen bond lengths (r), and spin densities (sd) in H-complexes involving radical cations, obtained from quantum chemical calculations for 20 series of H-complexes. It was for the first time established that the E, IP, r, and sd values and the changes in enthalpy (δH) depend not only on the inductive and resonance effects but also on the polarizability effect of the substituents bound to the donor and acceptor centers in the H-complexes. Interrelations between the polarizability effect and the molecular structure of H-complexes are considered. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 602–608, April, 2006.     

Ph[PhC(O)NH]2P=NC(O)Ph: a new mesomeric stabilized azaylide. Synthesis, crystal structure and IR spectroscopic results

The structure of Ph[PhC(O)NH]₂P=NC(O)Ph (2) in solid state and in solution is discussed on the basis of a crystal structure analysis and IR and Raman spectra. In crystalline state 2 forms dimers which are associated via two pairs of bifurcated (N–H)₂O=C hydrogen bonds. The spectroscopic data are in good agreement with the crystallographic results with respect to the hydrogen bonding and they suggest that 2 also in solution is associated.     

Low-temperature single crystal X-ray diffraction and high-pressure Raman studies on [(CH3)2NH2]2[SbCl5]

The structure of bis(dimethylammonium) pentachloroantimonate(III), [(CH₃)₂NH₂]₂[SbCl₅], BDP, was studied at 15 K and ambient pressure by single-crystal X-ray diffraction as well as at ambient temperature and high pressures up to 4.87(5) GPa by Raman spectroscopy. BDP crystallizes in the orthorhombic Pnma space group with a=8.4069(4), b=11.7973(7), c=14.8496(7) Å, and Z=4; R₁=0.0381, wR₂=0.0764. The structure consists of distorted [SbCl₆]³⁻ octahedra forming zig-zag [{SbCl₅}_n]²ⁿ⁻ chains that are cross-linked by dimethylammonium [(CH₃)₂NH₂]⁺ cations. The organic and inorganic substructures are bound together by the N-H…Cl hydrogen bonds. The distortions of [SbCl₆]³⁻ units increase, partly due to the influence of the hydrogen bonds which became stronger, with decreasing temperature. The preliminary room temperature, high-pressure X-ray diffraction experiments suggest that BDP undergoes a first-order phase transition below ca. 0.44(5) GPa that destroys single-crystal samples. The transition is accompanied by changes in the intensities and positions of the Raman lines below 400 cm⁻¹.     

Effects of structural imperfections on the dynamic mechanical response of main-chain smectic elastomers

We examine the influence of structural imperfections on mechanical damping in polydomain smectic main-chain liquid crystalline elastomers (MCLCE) subjected to small strain oscillatory shear. The mechanical loss factor tan δ = G″(ω)/G′(ω) exhibits a strong maximum (tan δ ≈ 1.0) near the smectic-isotropic (clearing) transition. “Optimal” elastomers that exhibit minimal equilibrium swelling in a good solvent are compared with highly swelling “imperfect elastomers” that contain higher concentrations of structural imperfections such as pendant chains. For the imperfect elastomers, tan δ is markedly enhanced in the isotropic state because of relaxation of pendant chains and other imperfections. However, within the smectic state, the magnitude of tan δ and its temperature dependence are similar for optimal and imperfect elastomers at ω = 1 Hz. The prominent loss peak near the clearing transition arises from segment-level relaxations that are insensitive to the details of chain connectivity. Smectic MCLCE can be tailored for applications as vibration-damping materials by manipulating the clearing transition temperature through the backbone structure or by deliberate introduction of structural imperfections such as pendant chains. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 3267–3276, 2007     

Oxidation of methyl phenyl sulfide with hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by Ti(IV)-substituted heteropolytungstate

Alkylammonium salts of Ti(IV)-substituted heteropolytungstate, PW₁₁TiO ₁₀ ⁵⁻ , catalyze the oxidation of methyl phenyl sulfide with hydrogen peroxide. The yield of the corresponding sulfoxide and sulfone is practically quantitative. A³¹P NMR study confirms the formation and reactivity of the PW₁₁O₃₉TiO ₂ ⁵⁻ peroxo complex in organic media.     

Thermal stability and crystal structure of potassium fluoride monoperoxosolvate KF·H2O2

Potassium fluoride peroxosolvate KF-H₂O₂ was obtained upon action of a 30% aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide on solid potassium fluoride dihydrate. As compared to other peroxosolvates, KF-H₂O₂ is characterized by the highest thermal stability: the decomposition rate constantk ₁, at 120°C is 1.4 10^–3 min^–1, the enthalpy of H₂O₂ addition to KF is 8.1 kcal/ mol. The correlation between the high stability of KF-H₂O₂ and the absence of catalytic properties of KF towards H₂O₂, and the formation of strong intermolecular O-H...F and intramolecular O-H...O hydrogen bonds in the crystal is discussed.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 38–44, January, 1993.