Overlapping spectral features and new assignment of 2‐propanol in the C–H stretching region

The vibrational spectra of gaseous and liquid 2‐propanol in the C–H stretching region of 2800 ~ 3100 cm⁻¹ were investigated by polarized photoacoustic Raman spectroscopy and conventional Raman spectroscopy, respectively. Using two deuterated samples, that is, CH₃CDOHCH₃ and CD₃CHOHCD₃, the overlapping spectral features between the CH and CH₃ groups were identified. With the aid of depolarization ratio measurements and density functional theory calculations, a new spectral assignment was presented. In the gas phase, the band at 2884 cm⁻¹ was assigned to the overlapping of one CH₃ Fermi resonance mode and a CH stretching of gauche conformer. The bands at 2917 and 2933 cm⁻¹ were assigned to another two CH₃ Fermi resonance modes, but the latter includes weak contribution from CH stretching of trans conformer. The bands at 2950 and 2983 cm⁻¹ were assigned to CH₃ symmetric and antisymmetric stretching, respectively. The spectral features of liquid 2‐propanol are similar to those in the gas phase except for the blue shift of CH and the red shift of CH₃ band positions, which can be attributed to the intermolecular interaction in the liquid state. The new assignments not only clarify the confusions in previous studies from different spectral methods but also provide the reliable groundwork on spectral application of 2‐propanol in the futures. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dispersibility and characterization of polyvinyl alcohol–coated magnetic nanoparticles in poly(glycerol sebacate) for biomedical applications

Journal of Nanoparticle Research - Triggered by experimental observations of nanometer-sized Ni precipitate motion in a La2O3 matrix, the migration and morphological evolution by interface...     

Crystal structure of the meta hydroxyl phenyl analog of α(+)-prodine

The meta hydroxyphenyl analog of -prodine (1,3-dimethyl-(4-meta-hydroxy phenyl)-4-propionyloxypiperidine) free base crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group P2₁2₁2₁. The relative configuration of the compound shows the piperidine ring is in a chair conformation, the phenyl ring, the 3-methyl, and the N-methyl are equatorial, and the 4-propionyloxy group is axial. The molecular structure is similar to that of racemic -prodine and the potent opioid agonist, ketobemidone. There is a hydrogen bond between N(1) ... O(1) 2.79 Å.     

Reorientation dynamics in liquid alcohols from Raman spectroscopy

Polarized Raman spectroscopy has been employed to study the reorientational, or more specifically the translational relaxation dynamics, of alcohol molecules in pure liquids and aqueous solutions. It is found from the spectral width measurements that alcohol molecules in pure liquids have typically translational relaxation times on the order of picoseconds, following the order methanol < ethanol < i‐propanol < n‐propanol. Temperature‐dependent measurements show that hydrogen‐bonding (HB) and hydrophobic interactions control the translational motion. The hydrophobic interaction reduces the relaxation time more apparently in view of the  CH₃ group than the skeleton motion. For alcohol–water mixtures, the increase of water concentration generally slows down the relaxation process in a non‐monotonic behavior. However, the trend stops at a certain point and the motion of alcohol molecules becomes faster when the alcohol concentration further drops. Different mechanisms have been proposed to interpret these observations, which might be helpful to gain deeper insight into the HB networks of alcohols with water. Our study strongly illustrates that Raman spectroscopy can be applied to the study of fast translational motion of molecules in HB systems. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.