A new and convenient synthesis of N-substituted perhydroazepines from adipaldehyde and primary amines with tetracarbonylhydridoferrate,HFe(CO), as a selective reducing agent

Ethanolic tetracarbonylhydridoferrate combined with adipaldehyde is very efficient for the selective transformation of an amino group into perhydroazepine. A large variety of both aliphatic and aromatic amines react with adipaldehyde in the presence of tetracarbonylhydridoferrate at room temperature and carbon monoxide to give the corresponding N-alkyl- and N-arylperhydroazepines in good to excellent yields.     

Quantitative Comparison of the Marker Compounds in Different Medicinal Parts of Morus alba L. Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Diode Array Detector with Chemometric Analysis

It is thought that the therapeutic efficacy of Morus alba L. is determined by its biological compounds. We investigated the chemical differences in the medicinal parts of M. alba by analyzing a total of 57 samples (15 root barks, 11 twigs, 12 fruits, and 19 leaves). Twelve marker compounds, including seven flavonoids, two stilbenoids, two phenolic acids, and a coumarin, were quantitatively analyzed using a high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector and chemometric analyses (principal component and heatmap analysis). The results demonstrated that the levels and compositions of the marker compounds varied in each medicinal part. The leaves contained higher levels of six compounds, the root barks contained higher levels of four compounds, and the twigs contained higher levels of two compounds. The results of chemometric analysis showed clustering of the samples according to the medicinal part, with the marker compounds strongly associated with each part: mulberroside A, taxifolin, kuwanon G, and morusin for the root barks; 4-hydroxycinnamic acid and oxyresveratrol for the twigs and skimmin; chlorogenic acid, rutin, isoquercitrin, astragalin, and quercitrin for the leaves. Our approach plays a fundamental role in the quality evaluation and further understanding of biological actions of herbal medicines derived from various medicinal plant parts.     

Carbon nanotube synthesis in supercritical toluene

Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were synthesized in supercritical toluene at 600 degrees C and approximately 12.4 MPa using ferrocene, Fe, or FePt nanocrystals as growth catalysts. Toluene serves as both the carbon source for nanotube formation and the solvent. In contrast to vapor-phase synthetic routes, the supercritical solvent provides high precursor concentration and a homogeneous reaction environment with dispersed growth catalyst particles. Both carbon filaments and MWNTs are produced by this approach, and a growth mechanism is proposed to explain the factors that determine the nanotube versus filament morphology. The plasmon energies of the pi and pi + sigma valence electrons were measured using electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) of individual carbon fibers and MWNTs as a characterization tool to complement the imaging data obtained from electron microscopy.     

Temperature dependence of the lowest frequency <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">E</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">g</Emphasis></Subscript> Raman mode in laser-synthesized anatase TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanopowder

Nanosized titanium dioxide (TiO₂) powder was prepared by a laser-induced pyrolysis. Specific surface area of the as-grown powder measured by BET method was 109 m²/g. The grain size (14.5 nm) estimated from these data coincides well with the crystallite size (12.3 nm) determined by XRD measurements. The average grain size (∼35 nm) obtained from the subsequent SEM measurements refers to considerable agglomeration of nanoparticles. Raman spectroscopy has been used to investigate the structural properties of TiO₂ nanopowder and its anatase structure is confirmed. The blueshift and broadening of the lowest frequency E_g Raman mode at temperature range ∼25–550 K have been analyzed using a phonon-confinement model. Dominant influence of the strong anharmonic effect at higher temperatures was demonstrated. PACS 81.07.Wx; 78.30.-j; 63.22.+m     

4D-PTV Measurements of an impinged jet with a dynamic 3D-PTV

4D-PTV system was constructed. The measurement system consists of three high-speed high-definition cameras (1k × 1k, 2000 fps), Nd-Yag laser (2000 Hz) and a host computer. The GA-3D-PTV algorithm was used for completing the measurement system. The 4D-PTV is capable of probing the spatial distribution of velocity vectors of the flow field overcoming the temporal resolution of the characteristic turbulence length scales of the measured flow fields. A horizontal impinged jet flow (H/D = 7) was measured. The Reynolds number is about 33,000. Spatial temporal evolution of the jet flow was examined and physical properties such as spatial distributions of vorticity and turbulent kinetic energy were obtained with the constructed system.     

Autothermal reforming of methane to syngas for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis with promoted palladium and a fast start-up device

In this study, a Pd catalyst was prepared with promoters such as CeO₂, BaO and SrO in a washcoated form on a metallic monolith for autothermal reforming of methane to syngas for the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. A reactor was installed with an electric heater in the form of the metallic monolith as a start-up device instead of a burner with which stable and fast start-ups (within 4 min) were achieved. Gas hourly space velocity and O₂/CH₄ governed, methane conversion, while H₂O/CH₄ controlled H₂/CO ratio. A methane conversion of approx. 96%, H₂+CO selectivity of approx. 85%, and H₂/CO of approx. 2.6 were obtained under the conditions of gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) at 103000 h^?1, O₂/CH₄=0.7 and H₂O/CH₄=0.35.     

Properties and consolidation of nanocrystalline 3Cu–Al2O3 composite by rapid sintering

Nanopowders of Cu and Al₂O₃ were synthesized from 3CuO and 2Al powders by high-energy ball milling. Nanocrystalline Al₂O₃ reinforced composite was consolidated by pulsed-current activated sintering method within 2 min from mechanically synthesized powders of Al₂O₃ and Cu. The relative density of the composite was 96%. The average hardness and fracture toughness values obtained were 540 kg/mm² and 6.3 MPa m^1/2, respectively.