Vnímání, kauzalita a pozornost Roger Bacon a Petr Olivi

[Sensation, Causality, and Attention: Roger Bacon and Peter Olivi] This paper investigates what conditions are to be met for sensory perception to occur. It introduces two diff erent theories of perception that were held by two medieval Franciscan thinkers — namely, Roger Bacon (1214/1220–1292) and Peter Olivi (ca. 1248–1298). Bacon analyses especially the causal relation between the object and the sensory organ in his doctrine of the multiplication of species. In his view, a necessary condition of perception is the reception of the species in a fully disposed sensory organ. On the contrary, Olivi stresses the active role of the sensory power. A necessary condition of sensation is the aspectus — i.e. the focus of our power’s attention on the object. Furthermore, the paper investigates whether and how each of the two thinkers can deal with the arguments proposed by his opponent — namely whether Bacon’s theory is able to explain attention and what the causal role of the object in Olivi’s theory is

Zwitterionic-Surfactant-Stabilized Palladium Nanoparticles as Catalysts in the Hydrogen Transfer Reductive Amination of Benzaldehydes

Palladium nanoparticles (NPs) stabilized by a zwitterionic surfactant are revealed here to be good catalysts for the reductive amination of benzaldehydes using formate salts as hydrogen donors in aqueous isopropanol. In terms of environmental impact and economy, metallic NPs offer several advantages over homogeneous and traditional heterogeneous catalysts. NPs usually display greater activity due to the increased metal surface area and sometimes exhibit enhanced selectivity. Thus, it is possible to use very low loadings of expensive metal. The methodology eliminates the use of a hydrogen gas atmosphere or toxic or expensive reagents. A range of aromatic aldehydes were converted to benzylamines when reacted with primary and secondary amines in the presence of the Pd NPs, which also displayed good activity when supported on alumina. In every case, the Pd NPs could be easily recovered and reused up to three more times, and at the end of the process, the product was metal-free

Simultaneous Nondestructive Analysis of Palladium, Rhodium, Platinum, and Gold Nanoparticles Using Energy Dispersive X‑ray Fluorescence

A selective method is proposed for the determination of palladium, gold, and sulfur in catalytic systems, by direct liquid analysis using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), under an atmosphere of helium or air. This method allows a nondestructive analysis of palladium, rhodium, platinum, and gold nanoparticulate catalysts stabilized by imidazolium propane sulfonate based zwitterionic surfactants, allowing the samples to be reused for catalytic studies. The signals from palladium, rhodium, platinum, and gold samples in the presence of imidazolium propane sulfonate-based zwitterionic surfactants obtained using EDXRF before (Pd²⁺, Rh²⁺, Pt²⁺, and Au³⁺) and after (Pd⁰, Rh⁰, Pt⁰, and Au⁰) formation of nanoparticles are essentially identical. The results show that the EDXRF method is nondestructive and allows detection and quantification of the main components of platinum, gold, rhodium, and palladium NPs, including the surfactant concentration, with detection and quantification limits in the range of 0.4–3 mg L^–1. The matrices used in such samples present no problems, even allowing the detection and quantification of interfering elements

Synthesis, Structure, and Catalytic Studies of Palladium and Platinum Bis-Sulfoxide Complexes

The bis-sulfoxide ligand p-tolyl-binaso and its derivatives can be used to synthesize neutral and cationic palladium and platinum complexes. Various Pt bis-sulfoxide complexes could be made by using the precursor Pt{(M,SS,SS)-p-tolyl-binaso}Cl2 (5a) and abstracting the chlorides with silver salts. The Pd analogue of this compound (4) could not be used in the same way. In this case, the sulfoxides appear to be very weakly coordinated and different methods to make stable Pd bis-sulfoxide complexes had to be found. The nature of the bonding in the synthesized compounds was studied through analysis of their IR and NMR spectra and X-ray crystal structures. These studies revealed that the trans effect of other ligands in the complex is quite significant in determining the lability of the metal–sulfoxide bond. Some of the more stable platinum structures were then tested for their activity as catalysts in hydroboration and diboration reactions