Transformations ofmyo-inositol hexa-O-nitrate under the action of amines

Reactions ofmyo-inositiol hexa-O-nitrate with ammonia and primary amines yield tetrahydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone derivatives,viz., its tetraammonium salt and its diimines, respectively. Reactions with secondary and tertiary amines give salts of rhodizonic acid, which are converted into salts of croconic acid under certain conditions. The reactions with secondary amines involve intermediate formation of radical species, which were dectected by ESR spectroscopy. A scheme for the chemical transformations ofmyo-inositol hexa-O-nitrate under the action of amines was proposed.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 12, pp. 2962–2967, December, 1996.     

Reversible dynamics and the macroscopic rate law for a solvable Kolmogorov system: The three bakers' reaction

We investigate a piecewise linear (area-preserving) mapT describing two coupled baker transformations on two squares, with coupling parameter 0c1. The resulting dynamical system is Kolmogorov for anyc0. For rational values ofc, we construct a generating partition on whichT induces a Markov chain. This Markov structure is used to discuss the decay of correlation functions: exponential decay is found for a class of functions related to the partition. Explicit results are given forc=2^–n. The macroscopic analog of our model is a leaking process between two (badly) stirred containers: according to the Markov analysis, the corresponding progress variable decays exponentially, but the rate coefficients characterizing this decay are not those determined from the one-way flux across the cell boundary. The validity of the macroscopic rate law is discussed.     

Fluorescence decay and quenching of pyrene labeled on sulfonate polyelectrolytes in salt-free aqueous solutions

Fluorescence decay and quenching of pyrene labels on copolymers of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulphonic acid (AMPS) and N,N-dimethylacrylamide were observed in dilute salt-free aqueous solutions as a function of the mole fraction F_AMPS of AMPS from 0 to 0.896. Monoexponential decay was found for the samples of F_AMPS<0.35 and biexponential decay for the samples of F_AMPS>0.35. The fast decay component is 80%, and the averaged lifetime 〈τ〉 and lifetime τ₁ of the fast decay is decreased with increasing F_AMPS. Quenching efficiency of Cu²⁺, I⁻, CH₃NO₂, and dinitrobenzene to the pyrene label was investigated in the framework of Stern-Volmer plot. With increasing F_AMPS the quenching efficiency of Cu²⁺ is increased while that of I⁻ decreased. For the neutral quenchers, the quenching rate constant k_q increases when F_AMPS<0.449 then decreases, showing a decline of accessibility to the pyrene label. These results were interpreted consistently with the counterion condensation concept, where condensed counterions caused the polyelectrolyte chains to aggregate. The existence of less-polar “temporal aggregated domain” in highly charged polyelectrolytes appears to lead to the slower decay and lower accessibility of the pyrene labels.     

Electron beam pretreatment of sewage sludge before anaerobic digestion

The pretreatment of waste-activated sludge (WAS) by electron beam irradiation was studied in order to improve anaerobic sludge digestion. The irradiation dose of the electron beam was varied from 0.5 to 10 kGy. Batch and continuous-flow stirred tank reactors (CFSTRs) were operated to evaluate the effect of the electron beam pretreatment on anaerobic sludge digestion. Approximately 30–52% of the total chemical oxygen demand (COD) content of the WAS was solubilized within 24 h after electron beam irradiation. A large quantity of soluble COD, protein, and carbohydrates leached out from cell ruptures caused by the electron beam irradiation. Volatile fatty acids production from the irradiated sludge was approx 90% higher than that of the unirradiated sludge. The degradation of irradiated sewage sludge was described by two distinct first-order decay rates (k ₁ and k ₂). Most initial decay reaction accelerated within 10 d, with an average k ₁ of 0.06/d for sewage sludge irradiated at all dosages. The mean values for the long-term batch first-order decay coefficient (k ₂) were 0.025/d for irradiated sewage sludge and 0.007/d for unirradiated sludge. Volatile solids removal efficiency of the control reactor fed with unirradiated sewage sludge at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 20 d was almost the same as that of the CFSTRs fed with irradiated sludge at an HRT of 10 d. Therefore, disintegration of sewage sludge cells using electron beam pretreatment could reduce the reactor solid retention time by half.     

Blood lead monitoring in Italy: Assessment of the quality of results obtained between 1992 and 1994

Between 1992 and 1994, a new screening campaign for blood Pb monitoring in the Italian general population was carried out. Since the first campaign (started in 1978, in accomplishment of the European Community Directive 77/312/EEC) a working group of the Laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry at the Italian National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità), as the Reference Centre (RC), has coordinated the activity of various laboratories spread over the national territory. Appropriate quality assurance procedures, including an external quality assessment scheme (EQAS), were elaborated. Within the EQAS, three or four trials were carried out every year. Each laboratory participating in the trial analyzed eight control samples prepared from cow blood at different Pb concentrations. The results obtained by each peripheral laboratory and the RC between 1992 and 1994 have been compared by regression analysis. The same statistical method was adopted to compare the results obtained by each peripheral laboratory and the RC in the duplicate analysis of about 10 per cent of the human samples collected during the 1992–1994 monitoring campaign. There was no evidence of systematic differences between the regression lines obtained on control and human samples. In spite of the lower Pb concentration in the control samples analyzed during the 1992–1994 campaign, the analytical performance of the laboratories was better than that obtained in the previous screening campaign (1985–1986). Blood Pb levels observed in human samples collected between 1992 and 1994, confirm the downward time trend observed in the campaigns carried out in 1978–1979, 1980–1981 and 1985–1986. This study confirms that the results obtained in an EQAS are representative of the actual performance in the analysis of real (human) samples.     

树枝形聚合物修饰的双8-羟基喹啉光物理研究

研究了树枝形聚合物修饰的双8-羟基喹啉衍生物(Gn-QMQ, n=1~3)在二氯甲烷和乙腈中的荧光猝灭过程和荧光衰减过程. 随着代数n的增加, 猝灭速率常数减小, 核心双8-羟基喹啉基团荧光寿命增长, 非辐射失活速率常数减小. 研究结果表明, 随着代数的增加, 树枝形骨架对核心基团的位点分离作用增大, 在乙腈中树枝形骨架趋于紧密构象, 具有更强的位点分离作用.     

Surface analysis of plasma‐treated polydimethylsiloxane by x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and surface voltage decay

Surface states of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) treated by plasma were investigated by x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and surface voltage decay. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the formation of a silica‐like (SiO_x, x = 3–4) oxidative surface layer. This layer increased in thickness with increasing exposure duration of plasma. Plasma exposure lowers the surface resistivity from 1.78 × 10¹⁴ to 1.09 × 10¹³ Ω □^?1 with increasing plasma treatment time. By measuring the decay time constant of surface voltage, the calculated surface resistivity was compared with the value measured directly by a voltage–current method; good agreement between the two methods was obtained. It was observed that plasma treatment led to a decrease in the thermal activation energy of the surface conduction from 31.0 kJ mol^?1 for an untreated specimen to 21.8 kJ mol^?1 for a plasma‐treated specimen for 1 h. Our results allow the examination of effects of plasma on the electrical properties of PDMS. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three-dimensional quantum dynamics study of vibrational predissociation of HeI_2 van der Waals molecule for low vibrational excitation using the time-dependent wave packet method

Three-dimensional quantum mechanical calculations for vibrational predissociation of HeI2(B) van der Waals molecules are presented using the time-dependent wave packet technique within the golden rule approxima tion.The total and partial decay widths,lifetimes,rates and their dependence on initial vibrational states were obtained for HeI2 at low initial vibrational excited levels.Our calculations show that the calculated tota decay widths,lifetimes and rates agree well with those extrapolated from experimental data available The predicted total decay widths as a function of initial vibrational states exhibit highly nonlinear behavior.The very short propagation time (less.than 1 ps) required in the golden rule wave packet calculation is determined by the duration time of the final state inter-action between the fragments on the vibrationally deexcited adiabatic potential surface.The final state interaction between the fragments is shown to play an important role in determining the final rotational distri     

Radiolytic unsaturation decay in polyethylene. Part II—the effect of irradiation temperature, thermal history and orientation

The decay rate of vinyl unsaturation in high-density polyethylenes irradiated at temperatures from about 310 to 450 K, changes significantly in the melting range up to the crystalline melting point as does free radical mobility and the polymer crystallinity. However, orienting the polymer, or slow cooling or quenching from the melt, prior to irradiation, do not alter the decay process or its rate, although they do alter the rate of increase of insoluble gel and of elastic modulus in the molten state. It is suggested that, below 340 K, the marked deviations from a first-order decay result from the limited mobility of polymeric free radicals in the crystalline phase and from scavenging, by vinyl groups, segregated into the amorphous phase, of radiolytic hydrogen atoms (H). In the melting range, the mobility of polymeric free radicals increases as the crystallinity decreases, reducing the importance of scavenging, so vinyl decay approximates more closely to a first-order relation. In the melt, the vinyl decay relation is not changed qualitatively by H atom scavenging, but the effective vinyl concentration is lower, so the decay rate drops sharply.     

A simultaneous TG–DTA study of the thermal decomposition of 2-hydroxybenzoic acid, 2-carboxyphenyl ester (salsalate)

Simultaneous thermogravimetry–differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA) and gas and liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry detection have been used to study the kinetics and decomposition of 2-hydroxybenzoic acid, 2-carboxyphenyl ester, commercially known as salsalate. Samples of salsalate were heated in the TG–DTA apparatus in an inert atmosphere (100 ml min⁻¹ nitrogen) in the temperature range 30–500 °C. The data indicated that the decomposition of salsalate is a two-stage process. The first decomposition stage (150–250 °C) had a best fit with second-order kinetics with E_a=191–198 kJ/mol. The second decomposition stage (300–400 °C) is described as a zero-order process with E_a=72–80 kJ/mol. The products of the decomposition were investigated in two ways:

(a)Salsalate was heated in a gas chromatograph at various isothermal temperatures in the range 150–280 °C, and the exit gas stream analyzed by mass spectrometry (GC–MS). This approach suggested that salsalate decomposes with the formation of salicylic acid, phenol, phenyl salicylate, and cyclic oligomers of salicylic acid di- and tri-salicylides.

(b)One gram samples of salsalate were heated in a vessel under nitrogen to 150 °C, and the residues were analyzed by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS). The major compound detected was a linear tetrameric salicylate ester.