Design considerations and an example of application of an in-house made TG-MS interface

The design, the abilities and a characteristic application of an in-house made interface for combining thermogravimetry (TG) with mass spectrometry (MS) are presented. The TG-MS interface consists mainly of three co-axial tubes. The position of the intermediate tube was determined after calculation of the temperature profile at the TG furnace exit tube. The inner tube position was determined taking into consideration its protection against condensation of heavy molecules and the time delay for the transfer of the evolved gases. This interface allows either continuous sampling and transferring of the evolved gases from the TG to the MS or repetitive introduction of short sampling pulses of TG evolved gases to MS. The interface is capable of coupling various commercial instruments. In the present work two configurations of this interface are demonstrated. Finally an example of application of this interface on forest fuel pyrolysis is presented. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Synthesis,alkylation, and molecular and crystal structure ofN-methylmorpholinium 6-amino-3,5-dicyano-1,4-dihydropyridine-4-spirocyclohexane-2-thiolate

The reaction of cyano(cyclohexylidene)thioacetamide with cyanothioacetamide or malononitrile andN-methylmorpholine yieldsN-methylmorpholinium 6-amino-3,5-dicyano-1,4-dihydropyridine-4-spirocyclohexane-2-thiolate. Its structure was established based on the results of alkylation and X-ray structural analysis.Deceased.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 2535–2540, October, 1996.     

Interconnection between the Structures and Sorption Characteristics of Mesophase Materials of MCM-41 Type Containing Alkylpyridines

Under the conditions studied for the synthesis of mesophase materials with alkylpyridinium halides an increase in the density of packing of these molecules in the encapsulated micelles was observed with an increase in the length of the alkyl radicals. The difference in the density of packing of these surface active reagents (SAR) depended to a considerable extent on the perfection of the hexagonal structure and the characteristic absorption properties of the mesophase materials of MCM-41 type.     

Synthesis and structure of novel derivatives of thieno[2,3-b]thiocine. An unusual product of intramolecular cycloaddition of 2-homomethallylthio-5-methyl-3-thiophenecarbonitrile oxide

9-Methyl-3,3a,4,5-tetrahydro-6H-thieno[2,3-b]thiocino[4,5-c]isoxazole and 9-hydroxyimino-2-methyl-7-methylene-6, 7,8,9-tetrahydro-5H-thieno[2,3-b]thiocine have been prepared for the first time by the oxidation of 2--alkenylthio-3-thiophenecarbaldoximes with NaOCl. X-ray structural investigations of thieno[2,3-b]thiocine and 2-homomethallylthio-5-methyl-3-thiophenecarbaldoxime have been carried out.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 7, pp. 1262–1266, July, 1993.     

Development of a novel laboratory scale high solids reactor for anaerobic digestion of processed municipal solid wastes for the production of methane

Economic evaluations of the capital costs for anaerobic digestion systems for gas production show that the reactor is a significant cost component. The successful application of high solids digestion of processed MSW (e.g., greater than 10% solids within the digester) would allow a decrease in reactor volume with maintenance of relatively high gas production rates. However, high solids slurries do not mix well in conventional stirred tank reactors. A horizontal shaft, hydraulically driven reactor was designed and fabricated to test the anaerobic digestion of high solids concentrations. Digester performance was evaluated as a function of experimental parameters such as nutrient requirements, feeding rates, pH control, and agitator design/ rotation speed; horsepower of mixing was also evaluated for the reactor. Several startup protocols were examined to obtain a biologically stable anaerobic fermentation at high solids levels.     

N-Amino Derivatives of Condensed Imidazole Systems

The previously unknown 1-amino- and 3-aminonaphtho[1,2-d]imidazoles, 1-aminonaphtho[2,3-d]imidazole, 1-aminophenanthro[9,10-d]imidazole and the N-amino-N'-methylimidazolium picrates corresponding to them have been obtained by direct amination of a series of condensed imidazoles with O-picrylhydroxylamine. An X-ray structural investigation of 1-amino-3-methylnaphtho[1,2-d]imidazolium picrate showed that, in difference to 1-aminobenzimidazolium salts, a conformation exists in it in which the hydrogen atoms of the N-NH₂ group are directed to the side of the meso carbon atom.     

The recent progress of wide bandgap donor polymers towards non-fullerene organic solar cells

The recent progress of wide bandgap (WBG) donor polymers for non-fullerene polymer solar cells (NF-PSCs) were reviewed in detail, which was classified by D-type and D-A type molecular backbones to discuss the related structure-property correlations and put forward an outlook for future innovations.     

On Aging of Acid-Catalyzed Silica Sols—A Dynamic Light Scattering Study

Dynamic light scattering experiments in acid-catalyzed silica sols are discussed. It is shown that in spite of limited parameter accuracy and limited absolute knowledge of the particle sizes, the scattering data from various experiments are comparable with one another and give information about structural differences. Measurements at various angles indicate changes between non-spherical and nearly spherical particles and allow the estimation of gelling times before gelation.     

Free energy perturbation approach to the critical assessment of selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors

The discovery of selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors represents a major achievement of the efforts over the past few decades to develop therapeutic treatments for inflammation. To gain insights into designing new COX-2-selective inhibitors, we address the energetic and structural basis for the selective inhibition of COX isozymes by means of a combined computational protocol involving docking experiment, force field design for the heme prothetic group, and free energy perturbation (FEP) simulation. We consider both COX-2- and COX-1-selective inhibitors taking the V523I mutant of COX-2 to be a relevant structural model for COX-1 as confirmed by a variety of experimental and theoretical evidences. For all COX-2-selective inhibitors under consideration, we find that free energies of binding become less favorable as the receptor changes from COX-2 to COX-1, due to the weakening and/or loss of hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interactions that stabilize the inhibitors in the COX-2 active site. On the other hand, COX-1-selective oxicam inhibitors gain extra stabilization energy with the change of residue 523 from valine to isoleucine because of the formations of new hydrogen bonds in the enzyme-inhibitor complexes. The utility of the combined computational approach, as a valuable tool for in silico screening of COX-2-selective inhibitors, is further exemplified by identifying the physicochemical origins of the enantiospecific selective inhibition of COX-2 by -substituted indomethacin ethanolamide inhibitors.