Production of sodium alpha olefin sulfonates from a variety of normal alpha olefin blends has been studied at the pilot plant scale. Results for the sulfonation, neutralization, and hydrolysis of commercial grade C14, C1416, C1418, and C1224 normal alpha olefins are presented, and the application of a new surfactant drying technology for producing ultra-concentrated AOS is discussed. Physical p...

Herein we report the formation and interesting reactivity of several azepino[4,5-b]indole heterocycles. Initially, a key intramolecular Heck reaction is used to efficiently create the azepino[4,5-b]indole seven membered ring containing an exocyclic double bond. Treatment of the olefin with ozone results in an unprecedented secondary reaction of the Criegee intermediate, through intramolecular o...

Results of ab initio molecular orbital studies are presented for one elementary reaction and two full catalytic cycles of organo-transition metal complexes: (i) the oxidative addition of H-H, C-H, N-H, 0-H and Si-H bonds to CpRh(C0) in gas phase, (ii) the full catalytic cycle of hydroboration of olefin with Rh(PR3)2Cl, and (iii) the full catalytic cycle of hydroformylation of olefin with RhH(C0...

A meso-palladioporphyrin intermediate was isolated from a Heck reaction between an iodoporphyrin and a non-activated olefin using a Pd(PPh3)2Cl2/Et3N system; its structure was characterized by NMR, MS and X-ray crystallography. Studies on its formation indicate that the Pd(II) catalyst was reduced in situ by Et3N with the assistance of water. The catalytic activity of the intermediate was confi...

Patterning functional materials is a central challenge across many fields of science. The ability to lithographically fabricate micro- and nanostructures has been one of the most impactful technological breakthroughs of the last century. In part due to the complexity of the chemical processes in photoresists, there is a limited variety of materials that can currently be patterned by photolithog...

[Reaction: see text]. The total synthesis of the natural product Bengamide E, one of the members of a new class of antitumor natural products of marine origin, is reported based on a convergent and flexible synthetic route featuring an oxirane ring-opening reaction and an olefin cross metathesis. In a similar way, analogues structurally modified at C-2 and at the terminal vinyl positions were p...

Micrococcus luteus naturally produces alkenes, unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons, and represents a promising host to produce hydrocarbons as constituents of biofuels and lubricants. In this work, we identify the genes for key enzymes of the branched-chain amino acid catabolism in M. luteus, whose first metabolic steps lead also to the formation of primer molecules for branched-chain fatty acid...

Sterically hindered olefins are efficiently reduced to the corresponding alkanes by the boranemethyl sulfide (BMS) complex at room temperature (or below) in dichloromethane containing a mild one-electron oxidant (such as an aromatic cation radical) or by the passage of an anodic current. In an alternative procedure, the hydrogenation of the same (electron-rich) olefins with the BMS complex (in ...

Olefin metathesis as a catalytic process constantly gains interest among organic chemists. Over the last decade, it became an efficient tool to accomplish the synthesis of many complex molecules. The development of new well-defined catalysts and continuous examination of novel ligands led to the establishment of metathesis methodology in a group of widespread chemical transformations. Not only ...

Habituation of the proboscis extension reflex (PER) in honeybees (Apis mellifera) is age-dependent. Very young bees (< or =7 days old) require significantly less trials to abolish the response to multiple sucrose stimulations than older bees (> or =8 days old). A nicotinic agonist, imidacloprid, modifies this behaviour by increasing the number of trials in < or =7-day-old bees and by decreasing...