Highly efficient synthesis of coumarin derivatives in the presence of H14[NaP5W30O110] as a green and reusable catalyst

A variety of heteropolyanions including: Keggin, Dawson, Preyssler, mixed addenda and sandwich types, catalyzed the formation of 4-methylnaphtho-(1,2-b)-pyran-2-one (coumarin) from the condensation of α-naphthol and ethylacetoacetate in a solvent free system and under heating conditions. Our data vividly indicate that sodium30–tungsto pentaphosphate, [NaP₅W₃₀O₁₁₀]¹⁴⁻, which so-called Preyssler’s anion, with high hydrolytic (pH 0–12) and thermal stability is the catalyst of choice. This catalyst catalyzed the synthesis of other coumarin derivatives in high yields and good selectivity.     

Highly efficient synthesis of benzopyranopyridines via ZrP2O7 nanoparticles catalyzed multicomponent reactions of salicylaldehydes with malononitrile and thiols

ZrP₂O₇ nanoparticles as an efficient catalyst have been used for the preparation of benzopyrano[2,3-b]pyridines from the four-component condensation reaction of salicylalde-hydes, thiols, and 2 equiv. of malononitrile under reflux conditions in ethanol in excellent yields and short reaction times.     

Nickel‐Catalyzed Reductive Benzylation of Aldehydes with Benzyl Halides and Pseudohalides

The reductive benzylation of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes with benzylic halides is reported using a nickel/zinc catalyst system. In addition to benzylic halides, the first report on the addition of benzylic triflates, acetates, tosylates and tritylates to aldehydes is also presented. By this new method a range of alcohols was synthesized efficiently from aldehydes and benzylic substrates at room temperature in moderate to high yields. The mild reaction conditions and good functional group tolerance make this nickel‐catalyzed process synthetically useful for the synthesis of diverse benzylic alcohols.

     

Effect of ionic strength on the reactivity ratios of acrylamide/acrylic acid (sodium acrylate) copolymerization

The ionic strength (IS) of polyelectrolyte solutions plays an important role in influencing reaction kinetics. The largely unstudied effect of IS on monomer reactivity ratios and copolymerization rates of acrylamide (AAm) and acrylic acid (AAc), in the form of sodium acrylate (NaAc), is investigated. Salt addition affects the nature of overall charges of the polyelectrolyte solution and diminishes the electrostatic repulsions between reacting chains. Therefore, changing the IS of the solution by incorporating salts affect not only the point estimates of the monomer reactivity ratios but also the overall behavior of the copolymerization (with a transition to azeotropic behavior). Experimental results on copolymerization rates confirm the observed trends in reactivity ratio behavior. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40949.     

A CUSUM-based method for monitoring simple linear profiles

In most statistical process control applications, the quality of a process or product is characterized by univariate or multivariate quality characteristics and monitored by the corresponding univariate and multivariate control charts, respectively. However, sometimes, the quality of a process or a product is better characterized by a relationship between a response variable and one or more explanatory variables. This relationship, which can be linear, nonlinear, or even a complicated model, is referred to as a profile. So far, several methods have been proposed for monitoring simple linear profiles. In this paper, a new method based on cumulative sum statistics is proposed to enhance monitoring of linear profiles in phase II. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated by average run length criterion. A comprehensive comparison is also conducted between the performance of the proposed method and the existing methods for monitoring simple linear profiles. The results show that the proposed method performs satisfactorily. In addition, the effects of reference value, sample size, and corrected sum of squares of explanatory variables on the performance of the proposed method are investigated.     

A Proteomic Analysis of Human Follicular Fluid: Comparison between Younger and Older Women with Normal FSH Levels

The follicular fluid (FF) is produced during folliculogenesis and contains a variety of proteins that play important roles in follicle development and oocyte maturation. Age-related infertility is usually considered as a problem that can be solved by assisted reproduction technology. Therefore, the identification of novel biomarkers that are linked to reproductive aging is the subject of this study. FF was obtained from healthy younger (20–32 years old) and older (38–42 years old) women undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) due to male factor infertility. The FF was analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). The power of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and the identification of proteins were exploited using matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight/time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF-TOF) mass spectrometry. Twenty three protein spots showed reproducible and significant changes in the aged compared to the young group. Of these, 19 protein spots could be identified using MALDI-TOF-TOF-MS. As a result of MASCOT search, five unique downregulated proteins were identified in the older group. These were identified as serotransferrin, hemopexin precursor, complement C3, C4 and kininogen. A number of protein markers were found that may help develop diagnostic methods of infertility.     

Simultaneous Determination of Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate and 2,4,6‐Trinitrotoluene by High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography and Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) Method

High performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) has been used for the simultaneous determination of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) and 2,4,6‐trinitrotoluene (TNT). With this aim, the spots were developed on silica gel 60 F₂₅₄ layers with petroleum ether–acetone (2 : 1 v/v). Both PETN and TNT compounds were separated from other constituent materials, and were developed at the same speed, by this solvent system. Then ultraviolet (UV) spectra of these materials were recorded with TLC‐scanner3 of CAMAG Company, and partial least squares regression‐2 (PLSR‐2) method was applied for the calibration and quantitative determination of these materials. The figure of merit (FOM) of this method was determined, and the method was applied for the analysis of an artificial sample.