The thiazolium-catalyzed Sila-Stetter reaction: conjugate addition of acylsilanes to unsaturated esters and ketones

A new acyl anion addition reaction between acylsilanes and alpha,beta-unsaturated conjugate acceptors promoted by a nucleophilic organic catalyst has been disclosed. The 1,4-dicarbonyl products produced in this reaction are highly useful synthons. Neutral carbenes (or zwitterions) generated in situ from commercial thiazolium salts are used as effective catalysts for the reaction which is in contrast to established anionic catalysts typically employed to promote the required Brook rearrangement (1,2-silyl shift from carbon to oxygen) involved in the reported reaction. This process successfully utilizes acylsilanes as tunable acyl anion progenitors and is tolerant of a wide range of structural diversity on the acylsilane or the conjugate acceptor.     

Microchips as Controlled Drug-Delivery Devices

Controlled-release systems are common in a number of product areas, including foods, cosmetics, pesticides, and paper. Microencapsulated systems, for example, are used for the release of flavors and vitamins in foods, fragrances in perfumes, and inks in carbonless copy paper. Controlled-release systems for drug delivery first appeared in the 1960s and 1970s. In the past three decades, the number and variety of controlled release systems for drug-delivery applications has increased dramatically. Many of these use polymers having particular physical or chemical characteristics such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, or responsiveness to pH or temperature changes. However, recent advances in the field of microfabrication have created the possibility of a new class of controlled-release systems for drug delivery, namely, that of small, programmable devices. Their small size, potential for integration with microelectronics, and ability to store and release chemicals on demand could make controlled-release microchips useful in a number of areas, including medical diagnostics, analytical chemistry, chemical detection, industrial process monitoring and control, combinatorial chemistry, microbiology, and fragrance delivery. More importantly, drug-delivery microchips resulting from this convergence of controlled release and microfabrication technologies may provide new treatment options to clinicians in their fight against disease.     

Proton-mediated electron configuration change in high-spin iron(II) porphyrinates

The synthesis, molecular structure, and electronic structure characterization of two five-coordinate high-spin imidazolate-ligated iron(II) porphyrinates are reported. Their electronic structure, as deduced from M?ssbauer spectra obtained in strong magnetic fields, is distinctly different from that of the analogous imidazole-ligated species. The resulting electronic structure models are consistent with all observed differing features in the two classes.     

Five-coordinate Fe(III)NO and Fe(II)CO porphyrinates: where are the electrons and why does it matter?

Recent years have seen dramatic growth in our understanding of the biological roles of nitric oxide (NO). Yet, the fundamental underpinnings of its reactivities with transition metal centers in proteins and enzymes, the stabilities of their structures, and the relationships between structure and reactivity remains, to a significant extent, elusive. This is especially true for the so-called ferric heme nitrosyls ([FeNO](6) in the Enemark-Feltham scheme). The Fe-CO and C-O bond strengths in the isoelectronic ferrous carbonyl complexes are widely recognized to be inversely correlated and sensitive to structural, environmental, and electronic factors. On the other hand, the Fe-NO and N-O bonds in [FeNO](6) heme complexes exhibit seemingly inconsistent behavior in response to varying structure and environment. This report contains resonance Raman and density functional theory results that suggest a new model for FeNO bonding in five-coordinate [FeNO](6) complexes. On the basis of resonance Raman and FTIR data, a direct correlation between the nu(Fe)(-)(NO) and nu(N)(-)(O) frequencies of [Fe(OEP)NO](ClO(4)) and [Fe(OEP)NO](ClO(4)).CHCl(3) (two crystal forms of the same complex) has been established. Density functional theory calculations show that the relationship between Fe-NO and N-O bond strengths is responsive to FeNO electron density in three molecular orbitals. The highest energy orbital of the three is sigma-antibonding with respect to the entire FeNO unit. The other two comprise a lower-energy, degenerate, or nearly degenerate pair that is pi-bonding with respect to Fe-NO and pi-antibonding with respect to N-O. The relative sensitivities of the electron density distributions in these orbitals are shown to be consistent with all published indicators of Fe-N-O bond strengths and angles, including the examples reported here.     

Direct determination of the complete set of iron normal modes in a porphyrin-imidazole model for carbonmonoxy-heme proteins: [Fe(TPP)(CO)(1-MeIm)

Detailed Fe vibrational spectra have been obtained for the heme model complex [Fe(TPP)(CO)(1-MeIm)] using a new, highly selective and quantitative technique, Nuclear Resonance Vibrational Spectroscopy (NRVS). This spectroscopy measures the complete vibrational density of states for iron atoms, from which normal modes can be calculated via refinement of the force constants. These data and mode assignments can reveal previously undetected vibrations and are useful for validating predictions based on optical spectroscopies and density functional theory, for example. Vibrational modes of the iron porphyrin-imidazole compound [Fe(TPP)(CO)(1-MeIm)] have been determined by refining normal mode calculations to NRVS data obtained at an X-ray synchrotron source. Iron dynamics of this compound, which serves as a useful model for the active site in the six-coordinate heme protein, carbonmonoxy-myoglobin, are discussed in relation to recently determined dynamics of a five-coordinate deoxy-myoglobin model, [Fe(TPP)(2-MeHIm)]. For the first time in a six-coordinate heme system, the iron-imidazole stretch mode has been observed, at 226 cm(-)(1). The heme in-plane modes with large contributions from the nu(42), nu(49), nu(50), and nu(53) modes of the core porphyrin are identified. In general, the iron modes can be attributed to coupling with the porphyrin core, the CO ligand, the imidazole ring, and/or the phenyl rings. Other significant findings are the observation that the porphyrin ring peripheral substituents are strongly coupled to the iron doming mode and that the Fe-C-O tilting and bending modes are related by a negative interaction force constant.     

Effect of the sixth axial ligand in CS-ligated iron(II)octaethylporphyrinates: structural and Mössbauer studies

The effect of a sixth ligand in a series of low-spin thiocarbonyl-ligated iron(II)octaethylporphyrinates has been investigated. Six-coordinate complexes have been synthesized and characterized by M?ssbauer and infrared spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray structure determinations. The results are compared with the five-coordinate parent complex. The crystal structures of [Fe(OEP)(CS)(1-MeIm)] and [Fe(OEP)(CS)(Py)] are reported and discussed. The 1-methylimidazole and pyridine derivatives exhibit Fe-C(CS) bond distances of 1.703(4) and 1.706(2) A that are significantly longer than the 1.662(3) A reported for five-coordinate [Fe(OEP)(CS)] (Scheidt, W. R.; Geiger, D. K. Inorg. Chem. 1982, 21, 1208). The trans Fe-N(ligand) distances of 2.112(3) and 2.1550(15) A observed for the 1-methylimidazole and pyridine complex are approximately 0.13 A longer than those observed for analogous bis-ligated complexes and are consistent with a significant structural trans effect for the CS ligand. M?ssbauer investigations carried out for five- and six-coordinate thiocarbonyl derivatives with several different sixth axial ligands reveal interesting features. All derivatives exhibit very small isomer shift values, consistent with a very strong interaction between iron and CS. The five-coordinate derivative has delta(Fe) = 0.08 mm/s, and the six-coordinate complexes exhibit delta(Fe) = 0.14 to 0.19 mm/s at 4.2 K. The five-coordinate complex shows a large quadrupole splitting (DeltaE(q) = 1.93 mm/s at 4.2 K) which is reduced on coordination of the sixth ligand (DeltaE(q) = 0.42-0.80 mm/s at 4.2 K). Addition of a sixth ligand also leads to a small decrease in the value of nu(CS). Correlations in structural, IR, and M?ssbauer results suggest that the sixth ligand effect is primarily induced by changes in sigma-bonding. The structure of [Fe(OEP)(CS)(CH(3)OH)] is briefly reported. Crystal data: [Fe(OEP)(CS)(1-MeIm)] crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P2(1)/n, Z = 4, a = 9.5906(5) A, b = 16.704(4) A, c = 23.1417(6) A, beta = 100.453(7) degrees. [Fe(OEP)(CS)(Py)] crystallizes in the triclinic system, space group P1, Z = 5, a = 13.9073(6) A, b = 16.2624(7) A, c = 22.0709(9) A, alpha = 70.586(1) degrees, beta = 77.242(1) degrees, gamma = 77.959(1) degrees. [Fe(OEP)(CS)(CH(3)OH)] crystallizes in the triclinic system, space group P1, Z = 1, a = 9.0599(5) A, b = 9.4389(5) A, c = 11.0676(6) A, alpha = 90.261(1) degrees, beta = 100.362(1) degrees, gamma = 114.664(1) degrees.     

The Vibrational Behavior of Coupled Bladed Disks with Variable Rotational Speed

Low pressure steam turbine blades are subjected to high static and dynamic loads during operation. These loads strongly depend on the turbine's rotational speed, leading to entirely new load conditions. To avoid high dynamic stresses due to the forced vibrations, a coupling of the blades, such as shrouds or snubber coupling, is applied to reinforce the structure. In this work the influence of the rotational speed on the vibration behavior of shrouded blades is investigated. Two fundamental phenomena are considered: the stress stiffening and the spin softening effect. Both effects are caused by centrifugal forces and affect the structural mechanical properties, i.e. the stiffness matrix K , of the rotating system. Since the rotational speed Ω appears quadratically, it is possible to derive the stiffness matrix as a second order matrix polynomial in Ω² [3]. In the case of shrouded blades, contact forces between neighboring blades must be taken into account. The contact status and the pressure distribution in particular is strongly influenced by the rotational speed, respectively, centrifugal forces, caused by the untwisting and radial deformation of the blades. For the calculation, a three dimensional structural mechanical model including a spatial contact model is considered. The solution of the nonlinear equations of motion is based on the well known Multiharmonic Balance Method [2]. Here, the nonlinear forces are computed in the time domain and transferred in the frequency domain by the use of the Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT), also known as the Alternating Frequency Time method (AFT) [1]. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)