Structure and bonding of lanthanide dinitrogen complexes,Ln(N2)1-8

Lanthanide dinitrogen complexes, Ln(N₂) _x (x = 1-8), were investigated by Density Functional Theory computations using the B3LYP exchange-correlation functional in conjunction with quasirelativistic pseudopotentials for Ln. After a recent study on the lanthanum complexes (A. Kovács, Structural Chemistry 2018 , 29, 1825), the present study aimed to probe the changes upon variously filled 4f subshells of Ln on the structures, stabilities, and bonding properties in related complexes of Nd, Ho, and Lu. The bonding properties were assessed on the basis of natural atomic charges, Ln valence orbital populations, and analysis of bonding molecular orbitals.     

Chromatography-Free Multicomponent Synthesis of Thioureas Enabled by Aqueous Solution of Elemental Sulfur

The development of a new three-component chromatography-free reaction of isocyanides, amines and elemental sulfur allowed us the straightforward synthesis of thioureas in water. Considering a large pool of organic and inorganic bases, we first optimized the preparation of aqueous polysulfide solution from elemental sulfur. Using polysulfide solution, we were able to omit the otherwise mandatory chromatography, and to isolate the crystalline products directly from the reaction mixture by a simple filtration, retaining the sulfur in the solution phase. A wide range of thioureas synthesized in this way confirmed the reasonable substrate and functional group tolerance of our protocol.     

Isolation and On‐Line LC/CD Analysis of 3,8″‐Linked Biflavonoids from Gnidia involucrata

Investigation of the methanol extract of the roots of Gnidia involucrata (Thymelaeaceae) led to the isolation and characterization of two new 3,8″‐biflavonoid diastereoisomers, named GB‐4 ( 6a ) and GB‐4a ( 6b ). Their absolute configurations were determined in mixture by on‐line LC/CD measurements, which also allowed the revision of absolute configurations of the biflavanoids GB‐1 and GB‐2, and the configurational assignment of GB‐3.     

On the rigidity of sphericalt-designs that are orbits of finite reflection groups

The concept of rigid sphericalt-designs was introduced by Bannai. He conjectured that there is a functionf(t, d) such that ifX is a sphericalt design in thed-dimensional Euclidean space so that |X|>f(t, d), theX is non-rigid. Furthermore, he asked to find examples of rigid but not tight sperical designs. In the present article we shall investigate the case whenX is an orbit of a finite reflection group and prove thatX is rigid iff tight for the groupsA _n ,B _n ,C _n ,D _n ,E ₆,E ₇,F ₄,I ₃.Research was partially supported by Hungarian National Research fund Grant No. 4267.     

Adhesion studies of latex film surfaces on the meso- and nanoscale

In this paper the effects of surface roughness and annealing temperature (T) of latex coating films on adhesion are discussed for the different stages of the film formation process. The surface free energy of latex films was assessed in terms of practical work of adhesion (W) (or adherence) using a custom-built adhesion-testing device (ATD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and contact angle measurements. For preannealed latex films surface roughness averages (R_a) were determined from AFM height images and were related to the values of W obtained from ATD measurements at room temperature. The results obtained using these tests exhibiting surface behavior on different length scales indicate a dependence of the measured adhesion on surface roughness and temperature, as well as on the length scale of the measurements.First preannealed samples were studied, which were obtained by heat treatment above the respective glass transition temperatures (T_g). Increasing the temperature of preannealing resulted in a decrease of the adherence observed in ATD experiments at room temperature. However, on the nanoscale, using AFM, no significant variation of the adherence was observed. This observation can be explained by roughness arguments. Preannealing decreases roughness which results in lower adherence values measured by ATD while for essentially single asperity AFM experiments roughness has an insignificant effect. Specimens were also annealed over a constant period of time (90 min) at different temperatures. At the end of the heat treatment, adhesion was measured at the treatment temperature by ATD. The amplified effect of temperature observed in this case on adherence is attributed to the combination of roughness decrease and increasing test temperature. In a third set of experiments completely annealed samples were studied by ATD as well as by AFM as a function of temperature. With increasing T values ATD showed a decrease in adherence, which is attributed to a decreasing surface free energy of the annealed films at elevated T values. AFM, on the other hand, showed an opposite trend which is assigned to increasing penetration of the tip into the tip/wetting polymer samples versus increasing temperature. Finally, annealing isotherms as a function of time were investigated by ATD in situ at different temperatures. This last set of experiments allowed us to optimize annealing time and temperature to achieve complete curing.     

A theoretical study of the structure and bonding of UOX4 (X = F, Cl, Br, I) molecules: the importance of inverse trans influence.

During nitroxide-mediated polymerization (NMP) in the presence of a nitroxide R2(R1)NO*, the reversible formation of N-alkoxyamines [P-ON(R1)R2] reduces significantly the concentration of polymer radicals (P*) and their involvement in termination reactions. The control of the livingness and polydispersity of the resulting polymer depends strongly on the magnitude of the bond dissociation energy (BDE) of the C-ON(R1)R2 bond. In this study, theoretical BDEs of a large series of model N-alkoxyamines are calculated with the PM3 method. In order to provide a predictive tool, correlations between the calculated BDEs and the cleavage temperature (T(c)), and the dissociation rate constant (k(d)), of the N-alkoxyamines are established. The homolytic cleavage of the N-OC bond is also investigated at the B3P86/6-311++G(d,p)//B3LYP/6-31G(d), level. Furthermore, a natural bond orbital analysis is carried out for some N-alkoxyamines with a O-C-ON(R1)R2 fragment, and the strengthening of their C-ON(R1)R2 bond is interpreted in terms of stabilizing anomeric interactions.     

Role of montmorillonite in flame retardancy of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer

The effects of non-treated (MMT), organophilic (OMM), and olefin/silicone polymer intercalated (IMM) montmorillonites on the thermal stability of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and on the flammability of magnesium hydroxide filled EVA were studied. The influence of various treatments on the delamination of montmorillonites in EVA was detected by rheological measurements and by Raman microscopy. The latter was a unique method for rapid detection of the dispersion also in highly filled EVA. Enhancement of thermo-oxidative stability of EVA and flame-retarded EVA could be observed by thermal analysis in the presence of variously treated montmorillonites. The flame-retardant efficiency of magnesium hydroxide was improved by simultaneous application of MMT and IMM. The increased performance of magnesium hydroxide was explained by the rheological effect of the IMM, catalytic effect of MMT and chemical interactions of montmorillonites with the metal hydroxide.     

Extensions of Szegö's theory of orthogonal polynomials,III

Let {ø _n (dμ)} be a system of orthonormal polynomials on the unit circle with respect to a measuredμ. Szegö's theory is concerned with the asymptotic behavior ofø _n (dμ) when logμ′∈L ¹. In what follows we will discuss the asymptotic behavior of the ratioø _n (dμ ₂)/ø _n (dμ ₁) on the unit circle whendμ ₁ anddμ ₂ are close in a sense (e.g.,dμ ₂=gdμ ₁, where g≥0 is such thatQ(e ^it )g(t) andQ(e ^it )/g(t) are bounded for a suitable polynomialQ) and μ ₁ ^′ >0 almost everywhere or (a somewhat weaker requirement) lim _n→∞Φ _n (dμ ₁,0)=0 for the monic polynomial Φ _n . The asymptotic behavior of the same fraction outside the unit circle was discussed in an earlier paper.     

Fluorescence of crystalline 4-(dimethylamino)benzonitrile. Absence of dual fluorescence and observation of single-exponential fluorescence decays

The fluorescence spectrum of crystals grown from newly synthesized 4-(dimethylamino)benzonitrile (DMABN), measured from 25 down to −112 °C, consists of a single emission band originating from a locally excited (LE) state. The fluorescence decay of the DMABN crystals is single exponential at all temperatures investigated. These results show that intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) does not occur in crystalline DMABN. The additional red-shifted emission bands and multiexponential fluorescence decays previously reported for DMABN crystals are attributed to a minor amount of the impurity 4-(dimethylamino)benzaldehyde, the synthetic precursor of commercial DMABN.