The Moral Economy of Heroin in ‘Austerity Britain’

This article presents the findings of an ethnographic exploration of heroin use in a disadvantaged area of the United Kingdom. Drawing on developments in continental philosophy as well as debates around the nature of social exclusion in the late-modern west, the core claim made here is that the cultural systems of exchange and mutual support which have come to underpin heroin use in this locale—that, taken together, form a ‘moral economy of heroin’—need to be understood as an exercise in reconstituting a meaningful social realm by, and specifically for, this highly marginalised group. The implications of this claim are discussed as they pertain to the fields of drug policy, addiction treatment, and critical criminological understandings of disenfranchised groups

Aluminum Methyl and Chloro Complexes Bearing Monoanionic Aminephenolate Ligands: Synthesis, Characterization, and Use in Polymerizations

A series of aluminum methyl and chloride complexes bearing 2(N-piperazinyl-N′-methyl)-2-methylene-4-R′-6-R-phenolate or 2(N-morpholinyl)-2-methylene-4-R′-6-R-phenolate ([ONER1,R2]-) {[R1 = tBu, R2 = Me, E = NMe (L1); R1= R2 = tBu, E = NMe (L2); R1 = R2 = tBu, E = O (L3)} ligands were synthesized and characterized through elemental analysis, 1H, 13C{1H}, and 27Al NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography. Reactions of AlMe3 with two equivalents of L1H-L3H gave {[ONER1,R2]2AlMe} (1–3), while reaction of Et2AlCl with two equivalents of L1H and L3H afforded {[ONER1,R2]2AlCl} (4 and 5) as monometallic complexes. The catalytic activity of complexes 1–3 toward ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of ε-caprolactone was assessed. These complexes are more active than analogous Zn complexes for this reaction but less active than the Zn analogues for ROP of rac-lactide. Characteristics of the polymer as well as polymerization kinetics and mechanism were studied. Polymer end-group analyses were achieved using 1H NMR spectroscopy and MALDI-TOF MS. Eyring analyses were performed, and the activation energies for the reactions were determined, which were significantly lower for 1 and 2 compared with 3. This could be for several reasons: (1) the methylamine (NMe) group of 1 and 2, which is a stronger base than the ether (O) group of 3, might activate the incoming monomer via noncovalent interactions, and/or (2) the ether group is able to temporarily coordinate to the metal center and blocks the vacant coordination site toward incoming monomer, while the amine cannot do this. Preliminary studies using 4 and 5 toward copolymerization of cyclohexene oxide with carbon dioxide have been performed. 4 was inactive and 5 afforded polyether carbonate (66.7% epoxide conversion, polymer contains 54.0% carbonate linkages)

Discrete O-Lactate and β-Alkoxybutyrate Aluminum Pyridine–Bis(naphtholate) Complexes: Models for Mechanistic Investigations in the Ring-Opening Polymerization of Lactides and β-Lactones

International audienceMethyl aluminum(III) complexes {ONOSiR3}AlMe (SiR3 = SiPh3 (2a), SiMe2tBu (2b)) were synthesized by reaction of AlMe3 with pyridine–bis(naphthol) proligands {ONOSiR3}H2 (1a,b) having bulky o-SiR3 substituents on the naphthol groups. Complexes 2a,b were converted into the Al isopropoxide, O-lactate, and β-alkoxybutyrate complexes {ONOSiR3}AlOR′ (R′ = iPr (3a), (S)-CH(Me)CO2iPr (4a,b), (R)-CH(Me)CH2CO2Me (5a), rac-CH(CF3)CH2CO2Et (6a)) by reaction with the corresponding alcohol and α- and β-hydroxy esters R′OH. C–H···π close contacts between the SiPh3 phenyl groups and hydrogens of the methine, methylene, and alkyl ester groups were evidenced by X-ray diffraction studies (for 2a and 4a–6a) and by solution NMR. In contrast to the case for (S)-4b, (S)-4a interacts reversibly with racemic lactide (rac-LA) in toluene-d8 at 20 °C, discriminating the l and d monomers, yet without forming isolable six-coordinated adducts. NMR monitoring of the reaction of (S)-4a with l-LA in CD2Cl2 at room temperature allowed identifying the propagation product 7a, as a result of propagation being faster than insertion. The same propagating species formed upon reaction of (S)-4a with l-LA in toluene-d8 at 80 °C. Conversely, the reaction of (R)-5a and l-LA in CD2Cl2 eventually allowed catching the very first insertion product 8a. These observations imply that insertion of LA proceeds more easily into a six-membered Al β-alkoxybutyrate species than into a five-membered Al O-lactate species