The response of microstructure to processing in a series of poly(siloxaneimide) copolymers

Poly(siloxaneimide) (PSI) segmented copolymers exhibit organized microdomains if the blocks are sufficiently incompatible. As with neat diblock and triblock copolymers, the processing route employed to prepare films of PSI materials is expected to influence the dimensions and/or morphology of the resultant microstructure. In this work, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) is utilized to characterize the disordered microstructure found in films of a series of PSI copolymers which are subjected to solvent casting and various thermal treatments. Microstructural dimensions such as the periodicity and correlation length are deduced from the Teubner-Strey (TS) model for disordered microemulsions. The scattering intensity of each copolymer up to q = 5.0 nm^?1, where q is the scattering vector, is found to scale as q^?2.8+?0.1. Results indicate that processing the materials as cast films or as melt-pressed films allowed to cool slowly has a small, but discernible, effect on microstructural characteristics. SANS profiles of films quenched from elevated temperatures reveal a clear transition in microdomain periodicity, which correlates well with the glass transition temperature of the imide microphase in these and other materials of similar chemical structure. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Determination of organic carbon in water with a silver-catalyzed peroxydisulfate wet chemical oxidation method

The application of Ag(I) catalysis of S₂O₈^2? to the oxidation of organic carbon to CO₂ for determination of dissolved organic carbon in aqueous samples is described. The resulting method combines to a significant degree the speed of high-temperature combustion methods and the sensitivity of wet chemical oxidation. For some samples, a higher oxidation efficiency has been observed than with an uncatalyzed wet chemical oxidation method.     

Exact solution (within a double-zeta basis set) of the schrodinger electronic equation for water

Using recently developed theoretical techniques it has been possible to achieve an exact variational solution of the Schrödinger equation within a modest basis set or one-eleltron functions. The full configuration interaction for this system included a total of 256473 ¹A₁ spin-and space-adapted configurations. Comparison with many-body perturbation theory proves to be quite interesting.     

Uses and analyses of curtin-hammett/winstein-holness systems involving second order reactions

The Curtin-Hammett (C-H) principle and the Winstein-Holness (W-H) equation approximate the product ratio and overall rate constant of reaction for systems involving a starting material which exists in two forms, each of which reacts via first-order kinetics to give a different product. The C-H/W-H approximations are valid when the rates of isomer interconversion are significantly faster than the rates of product formation. The present treatment encompasses non-first-order reactions to product. A numerical predictor-corrector technique is used to show (1) that relative reagent concentration can affect both the product ratio and the observed rates of product formation; (2) that the absolute concentration of reagent and substrate can affect the kinetics; and (3) that factors (1) and (2) above can affect the validity of the C-H/W-H approximations for non-first-order C-H/W-H schemes.     

Hypervalency avoided: simple substituted BrF3 and BrF5 molecules. Structures, thermochemistry, and electron affinities of the bromine hydrogen fluorides HBrF2 and HBrF4

Five different pure density functional theory (DFT) and hybrid Hartree-Fock/DFT methods have been used to search for the molecular structures, thermochemistry, and electron affinities of the bromine hydrogen fluorides HBrF(n)/HBrF(n)(-) (n = 2, 4). The basis sets used in this work are of double-zeta plus polarization quality in conjunction with s- and p-type diffuse functions, labeled as DZP++. Structures with Br-F and Br-H normal bonds, that is, HBrF(2)/HBrF(2)(-) with C(2v) or C(s) symmetry and HBrF(4)/HBrF(4)(-) with C(4v) or C(s) symmetry, are genuine minima. However, unlike the original BrF(3) and BrF(5) molecules, the global minima for HBrF(n)/HBrF(n)(-) (n = 2, 4) species are predicted to be complexes, some of which contain hydrogen bonds. The demise of the hypervalent structures is due to the availability of favorable dissociation products involving HF, which has a much larger dissociation energy than F(2). Similar reasoning suggests that PF(4)H, SF(3)H, SF(5)H, ClF(2)H, ClF(4)H, AsF(4)H, SeF(3)H, and SeF(5)H will all be hydrogen bond structures incorporating diatomic HF. The most reasonable theoretical values of the adiabatic electron affinities (EA(ad)) are 3.69 (HBrF(2)) and 4.38 eV (HBrF(4)) with the BHLYP method. These electron affinities are comparable to those of the analogous molecules: Br(2)F(n), ClBrF(n), and BrF(n)(+1) systems. The first F-atom dissociation energies for the neutral global minima are 60 (HBrF(2)) and 49 kcal/mol (HBrF(4)) with the B3LYP method. The first H-atom dissociation energies for the same systems are 109 (HBrF(2)) and 116 kcal/mol (HBrF(4)). The large Br-H bond energies are not sufficient to render the hypervalent structures energetically tenable. The dissociation energies for the complexes to their fragments are relatively small.     

Plasma desorption mass spectrometry of transition metal complexes of thio- and selenosemicarbazones of 2-acetylpyridines

Summary Californium-252 plasma desorption mass spectra were recorded for complexes of the anions of various thio-and seleno-semicarbazones of 3-acetylpyridines(1–4) with the transition metal ions iron(III) and cobalt(II). Positive ion spectra gave clear evidence of the cation present and fragmentation with loss of ligands or parts of ligands was straightforward. Negative ion spectra likewise provided evidence of the intact anion except with tetracoordinate metal halide systems [MX₄]^– which lost one or more halide atoms. Evidence of fragmentation of the ligand and recombination of the fragments with the metal ion was also observed in the negative ion mode. Spectra were used to revise the structure of a complex previously reported as [FeLCl₂]⁽¹⁾ to [FeL₂]⁺[FeCl₄]^–.     

Efforts to expand the genetic alphabet: identification of a replicable unnatural DNA self-pair

Six unnatural nucleotides featuring fluorine-substituted phenyl nucleobase analogues have been synthesized, incorporated into DNA, and characterized in terms of the structure and replication properties of the self-pairs they form. Each unnatural self-pair is accommodated in B-form DNA without detectable structural perturbation, and all are thermally stable and selective to roughly the same degree. Furthermore, the efficiency of polymerase-mediated mispair synthesis is similar for each unnatural nucleotide in the template. In contrast, the efficiency of polymerase-mediated self-pair extension is highly dependent on the specific fluorine substitution pattern. The most promising unnatural base pair candidate of this series is the 3-fluorobenzene self-pair, which is replicated with reasonable efficiency and selectivity.     

Creation and comparison of MS/MS spectral libraries using quadrupole ion trap and triple-quadrupole mass spectrometers

Searchable libraries of MS/MS spectra, obtained using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) with data-dependent scan mode switching on both quadrupole ion trap and triple-quadrupole mass spectrometers in conjunction with electrospray ionization, are presented. The effects on library search scores of changing the parameters for producing collision-induced dissociation (CID) on both instrument types are systematically evaluated. These observations serve as a basis for determining a universal set of conditions for building MS/MS libraries. A group of 19 closely related steroids was used. The ability to obtain library-searchable spectra at low concentrations is demonstrated for the analysis of a sample of progesterone spiked with hydroxyprogesterone impurities at 0.1 and 0.01%.