Enhancing the Water Stability of Al‐MIL‐101‐NH2 via Postsynthetic Modification

The resistance of metal–organic frameworks towards water is a very critical issue concerning their practical use. Recently, it was shown for microporous MOFs that the water stability could be increased by introducing hydrophobic pendant groups. Here, we demonstrate a remarkable stabilisation of the mesoporous MOF Al‐MIL‐101‐NH₂ by postsynthetic modification with phenyl isocyanate. In this process 86 % of the amino groups were converted into phenylurea units. As a consequence, the long‐term stability of Al‐MIL‐101‐URPh in liquid water could be extended beyond a week. In water saturated atmospheres Al‐MIL‐101‐URPh decomposed at least 12‐times slower than the unfunctionalised analogue. To study the underlying processes both materials were characterised by Ar, N₂ and H₂O sorption measurements, powder X‐ray diffraction, thermogravimetric and chemical analysis as well as solid‐state NMR and IR spectroscopy. Postsynthetic modification decreased the BET equivalent surface area from 3363 to 1555 m² g^?1 for Al‐MIL‐101‐URPh and reduced the mean diameters of the mesopores by 0.6 nm without degrading the structure significantly and reducing thermal stability. In spite of similar water uptake capacities, the relative humidity‐dependent uptake of Al‐MIL‐101‐URPh is slowed and occurs at higher relative humidity values. In combination with ¹H‐²⁷Al D ‐HMQC NMR spectroscopy experiments this favours a shielding mechanism of the Al clusters by the pendant phenyl groups and rules out pore blocking.     

Bis(μ6‐cis‐2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16‐octa­methyl­cyclo­octa­siloxane‐2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16‐octolato)octa­kis[(dimethyl­formamide)copper(II)] dimethyl­formamide solvate enclosing a pyrazine mol­ecule

The title compound, [Cu₈(C₈H₂₄O₂Si)₂(C₃H₇NO)₈]·C₄H₄N₂·C₃H₇NO, features a sandwich‐like cage enclosing a pyrazine mol­ecule, both situated on a centre of inversion. In addition, the crystal structure contains one dimethyl­formamide mol­ecule which is disordered over a centre of inversion. The copper layer, containing eight atoms, is located between two siloxanolate fragments. The whole structure of Cu atoms and siloxanolate rings is distorted by the pyrazine mol­ecule, leading to an oval form. As a result, the angles between the Cu atoms differ at the copper layer. The difference in the angles could lead to some deviations in the Cu–Cu exchange inter­actions within the copper ring, which is of inter­est for mol­ecular magnetism.     

Electrochemical reduction of 1-([(4-halophenyl)imino]methyl)-2-naphthols in aprotic media.

The electrochemical reduction of 1-([(4-halophenyl)imino]methyl)-2-naphthols on graphite electrodes was studied using cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, constant-potential coulometry and preparative constant-potential electrolysis techniques. The data revealed that the reduction on graphite was irreversible and followed an EC mechanism. The diffusion coefficients and the number of electrons transferred were determined using the chronoamperometric Cottrell slope and the ultramicro disc Pt-electrode steady-state current. The number of electrons was also determined by bulk electrolysis. The compounds were subjected to constant-potential preparative electrolysis and the electrolysis products were purified and identified by spectroscopic methods. Based on these findings, a mechanism for the electro-reduction process is proposed.     

A Survey on Explicit Representation Formulae for Fundamental Solutions of Linear Partial Differential Operators

In the present article, we aim at treating the existence of fundamental solutions of linear partial differential operators with constant coefficients from the viewpoint of setting up explicit formulae yielding fundamental solutions.     

Quantitative electron probe microanalysis for the characterization of thin carbon-boron layers in fusion devices

Summary The first wall of the fusion device TEXTOR at the Forschungszentrum Jülich has been coated in situ with an amorphous hydrogen rich carbon/boron film (a-C/B:H) which reduces plasma impurities caused by the plasma surface interaction. The results of the coating process of the 35 m² large inner wall surface have been controlled by a recently developed modification of the quantitative electron probe microanalysis, which has been applied to 12 samples from specified positions inside the tokamak. The quantification itself is based on a Monte Carlo simulation of electron trajectories providing very accurate results for X-ray intensities emitted by elements present in the electron bombarded sample. The Monte Carlo results are used in the present work to calibrate the measured X-ray intensities emitted by boron and carbon from the a-C/B:H layers deposited on pure silicon substrates. As a result the total deposited mass of the layer per area unit as well as the composition of the layers (except hydrogen) could be determined very accurately. The relative errors were less than 7%. The limit of detectability were found to be in the range of one monolayer for boron as well as for carbon.     

Diblock copolymers based on allyl methacrylate: Synthesis,characterization, and chemical modification

Different diblock copolymers constituted by one segment of a monomer supporting a reactive functional group, like allyl methacrylate (AMA), were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Bromo‐terminated polymers, like polystyrene (PS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and poly(butyl acrylate) (PBA) were employed as macroinitiators to form the other blocks. Copolymerizations were carried out using copper chloride with N,N,N′,N″,N″‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as the catalyst system in benzonitrile solution at 70 °C. At the early stage, the ATRP copolymerizations yielded well‐defined linear block copolymers. However, with the polymerization progress a change in the macromolecular architecture takes place due to the secondary reactions caused by the allylic groups, passing to a branched and/or star‐shaped structure until finally yielding gel at monomer conversion around 40% or higher. The block copolymers were characterized by means of size exclusion chromatography (SEC), ¹H NMR spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In addition, one of these copolymers, specifically P(BA‐b‐AMA), was satisfactorily modified through osmylation reaction to obtain the subsequent amphiphilic diblock copolymer of P(BA‐b‐DHPMA), where DHPMA is 2,3‐dihydroxypropyl methacrylate; demonstrating the feasibility of side‐chain modification of the functional obtained copolymers. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3538–3549, 2007     

Über die abstandsverträglichen Abbildungen auf dem Kreis und auf der reellen Geraden

Zusammenfassung. Eine Abbildung zwischen metrischen R?umen hei?t abstandsvertr?glich, wenn der Abstand der Bilder zweier Punkte nur vom Abstand der Punkte selbst abh?ngt. Wir zeigen, dass eine Abbildung genau dann abstandsvertr?glich ist, wenn der Cauchyschen Funktionalgleichung genügt, also ein Endomorphismus der Gruppe ist. Ein entsprechendes Resultat gilt auch für die abstandsvertr?glichen Abbildungen des Kreises (mit der Multiplikation komplexer Zahlen als Gruppenverknüpfung). Damit kann man sowohl alle messbaren abstandsvertr?glichen Abbildungen von bzw. in sich angeben, als auch einen Nachweis für die Existenz nichtmessbarer abstandsvertr?glicher Abbildungen auf und erbringen. Eingegangen am 20. Juni 2001 / Angenommen am 13. September 2001