1,4-cycloheptylene and the related allylic diradicals. Thermal nitrogen extrusion from 6,7-diazabicyclo[3.2.2]Non-6-enes

Thermal nitrogen extrusion of 2-methylene-6,7-diazabicyclo[3.2.2]non-6-enes and 6,7- diazabicyclo[3.2.2]nona-2,6-diene,6 proceeded easily to give closure and cleavage products $\text{via}$ the corresponding 5-methylene-1,4-cycloheptylenes and 4-cyclohepten-1,3-ylenes, respectively.     

Phase stability in the systems AeAl(2-x)Mgx (Ae = Ca, Sr, Ba): electron concentration and size controlled variations on the laves phase structural theme

The systems AeAl(2-x)Mgx (Ae = Ca, Sr, Ba) display electron concentration induced Laves phase structural changes. However, the complete sequence MgCu2 --> MgNi2 --> MgZn2 with increasing x (decreasing electron count) is only observed for Ae = Ca. Compounds SrAl(2-x)Mgx (0 < x < or = 2) and BaAl(2-x)Mgx (x = 0.85 and 2.0) were synthesized and structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction experiments. For the Sr system the structural sequence CeCu2 --> MgNi2 --> MgZn2 occurs with increasing Mg content x. Thus, larger Sr does not allow the realization of the MgCu2 structure at low x. For Ae = Ba a binary compound BaAl2 does not exist, but more Ba-rich Ba7Al13 forms. The reinvestigation of the crystal structure of Ba7Al13 by selected area and convergent beam electron diffraction in a transmission electron microscope revealed a superstructure, which subsequently could be refined from single X-ray diffraction data. The formula unit of the superstructure is Ba21Al40 (space group P31m, Z = 1, a = 10.568(1) angstroms, c = 17.205(6) angstroms). In Ba21Al40 a size match problem between Ba and Al present in Ba7Al13 is resolved. The structure of Ba7Al13 (Ba21Al40) can be considered as a Ba excess variant of the hexagonal MgNi2 Laves phase type structure. An incommensurately modulated variant of the MgNi2 structure is obtained for phases BaAl(2-x)Mgx with x = 0.8-1. At even higher Mg concentrations a structural change to the proper MgZn2 type structure takes place.     

Crystal and molecular structure of 6-0-acetylgrayanotoxin III

The crystal and molecular structure of a grayanotoxin III derivative, 6-0-acetylgrayanotoxin III is presented. The crystal is orthorhombic, space group P2₁2₁2₁, witha=15.582(3),b=21.304(3),c=6.339(3)Å,V=2104(1) ų Z=4. The structure was solved by direct methods and refined by full matrix least-squares methods to a finalR=0.047 for 1763 independent reflections withF ₀>3 (F ₀) The molecule is based on a tetracyclic structure consisting of two five-membered, one six-membered, and one seven-membered ring with various conformations.     

Synthesis of new peptidic glycoclusters derived from β-alanine

The synthesis of an asymmetric glycocluster 1 has been achieved by coupling of a sugar unit with the β-alanine polypeptide, the principal chain, and combining a carbohydrate chain with the side chain causing it to branch from the N terminal. The synthesis of this side chain multivalent ligands is based on the scaffolding of some ω-amino acid (glycine, β-alanine, and GABA) derivatives. This method facilitated the synthesis of the cluster, of which the length of each unit differs.     

Adsorption and reactions of NO on clean and CO-precovered Ir(111)

Adsorption and reactions of NO on clean and CO-precovered Ir(111) were investigated by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HR-EELS), infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRAS), and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). Two NO adsorption states, indicative of fcc-hollow sites and atop sites, were present on the Ir(111) surface at saturation coverage. NO adsorbed on hollow sites dissociated to Na and Oa at temperatures above 283 K. The dissociated Na desorbed to form N2 by recombination of Na at 574 K and by a disproportionation reaction between atop-NO and Na at 471 K. Preadsorbed CO inhibited the adsorption of NO on atop sites, whereas adsorption on hollow sites was not affected by the coexistence of CO. The adsorbed CO reacted with dissociated Oa and desorbed as CO2 at 574 K.     

Infrared spectroscopic study on the reaction mechanism of CO hydrogenation over Pd/CeO2

In situ infrared spectroscopy was applied to elucidate the reaction mechanism of CO hydrogenation over Pd/CeO₂. Instead of direct dissociation of CO, a new reaction pathway is proposed for methane formation, involving geminal dicarbonyl intermediates and (HCO)₂(a) intermediates, which may be located on the surface of Pd covered with thin layers of reduced ceria (SMSI effect). Transformation of methane formation sites into methanol formation ones by the oxidation with water vapor formed during the CO?H₂ reaction is proposed, which may be located on the Pd (111) planes adjacent to ceria support.     

Synthesis of (±)‐Kempa‐6,8‐dien‐3‐ol (=(2aRS,3SR,4aSR,7RS,7aSR,10bSR,10cSR)‐2,2a,3,4,4a,5,6,7,7a,8,10b,10c‐Dodecahydro‐2a,7,10,10c‐tetramethylnaphth[2,18‐cde]azulen‐3‐ol)

The synthesis of kempa‐6,8‐dien‐3β‐ol ( 4a ), as a synthetic leading model of the natural product 4b , was carried out starting from intermediate 12 , the synthetic route of which has been developed previously (Scheme 1). The conversion of 12 to the model compound 4a involved the elaboration of three structure modifications by three processes, Tasks A, B, and C (see Scheme 2). Task A was achieved by epoxy‐ring opening of 41 with Me₃SiCl (Scheme 9), and Task B being performed by oxidation at the 13‐position, followed by hydrogenation, and then epimerization (Schemes 4 and 5). The removal of the 2‐OH group from 12 (Task C) was achieved via 30b according to Scheme 6, whereby 30b was formed exclusively from 30a / 31a 1 : 1 (Scheme 7). In addition, some useful reactions from the synthetic viewpoint were developed during the course of the present experiments.     

Anion dependence of crown ether selectivities for alkali picrates and sulfonates in dioxane and toluene. A synergistic effect

The binding constants,K _N, of sodium and potassium 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonate (ANS) and of sodium 5-dimethylamino-1-naphthalenesulfonate (DNS) to benzo-18-crown-6 bound to a 2% cross-linked polystyrene network (RN18C6) were measured spectrophotometrically in dioxane and the results compared with those obtained for picrate salts. The network RN18C6 was then used to measure in dioxane and toluene by a competition method the equilibrium constant,K, of the reaction A^–M⁺N+CrA^–M⁺Cr+N.A^–M⁺N denotes the ionic solute (ANS, DNS, methyl orange or picrate salt) bound to the network RN18C6 (N) and A^–M⁺Cr is the solute bound to a soluble ligand Cr, where Cr represents a series of 18-crown-6 and 15-crown-5 compounds. Combining theK _N andK values the formation constants,K _L, of the crown ether complexes of the respective salts were obtained in dioxane. The data show a reversal in the complexation strength of the 18-crown-6 compounds in dioxane when sodium picrate is replaced by sodium ANS. The results were rationalized in terms of a synergistic effect exerted by dioxane, with dioxane forming a 1:1 dioxanate with the crown ion pair complex. This effect is especially strong with ANS and with a rigid planar crown ether like dibenzo-18-crown-6. The binding constants,K _N, of NaANS and NaDNS to RN18C6 in dioxane are nearly three times larger than for sodium picrate, and the same holds for the potassium salts. Differences in anion interactions with the network appear to be a plausible cause for the anion dependence ofK _N.     

Cloud and aerosol contributions to variation in shortwave surface irradiance over East Asia in July during 2001 and 2007

It is important to clarify the contributions of clouds and aerosols to the variation of surface shortwave irradiance (S) for climatological studies. This study examined the contributions of clouds and aerosols to the variation in S over East Asia (75-135°E, 20-55°N) in July during 2001 and 2007 using the index of potential radiative forcing (PRF) to characterize the temporal and geographical variations. After confirming the validity of PRF for multiyear analyses, we performed several temporal analyses of clouds and aerosols over the whole research domain. Changes in the geographical distribution, contribution histograms, and averaged values were studied. In agreement with previous studies that treated single-year cases, we confirmed that the magnitudes of the temporal changes in S variations due to clouds and aerosols were highly variable geographically. As for domain-averaged S variations, we did not observe defined trends for the research period. It was also found that the temporal variation between one parameter and its S variation was negatively correlated, from the point analyses at two locations. Based on these results, we concluded that PRF is a promising tool for research into long-term S variations. This kind of information will be quite valuable as basic data for use in climate modeling.     

M?ssbauer spectroscopic study on valence-detrapping and trapping of mixed-valence trinuclear iron(III, III, II) fluorine-substituted benzoate complexes

Magnetorheological (MR) fluids are new iron-based materials, whose applications include brakes, dampers, clutches, shock absorbers systems and polishing of optical surfaces (lens and mirrors). They are dependent on the size and shape of particles as the magnetic properties. Interested in the possibility of using iron-rich powders, commonly used in nondestructive testing, ranging in size from a few μm to about 200?μm and lower cost than those commercially used for MR fluids, a study of the structural and magnetic properties of iron-rich metallic particles by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and M?ssbauer spectroscopy (MS) at room temperature has been done. Powders, as received, were separated into particle sizes smaller than 20?μm (sample A) and in the range of 20–38?μm (sample B) because these are the sizes generally required for applications in MR fluids. The particles whose sizes exceed the above values were ground in a high energy planetary mill for 3?h, using different values of rotational speed/time: 200?rpm for one hour, a pause of 10?s, 140?rpm for one hour, pause 10?s and then 175?rpm during the last hour. These powders were sieved to obtain particles smaller than 20?μm (sample C). According XRD results, in all samples, only α-Fe (lattice parameter a = 2,867(2) ?) and Fe₂O₃ (lattice parameter a = 5,037(1) ? and c = 13,755(8) ?) were present. The M?ssbauer spectra were fitted with two sextets. The hyperfine parameters values allowed us to assign the highest relative area spectrum (sextet) corresponding to α-Fe and the second one to Fe₂O₃ in accord to the XRD results. Thus, the preparation method using mechanical milling for diminishing the size of the metallic particles allowed us to get particles with size and magnetic properties that could lead to potentially MR fluids applications.