Molecular Characteristics and Antioxidant Activity of Spruce (Picea abies) Hemicelluloses Isolated by Catalytic Oxidative Delignification

Spruce (Picea abies) wood hemicelluloses have been obtained by the noncatalytic and catalytic oxidative delignification in the acetic acid-water-hydrogen peroxide medium in a processing time of 3–4 h and temperatures of 90–100 °C. In the catalytic process, the H₂SO₄, MnSO₄, TiO₂, and (NH₄)₆Mo₇O₂₄ catalysts have been used. A polysaccharide yield of up to 11.7 wt% has been found. The hemicellulose composition and structure have been studied by a complex of physicochemical methods, including gas and gel permeation chromatography, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The galactose:mannose:glucose:arabinose:xylose monomeric units in a ratio of 5:3:2:1:1 have been identified in the hemicelluloses by gas chromatography. Using gel permeation chromatography, the weight average molar mass M_w of hemicelluloses has been found to attain 47,654 g/mol in noncatalytic delignification and up to 42,793 g/mol in catalytic delignification. Based on the same technique, a method for determining the α and k parameters of the Mark–Kuhn–Houwink equation for hemicelluloses has been developed; it has been established that these parameters change between 0.33–1.01 and 1.57–472.17, respectively, depending on the catalyst concentration and process temperature and time. Moreover, the FTIR spectra of the hemicellulose samples contain all the bands characteristic of heteropolysaccharides, specifically, 1069 cm⁻¹ (C–O–C and C–O–H), 1738 cm⁻¹ (ester C=O), 1375 cm⁻¹ (–C–CH₃), 1243 cm⁻¹ (–C–O–), etc. It has been determined by the thermogravimetric analysis that the hemicelluloses isolated from spruce wood are resistant to heating to temperatures of up to ~100 °C and, upon further heating, start destructing at an increasing rate. The antioxidant activity of the hemicelluloses has been examined using the compounds simulating the 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radicals.     

Quantum-chemical study of donor-acceptor interactions in chelate dicarbonyl complexes of rhodium(I)

DFT calculations were used to analyze the electronic structures of 15 mono- and dicarbonyl rhodium(I) complexes with bidentate O,O-, N,N-, and N,O-donor ligands. The characteristics describing the metal-CO bond (bond length and spin-spin coupling constant J(CRh)) were found to depend on which of the donor atoms (N or O) is trans to the carbonyl group. Because of this, the trans-effect transmitted along the σ-bonds can be judged from the values of these characteristics. The characteristics whose values are determined by the populations of the π-antibonding orbitals of the CO groups primarily depend on the cis-partners in the coordination sphere.     

Calculation of Chemical Shifts of X-Ray-Emission Spectra of Niobium in Niobium(V) Oxides Relative to Metal

Chemical shifts of the K_α1 and K_β1 lines of X-ray-emission spectra of niobium in oxides (Nb₂O₅)_n, n = 1–4, relative to metal Nb have been calculated. Stoichiometric clusters (Nb2O5)n the electronic structure of which was calculated using accurate relativistic pseudopotentials and two-component version of the density functional theory are considered as prototypes for modeling different crystal forms of niobium(V) oxide. The chemical shifts were calculated using the method based on using the property of approximate proportionality of valence spinors in the core region of the heavy atom [11]. Corrections to values of chemical shifts have been determined with allowance for deviations from the abovementioned proportionality. Rapid convergence of results with respect to the size of the niobium oxide cluster has been demonstrated.     

Chemical Shift of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">K</Emphasis><Subscript>α1</Subscript> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">K</Emphasis><Subscript>α2</Subscript> Lines of the X-ray Emission Spectrum of Yb(II)/Yb(III) Fluorides: a Quantum-Chemical Investigation

Chemical shifts of the K_α1 and K_α2 lines (the 2p_3/2 → 1s_1/2 and 2p_1/2 → 1s_1/2 transitions, respectively) of the X-ray emission spectrum of the Yb atom in fluorides have been calculated by ab initio modeling the electronic structure. The valence transition Yb(II) → Yb(III) has been analyzed by examples of YbF₂, YbF₃, and Yb₂F₄ molecules and YbF₂⁺ cation. The relativistic pseudopotential and basis sets corresponding to it have been constructed for the ytterbium atom. They were used in calculations by the two-component noncollinear version of the density functional theory (DFT) with the PBE0 exchange-correlation functional. Results for the three-coordinated Yb(II) in the FYbF₂YbF dimer demonstrated a very weak dependence of the chemical shift on the coordination number of the Yb atom and on the molecular association of ytterbium difluoride. Chemical shifts of the X-ray emission spectrum for the ytterbium compound are related mainly to the change in the occupation of the 4 f shell.     

Electronic Transition Dipole Moments in Relativistic Coupled-Cluster Theory: the Finite-Field Method

The determination of the matrix elements of single-electron operators for the transitions between electronic states (primarily, the dipole moments of electron transitions) is one of the critical problems in simulating the atomic and molecular spectra. In this study, the efficiency of a simple version of the finite-field method for calculating these values within the Fock-space coupled-cluster theory has been investigated.     

Modification of Arabinogalactan Isolated from Larix sibirica Ledeb. into Sulfated Derivatives with the Controlled Molecular Weights

The process of sulfation of arabinogalactan—a natural polysaccharide from Larix sibirica Ledeb.—with sulfamic acid in 1,4-dioxane using different activators has been studied for the first time. The dynamics of the molecular weight of sulfated arabinogalactan upon variation in the temperature and time of sulfation of arabinogalactan with sulfamic acid in 1,4-dioxane has been investigated. It has been found that, as the sulfation time increases from 10 to 90 min, the molecular weights of the reaction products grow due to the introduction of sulfate groups without significant destruction of the initial polymer and sulfation products. Sulfation at 95 °C for 20 min yields the products with a higher molecular weight than in the case of sulfation at 85 °C, which is related to an increase in the sulfation rate; however, during the further process occurring under these conditions, sulfation is accompanied by the destruction and the molecular weight of the sulfated polymer decreases. The numerical optimization of arabinogalactan sulfation process has been performed. It has been shown that the optimal parameters for obtaining a product with a high sulfur content are a sulfamic acid amount of 20 mmol per 1 g of arabinogalactan, a process temperature of 85 °C, and a process time of 2.5 h.     

Rhodium and ruthenium tetracarboxylate nitrosyl complexes: Electronic structure and metal-metal bond

The electronic structure of the tetracarboxylates M₂(μ-O₂CH)₄, M₂(μ-O₂CH)₄(L)₂ (M = Ru, Rh; L = H₂O, NO) was analyzed by the density functional theory with full geometry optimization. The inclusion of nitrogen oxide orbitals into the molecular orbitals forming the metal-metal bond affects all of the main characteristics of this bond and the concomitant properties. In the case of rhodium tetracarboxylates, one can consider destruction of the Rh-Rh covalent σ-bond and reorientation of two electrons from the internal region of the Rh₂(μ-O₂CH)₄ core to the outside, toward the axial ligands to give Rh-N covalent bonds. The axial coordination of nitrogen oxide in Ru₂(μ-O₂CR)₄ is accompanied by destruction of the metal-metal π-bond.     

Quantum-chemical study of donor-acceptor interactions in rhodium(I) carbonyl carboxylate complexes with phosphine ligands

The DFT B3LYP method was used to optimize the geometries, calculate the IR spectra, and analyze the electronic structures of carbonyl(carboxylato)(phosphine)rhodium(I) complexes, namely, trans-[Rh(Cl)(CO)(PPh₃)₂], trans-[Rh(OCOR)(CO)(PPh₃)₂] (R = H, CH₃, and CF₃), and trans-[Rh(OCOH)(CO)(PX₃)₂], and free PX₃ molecules (X = H, F, CH₃, i-Pr, Cy, and Ph). A linear correlation between v(CO) in the IR spectra of trans-[Rh(OCOH)(CO)(PX₃)₂] and the HOMO energy of the free PX₃ molecule was found for phosphines with nonaromatic substituents X. It was concluded that the electronic state of the CO group is mainly determined by the σ-donor properties of phosphines. The distinctive features of the electronic structure of triphenylphosphine are discussed.     

Effect of self-organization and properties of aqueous disperse systems based on the moss peptide PpCLE2 in a low concentration range on the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana roots

Russian Chemical Bulletin - It is shown for the first time using a complex of physicochemical methods (dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering, conductometry, pH-metry) that below a threshold...