Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The First Documentation Of A Lower Middle Pennsylvanian Upland Flora From The Eastern Margin Of The Eastern Interior Basin (Illinois Basin), Vicki J. Comer

Masters Theses

The primary objective of this study is to reconstruct the paleofloristics of an unnamed shale of lower Middle Pennsylvanian age. The shale is periodically exposed in the highwall of the Ashboro Pit, Log Cabin Coal Company, Clay County, Indiana. This will be the first upland fossil flora to be described from the eastern margin of the Eastern Interior Basin (Illinois Basin). The gray shale containing the upland flora lies directly above the Upper Block Coal (SW 1/4, SE 1/4, sec. 17, T. 11N., R. 6W.)

Two collections, collected on three different occasions were made available for analysis: Smithsonian Natural …

Iron Tricarbonyl Derivatives Of Ditertiary Phosphines, Xi Chen

Masters Theses

In this work we have explored reactions of coordinated diphenylvinylphosphine with coordinated diphenylphosphine. Starting materials, (OC)₄FePPh₂CH=CH₂, trans- (OC)₃Fe(PPh₂CH=CH₂)₂, (OC)₄FePPh₂H, and trans- (OC)₃Fe(PPh₂H)₂ were successfully prepared from known procedures. The bimetallic complex, (OC)₄FePPh₂CH₂CH₂PPh₂Fe(CO)₄, was obtained in 69% yield from the reaction of ((OC)₄FePPh₂CH=CH₂ with (OC)₄FePPh₂H. The trimetallic complex, (OC)₄FePPh₂CH₂CH_{2 …}

Studies On Improving The Regioselectivity Of Reactions Of Sucrose: The Role Of Molecular Recognition And Polymer Supported Syntheses, Ran Jiang

Masters Theses

The world economy is critically dependent upon natural resources. Because sucrose can be inexpensively produced in large quantities and refined to a purity unequalled by almost all other natural products, it has been exploited as an industrial raw material for many years, primarily as a sweetener. A major difficulty in utilizing sucrose as an industrial feedstock is the lack of regioselectivity in synthetic reactions due to its eight hydroxyl groups of similar reactivity.

The long range goal in this work is to apply the technique of molecular recognition by template imprinting to the creation of a material that will bind …

New Reagents And Reactions For Desulfurization Of Coal, Shan Wang

Masters Theses

Searching for new reagents and reactions for pre-combustion desulfurization of coal was the goal of this work. In this study, modifications of mild desulfurization reactions, which were found to work with organosulfur model compounds, have been investigated systemetically for improvements in sulfur removal and reduction of reagent cost. The screening of reagents and new reactions utilized substituted thiophenes plus aryl sulfides as the initial models for organosulfur compounds in coal. Tetrahydrofuran extracts of Illinois Basin Coals were also used as second generation targets for desulfurization reactions.

Dibenzothiophene was converted to biphenyl using potassium metal/tetrahydrofuran without the addition of electron transfer …

Butenolide Synthesis Via Cation-Initiated Ring Expansion/Elimination Of Β-Lactones, Jianhua Huang

Masters Theses

An area of recent research in the Black research group is an exploration of the potential of cation-initiated β-lactone ring expansions, accompanied by the elimination of a proton or other electrofuge, as a protocol for the synthesis of multisubstituted butenolides.

Γ-Bromo β-lactones were prepared via bromolactonization of the appropriate β,Γ-unsaturated acids under basic conditions. The nucleofugal bromine atom on the Γ-carbon was then employed to effect carbocation formation adjacent to the lactone ring oxygen atom; the most efficacious reagent combination was found to be silver nitrate in refluxing acetic acid. Generation of this cation initiated a migration of the β-lactone …