Synthesis of Propylene Glycol Methyl Ether Catalyzed by MCM-41

In this work, we found that MCM-41 prepared using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as the template could be used as a heterogeneous catalyst for the reaction of methanol with propylene oxide to produce propylene glycol methyl ether. 1-Methoxy-2-propanol was the predominant product. The influence of ratio of the reactants, reaction temperature, and time on the yield and selectivity was studied. The as-prepared MCM-41 proved to be an efficient and reusable catalyst, and the separation of the catalyst form the product was very easy.

The interaction between morin and CTAB aggregates

Electronic absorption spectra, fluorescence emission spectra, ATR-FTIR spectra, cyclic voltammetric measurements, and ab initio quantum calculation are used to study the properties of morin in CTAB micelles with different microstructures and microenvironments and to gain information about the binding of morin with CTAB micelles. Morin can be located in the CTAB micelle with its phenyl group (deviating with 38.98 degrees from the planarity) only in the form of the monomer, which leads to increase of the planarity and extension of the pi conjugation of the whole molecule. The embedding of two hydroxyl groups on the phenyl into a more hydrophobic microenvironment makes the oxidation peak of morin move to a higher potential with a decreased peak current. The binding of morin with CTAB micelles is a spontaneous (DeltaG<0) and endothermic process (DeltaH>0), and the hydrophobic and electrostatic force is the main driving force for its solubilization.     

Separation of basic proteins and peptides by capillary electrophoresis using a cationic surfactant

Incorporation of a low concentration of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in the running electrolyte is shown to dynamically coat the silica capillary and to reverse the direction of electroosmotic flow. The CTAB coating prevented interaction of proteins with the capillary surface and enabled sharp peaks to be obtained in the electropherograms. A systematic study of experimental parameters demonstrated the importance of selecting a suitable buffer electrolyte and an appropriate pH. Excellent separations were obtained for five proteins, three enkephalins, and six dipeptides with an efficiency of approximately 500,000 theoretical plates per meter. The method developed is very simple to perform and was found to give excellent reproducibility.     

Solvolysis of Tris-p-nitrophenyl-phosphate in aqueous and reverse micelles

The widespread use of toxic phosphates and phosphonates as insecticides, and their use as chemical weapons, has led to investigation of fast detoxification and decontamination methods. Micelles, microemulsions, cyclodextrines and liposomes have been used to accelerate phosphate ester decomposition by nucleophiles. Here, hydrolysis, methanolysis and hexanolysis of Tris-p-nitrophenyl phosphate (TNPP), a model for reactive phosphate esters, were studied in homogeneous phase, aqueous and reverse micelles. Kinetic micellar effects were quantitatively analyzed using pseudo-phase models. TNPP hydrolysis was catalyzed by cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and hexadecylammonium propanesulfonate (HPS), micelles by factors of five, CTAC, and three, CTAB, HPS, respectively. The calculated rate constants for spontaneous and acetate-catalyzed hydrolysis in the micellar phase were significantly higher than those in the aqueous phase. While in water and in methanol the effect of the acetate cation was negligible, the catalytic efficiency of acetate for hexanolysis depended on the nature of the cation with the K⁺ salt being ca. 20 times more efficient than the tetraethylammonium salt in non-polar solvents. Sodium dodecylsulfate, SDS, micelles inhibited TNPP hydrolysis by a factor of eigth. Reverse micelles of CTAB in n-hexanol/isooctane (10:90, v/v) did not catalyze TNPP hydrolysis, but changed the bis-p-nitrophenyl phosphate/hexyl-bis-p-nitrophenylphosphate product ratio depending of CTAB concentration and water/detergent ratio.     

（CTAB）_9[Sb_1W_9O_（33）]的制备及其光谱分析

利用溶胶-凝胶法合成了K9[Sb1W9O33],用十六烷基三甲基溴化铵（CTAB）对K9[Sb1W9O33]改性,得到了（CTAB）9[Sb1W9O33],以过氧化氢氧化环己醇制取环己酮为探针反应,考察了n（Sb）∶n（W）对催化剂催化活性的影响,评价结果表明：催化剂金属原子配比n（Sb）∶n（W）=1∶9,催化活性最高,在该条件下,环己酮的选择性达到了最大值99.2%。通过XRD、FT IR的检测,揭示了（CTAB）9[Sb1W9O33]的微观结构和内在规律性,[Sb1W9O33]9-与CTAB＋之间存在协同效应,实验结果为工业装置的技术改造提供了较好的实验依据。     

Nanofluorides

The present review article covers major aspects of inorganic chemistry of nanofluorides, including methods of their synthesis (thermolysis of the precursors, co-precipitation from solutions, reversed micelle technique, hydro- and solvo-thermal techniques, sol–gel method, etc.), nanochemical effects (enhanced chemical activity, self-organization and self-assembly, non-classical mechanism of the single crystal growth, synthesis of non-equilibrium phases), targeted preparation of 1D, 2D, and 3D nanostructures, surface modification of the nanoparticles, fluoride nanocomposites (glass- and nano-ceramics) as well as applications of nanofluorides.     

Interactions of Ionic Surfactants With PEO-PBO-PEO Triblock Copolymers in Aqueous Solutions

The interactions of triblock copolymers (TBP) with ionic surfactants were studied employing surface tensiometry, electrical conductivity, steady-state fluorescence (SSF), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) techniques. An increasing trend in the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of SDS/CTAB in the presence of triblock copolymers was observed especially at higher polymer to surfactant ratio. The delay in the CMC of surfactants was more pronounced in the presence of E₄₈B₁₀E₄₈ possibly due to its less hydrophobic nature. The negative values of free energy of micellization (ΔG_m) both in case of SDS and CTAB confirmed the spontaneity of the processes. The aggregation number (N_agg) and hydrodynamic radius (R_h) of polymer/surfactant mixed systems were determined by SSF and DLS. The suppression of the surfactant micelle size in the presence of TBP was confirmed by SSF and DLS studies.     

Diperiodatoargentate(III) Oxidation of D-Galactose in Absence and Presence of Anionic and Cationic Surfactants

Diperiodatoargentate(III) (DPA) was used as an oxidizing titrant in the spectrophotometric degradation of D-galactose for the first time. The kinetics is based on the reduction of silver(III) to silver(I) by D-galactose at specified experimental conditions. Effects of added [H⁺] and [periodate] have also been investigated. The premicellar environment of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodiumdodecyl sulphate (SDS) strongly inhibits the reaction rate. The observed rate constant is strongly affected by [CTAB] and [SDS] changes for [surfactant] <cmc. Surfactant concentration range above the cmc does not influence the reaction rate. The monoperiodatoargentate(III) ions act as an active oxidant in comparison to that of DPA. A suitable mechanism involving a two-electron transfer from D-galactose to the silver(III) species has been proposed and hence a corresponding rate equation has been derived.     

Studies on the antioxidant effect of rutin in the microenvironment of cationic micelles

UV-vis spectra, fluorescence emission spectra, cyclic voltammetric and electron spin resonance are employed to study the location of rutin in cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) micelles with different microstructures and microenvironments, and to gain information about the antioxidant capacity (hydroxyl radical scavenge activity) of rutin in CTAB micelles. Rutin molecules can be partly solubilized in CTAB spherical micelles through electrostatic attraction and hydrophobic force, which leads to the bathochromic shift of absorption spectra, decrease of the microenvironment polarity of pyrene and the hydroxyl radical scavenge activity. However, CTAB rod-like micelles congregate rutin molecules on their surfaces, which results in the hypochromic shift of absorption spectra compared to the spectrum in CTAB spherical micelles and also heightens the antioxidant capacity of rutin. Correspondence: Rong Guo, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225002, P.R. China     

pH shifting effect on anionic dye removal by surfactant-modified sugar beet pulp: Modeling of column studies

pH shifting effect on the adsorption of anionic RBB dye was tested by using untreated and CTAB-treated SBP as adsorbent in both batch and continuous systems. Characterization of the sorbents revealed the effects of surface modification. Enhanced binding sites and more porous surface structure resulted in improved adsorption capability. Flow rate and initial RBB concentration effects were tested in packed bed column. Optimum pH value of the adsorption, which was determined as 2.0 in the batch studies with untreated SBP, shifted to 8.0 with 20 g/L CTAB treated SBP. Experimental data in column studies showed the decreasing capacity with increasing flow rate and enhanced performance with increasing inlet RBB concentration for both sorbents. Maximum capacities of the columns were found as 36.9 and 2.6 mg/g with dried SBP at pH 2.0 and 8.0, respectively, at a maximum inlet RBB concentration of 500 mg/L and a minimum flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. The highest capacity value at pH 8.0 was found as 140.0 mg/g under the same operating conditions, which reveals positive effect of the treatment on adsorptive performance. Langmuir isotherm was found to be most convenient model for the all equilibrium cases in the column. Moreover, Thomas model accurately predicted the breakthrough curves of each system. This is the first study reporting the modeling data of an anionic dye adsorption in a packed bed column by using modified SBP.