Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Polymers from the Polymerisation of Methacrylate-Substituted Oxotantalum Clusters with Methylmethacrylate: A Thermomechanical and Spectroscopic Study

New inorganic-organic hybrid materials were prepared by free-radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with methacrylate-substituted oxotantalum cluster [Ta₄O₄(OEt)₈(OMc)₄] and their properties evaluated. The cluster was prepared by the reaction of the parent alkoxide with methacrylic acid. Samples of the hybrid materials were produced with Ta-cluster to methyl methacrylate in the ratios of 1:50 and 1:100 and were characterized by thermal and spectroscopic techniques. The glass transition temperatures of the hybrid materials are shifted to higher temperatures than pure PMMA as a result of cross-linking of the polymer by the oxotantalum clusters. The increase in T_g is also observed from the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Evidence of crosslinking between the Ta-cluster and PMMA is obtained from infrared spectroscopic study. Surface studies performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) provide information about the atomic concentrations of the surface and indicate tantalum bonded to oxygen.     

Topological Space of the Chemical Elements and its Properties

We carried out a mathematical study of 72 chemical elements taking advantage of the chemotopological method. We selected 128 properties to define the elements (physico-chemical, geochemical and chemical properties). Then, we looked for correlated properties and we reduced the number of them to 90. In this way we defined each element as a 90-tuple. Afterwards, we applied principal component analysis and cluster analysis (4 similarity functions and 5 grouping methodologies). Then, we calculated a consensus tree for the 20 dendrograms generated by the CA. Afterwards, we extracted the similarity relationships from the consensus tree and built up a basis for a topology on the set of chemical elements. Finally, we calculated some topological properties (closures, derived sets, boundaries, interiors and exteriors) of several subsets of chemical elements. We found that alkali metals, alkaline earth metals and noble gases appear not related to the rest of the elements. Also, we found that the boundary of non-metals are the semimetals with a stair-shape on the periodic table     

Mo(W)-Cu(Ag)-S簇合物的非线性光学性能研究

本文介绍了非线性光学性测试中的Ｚ－扫描方法。总结了Ｍｏ（Ｗ）－Ｃｕ（Ａｇ）－Ｓ簇合物的光限制效应、非线性吸收和非线性折射等光学性质。讨论了簇合物结构与光学性能的关系。     

A variational coupled cluster theory for closed shells using a propagator modification procedure

A general partial summation method for including arbitrary classes of diagrams to all orders in the coupled cluster based size consistent energy functional for closed shell states is developed. Since the various reduced density matrices which appear in the energy functional are essentially the time-independent analogues of the corresponding many body Green functions, it is possible to derive Dyson-like equations for these quantities. By expanding the associated proper self energy parts in terms of the T-amplitudes, one can carry out partial summations in the reduced density matrices and thus in energy. At a higher level, higher order terms in a proper self energy can also be generated by renormalizing the internal propagators in it, and considering only the irreducible self-energy terms.     

Brønsted Acidity and Aluminum Substitution Characteristics of Si(nAi) Sites in Zeolites: A Theoretical MNDO Calculation

The Brønsted acidity of the various Si(nAl) sites present in zeolites is evaluated from proton binding energy and LUMO energy calculated by the semiempirical MNDO quantum chemical method. The two calculated energy values both exhibit a linear correlation with the existing ²⁹Si NMR chemical shift and the IR hydroxyl stretching frequency data. The inter-convertibility between different Si(nAl) sites during an alumination or dealumination process is also evaluated based on the calculated substitution energy. The results indicate that alumination processes are less favorable to occur in zeolites than dealumination processes and the latter is more likely to occur for Si(nAl) clusters that contain the maximum number of aluminum nearest neighbors.     

Metastable systems driven by colored noise: The stationary state

The influence of the Bardeen-Herring back-jump correlations on the Fermi-Dirac statistics of the one-dimensional nonhomogeneous fermionic lattice gas is studied by the Monte Carlo simulation technique and semianalytically. The resulting distribution is obtained, exhibiting increased population of the lower levels in comparison to the Fermi-Dirac statistics.     

A novel asymmetrical phosphine tetracobalt complex ofo-Mercaptophenol: Synthesis,structure, and properties of Co4mp4(Hmp)(PBu 3 n )3 (H2mp=o-Mercaptophenol)

Complex Co₄mp₄(Hmp)(PBu ₃ ⁿ )₃ (1) (H₂mp=o-Mercaptophenol) was obtained from the reaction of CoCl₂ and H₂mp in the presence of PBu ⁿ ₃ and NaOMe with restricted oxidation. X-ray crystallographic data: triclinic, space group ,a=15.657(5) Å,b=20.469(8) Å,c=12.383(3) Å,=93.59(3)°, =112.45(2)°, =93.65(3)°,V=3648.7 ų,Z=2,D _c =1.33 g/cm³;R=0.065. The molecule consists of four cobalt atoms unsymmetrically bridged by S or S and O atoms from four of the five mp ligands. The fifth mp is terminally chelated to Co(4) which is in a distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry, while Co(1)-Co(3) are square pyramidal. Atom Co(2) is bonded to Co(1) and Co(3) (average distance 2.632 Å) with strong interactions while Co(4) is only loosely connected to Co(1) (3.402 Å) and Co(3) (2.956 Å) through oxygen bridges and a hydrogen bond. The different coordination environments O₂S₂P, S₄P, and O₄S of the cobalt atoms make the molecule highly asymmetrical. XPS fitting data confirm the difference of the Co atoms. FABMS data indicate the possible fragmentation routes. The complex is paramagnetic with _eff=5.2 _B.     

Synthesis and characterization of dinuclear ruthenium complexes covalently linked to Ru(II) tris-bipyridine: an approach to mimics of the donor side of photosystem II

To mimic the electron-donor side of photosystem II (PSII), three trinuclear ruthenium complexes (2, 2a, 2b) were synthesized. In these complexes, a mixed-valent dinuclear Ru2(II,III) moiety with one phenoxy and two acetato bridges is covalently linked to a Ru(II) tris-bipyridine photosensitizer. The properties and photoinduced electron/energy transfer of these complexes were studied. The results show that the Ru2(II,III) moieties in the complexes readily undergo reversible one-electron reduction and one-electron oxidation to give the Ru2(II,III) and Ru2(III,III) states, respectively. This could allow for photooxidation of the sensitizer part with an external acceptor and subsequent electron transfer from the dinuclear ruthenium moiety to regenerate the sensitizer. However, all trinuclear ruthenium complexes have a very short excited-state lifetime, in the range of a few nanoseconds to less than 100 ps. Studies by femtosecond time-resolved techniques suggest that a mixture of intramolecular energy and electron transfer between the dinuclear ruthenium moiety and the excited [Ru(bpy)3]2+ photosensitizer is responsible for the short lifetimes. This problem is overcome by anchoring the complexes with ester- or carboxyl-substituted bipyridine ligands (2a, 2b) to nanocrystalline TiO2, and the desired electron transfer from the excited state of the [Ru(bpy)3]2+ moiety to the conduction band of TiO2 followed by intramolecular electron transfer from the dinuclear Ru2(II,III) moiety to photogenerated Ru(III) was observed. The resulting long-lived Ru2(III,III) state decays on the millisecond timescale.     

Applications of Thermal Analysis and Coupled Techniques in Pharmaceutical Industry

Thermal analysis methods are well-established techniques in research laboratories of pharmaceutical industry. The robustness and sensitivity of instrumentation, the introduction of automation and of reliable software according to the industrial needs widened considerably the areas of applications in the last decade. Calibration of instruments and validation of results follow the state of the art of cGMP as for other analytical techniques. Thermal analysis techniques are especially useful for the study of the behavior of the poly-phasic systems drug substances and excipients and find a unique place for new delivery systems. Since change of temperature and moisture occur by processing and storage, changes of the solid state may have a considerable effect on activity, toxicity and stability of compounds. Current requirements of the International Conference of Harmonisation for the characterization and the quantitation of polymorphism in new entities re-enforce the position of thermal analysis techniques. This challenging task needs the use of complementary methods. Combined techniques and microcalorimetry demonstrate their advantages. This article reviews the current use of thermal analysis and combined techniques in research and development and in production. The advantage of commercially coupled techniques to thermogravimetry is emphasized with some examples. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Relations between site percolation thresholds

By decomposing certain lattices into two sublattices, and examining at percolation threshold the structure of their infinite clusters, an approximate relation between p _c ⁰ , of the original lattice and p _c ¹ , of the sublattice is established: p _c ⁰ (p _c ¹ )^1/2. It is conjectured that an inequality always holds: p _c ⁰ (p _c ¹ )^1/2, and heuristic arguments are given to substantiate it. By similar considerations good estimates forp _c of certain correlated percolation problems are also obtained.