The Elimination of Grains and Grain Boundaries in Grain Growth

The topological changes that occur during coarsening of 2D and 3Dcellular structures, such as polycrystals, areinvestigated. Particular attention is given to the elimination ofgrain boundaries and grains with more than the minimum number oftopological elements. A thermodynamic criterion is introduced tofind out which topological transformations are favoured, based on theevaluation of the Gibbs free energy of the initial and finalconfigurations. In general, elimination of grains is possible only ifthe number of their neighbours is below a critical value, which maybe affected by geometry.     

Heat of formation of yttrium-bismuth alloys

In the Y—Bi system the formation heats were measured using a direct isoperibol calorimeter. The following values were found for the two known compounds:

     

Models of pesticides inside cavities of molecular dimensions. A role of the guest inclusion in the dechlorination process

The reduction mechanism of the pesticide vinclozoline (3-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)-5-methyl-5-vinyl-1,3-oxazolidine-2,4-dione) was studied in nonaqueous solvents in the confined environment of a cyclodextrin (CD) cavity. The effect of the cavity dimensions on the mechanism of the redox process was evaluated using glucose as a reference and using three cyclodextrin molecules of different cavity sizes, namely, alphaCD, betaCD, and gammaCD. In the absence of CD the main reduction product of vinclozoline in the first reduction step is dichloroaniline. An addition of glucose leads to a quantitative change of mechanism with 10 products in total. Addition of CD, however, leads exclusively to dechlorination of the phenyl ring. The degree of dechlorination depends strongly on the choice of cyclodextrin molecule. The importance of the complex formation equilibria in the change of the mechanism is supported by a series of semiempirical AM1 quantum-mechanical calculations. Very good correlation (correlation coefficient 0.995) was obtained between the complex stabilization energy of the inclusion complex and the degree of pesticide dechlorination. Additionally, we were able to show that the complexes are stabilized by the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the host and guest species. CD molecules do not simply act as proton donors in a nonaqueous environment, but also protect parts of the molecule included within the cavity and steer the degradation process toward fewer products.     

Synthesis, structure and conformation of partially-modified retro- and retro-inverso psi[NHCH(CF3)]Gly peptides

Partially modified retro- (PMR) and retro-inverso (PMRI) psi[NHCH(CF(3))]Gly peptides, a conceptually new class of peptidomimetics, have been synthesized in wide structural diversity and variable length by aza-Michael reaction of enantiomerically pure alpha-amino esters and peptides with enantiomerically and geometrically pure N-4,4,4-trifluorocrotonoyl-oxazolidin-2-ones. The factors underlying the observed moderate to good diastereocontrol have been investigated. The conformations of model PMR-psi[NHCH(CF(3))]Gly tripeptides have been studied in solution by (1)H NMR spectroscopy supported by MD calculations, as well as in the solid-state by X-ray diffraction. Remarkable stability of turn-like conformations, comparable to that of parent malonyl-based retropeptides, was evidenced, as a likely consequence of two main factors: 1) severe torsional restrictions about sp(3) bonds in the [CO-CH(2)-CH(CF(3))-NH-CH(R)-CO] module, which is biased by the stereoelectronically demanding CF(3) group and the R side chain; 2) formation of nine-membered intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded rings, which have been clearly detected both in CHCl(3) solution and in some crystal structures. The former factor seems to be more important, as turn-like conformations were found in the solid-state even in the absence of intramolecular hydrogen bonding. The relative configuration of the -C*H(CF(3))NHC*H(R)- stereogenic centers has a major effect on the stability of the turn-like conformation, which seems to require a syn stereochemistry. X-ray diffraction and ab initio computational studies showed that the [-CH(CF(3))NH-] group can be seen as a sort of hybrid between a peptide bond mimic and a proteolytic transition state analogue, as it combines some of the properties of a peptidyl -CONH- group (low NH basicity, CH(CF(3))-NH-CH backbone angle close to 120 degrees, C-CF(3) bond substantially isopolar with the C=O) with some others of the tetrahedral intermediate [-C(OX)(O(-))NH-] involved in the protease-mediated hydrolysis reaction of a peptide bond (high electron density on the CF(3) group, tetrahedral backbone carbon).     

A direct isoperibol aneroid calorimeter

An aneroid isoperibol calorimetric apparatus is described which is particularly suitable for measurement of the reaction heat among solids. Such an apparatus contains four calorimeters and allows to carry out differential measurements. Each calorimeter includes two small electric furnaces employed for heating the solid mixture until the reaction begins and for the successive electric calibrations, respectively. The temperature trend of each calorimeter is followed by 80 thermocouples in series. The instrument characteristics are briefly discussed. Examples of its employment in the alloy thermochemistry are given.     

Measurement of the carbonaceous component in the Milan urban particulate matter

The carbonaceous component in the Milan urban particulate matter, i.e. the two components black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC), has been measured by means of a thermogravimetric analyzer combined with an infrared spectrophotometer (TGA/FT-IR). While black carbon may be considered a primary pollutant, organic carbon includes both primary emissions and secondary organic aerosols. Since carbonaceous aerosol (including a small quantity of inorganic carbon, too) makes up roughly from 25% to 50% of the average annual PM 2.5 mass concentration, a deeper understanding of this component is required. The TGA/FT-IR technique, employed for the first time to our knowledge for the quantification of the particulate matter carbonaceous component, allows, thought the results here presented are preliminary, to assess the two components BC and OC in a simple way especially if compared with the methods reported in the literature. The total carbon (TC) determinations performed by TGA/FT-IR on Milan urban particulate matter are in good agreement with the results obtained by a total organic carbon (TOC) analyzer operating directly on the solid sample.     

Determination of hydroxycarbamates in aqueous matrices by direct derivatization and GC-MS analysis in chemical ionization mode

A rapid and effective procedure, developed for the determination of polar compounds in water, has been applied to hydroxycarbamates. In few minutes, it is possible to perform a catalyzed derivatization of such compounds directly in the aqueous medium, using n-hexyl chloroformate. Extraction with n-hexane and injection into a benchtop GC-MS system are the only two further steps to complete the analysis. Chemical ionization proved to be more effective than electron impact to produce valuable mass spectra in terms of selectivity and sensitivity. Linear quantitative responses were demonstrated over a two-order-of-magnitude range. The minimum detectable concentration was 3 ppb for acetohydroxamic acid and 10 ppb for hydroxyurethane, obtained from Po river water samples spiked with the two hydroxycarbamate standards.     

Catalysis of cationic surfactants in organic solvent: Hydrolysis of 2-nitro-4-carboxyphenyl acetate

The hydrolysis reaction of 2-nitro-4-carboxyphenyl acetate was studied in dichloromethane in the presence of an added electrolyte (NaOH) and cationic surfactants systems with varying quantities of added water at 25°C. The kinetic and conductivity data were correlated.     

A novel deacylation during the amination of trifluoromethyl β-dicarbonyl compounds

Starting from trifluoromethyl β-dicarbonyl compounds, a rare loss of CF₃CO was observed in the amination reactions performed under heterogeneous conditions using NsONHCO₂Et as the aminating agent and CaO or NaH as the base, while corresponding nonfluorinated β-dicarbonyl compounds under analogous conditions give non deacylated aminated compounds. This reaction can facilitate a direct synthesis of N-substituted α-amino esters or α-amino ketones.     

Ab initio molecular modeling of 13C NMR chemical shifts of polymers. 1. Ethylene–norbornene copolymers

Cycloolefin copolymers (COC) have recently raised much interest because of their excellent thermal and optical properties, largely determined by the chain composition and stereochemistry. Previous force‐field computations allowed us to define the main conformational characteristics of ethylene–norbornene (E–N) copolymers and to contribute to the elucidation of their microstructure on the basis of empirical relationships between conformation and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shifts. A thorough test of ab initio ¹³C chemical shifts computations [gauge‐invariant atomic orbitals (GIAO)] on known cases shows that the agreement with experimental data is quite good, especially with the MPW1PW91 density functional theory (DFT), using the 6‐311+G(2d,p) basis set on properly energy‐minimized structures. We applied this method on proper model compounds to confirm the signal assignment of the spectra of E–N copolymers in the presence of norbornene microblocks, where strong effects arising from ring distortions are expected to occur. The results nicely confirm the latest assignment of norbornene signals belonging to ENNE sequences. This shows the great potentialities of GIAO/DFT computations with regard to complex spectra interpretation and polymer microstructural investigations. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2002