The first case of competitive heterogeneously catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation of ketones

In competitive racemic hydrogenation of methyl benzoylformate (MBF) + ethyl pyruvate (EP) binary mixture over Pt/Al(2)O(3): k(MBF) > k(EP), but in competitive enantioselective hydrogenation k(MBF) < k(EP); the phenomenon verified for the first time is dependent on the adsorption strength of the surface complexes of various compositions (MBF-Pt, EP-Pt, MBF-CD-Pt, EP-CD-Pt, CD = cinchonidine).     

Composition depth profile analysis of electrodeposited alloys and metal multilayers: the reverse approach

The reverse depth profile analysis is a recently developed method for the study of a deposit composition profile in the near-substrate zone. The sample preparation technique enables one to separate the deposit and a thin cover layer from its substrate, and the initial roughness of the sample is much smaller than in the conventional sputtering direction. This technique is particularly suitable to study the zones being formed in the early phase of the electrodeposition of alloys. It has been demonstrated with the reverse depth profile analysis that in many cases when one component of an alloy is preferentially deposited, an initial zone is formed that is rich in the preferentially deposited component. This phenomenon is demonstrated for Ni–Cd, Ni–Sn, Fe–Co–Ni, Co–Ni, and Co–Ni–Cu alloys. The composition change is confined to the initial 150-nm-thick deposit, and it is the result of the interplay of the deposition preference and the depletion of the electrolyte near the cathode with respect to the ion reduced preferentially. The reverse depth profile analysis made it possible to compare the measured and the calculated composition depth profile of electrodeposited multilayers. It has been shown that the decay in the composition oscillation intensity in Co/Cu multilayers with the increase of the sputtering depth can be derived from the roughness measured as a function of the deposit thickness.     

Analysis of the essential oil of Amsonia illustris

The root and leaf essential oils, present in trace amounts in Amsonia illustris Woods. (Apocynaceae), were isolated by steam distillation and their chemical constituents identified by GC-FID and GC-MS. More than 80% of the thirty volatile compounds in the leaf oil were identified, the major constituents being mainly sesquiterpenes like a-humulene (14.5%), beta-caryophyllene (12.4%) and guaiol (11.6%). The volatile ingredients of the root oil were pinocampheol, methyl salicylate, (2E,4E)- decadienal, eugenol and trans-isoeugenol.     

Preparation and Photocatalytic Performance of TiO2 Nanowire-Based Self-Supported Hybrid Membranes

Nowadays, the use of hybrid structures and multi-component materials is gaining ground in the fields of environmental protection, water treatment and removal of organic pollutants. This study describes promising, cheap and photoactive self-supported hybrid membranes as a possible solution for wastewater treatment applications. In the course of this research work, the photocatalytic performance of titania nanowire (TiO₂ NW)-based hybrid membranes in the adsorption and degradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV irradiation was investigated. Characterization techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD) were used to study the morphology and surface of the as-prepared hybrid membranes. We tested the photocatalytic efficiency of the as-prepared membranes in decomposing methylene blue (MB) under UV light irradiation. The hybrid membranes achieved the removal of MB with a degradation efficiency of 90% in 60 min. The high efficiency can be attributed to the presence of binary components in the membrane that enhanced both the adsorption capability and the photocatalytic ability of the membranes. The results obtained suggest that multicomponent hybrid membranes could be promising candidates for future photocatalysis-based water treatment technologies that also take into account the principles of circular economy.     

New Heterocyclic Analogues of Anthracycline Antibiotics

ABSTRACT

Synthetic approaches to anthracycline antibiotic analogues in which the nitrogen atom of the carbohydrate portion is incorporated into a 1, 2, 3-triazolyl moiety were investigated. By using methyl 6-azido-2, 6-dideoxy-β-D--arabino-hexopyranoside and methyl 6-azido-2, 3, 6-tricdeoxy--α-L-arabino-hexopyranoside, the corresponding glycosides (16 a, b - 18 a, b) of carminomycinone and daunomycinone were prepared. The desired heterocyclic system was developed directly with the C-3′ and C-6′ azido anthracyclines by means of a cycloaddition process to give 7-0-[6′-(4, 5--dicarboethoxy-l, 2, 3-triazolyl)-2′, 6′-dideoxy-β-D-arabino--hexopyranosyl]-carminomycinone (23) and -daunomycinone (22), and 3′-(4, 5-dicarboethoxy - l, 2, 3-triazolyl)-4′ -epi-daunomycin (24).     

Thermal analysis and X-ray studies of chiral ferroelectric liquid crystalline materials and their binary mixtures

Summary Thermal properties of a homologous series of ferroelectric liquid crystals S-(-)-[4-(2-n-alkoxy-propionyloxy)]biphenyl-4'-[n-alkoxy-(3,5-dimethyl)]benzoate have been investigated by polarizing optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The mesophases were identified and confirmed by X-ray too. Three binary mixtures were prepared from the individual homologues. In one of the mixtures (Mix1), the ferroelectric SmC* phase has broadened and became enantiotropic. This mesophase remained monotropic in the other two mixtures (Mix2, Mix3). The chiral nematic N* phase did not appear in Mix1, but remained monotropic for the other two mixtures. Two molecular parameters, the layer spacing and the average intermolecular distance have been calculated from the X-ray results for the homologues and their mixtures. An intercalated tail-to-tail packing of molecules was found both in the single compounds and their mixtures resulting in the layer spacing about half of the molecular length of the single compounds.     

Sensitivity- and Gradient-Enhanced Heteronuclear Coupled/Decoupled HSQC–TOCSY Experiments for Measuring Long-Range Heteronuclear Coupling Constants

A pulsed field gradient version of the sensitivity-enhanced 2D HSQC–TOCSY experiment is proposed for measurement of long-range heteronuclear coupling constants. The coupling constants are obtained by computer-aided analysis of mixed-phase multiplets with and without the heteronuclear splitting. Generation of pure phase data is not required. Since large¹J_XHandJ_HHcouplings are used for coherence transfer, smallⁿJ_XHcan be measured accurately, which could be difficult to obtain from purely heteronuclear polarization transfer experiments.     

Pseudorandom sequences constructed by the power generator

Summary We study the pseudorandom properties of the power generator (which includes as special cases the RSA generator and the Blum--Blum--Shub generator). In order to estimate the pseudorandom measures character sums with exponential functions are used.