Raman spectra of activated carbon materials have been investigated by a peak-deconvolution technique. It has been found as a result of our fitting trials that four Gaussians and a linear background are necessary and enough to reproduce the spectral data throughout our experiment, with a pair of relatively sharp peaks at about 1600 cm−1 and about 1350 cm−1, namely G1 and D1, and a pair of relatively broad peaks around 1560 cm−1 and 1340 cm−1, namely G2 and D2. From the characteristic behavior of these paired peaks, it has been concluded that the structure of activated carbon materials is schematically classified into two parts. The former part, represented by sharp G1 and G2 peaks, arises from winding short basal planes with bond angle order, while the latter, by broad G2 and D2 peaks, sp2 clusters like a-Cs with bond angle disorder. We have found the peak intensity ratio of G2 to G1, the I(G1)/I(G2) ratio, as a useful parameter expressing the relative content of the disorder part to the order part in the activated carbons, revealing the structural changes induced by anneal or activations. Since the changes of fitting parameters including the I(G2)/I(G1) ratio were completely opposite for H2O and KOH activation, it has been clarified that the part with bond angle disorder is selectively removed or become ordered by H2O activation, whereas induced by KOH activation, though both activation methods yield similar surface area.

The N'-benzoyl group of N-tert-butyl-N'-benzoyl-3,5-dimethylbenzohydrazide (1) was converted to a series of benzoheterocyclecarbonyl groups in order to investigate the potential usefulness of superimposing a hydrazine insecticide on 20-hydroxyecdysone. A series of analogues with benzodioxole, benzodioxane, benzodioxapine, indole, benzoxazole, benzoxazine or benzothiazole instead of the phenyl group of (1) were synthesized and tested for their insecticidal activity against the common cutworm (Spodoptera litura F). N-tert-Butyl-N'-(3,5-dimethylbenzoyl)-1,3-benzodioxole-5-carbohydrazide and N-tert-butyl-N'-(3,5-dimethylbenzoyl)-2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxine-6-carbohydrazide showed high insecticidal activities, superior to that of (1) and equal to that of the commercial insecticide tebufenozide (RH-5992).

A series of N'-benzoheterocyclecarbonyl-N-tert-butyl-3,5-dimethylbenzohydrazide analogues possessing a variety of substituents on the benzene rings of the benzoheterocyle moieties were synthesized and tested for their insecticidal activity. The introduction of a methyl group at the R1 position of the benzoheterocycle moiety strongly increased the insecticidal activity. Among the analogues synthesized, N'-tert-butyl-N'-(3,5-dimethylbenzoyl)-5-methyl-6-chromanecarbohydrazide showed the highest insecticidal activity (LC50 = 0.89 mg litre(-1)).

The application of Kramers-Kronig analysis for reflection spectra from a single interface with perpendicular (s) polarization has been studied theoretically with regard to a phase correction term. The errors in phase shift and complex refractive index obtained by the use of Kramers-Kronig analysis have been examined for such techniques as external, internal, and total internal reflection spectroscopies by the use of spectral simulation and the complex refractive index based on dispersion theory. The advantages and disadvantages of the various measurement techniques used to obtain the complex refractive index of a sample material have been compared. It is concluded that the external reflection technique can be used until the sample thickness becomes too thin to provide the edge shape necessary to avoid the detection of reflection from the back surface. The total internal reflection technique should be used only for a thin-film sample because knowledge of the refractive index at some frequency is required and bcause this technique may yield larger errors than the other techniques in the complex refractive index obtained by the use of Kramers-Kronig analysis.