Quaternary ammonium and phosphonium based ionic liquids: a comparison of common anions

A series of ammonium-based ionic liquids and their phosphonium analogues have been investigated using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). A robust C 1s peak fitting model has been developed and described for the tetraalkylphosphonium and tetraalkylammonium families of ionic liquid, with comparisons made between the two series. Cation–anion interactions have been investigated to determine the impact of changing the cationic core from nitrogen to phosphorus upon the electronic environment of the anion. Comparisons between long and short chain cationic systems are also described

An ARXPS and ERXPS study of quaternary ammonium and phosphonium ionic liquids: utilising a high energy Ag Lα’ X-ray source

IntroductionIonic liquid (IL) surface science has experienced rapid expansion in recent years. As such, a multitude of ultra-high vacuum (UHV) techniques have been used to probe the IL/vacuum interface including laboratory and synchrotron X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), metastable impact electron spectroscopy (MIES), low energy ion scattering (LEIS), Rutherford backscattering (RBS) and neutral impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy (NICISS). To date, the vast majority of these studies have focused upon cyclic nitrogen-containing cations, particularly the 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium family, whereas acyclic cations including tetraalkylammonium and –phosphonium have been overlooked despite their potential use in a wide range of existing applications including heterogeneous catalysis, gas capture/separation, and nanoparticle formation

On the real catalytically active species for CO2 fixation into cyclic carbonates under near ambient conditions: dissociation equilibrium of [BMIm][Fe(NO)2Cl2] dependant on reaction temperature

An imidazolium based iron-containing ionic liquid [BMIm][Fe(NO)2Cl2] (BMIm = 1-n-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium) has been synthesized for the first time and fully characterized employing a wide range of techniques. The iron-based containing ionic liquid was found to be an active catalyst for the cycloaddition of CO2 to epoxides, giving high conversions for various substrates under near ambient conditions. In addition, the catalytic system showed a good recycling performance for five consecutive reaction cycles. Key mechanistic studies demonstrated that a bifunctional catalytic system is generated in situ by the partial dissociation of the iron-based ionic liquid into [BMIm][Cl], which results in a very efficient catalyst without the need of any additive or co-catalyst. The metal center plays a role as Lewis acid and activate the epoxide group, and the chloride anion, as part of [BMIm][Cl] moiety, acts as nucleophile and leads to the ring opening through a nucleophilic attack on the less sterically-hindered Cβ. The process is favoured by an interaction via H-bonding between the substrate and the H–C2 of the imidazolium ring, as was demonstrated by additional experiments. Kinetic studies indicated that the process followed first-order kinetics with respect to epoxide concentration and proved the existence of a reversible coordination/de-coordination equilibrium in which the active species are generated from the [BMIm][Fe(NO)2Cl2] complex

Recent outbreaks of infectious syphilis, United Kingdom, January 2012 to April 2014

Six outbreaks of infectious syphilis in the United Kingdom, ongoing since 2012, have been investigated among men who have sex with men (MSM) and heterosexual men and women aged under 25 years. Interventions included case finding and raising awareness among healthcare professionals and the public. Targeting at-risk populations was complicated as many sexual encounters involved anonymous partners. Outbreaks among MSM were influenced by the use of geospatial real-time networking applications that allow users to locate other MSM within close proximity

Expectations for Manuscripts on Biomass Feedstocks and Processing in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

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Validity and Reliability of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in 5–6 Year Olds: Differences by Gender or by Parental Education?

Introduction: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a relatively short instrument developed to detect psychosocial problems in children aged 3-16 years. It addresses four dimensions: emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention problems, peer problems that count up to the total difficulties score, and a fifth dimension; prosocial behaviour. The validity and reliability of the SDQ has not been fully investigated in younger age groups. Therefore, this study assesses the validity and reliability of the parent and teacher versions of the SDQ in children aged 5-6 years in the total sample, and in subgroups according to child gender and parental education level. Methods: The SDQ was administered as part of the Dutch regularly provided preventive health check for children aged 5-6 years. Parents provided information on 4750 children and teachers on 4516 children. Results: Factor analyses of the parent and teacher SDQ confirmed that the original five scales were present (parent RMSEA = 0.05; teacher RMSEA = 0.07). Interrater correlations between parents and teachers were small (ICCs of 0.21-0.44) but comparable to what is generally found for psychosocial problem assessments in children. These correlations were larger for males than for females. Cronbach's alphas for the total difficulties score were 0.77 for the parent SDQ and 0.81 for the teacher SDQ. Four of the subscales on the parent SDQ and two of the subscales on the teacher SDQ had an alpha <0.70. Alphas were generally higher for male children and for low parental education level. Discussion: The validity and reliability of the total difficulties score of the parent and teacher SDQ are satisfactory in all groups by informant, child gender, and parental education level. Our results support the use of the SDQ in younger age groups. However, some subscales are less reliable and we recommend only to use the total difficulties score for screening purposes

People and Things on the Move: Domestic Material Culture, Poverty and Mobility in Victorian London

© 2016, The Author(s). The development of what Mayne and Lawrence (Urban History 26: 325–48, 1999) termed “ethnographic” approaches to studying nineteenth-century households and urban communities has gathered momentum in recent years. As such research agendas have taken hold and been applied to new contexts, so critiques, methodological developments, and new intellectual and theoretical currents, have provided opportunities to enhance and develop approaches. This article contributes to this on-going process. Drawing upon household archaeological research on Limehouse, a poor neighborhood in Victorian London, and inspired by the theoretical insights provided by the “new mobilities paradigm,” it aims to place “mobility” as a central and enabling intellectual framework for understanding the relationships between people, place, and poverty. Poor communities in nineteenth-century cities were undeniably mobile and transient. Historians and archaeologists have often regarded this mobility as an obstacle to studying everyday life in such contexts. However, examining temporal routines and geographical movements across a variety of time frames and geographical scales, this article argues that mobility is actually key to understanding urban life and an important mechanism for interpreting the fragmented material and documentary traces left by poor households in the nineteenth-century metropolis.We are grateful to the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council who funded the research upon which this paper is based (Grant Reference AH/E002285/1): ‘Living in Victorian London: Towards a Material History of Everyday Domestic Life in the Nineteenth-Century Metropolis

The Evolution of ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

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