The dynamics of rotational isomerism in crystals as studied by vibrational spectroscopy

Vibrational spectroscopy is uniquely capable of determining the structure and dynamics arising from the rotational degrees of freedom in molecular solids. Vibrational spectroscopy is sensitive to phenomena occurring on a time scale between the slow scale of magnetic, resonance methods and fast scale of diffraction methods; a time scale appropriate for both internal and overall rotation. Rotational motion of molecules in crystals provide examples of very simple reactions. Our understanding of the spectra of reacting molecules can thus be tested on these systems, and we conclude that Redfield equations can describe such spectra.A rich variety of motional effects are described: (1) The libration of the water of hydration in sodium perchlorate which illustrates a simple reacting system. (2) The libration of the adamantane molecule in both its ordered and disordered crystal phases which illustrates intermolecular interactions in organic crystals and the consequences of disorder. (3) The libration of the ammonium ion in crystals of ammonium salts which illustrated both change of orientational position by tunneling and the subtle orientating effects of isotopic substitution. (4) The internal rotation in n-alkane crystals which illustrates the ability to determine conformers and the relationship between the occurrence of disordered conformers and the occurrence of phase transitions.     

Carbon nanodots revised: the thermal citric acid/urea reaction

Luminescent compounds obtained from the thermal reaction of citric acid and urea have been studied and utilized in different applications in the past few years. The identified reaction products range from carbon nitrides over graphitic carbon to distinct molecular fluorophores. On the other hand, the solid, non-fluorescent reaction product produced at higher temperatures has been found to be a valuable precursor for the CO₂-laser-assisted carbonization reaction in carbon laser-patterning. This work addresses the question of structural identification of both, the fluorescent and non-fluorescent reaction products obtained in the thermal reaction of citric acid and urea. The reaction products produced during autoclave–microwave reactions in the melt were thoroughly investigated as a function of the reaction temperature and the reaction products were subsequently separated by a series of solvent extractions and column chromatography. The evolution of a green molecular fluorophore, namely HPPT, was confirmed and a full characterization study on its structure and photophysical properties was conducted. The additional blue fluorescence is attributed to oligomeric ureas, which was confirmed by complementary optical and structural characterization. These two components form strong hydrogen-bond networks which eventually react to form solid, semi-crystalline particles with a size of ∼7 nm and an elemental composition of 46% C, 22% N, and 29% O. The structural features and properties of all three main components were investigated in a comprehensive characterization study.

Products of the thermal reaction of citric acid and urea have been identified as a complex mixture of fluorophores and particles.     

Development of a custom high-throughput preparative liquid chromatography/mass spectrometer platform for the preparative purification and analytical analysis of compound libraries

Solution-phase parallel synthesis has had a profound impact on the speed of compound synthesis delivering relatively pure compounds (>80%) in short order. However, to develop structure activity relationships (SAR) for a compound series, each library member should preferably be >95% pure. Historically, achieving and quantifying such high-purity criteria for each library member proved to be the slow step for most lead discovery groups. To address this issue, significant modifications have been made to a commercial Agilent preparative LC/MS system to allow for the general mass-guided purification of diverse compound libraries. The custom modifications include (1) the "DMSO slug" approach for the purification of samples with poor solubility; (2) an active splitter to reduce system back-pressure, reduce the delay volume, and allow for a variable split ratio; (3) a sample loading pump for the quick purification of large, dilute samples; (4) a preparative column-selection valve to quickly change column selectivity or sample loading; and (5) an analytical injector with a separate flow path for crude reaction or fraction analyses.     

Instability of nonlinear bound states

We establish a sharp instability theorem for the bound states of lowest energy of the nonlinear Klein-Gordon equation,u _tt–u+f(u)=0, and the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, –iu _t–u+f(u)=0.Supported in part by NSF Grants MCS 81-21487 and MCS 82-01599     

A model for the pseudorotation of cycloheptane

A very simple model for a seven-membered ring having fixed bond lengths and fixed ring bond angles is presented. The model pseudorotates in both the twist-chair/chair and the twist-boat/boat conformations and gives reasonably accurate detailed geometries.     

Billiard in a barrel

Orbits in the three-dimensional billiard of the form of a truncated ellipsoid ("barrel") are studied both analytically and numerically. A special form of mapping is proposed to get the expression for Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy, and the transition from strong chaos to weak chaos is obtained.     

Intracellular localization of meso-tetraphenylporphine tetrasulphonate probed by time-resolved and microscopic fluorescence spectroscopy.

The effects of solvent pH on spectral properties and fluorescence decay kinetics were investigated in order to characterize the microenvironment of meso-tetraphenylporphine tetrasulphonate (TPPS4) taken up by cells. Steady-state absorption and fluorescence spectra of TPPS4 in buffer solutions of different pH were used to identify a ring protonated species at pH less than or equal to 4. This dictation could also be distinguished from the unprotonated form by its altered fluorescence decay time (3.5 vs. 11.4 ns). In addition, time-resolved spectroscopy gave some evidence of a monocationic species existing at pH 6-9. This was concluded from the occurrence of another component with a decay time of 5 ns. Measurements of the spectral and kinetic properties of the fluorescence emission of single epithelial cells (RR1022) incubated with TPPS4 indicated that the sensitizer was mainly localized in a microenvironment with a pH of 5, a value which occurs intracellularly only within lysosomes. Cells kept in the dark exhibited the characteristic spectra of both the dication and the neutral form. The fluorescence decay showed two components with decay times of 2.6 ns and 10.6 ns. Irradiation of the cells changed the decay times to 4.6 ns and 13.4 ns and the dication fluorescence emission peak vanished, which is in accordance with the results obtained from buffer solutions at pH greater than or equal to 6. Therefore, we deduce that the photodynamic action leads to a rupture of the lysosomes and that the sensitizer is released into the surrounding cytoplasm.     

Critical evaluation of additivity schemes for estimating heats of atomization

Additivity schemes for estimating heats of formation and heats of atomization of alkanes and halo- alkanes are scrutinized. A least squares analysis of the heats of atomization of alkanes leads to a revision of the values of the parameters. The improvement in the estimated heats of atomization over the values obtained with parameters previously suggested amounts to at least 100%. The reasons for the deviations from the experimental values are discussed. These parameters can be transfered to haloalkanes. Additional parameters necessary for estimating heats of atomization of haloalkanes are also obtained through least squares analyses.     

Estimation of uncertainty in routine pH measurement

A procedure for estimation of measurement uncertainty of routine pH measurement (pH meter with two-point calibration, with or without automatic temperature compensation, combination glass electrode) based on the ISO method is presented. It is based on a mathematical model of pH measurement that involves nine input parameters. Altogether 14 components of uncertainty are identified and quantified. No single uncertainty estimate can be ascribed to a pH measurement procedure: the uncertainty of pH strongly depends on changes in experimental details and on the pH value itself. The uncertainty is the lowest near the isopotential point and in the center of the calibration line and can increase by a factor of 2 (depending on the details of the measurement procedure) when moving from around pH 7 to around pH 2 or 11. Therefore it is necessary to estimate the uncertainty separately for each measurement. For routine pH measurement the uncertainty cannot be significantly reduced by using more accurate standard solutions than ±0.02 pH units – the uncertainty improvement is small. A major problem in estimating the uncertainty of pH is the residual junction potential, which is almost impossible to take rigorously into account in the framework of a routine pH measurement.¹ Received: 11 August 2001 Accepted: 22 February 2002