A combined theoretical and experimental study of the ultrafast photophysics of Rhodamine B

The ultrafast dynamics of zwitterionic and cationic Rhodamine B in ethanol have been investigated using TDDFT calculations and ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. The calculations show that the zwitterionic form exhibits an electronically excited dark state which could potentially quench the initially photoexcited state, while in the case of cationic form the lowest excited lying dark state is outside the energy region of interest and cannot explain its quenching. Due to similarities in the relaxation dynamics of the two molecules, it is suggested that the electronically excited dark state may not play such an important role in the quenching process of this dye as previously proposed. Experimental evidence presented suggests that a quenching mechanism is active on the picosecond timescale for both forms of Rhodamine B.     

Automated nonlinear alignment of XRF spectra

An important computational operation in a set of spectra is that of aligning them to a reference spectrum. In X‐ray fluorescence, this is referred to as energy calibration and may be necessary for fitting low‐count acquisitions. It may be useful for multi‐element detector systems. Typically, this is carried out in a linear manner, and sometimes requires user feedback. Automated methods exist but are often focused on specific type of data. We propose a new automated method that is based on a nonlinear approach and is specialised for X‐ray fluorescence data. The initial application in two different multi‐element detector systems in the TwinMic beamline (Elettra – Sincrotrone Trieste) yielded promising results. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multi-Elemental Composition Data Handled by Chemometrics for the Discrimination of High-Value Italian Pecorino Cheeses

The multi-elemental composition of three typical Italian Pecorino cheeses, Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Pecorino Romano (PR), PDO Pecorino Sardo (PS) and Pecorino di Farindola (PF), was determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). The ICP-OES method here developed allowed the accurate and precise determination of eight major elements (Ba, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P, and Zn). The ICP-OES data acquired from 17 PR, 20 PS, and 16 PF samples were processed by unsupervised (Principal Component Analysis, PCA) and supervised (Partial Least Square-Discriminant Analysis, PLS-DA) multivariate methods. PCA revealed a relatively high variability of the multi-elemental composition within the samples of a given variety, and a fairly good separation of the Pecorino cheeses according to the geographical origin. Concerning the supervised classification, PLS-DA has allowed obtaining excellent results, both in calibration (in cross-validation) and in validation (on the external test set). In fact, the model led to a cross-validated total accuracy of 93.3% and a predictive accuracy of 91.3%, corresponding to 2 (over 23) misclassified test samples, indicating the adequacy of the model in discriminating Pecorino cheese in accordance with its origin.     

(μ‐2,6‐Bis{[(2‐hydroxy­phenyl)­(2‐pyri­dyl­methyl)­amino]­methyl}‐4‐methyl­phenolato)­bis­[di­aqua­nickel(II)] ace­tate dimethyl­formamide 0.75‐hy­drate

The binuclear cation of the title compound, [Ni₂(C₃₃H₂₉­N₄O₃)(H₂O)₄]C₂H₃O₂·C₃H₇NO·0.75H₂O, was synthesized as a model for the active site of urease. Two tridentate halves of the symmetrical 2,6‐bis{[(2‐hydroxy­phenyl)(2‐pyridyl­methyl)­amino]­methyl}‐4‐methyl­phenolate (BPPMP^3?) ligand are arranged in a meridional fashion around the two Ni^II ions, with the phenoxo O atom bridging the Ni^II ions. The cation has an approximate twofold rotation axis running through the C—O bond of the bridging phenolate group. Four water mol­ecules complete the octahedral environment of each Ni^II ion.     

The Moduli Space of Boundary Compactifications of SL (2, R)

In an earlier paper, the authors introduced the notion of a boundary compactification of SL(2, R) and SL(2, C), a normal projective embedding of PSL2 arising as the Zariski closure of an orbit in (P1)n under the diagonal action of SL2. Here the moduli space of such boundary compactifications of SL(2, R) is shown to be a contractible hyperbolic orbifold, by using the Schwarz–Christoffel transformation to identify it with a quotient of the moduli space of equi-angular planar polygons.     

Isothiouronium salts as useful and odorless intermediates for the synthesis of thiaalkylimidazolium ionic liquids

A simple and odorless route for the synthesis of monocationic and dicationic thiaalkylimidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) is reported. Our approach starts with the selective monoalkylation of dihalogenated substrates by methylimidazole derivatives, followed by the synthesis of odorless isothiouronium salts via reaction with thiourea. The target ILs are obtained after sequential hydrolysis-alkylation of the isothiouronium salts followed by anion metathesis in water. After extraction, the novel thiaalkylimidazolium ILs are obtained with high purity, without the requirement of additional purification steps. In order to demonstrate their applicability, two of these task-specific ILs were employed as ligands in Ullmann and Suzuki couplings and also as charged probes to detect copper intermediates via ESI(+)-MS.     

Essential Oil Composition and DNA Barcode and Identification of Aniba species (Lauraceae) Growing in the Amazon Region

Lauraceae species are widely represented in the Amazon, presenting a significant essential oil yield, large chemical variability, various biological applications, and high economic potential. Its taxonomic classification is difficult due to the accentuated morphological uniformity, even among taxa from a different genus. For this reason, the present work aimed to find chemical and molecular markers to discriminate Aniba species collected in the Pará State (Brazil). The chemical composition of the essential oils from Aniba canelilla, A. parviflora, A. rosaeodora, and A. terminalis were grouped by multivariate statistical analysis. The major compounds were rich in benzenoids and terpenoids such as 1-nitro-2-phenylethane (88.34–70.85%), linalool (15.2–75.3%), α-phellandrene (36.0–51.8%), and β-phellandrene (11.6–25.6%). DNA barcodes were developed using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) nuclear region, and the matK, psbA-trnH, rbcL, and ycf1 plastid regions. The markers psbA-trnH and ITS showed the best discrimination for the species, and the phylogenic analysis in the three- (rbcL + matK + trnH − psbA and rbcL + matK + ITS) and four-locus (rbcL + matK + trnH − psbA + ITS) combination formed clades with groups strongly supported by the Bayesian inference (BI) (PP:1.00) and maximum likelihood (ML) (BS ≥ 97%). Therefore, based on statistical multivariate and phylogenetic analysis, the results showed a significant correlation between volatile chemical classes and genetic characteristics of Aniba species.     

Selenoxide Elimination Triggers Enamine Hydrolysis to Primary and Secondary Amines: A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Investigation

We discuss a novel selenium-based reaction mechanism consisting in a selenoxide elimination-triggered enamine hydrolysis. This one-pot model reaction was studied for a set of substrates. Under oxidative conditions, we observed and characterized the formation of primary and secondary amines as elimination products of such compounds, paving the way for a novel strategy to selectively release bioactive molecules. The underlying mechanism was investigated using NMR, mass spectrometry and density functional theory (DFT).