The synthesis and characterization of third- and fifth-generation poly(propylene imine) dendrimers terminated with imidazole moieties is reported. Functionalization was achieved using simple peptide coupling reagents. These materials were characte rized by MALDI-MS, NMR, and titration. The use of these endgroup-functionalized dendrimers as catalysts for the hydrolysis of 2,4-dinitrophenyl acetate is described. Molecular simulations provide a basis for interpreting the catalytic data.

Ni catalyst (Ni: 15 wt%) supported on precalcined SiO2 has been investigated in reforming reactions of methane to synthesis gas. The catalyst exhibited fairly good activity and stability in partial oxidation of methane (POM), whereas it deactivated in steam reforming of methane (SRM). Pulse reaction results of CH4, O2, and CH4/O2 revealed that Ni/SiO2 has high capability to dissociate methane. The results also revealed that both CH4 and O2 are activated on the surface of metallic Ni, and then surface carbon species react with adsorbed oxygen to produce CO and CO2 depending on the bond strength of the oxygen species on the catalyst surface.

The dehydrogenation of propane to propylene has been studied in an isothermal high-temperature shell-and-tube membrane reactor containing a Pd-coated ${\psi}$-Al2O3 membrane and a Pt/K/Sn/Al2O3 packed catalyst . A tubular Pd-coated ${\psi}$-Al2O3 membrane was prepared by an electroless plating method. This membrane showed high hydrogen to nitrogen permselectivities (PH2N2 = 10-50) at 400 $^{\circ}C$ and 500 $^{\circ}C$ with various transmembrane pressure drops. The employment of a membrane reactor in the dehydrogenation reaction, which selectively separates hydrogen from the reaction mixture along the reaction path, can greatly increase the conversion and enable operation of the reactor at lower temperatures. High hydrogen permselectivity has been confirmed as a key factor in determining the reactor performance of conversion enhancement.

Layered Na0.7[Ni0.05Mn0.95]O2 compounds have been synthesized by a sol-gel method, using glycolic acid as a chelating agent. Na0.7[Ni0.05Mn0.95]O2 precursors w ere used to prepare layered lithium manganese oxides by ion exchange for Na by Li, using LiBr in hexanol. Powder X-ray diffraction shows the layered Na0.7[Ni0.05Mn0.95]O2 has an O3 type structure, which exhibits a large reversible capacity of approximately 190 mA h g-1 in the 2.4-4.5 V range. Na0.7[Ni0.05Mn0.95]O2 powders undergo transformation to spinel during cycling.

We have investigated the effect of the number of ethylene oxide (EO) units inside poly(ethylene glycol)dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) on the ionic conductivity of its gelled polymer electrolyte, whose content ranges from 50 to 80 wt%. PEGDMA gelled polym er electrolytes, a crosslinked structure, were prepared using simple photo-induced radical polymerization by ultraviolet light. The effect of the number of EO on the ionic conductivity was clearly shown in samples of lower liquid electrolyte content. We have concluded that the ionic conductivity increased in proportion to both the number of EO units and the plasticizer content. We have also studied the electrochemical properties of 13PEGDMA (number of EO units is 13) gelled polymer electrolyte.

The aminomethylation of phenols with para-substituents by the Mannich reaction has successfully been accomplished to produce the Mannich bases 2-6. The compounds 7-8 have also been synthesized in order to identify the effect of the side arms and t he macrocycle in the complex formation. Protonation constants and stability constants of the double armed diaza-18-crown-6 ethers 2-7 with metal ions have been determined by potentiometric method at 25 $^{\circ}C$ in 95 % methanol solution. Under a basic condition (pH > 8.0), the double-armed crown ethers 2-6 revealed stronger interaction with divalent metal ions than the simple diazacrown ether 1. The stability constants with these metal ions were Co 2+ < Ni2+ < Cu2+ > Zn 2+ in increasing order, which are in accordance with the order of the Williams-Irving series. The stability constants with alkali earth metal ions were Ca 2+ < Sr 2+ < Ba 2+ in increasing order, which may be explained by the concept of size effect. It is noteworthy that the hosts 2-6, which have phenolic side arms and a macrocycle, bind stronger with metal ions than the hosts 1 and 7. On the other hand, the host 8, which has phenolic side arms with a pyperazine ring,provided comparable stability constants to those with the host 3. These facts demonstrate that phenolic side arms play a more important role than the azacrown ether ring in the process of making a complex with metal ions especially in a basic condition. In particular, the log KML values for complexation of divalent metal ions with the hosts 2-6 had the sequence, i.e., 2 (R=OCH3) < 3 (R=CH3) < 4 (R=H) < 5 (R=Cl) < 6 (R=CF3). The stability constants of the hosts 5 and 6 containing an electron-withdrawing group are larger than those of the hosts 2 and 3 containing an electron-donating group. This substituent effect is attributed to the solvent effect in which the aryl oxide with an electron-donating group has a tendency to be tied strongly with protic solvents.

A method has been described for the determination of Cu(Ⅱ), Pb(Ⅱ), Ni(Ⅱ), Cd(Ⅱ), Mn(Ⅱ) and Fe(Ⅲ) by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) after preconcentration on Amberlite XAD-16 resin, using hexamethyleneammonium-hexamethylenedithiocarbamate (HMA-HMDTC) as a chelating agent, and NH3/NH4Cl buffer solution (pH 9). Influences of various analytical parameters such as pH, concentration of nitric acid, amount of analytes, diverse ions and sample volume were investigated. The relative standard deviation (RSD) and the detection limit (LOD) were found in the range of 0.8-2.9% and 0.006-0.277 ㎍/mL,respectively. Recoveries obtained by the column method were quantitative ( >95%) at optimum conditions.The method was applied to the determination of some metal ions in seawater and wastewater samples. A high preconcentration factor (about 150 for seawater and 75 for wastewater samples) and simplicity are the main advantages of this suggested method.

We characterized nanoelectrode arrays prepared from self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) by adsorption from a solution containing thiolated $\beta$-cyclodextrin ($\beta$-CD) and n-alkanethiol on the gold electrode surface, using electrochemical methods. While the framework, the n-hexadecanethiol SAM, effectively blocked electron transfer between the electrode surface and solution-phase redox probe molecules, the $\beta$-CD cavities isolated in the forests of n-hexadecanethiol molecules were shown to act as an ultramicroelectrode array. The shapes of cyclic voltammograms of probe molecules were related to the number densities of $\beta$-CD molecules within the monolayer films. Probe molecules that have the correct combination of physical and chemical characteristics were shown to effectively penetrate the framework through the $\beta$-CD pores and exchange electrons with the electrode surface.

Stability constants of complexes of aluminium(III) and thorium(IV) with methionine and cysteine have been determined by modified paper electrophoretic technique at $\mu$ = 0.1 M. The proportion of ionic species of methionine and cysteine were varied by changing pH of background electrolyte. The stability constants of the complexes metal-methionine-cysteine have been found to be 4.31 ± 0.12 and 5.40 ± 0.19 (log K values) for $Al^{3+}\;and\;Th^{4+} $ complexes, at temperature 35 ${^{\circ}C}$, respectively.

The hexanuclear metallamacrocycles were observed repeatedly in various conditions including the presence of several different tricationic metal ions in the macrocyclic ring system and of the linear alkyl chains at the acyl site of N-acylsalicylhydrazide ligand, which contrasts to the formation of the decanuclear metallamacrocycle with bulkier side chains such as phenyl group at the acyl site of the ligand. We synthesized a series of metallamacrocycles in various solvents to find the relationship between the solvents and the nuclearity of the metallamacrocycles. Whether the solvents are sterically more demanding or not, the complexes formed kept the hexanuclear metallamacrocycle system.

Kinetic studies of the reaction of Z-aryl cyclobutanecarboxylates with X-pyridines in acetonitrile at $55.0^{\circ}C$ have been carried out. The reaction proceeds by a stepwise mechanism in which the rate-determining step is the breakdown of the zwitterion ic tetrahedral intermediate, T $\pm$ . These mechanistic conclusions are drawn based on (i) the large magnitude of ${\rho}X$ and $\rhoZ$, (ⅱ) the positive sign of ${\rho}XZ$ and the larger magnitude of $\rhoXZ$ than normal SN2 processes, (ⅲ) a small positive enthalpy of activation, ${\Delta}H{\neq}$, and a large negative, ${\Delta}S{\neq}$, and lastly (iv) adherence to the reactivity-selectivity principle (RSP) in all cases.

Two new C2-symmetric chiral $\alpha-$ and w-Diimines incorporating bulky ferrocenylethylamine and their copper(I)complexes have been synthesized and characterized by analytical and various spectroscopic techniques. The catalytic activities of these complexes have been tested in the asymmetric cyclopropanation of a series of olefins with some diazoacetates to achieve varying degree of dia- and enantio-selectivities depending on the nature of the ligand, the substrates, and the reagents. Some mechanistic implication has been made with regard to the interactions among all these chemical species.

Proton coupled carbon-13 relaxation experiment was performed to investigate the effect of vicinal protons on spin-lattice relaxation of methylene carbon-13 in n-undecane. A BIRD type pulse sequence was employed as a way to check the validity of describing the 13CH2 moiety as an isolated AX2 spin system. The results show that the presence of vicinal protons exerts substantial influence on the relaxation of methylene carbon-13, indicating that it is not a very good approximation to treat a methylene moiety as an isolated AX2 spin system.

An efficient and practical synthetic method of △1 -3-octalone, which is a versatile building block for thesyntheses of polycyclic compounds, has been developed. The dianion of ethyl acetoacetate reacts with cyclohexene-1-carboxaldehyde (3) to produce the aldol adduct 6, which then undergoes Mn(Ⅲ)-mediated radical cyclization followed by acetate elimination to give △1 -3-octalone 4. A detailed mechanistic insight of Mn(Ⅲ)-mediated cyclization of 6 has been disclosed.

Single phase of multicomponent oxide ZrTiO4 film could be prepared through surface sol-gel route simply by coating the mixture of 100 mM zirconium butoxide and titanium butoxide on $Pt/Ti/SiO_2Si(100)$ substrate, following pyro lysis at $450^{\circ}C$, and annealing it at 770 $^{\circ}C.$ The dielectric constant of the film was reduced as the film thickness decreased due to of the interfacial effects caused by layer/electrode and a few voids inside the multilayer. However, the dielectric property was independent of applied dc bias sweeps voltage (-2 to +2 V).The dielectric constant of bulk film, 31.9, estimated using series-connected capacitor model was independent of film thickness and frequency in the measurement range, but theoretical interfacial thickness, ti, was dependent on the frequency. It reached a saturated ti value, $6.9{\AA}$, at high frequency by extraction of some capacitance component formed at low frequency range. The dielectric constant of bulk ZrTiO4 pellet-shaped material was 33.7 and very stable with frequency promising as good applicable devices.

A novel titania sol for the preparation of hydrophilic TiO2 films was synthesized from TiCl4. TiO2 films were prepared by spraying the sol on glass substrates and the hydrophilic properties of the films were invest igated with illumination of UV light. The contact angle of a water drop on the films decreased to less than 7˚, which indicates the excellent hydrophilicity of the TiO2 films.

Chiral oxazolidin-2-one is easily prepared from D-mannitol and demonstrated to undergo highly diastereoselective alkylation reactions via lithium imide Z-enolates of its N-acyl derivatives to afford ${\alpha}-branched$ products. Evans syn and non-Evans sy n aldol products were also selectively obtained using this new auxiliary in high diastereomeric purity by simply changing the stoichiometry of TiCl4 and the nature of the amine base. Also, this new auxiliary is employed in diastereoselective Staudinger-type ${\beta}-lactam$ syntheses. Using 2-chloro-1-methylpyridinium iodide as the dehydrating agent, the reaction of auxiliary tethered acetic acid with trans imines gave the desired ${\beta}-lactams$ with cis-selectivity.