Copper(I) Carboxylates of Type [(nBu3P)mCuO2CR] (m = 1, 2, 3) - Synthesis, Properties, and their Use as CVD Precursors: Dedicated to Professor Bernt Krebs on Occasion of his 70th Birthday

Copper(I) carboxylates of type [(nBu3P)mCuO2CR] (m = 1: 3a, R = Me; 3b, R = CF3; 3c, R = Ph; 3d, R = CH=CHPh. m = 2: 4a, R = Me; 4b, R = CF3; 4c, R = Ph; 4d, R = CH=CHPh. m = 3: 8a, R = Me; 8b, R = CF3; 8c, R = CH2Ph; 8d, R = (CH2OCH2)3H; 8e, R = cC4H7O) are accessible by following synthesis methodologies: the reaction of [CuO2CR] (1a, R = Me; 1b, R = CF3; 1c, R = Ph; 1d, R = CH=CHPh) with m equivalents of nBu3P (2) (m = 1, 2, 3), or treatment of [(nBu3P)mCuCl] (5a, m = 1; 5b, m = 2) with [KO2CCF3] (6). A more straightforward synthesis method for 8a – 8e is the electrolysis of copper in presence of HO2CR (7a, R = Me; 7b, R = CF3; 7c, R = CH2Ph; 7d, R = (CH2OCH2)3H; 7e, R = cC4H7O) and 2, respectively. This method allows to prepare the appropriate copper(I) carboxylate complexes in virtually quantitative yield, analytically pure form, and on an industrial scale. IR spectroscopic studies reveal that the carboxylic units in 4, 5, and 8 bind in a unidentate, chelating or ?-bridging fashion to copper(I) depending on m and R. The thermal properties of 4, 6, and 8 were determined by TG and DSC studies. Based on TG-MS experiments a conceivable mechanism for the thermally induced decomposition of these species is presented. Hot-wall Chemical Vapor Deposition experiments (CVD) with precursor 4b showed that copper could be deposited at 480 °C onto a TiN-coated oxidized silicon substrate. The copper films were characterized by SEM and EDX studies. Pure layers were obtained with copper particles of size 200 – 780 nm

A joint test of market power, menu costs, and currency invoicing

This article investigates exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) and currency invoicing decisions of Canadian pork exporters in the presence of menu costs. It is shown that when export prices are negotiated in the exporter's currency, menu costs cause threshold effects in the sense that there are bounds within (outside of) which price adjustments are not (are) observed. Conversely, the pass-through is not interrupted by menu costs when export prices are denominated in the importer's currency. The empirical model focuses on pork meat exports from two Canadian provinces to the U.S. and Japan. Hansen's (2000) threshold estimation procedure is used to jointly test for currency invoicing and incomplete pass-through in the presence of menu costs. Inference is conducted using the bootstrap with pre-pivoting methods to deal with nuisance parameters. The existence of menu cost is supported by the data in three of the four cases. It also appears that Quebec pork exporters have some market power and invoice in Japanese yen their exports to Japan. Manitoba exporters also seem to follow the same invoicing strategy, but their ability to increase their profit margin in response to large enough own-currency devaluations is questionable. Our currency invoicing results for sales to the U.S. are consistent with subsets of Canadian firms using either the Canadian or U.S. currency. Copyright (c) 2009 International Association of Agricultural Economists.