A Convenient Stereoselective Synthesis of (1R,2S,3R,4S)-3-(Neopentyloxy)isoborneol

A convenient preparation of (1R,2S,3R,4S)-3-(neopentyloxy)isoborneol (= (1R,2S,3R,4S)-3-(2,2-dimethyl-propoxy)-1,7,7-trimethylbicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-2-ol; 1a ), a valuable chiral auxiliary, is described. The synthesis involves six steps starting from the readily available camphorquinone ( 5 ) and gives 1a in 48% overall yield. The key step is the chemoselective hydrolysis of the less hindered 1,3-dioxolane moiety in the camphorquinone di-acetal 4 .     

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide-Based Processes in Photocatalytic Applications

Conventional methods generally used to synthesize heterogeneous photocatalysts have some drawbacks, mainly the difficult control/preservation of catalysts’ morphology, size or structure, which strongly affect the photocatalytic activity. Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂)-assisted techniques have recently been shown to be a promising approach to overcome these limitations, which are still a challenge. In addition, compared to traditional methods, these innovative techniques permit the synthesis of high-performance photocatalysts by reducing the use of toxic and polluting solvents and, consequently, the environmental impact of long-term catalyst preparation. Specifically, the versatility of scCO₂ allows to prepare catalysts with different structures (e.g., nanoparticles or metal-loaded supports) by several supercritical processes for the photocatalytic degradation of various compounds. This is the first updated review on the use of scCO₂-assisted techniques for photocatalytic applications. We hope this review provides useful information on different approaches and future perspectives.     

Ionic Organic Film Sensor for Determination of Phenolic Compounds

This paper describes the development of a new sensor based on an ionic organic film. The amphiphilic molecule, 4‐[(4‐decyloxyphenyl)‐ethynyl]‐1‐methylpyridinium iodide (10PyI), which has liquid‐crystalline properties, was synthesized and applied in the construction of a GCE/10PyI sensor. Analytical parameters for caffeic acid, repeatability (4.8 %), reproducibility (2.8 %), linearity (two ranges: 9.9×10^?7 to 3.8×10^?5 mol L^?1 and 4.7×10^?5 to 9.9×10^?5 mol L^?1) and detection limits (9.0×10^?7 mol L^?1 and 8.7×10^?6 mol L^?1), were determined. The method was successfully applied in the determination of total phenolic compounds (TPC) in mate herb extracts.     

Effect of microcrystalline and microfibrillated cellulose on the evolution of hydration of cement pastes by thermogravimetry

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The interest in the use of cellulose fibers of increasingly smaller sizes in cementitious materials has increased in recent years. This paper brings...     

Determination of thiodicarb using a biosensor based on alfalfa sprout peroxidase immobilized in self-assembled monolayers

A biosensor based on alfalfa sprout (Medicago sativa) homogenate as a source of peroxidase is proposed for the determination of thiodicarb by square-wave voltammetry. This enzyme was immobilized in self-assembled monolayers of l-cysteine on a gold electrode. Several parameters were investigated to evaluate the optimum conditions for operation of the biosensor. The analytical curve was linear for thiodicarb concentrations of 2.27 × 10⁻⁶ to 4.40 × 10⁻⁵ mol L⁻¹ with a detection limit of 5.75 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹. The lifetime of the Au-alfalfa sprout-SAMs was 20 days (at least 220 determinations). The average recovery of thiodicarb from samples of vegetable extracts ranged from 99.02 to 101.04%. The results obtained for thiodicarb in vegetable extracts using the proposed method are in close agreement with those using a high performance liquid chromatography procedure at the 95% confidence level.     

A remarkable enhancement of the rate of ester thiolysis by synthetic amphiphile vesicles

Cationic surfactant vesicles accelerate the rate of thiolysis of p-nitrophenyl octanoate by n- heptylmercaptan by several million fold in the pH range from 4 to 6, providing an efficient system for ester thiolysis in aqueous solution that is functional even at pH4, i.e. more than 6 pH units below the pKa of the SH group. Analysis of the data in terms of an ion exchange formalism implies that this rate acceleration is due primarily to concentration of the reagents in the dimensionally-restrited environment provided by the vesicle, coupled with small contributions from enhanced dissociation and reactivity of the nucleophile at the vesicle surface(s).     

Origin of the sphere-to-rod transition in cationic micelles with aromatic counterions: specific ion hydration in the interfacial region matters

Sphere-to-rod transitions of cetyltrimethylammonium (CTA+) micelles with dichlorobenzoate counterions are remarkably substituent dependent. Simultaneous estimates of the interfacial molarities of H2O, MeOH, and Cl- and 2,6- and 3,5-dichlorobenzoate (2,6OBz and 3,5OBz) counterions were obtained by the chemical trapping method in mixed micelles of CTACl/CTA3,5OBz and CTACl/CTA2,6OBz without added salt. Increasing the CTA3,5OBz mole fraction produces a marked concurrent increase in interfacial 3,5OBz- and a decrease in interfacial H2O concentrations through the sphere-to-rod transition. No abrupt concentration changes are observed with increasing CTA2,6OBz mole fraction. Counterion-specific changes in the interfacial water concentration may be a major contributor to the delicate balance of forces governing micellar morphology.     

Info-quantifiers’ map-characterization revisited

We highlight the potentiality of a special Information Theory (IT) approach in order to unravel the intricacies of nonlinear dynamics, the methodology being illustrated with reference to the logistic map. A rather surprising dynamic feature→plane-topography map becomes available.     

Measurement of the η mass at KLOE<Superscript>⋆</Superscript>

In this report the measurement of the η mass is presented. The analysis has been performed on 450pb^-1 of data collected in the years 2001 and 2002. The measured value is m _η = (547.874±0.07_stat±0.029_syst) MeV. Original article based on material presented at HADRON 2007.     

Randomizing nonlinear maps via symbolic dynamics

Pseudo Random Number Generators (PRNG) have attracted intense attention due to their obvious importance for many branches of science and technology. A randomizing technique is a procedure designed to improve the PRNG randomness degree according the specific requirements. It is obviously important to quantify its effectiveness. In order to classify randomizing techniques based on a symbolic dynamics’ approach, we advance a novel, physically motivated representation based on the statistical properties of chaotic systems. Recourse is made to a plane that has as coordinates (i) the Shannon entropy and (ii) a form of the statistical complexity measure. Each statistical quantifier incorporates a different probability distribution function, generating thus a representation that (i) sheds insight into just how each randomizing technique operates and also (ii) quantifies its effectiveness. Using the Logistic Map and the Three Way Bernoulli Map as typical examples of chaotic dynamics it is shown that our methodology allows for choosing the more convenient randomizing technique in each instance. Comparison with measures of complexity based on diagonal lines on the recurrence plots [N. Marwan, M.C. Romano, M. Thiel, J. Kurths, Phys. Rep. 438 (2007) 237] support the main conclusions of this paper.