Synthesis and characterization of VO–vanillin complex immobilized on MCM-41 and its facile catalytic application in the sulfoxidation reaction,and synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones and disulfides in green media

In this work, a vanillin complex is immobilized onto MCM-41 and characterized by FT-IR, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and BET techniques. This supported Schiff base complex was found to be an efficient and recoverable catalyst for the chemoselective oxidation of sulfides into sulfoxides and thiols into their corresponding disulfides (using hydrogen peroxide as a green oxidant) and also a suitable catalyst for the preparation of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one derivatives in water at 90°C. Using this protocol, we show that a variety of disulfides, sulfoxides, and 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one derivatives can be synthesized in green conditions. The catalyst can be recovered and recycled for further reactions without appreciable loss of catalytic performance.     

Optimized spacer layer thickness for plasmonic-induced enhancement of photocurrent in a-Si:H

Journal of Nanoparticle Research - Plasmonic interfaces consisting of silver nanoparticles of different sizes (50–100&;nbsp;nm) have been processed by the self-assembled dewetting...     

Black-body radiation of noncommutative gauge fields

The black-body radiation is considered in a theory with noncommutative electromagnetic fields; that is noncommutativity is introduced in field space, rather than in real space. A direct implication of the result on cosmic microwave background map is argued.     

Estimating market shares in each market segment using the information entropy concept

Sales data of a certain product for the various competitors are usually available at the aggregate level. However these data give no clue to the heterogeneities in the sales pattern across different market segments. Heterogeneities are caused by different purchasing behavior in each market segment; as a purchaser in a segment will be attracted to the attributes of the product most important to that segment. This concept can be formalized via a simple attraction model that utilizes an elasticity measure for each quality or price attribute [G.S. Carpenter, L.G. Cooper, D.M. Hanssens, D.F. Midgley, Modeling asymmetric competition, Marketing Science 7 (4) (1998) 393–412]. Assessment of these elasticities is not difficult since customer response – in each market segment – to perception of quality and price is tracked by most firms [J. Ross, D. Georgoff, A survey of productive and quality issues in manufacturing. The state of the industry, Industrial Management 3 (5) (1991) 22–25]. This paper attempts to formulate a generic framework based on the information entropy concept that utilizes such an attraction model to estimate competitors’ sales in each market segment.     

Palladium catalyzed mild reduction of α,β-unsaturated compounds by triethylsilane

The palladium(II) chloride/triethylsilane system has been successfully applied for the selective hydrogenation of the carbon-carbon double bond of α,β-unsaturated ketones to yield the corresponding saturated carbonyl compounds. The reaction takes place under mild conditions and affords high yields.     

Near-optimal design of Global Positioning System (GPS) networks using the Tabu Search technique

This paper describes an optimization technique based on an heuristic procedure which is applied to analyse and improve the efficiency of the design of Global Positioning System (GPS) surveying networks. GPS is a valuable survey tool because of its ability to increase the accuracy, speed and flexibility of a survey. A GPS network can be defined as a number of stations, which are co-ordinated by a series of sessions, formed by placing receivers on stations. The goal is to select the best order in which these sessions can be organised to give the best possible schedule. Generally, solving large networks to optimality requires impractical computational time. This paper proposes a Tabu Search technique which provides optimal or near-optimal solutions for large networks with an acceptable amount of computational effort. Computational results for several case studies with known and unknown optimal schedules have been presented to assess the performance of the proposed technique.     

Oxidation of Aromatic Amines to Quinones by Iodic Acid under Microwave Irradiation in the Presence of Montmorillonite K10 and Silica Gel

A variety of aromatic amines are oxidized to their corresponding quinones in excellent yields by supported iodic acid under microwave irradiation and solvent free conditions.     

1H NMR Study of Hindered Internal Rotation of Tetramethylthiuram Disulfide in Binary Dimethyl Sulfoxide‐Chloroform Mixtures

Hindered internal rotation about the C‐N single bonds joining the thiuram disulfide was studied by ¹H NMR complete line‐shaped analysis in different dimethyl sulfoxide‐chloroform (DMSO‐CDCl₃) mixtures. From the temperature dependence of methyls proton spectra, activation parameters (E_a, ΔH^≠, ΔS^≠, and ΔG^≠) were obtained. The Arrhenius plots showed a distinct isokinetic temperature at about 35 °C at which the exchange rate is more or less independent of the solvent composition. The resulting ΔH^≠ against TΔS^≠ plot showed a firmly good linear correlation, indicating the existence of an enthalpy‐entropy composition in an exchange process.     

The mechanisms of decomposition of the 1- and 2-phenyltetralin radical cations

Mechanisms for decomposition of 1- and 2-phenyltetralins were investigated using low resolution mass spectrometry and metastable ion techniques. Four primary decompositions were observed for 1-phenyltetralin radical cations: (1) the loss of C₆H₆ via a 1,4-elimination; (2) the elimination of ethene via competing losses from carbons 3 + 4 and carbons 2 + 3; (3) the loss of C₈H₈, probably through a stepwise Diels-Alder cycloreversion to expel styrene; and (4) the loss of methyl radical involving carbon 2 and possibly carbon 4. Three major decompositions were observed for 2-phenyltetralin radical cations: (1) the loss of C₈H₈, possibly through a Diels-Alder cycloreversion to expel styrene; (2) the loss of C₆H₆ via a 1,3 elimination; and (3) the loss of methyl radical from carbon 1. Various exchange reactions occur prior to these losses, but they proved to be incomplete even for metastable ions.