Composition of the surface waxes from bell pepper and eggplant

Surface waxes from the skins of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) and eggplant (Solanum melongena) were rinsed with tert-butylmethyl ether (TBME). The wax components were separated into two fractions by elution from a small silica gel column with toluene/hexane (2+1) followed by methanol. They were identified by GC/MS and quantitatively determined by GC/FID. For 12 bell pepper cultivars, fraction 1 made up 39% of the total and contained mainly n-alkanes C₂₀–C₃₅ (with C₃₁ dominating), iso-alkanes C₂₅–C₃₅, and some aldehydes. The 61% of fraction 2 consisted of 15 triterpenes, namely - and -amyrin, lupeol, glutinol, 3-friedelanol, friedelin, taraxerol, taraxasterol, -amyrin, germanicol, multiflorenol, -taraxasterol, isomultiflorenol, isobauerenol and bauerenol, as well as n-alkanoic acids C₁₆–C₃₂, 2-hydroxy-alkanoic acids C₂₀–C₂₆ and traces of n-alkanols and phytosterols (campesterol, stigmasterol and -sitosterol). For the three eggplant cultivars, 77% of fraction 1 was obtained with (in decreasing order) n-alkanes C₂₃–C₃₆, anteiso-alkanes C₂₉–C₃₆, iso-alkanes C₂₇–C₃₅, and some aldehydes. In the 23% of fraction 2, the n-alkanoic acids C₁₆–C₃₂ predominated compared with the 2-hydroxy-alkanoic acids C₂₂–C₂₆, the n-alkanols C₂₄–C₂₉, triterpenols (- and -amyrin, lupeol, germanicol) and sterols (stigmasterol and -sitosterol).     

Synthesis and antiapoptotic activity of a novel analogue of the neutral sphingomyelinase inhibitor scyphostatin

The enantioselective synthesis of an analogue of scyphostatin, a potent inhibitor of the neutral sphingomyelinase, is described. The synthesis starts with cyclohexanone and a protected D-serine derivative. The key step is an asymmetric hydroxylation to access a hydroxycyclohexanone, which is transformed into a substituted hydroxycyclohexenone. This is converted into the scyphostatin analogue 14, a chemically and metabolically stabilised compound lacking the epoxy function of the natural congener and carrying a palmitic acid group instead of the native trienoyl residue. An evaluation of the biological activity of 14 revealed neutral sphingomyelinase inhibition in several in vivo test systems (monocytes, macrophages, hepatocytes) monitoring antiapoptotic effects and the inversion of phorbolester-induced translocation of green fluorescent protein labelled kinase (protein kinase C-alpha).     

Longitudinal acoustic modes in cycloalkanes

Summary The longitudinal acoustic modes (LAM) of several cycloalkanes ((CH₂)₁₄ to (CH₂)₉₆) measured by Raman spectroscopy are described. The frequency differences between the LAMs of the cycloalkanes and the corresponding n-alkanes are explained by a simple linear chain model. It is shown that the LAM-modes are practically not affected by the gauche conformations of the two folds in the cyclic molecule.     

Accelerated active ageing test on SiC JFETs power module with silver joining technology for high temperature application

This paper presents the accelerated active power cycling test (APCT) results on SiC JFETs power module dedicated to operate at high temperature. This study partly focuses on the new chip joining technology (LTJT), which permit to use SiC JFETs transistors at higher temperatures. We present the different die attachments tested with high temperature lead solder and silver sintering joining technologies. Active power cycling results for high junction temperature T_jmax = 175 °C with ΔT_j = 80 K to perform an evaluation of main damages during active test are carried out and a comparison between lead and silver chip joining technologies is presented.