Abstract: A process for producing metallic lithium starting from an aqueous solution of at least one lithium salt comprises the following steps: (I) Production of a lithium amalgam from an aqueous solution of at least one lithium salt; and (II) Electrolysis using an anode comprising the lithium amalgam, a solid electrolyte which conducts lithium ions, and liquid lithium as cathode, wherein the lithium amalgam as anode is kept in motion.

Abstract: The invention provides novel mepiquat plant growth regulator compositions which have improved hygroscopicity and corrosion characteristics. The novel mepiquat plant growth regulator compositions of the invention can be readily prepared from technical mepiquat chlorid inter alia by electrochemical ion exchange processes or by quaternization of N-methylpiperidine with dimethylcarbonate as starting material.

Abstract: The invention concerns the use of monomer-free, saturated and unsaturated polyester resins, or mixtures of saturated and unsaturated polyester resins, containing structural units of the general formulae (I) and/or (II), in which n =1-10, as low-emission binders for coatings.

Abstract: Substrates and inhibitors for the cysteine protease Ich-1 are disclosed. These compounds are designed based on an optimal minimal substrate for Ich-1 and include reversible inhibitors, irreversible inhibitors, selectively reversible inhibitors, chromogenic substrates, fluorogenic substrates and radiolabeled substrates/inhibitors. Pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds of the invention are also provided. Methods for inhibiting the proteolytic activity of Ich-1, methods for detecting the presence of Ich-1 and methods for isolating Ich-1 using the compounds of the invention are also disclosed.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for producing gas-phase catalysts gas-phase oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons into carboxylic acids and/or carboxylic acid anhydrides upon whose carrier material a coating containing catalytically active metal oxide is applied in the form of a shell, wherein a powder is initially produced from a solution and/or suspension of catalytically active metal oxides and the precursor compounds thereof or simply the precursor compounds in the presence or absence of auxiliary agents in order to produce the catalyst. Said powder is then applied, in the form of a shell, to the carrier in the presence or absence of auxiliary agents after or without previous conditioning and without previous thermal treatment to produce the catalyst. The carrier which is thus coated undergoes thermal treatment in order to produce catalytically active metal oxides.

Abstract: The use of solubilized carotenoid preparations is described for coloring foods, wherein solubilized carotenoid preparations are used which are produced by heating a suspension comprising from 1 to 40% by weight of one or more carotenoids, from 20 to 90% by weight of one or more nonionogenic emulsifiers and from 0 to 50% by weight of other additives to from 120 to 200° C. for a short time and turbulently mixing the homogeneous solution with amounts of water or an aqueous solution comprising hydrophilic antioxidants with or without other surface-active additives at from 10 to 95° C. to form a solubilized preparation having a carotenoid content of from 0.5 to 10% by weight.

Abstract: A process for preparing 1,6-hexanediol from a carboxylic acid mixture obtained as by-product in the oxidation of cyclohexane to cyclohexanone/cyclohexanol with oxygen or oxygen-comprising gases and by aqueous extraction of the reaction mixture and comprising adipic acid, 6-hydroxycaproic acid and small amounts of 1,4-cyclohexanediols by esterification of the acids and hydrogenation, by a) reacting the mono- and dicarboxylic acids in the aqueous dicarboxylic acid mixture with a low molecular weight alcohol to form the corresponding carboxylic esters, b) conducting a first distillation to remove excess alcohol and low boilers from the esterification mixture obtained, c) conducting a second distillation to separate the bottom product into an ester fraction which is essentially free from 1,4-cyclohexanediols and a fraction which includes at least the larger proportion of the 1,4-cyclohexanediols, d) subjecting the ester fraction essentially free from 1,4-cyclohexanediols to a catalytic hydrogenation, and e)

Abstract: Process for the continuous preparation of &agr;- and/or &bgr;-ionone or homologous compounds using concentrated sulfuric acid at temperatures from 20 to 90° C.

Abstract: An agent for the single-stage full blocking of polyisocyanates comprises or consists of an alcohol mixture A) comprising a) furfuryl alcohol or substituted furfuryl alcohols in an amount corresponding to from 60 to 90, in particular from 65 to 85, mol % of hydroxyl groups and b) at least one monoalcohol in an amount corresponding to at least 2 mol % of hydroxyl groups, based in each case on the total amount of hydroxyl groups in components a) and b). In addition, the alcohol mixture A) may also include at least one aliphatic polyol c) of low molecular mass with a functionality of three and/or more in an amount corresponding to at least 5 mol % of hydroxyl groups, based on the total amount of hydroxyl groups in components a), b) and c). In this case component b) can have a molecular weight of <163 g/mol.

Abstract: Initiators for free-radical addition polymerization comprising as structural feature the Diels-Alder adduct of an azo group (—N═N—) with a conjugated double bond (diene).

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a process, which includes:

Abstract: Late season termination of reproductive plant growth of a plant having an indeterminate growth pattern is achieved by the application of a semicarbazone plant growth regulator to a locus of a growing plant at a time following peak bloom of the plant. The semicarbazone is applied as an active ingredient in an amount sufficient to terminate continued reproductive growth of the plant without substantially affecting mature reproductive growth existing on the plant at the time of application. Most preferably, the semicarbazone is diflufenzopyr.

Abstract: The invention relates to methods for removing gaseous contaminants and aerosols from a vapor-saturated gas stream, in which method a gas stream containing a) at least one gaseous contaminant which is soluble in a scrubbing liquid, with or without salt formation, and b) at least one aerosol with a particle size from 0.01 to 10 &mgr;m, is brought into contact, in a scrubber column, with a scrubbing liquid, the temperature of which is lower by at least 2° C. than the temperature of the gas stream, resulting in the formation of a vapor phase, the degree of saturation S of which is greater than 1, and in the removal of the gaseous and particulate contaminants from the gas stream.

Abstract: Thermally stable rigid foams based on isocyanate can be produced by reacting a) polyisocyanates with b) compounds containing at least two hydrogen atoms which can react with isocyanate groups, c) water, in the presence of d) physically acting blowing agents, in the presence or absence of e) catalysts and auxiliaries and/or additives, wherein the component b) comprises bi) at least one polyether alcohol having a functionality of at least 1.5 and a hydroxyl number of from 10 to 100 mg KOH/g in an amount of from 0.2 to 80% by mass, based on b), and bii)at least one polyester alcohol in an amount of from 5 to 90% by mass, based on b), the water c) is present in an amount of at most 2% by mass, based on the sum of the components b) to e), and the component d) used comprises hydrocarbons and/or fluorine-containing hydrocarbons in an amount of from 5 to 30% by mass, based on the sum of the components b) to e).

Abstract: In functionalized linear alternating carbon monoxide copolymers of carbon monoxide and at least one 1-alkene (A), compound (A) is an aryl derivative substituted with at least one terminal allyl and/or homoallyl moiety and containing one or more polar groups, with the proviso that 4-allylanisole is excluded.

Abstract: A catalyst comprising at least one alkali metal and at least one metallic or semimetallic promoter selected from the group consisting of Ca, Sr, Ba, Ag, Au, Zn, Cd, Hg, In, Tl, Sn, As, Sb and Bi, on a support which may be doped with one or more compounds of an alkali metal and/or alkaline earth metal, where the alkali metal/support ratio by weight is from 0.01 to 5, the promoter/alkali metal ratio by weight is from 0.0001 to 5 and, when a dopant is present, the dopant/support ratio by weight is from 0.01 to 5.

Abstract: A process for hydrogenating a benzenepolycarboxylic acid or a derivative thereof or a mixture of two or more thereof by bringing the benzenepolycarboxylic acid or the derivative thereof or the mixture of two or more thereof into contact with a hydrogen-containing gas is carried out in the presence of a catalyst which comprises as active metal at least one metal of transition group VIII of the Periodic Table alone or together with at least one metal of transition group I or VII of the periodic table applied to a support which contains macropores with the proviso that if dimethyl terephthalate is hydrogenated, the hydrogenation using a catalyst which comprises as active metal ruthenium either alone or together with at least one metal of transition group I, VII or VIII of the Periodic Table applied to a support, where the support has a mean pore diameter of at least 50 nm and a BET surface area of at most 30 m2/g and the amount of the active metal is from 0.

Abstract: Solutions of aminotriazine resins at least 30 mol % of whose alkylol groups are etherified with a C1-C16 alkanol in a mono-C1-C4 alkyl glycol of the formula R1—O—(R2—O—)w(R3—O—)x(R2—O—)y(R3—O—)z H.  I where R1 is C1-C4 alkyl, R2 is CH2—CH2 and R3 is and w, x, y and z are an integer from 0 to 10 and at least one of them is other than 0 or in a solvent mixture which consists to the extent of at least 20% by weight a of mono-C1-C4 alkyl glycol of the above formula.

Abstract: The molding composition comprises components A, B and, if desired, components C to E, the total weight of which is 100% by weight: a: as component A, from 5 to 95% by weight of a random copolyamide made from a1: from 95.1 to 99.9% by weight of component A1 made from equimolar amounts of at least one linear aliphatic diamine and at least one linear aliphatic dicarboxylic acid a2: from 0.1 to 4.

Abstract: In a process for preparing polymers based on monomers having a C═C double bond by homopolymerization or copolymerization of these monomers in the presence of a catalyst system comprising a metallocene complex A) and a compound B) capable of forming metallocenium ions and, if desired, an organometallic compound of main group I, II or III of the Periodic Table of the Elements C), the metallocene complex A) used is a compound of the formula (I) where the substituents and indices have the following meanings: R1 to R11 are hydrogen, C1-C10-alkyl, 5- to 7-membered cycloalkyl which may in turn bear C1-C6-alkyl groups as substituents, C6-C15-aryl or arylalkyl, where two adjacent radicals R1 to R8 may together form a cyclic group having from 4 to 15 carbon atoms, or Si(R12)3, where R12 is C1-C10-alkyl, C6-C15-aryl or C3-C10-cycloalkyl, M is a metal of transition groups III to VI of the Periodic Table of the Elements or a metal of the lanthanide series, X are identical or different and are hy