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.     

The prediction of coal properties using compressed infrared data from osculating polynomials

Reduction of the representation of infrared spectra from coal samples by osculating polynomials of degree nine is discussed. The reduced representation contains polynomial coefficients of order zero to four. Mathematical models of the original spectra are obtained by linear combination of the coefficients. These compressed models are statistically correlated to coal properties, namely, volatile matter, fixed carbon, ash content, heating value, hydrogen, carbon, sulphur, nitrogen, and maximum vitrinite reflectance, and the results are compared with those previously obtained from second derivatives of the same spectra. The use of compressed data, while giving slightly better correlations for some of the properties, has the advantage of requiring less computational time.     

Structural and mechanistic look at the orthoplatination of aryl oximes by dichlorobis(sulfoxide or sulfide)platinum(II) complexes

Structural and mechanistic aspects of orthoplatination of acetophenone and benzaldehyde oximes by the platinum(II) sulfoxide and sulfide complexes [PtCl(2)L(2)] (2, L = SOMe(2) (a), rac-SOMePh (b), R-SOMe(C(6)H(4)Me-4) (c), and SMe(2) (d)) to afford the corresponding platinacycles cis-(C,S)-[Pt(II)(C(6)H(3)-2-CR'=NOH-5-R)Cl(L)] (3, R, R' = H, Me) have been investigated. The reaction of acetophenone oxime with sulfoxide complex 2a in methanol solvent occurs noticeably faster than with sulfide complex 2d due to the fact that the sulfoxide is a much better platinum(II) leaving ligand than the sulfide. Evidence is presented that the orthoplatination is a multistep process. The formation of unreactive dichlorobis(N-oxime)platinum(II) cations accounts for the rate retardation by excess acetophenone oxime and suggests the importance of pseudocoordinatively unsaturated species for the C-H bond activation by Pt(II). A comparative X-ray structural study of dimethyl sulfoxide platinacycle 3b (R = R' = Me) and its sulfide analogue 3e (R = H, R' = Me), as well as of SOMePh complex 3c (R = H, R' = Me), indicated that they are structurally similar and a sulfur ligand is coordinated in the cis position with respect to the sigma-bound phenyl carbon. The differences concern the Pt-S bond distance, which is notably longer in the sulfide complex 3e (2.2677(11) A) as compared to that in sulfoxide complexes 3b (2.201(2)-2.215(2) A) and 3c (2.2196(12) A). Whereas the metal plane is practically a plane of symmetry in 3b due to the H-bonding between the sulfoxide oxygen and the proton at carbon ortho to the Pt-C bond, an S-bonded methyl of SOMePh and SMe(2) is basically in the platinum(II) plane in complexes 3c and 3e, respectively. There are intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bond networks in complex 3b. An interesting structural feature of complex 3c is that the two independent molecules in the asymmetric unit of the crystal reveal an extremely short Pt-Pt contact of 3.337 A.     

Adsorption thin-layer chromatography and viscometry of polystyrenes in solvent mixtures

The effect of the thermodynamic quality of solvent mixtures on the adsorption behavior of macromolecules under dynamic conditions was investigated. The chromatographic behavior of polystyrenes (PSs) in various mixed eluents was studied under conditions of adsorption and size-exclusion thin-layer chromatography as well as at the exclusion-adsorption transition point with silica gel KSKG adsorbent. The thermodynamic quality of the solvent mixtures used in the chromatographic experiments was determined viscometrically. The dependences of the intrinsic viscosity of PSs on solvent composition for solvent-non-solvent, two solvents, and theta-solvent-solvent mixtures were obtained. A correlation was found between Snyder's polarity indices for the solvent mixtures used in polymer chromatography under "critical conditions" and the intrinsic viscosity values of PSs in the same mixtures.     

Crystalline polysilicate magadiite with intercalated n-alkylmonoamine and some correlations involving thermochemical data

Synthesized hydrated lamellar acidic crystalline magadiite (H₂Si₁₄O₂₉·2H₂O) nanocompound was used as host for intercalation of polar n-alkylmonoamine molecules of the general formula H₃C(CH₂)_nNH₂ (n = 1–6) in aqueous solution. The original interlayer distance (d) of 1500 pm, determined by X-ray powder diffraction patterns, increases after intercalation. The values correlated with the number of aliphatic amine carbon (n_c) atoms: d = [(1312 ± 11) + (21 ± 2)]n_c. The amount of intercalated amines (N_s), decreased as n_c increased: N_s = [(5.82 ± 0.04) − (0.45 ± 0.01)]n_c. The acidic layered nanocompound was calorimetrically titrated with the amines and the thermodynamic data gave exothermic values for all guest molecules, as shown by the correlation: Δ_intH = −[(24.45 ± 0.49) − (1.91 ± 0.10)]n_c and d = [(1576 ± 16) − (10.8 ± 1.0)]Δ_intH. The negative values of the Gibbs energies and the positive entropies also presented the correlations: Δ_intG = −[(22.8 ± 0.2) − (0.2 ± 0.1)]n_c and Δ_intS = [(6 ± 1) + (5 ± 1)]n_c, respectively.     

Sorption equilibrium of methanol on new composite sorbents “CaCl<Subscript>2</Subscript>/silica gel”

This paper presents experimental data on methanol sorption on new composite sorbents which consist of mesoporous silica gels and calcium chloride confined to their pores. Sorption isobars and XRD analysis showed the formation of a solid crystalline solvate CaCl₂⋅2MeOH at low methanol uptake, while at higher uptake the formation of the CaCl₂–methanol solution occurred. The solution confined to the silica pores showed the sorption properties similar to those of the CaCl₂–methanol bulk solution. Calorimetric and isosteric analyses showed that the heat of methanol sorption depends on the methanol uptake, ranging from 38±2 kJ/mol for the solution to 81±4 kJ/mol for the solid crystalline phase CaCl₂⋅2MeOH. The above mentioned characterizations allowed the evaluation of the methanol sorption and the energy storage capacities, clearly showing that the optimal applications of these new composite sorbents are the methanol removal from gaseous mixtures, heat storage and sorption cooling driven by low temperature heat.     

Flow injection spectrophotometric method for chloride determination in natural waters using Hg(SCN)(2) immobilized in epoxy resin

A flow injection (FI) spectrophotometric method was proposed for the determination of chloride ion in natural waters. The determination of chloride was carried out by reaction with Hg(SCN)₂ immobilized in an epoxy resin bead in a solid-phase reactor (SPR) and the thiocyanate ions released were determined spectrophotometrically at 480 nm after complexing reaction with Fe(III). The analytical curve for chloride was linear in the concentration range from 5.6 × 10⁻⁵ to 2.2 × 10⁻⁴ mol l⁻¹ with a detection limit of 1.4 × 10⁻⁵ mol l⁻¹. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) was 2.2% for a solution containing 2.2 × 10⁻⁴ mol l⁻¹ (n = 10). The simple manifold allows a routine analytical frequency of 100 determinations per hour. The main advantage of the developed method is the 400% reduction of the Hg waste solution generated when compared to conventional methods for chloride determination based on the same spectrophotometric reaction.