CIDNP-Effekte bei Photolyse und Thermolyse von substituierten Phenyldiazoniumsalzen

The existence of radical pairs during the photolysis and the thermolysis of substituted benzenediazonium tetrafluoroborates and hydroquinone in acetonitrile is shown by means of CIDNP. The reaction is assumed to occur via a one-electron-step to form first a radical pair consisting of phenyldiazene and p-benzosemiquinone. This radical pair is able to lose nitrogen either by photolysis or thermolysis and can lead either to a disproportionation or to various recombinations.     

A light-scattering photometer for use at elevated pressures

A new light scattering photometer has been designed in order to perform light-scattering measurements at various temperatures and under pressures of 1–1000 atm. Since the scattering angle is constant (90°C), the dimensions of the dissolved molecules are determined by measuring the intensity at different wavelengths. The method of measurement, the calibration of the instrument, and the treatment of data are described. By a series of test measurements on polystyrene in trans-decalin solutions it is shown that one obtains reliable results and finds considerable effects of pressure on the radius of gyration and the fundamental thermodynamic properties of the system.     

Der einfluβ der molmassenverteilung und der kettenabstandsverteilung auf die streufunktion von polymeren in lösung

Universal expressions of the scattering function for coils with uniform and non-uniform expansion, gaussian and non-gaussian chain segment distribution functions and various types of molar mass distributions are given. Facilities to determine the parameters of the functions are discussed. Comparison of the calculated scattering functions with experimental data, for vinyl-polymers in good and poor solvents and for cellulose derivatives in solution, lead to the following statements: (1) Up to now light scattering measurements do not have the precision necessary to predict the form of the chain segment distribution function. Nevertheless measurements on vinyl-polymers in good solvents indicate non-gaussian chain segment distribution functions. (2) The experimental determined scattering function for vinyl-polymers in poor solvents and cellulose derivatives in solution correspond to the calculated scattering function for coils with uniform expansion and gaussian chain segment distribution function within experimental error.     

Proton dynamics in the perchloric acid clathrate hydrate HClO4.5.5H2O

In the perchloric acid clathrate hydrate HClO4.5.5H2O, the perchlorate anions are contained inside an aqueous host crystalline matrix, positively charged because of the presence of delocalized acidic protons. Our experimental results demonstrate that the microscopic mechanisms of proton conductivity in this system are effective on a time scale ranging from nanosecond to picosecond. In the present paper, we discuss more specifically on the relaxation processes occurring on a nanosecond time scale by combining high-resolution quasielastic neutron scattering and 1H pulse-field-gradient nuclear magnetic resonance experiments. The combination of these two techniques allows us to probe proton dynamics in both space and time domains. The existence of two types of proton dynamical processes has been identified. The slowest one is associated to long-range translational diffusion of protons between crystallographic oxygen sites and has been precisely characterized with a self-diffusion coefficient of 3.5 x 10(-8) cm2/s at 220 K and an activation energy of 29.2+/-1.4 kJ/mol. The fastest dynamical process is due to water molecules' reorientations occurring every 0.7 ns at 220 K with an activation energy of 17.4+/-1.5 kJ/mol. This powerful multitechnique approach provides important information required to understand the microscopic origin of proton transport in an ionic clathrate hydrate.     

The response of the sulfide-selective electrode to sulfide,iodide and cyanide

The responses of solid-state sulfide-selective electrodes in the presence of sulfide, iodide and cyanide are described. Linear near-Nemstian responses were obtained down to ca. I × 10^-9 M solutions for these anions. Appropriate procedures of sample treatment limiting the interfering redox responses, adjusting pH and total ionic strength and preserving the ion of interest without contamination of the sample are described. These procedures improve the useful activity range as well as the reliability of the measurements.     

Laser-induced fluorescence determination of thallium in sediments

A simple dissolution procedure is decribed for sediments to be analyzed for thallium by Laser-Excited Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry (LEAFS). It simply uses a nitric – hydrofluoric acid mixture at room temperature (a “cold dissolution” procedure as opposed to the hot acid digestion) followed by a dilution with water (as opposed to the tedious steps of separation and preconcentration). Excellent accuracy (91–106% recoveries) and precision (4–10% relative standard deviation) were demonstrated by the use of five sediment reference materials of diverse origins. The detection limit was estimated to be 0.5 ng/g of thallium. Additionally, a hot plate digestion procedure, using an in-house designed semi-enclosed Teflon beaker, was also investigated; its analytical results agreed with certified values and confirmed the adequacy of the cold dissolution technique. The method is being applied to study the sediment – water interactions in lake environments. Received: 30 December 1996 / Revised: 20 March 1997 / Accepted: 30 March 1997     

Diffusive dynamics of water in tert-butyl alcohol/water mixtures

Quasielastic neutron scattering has been used to investigate the dynamical behavior of H(2)O in water/tert-butyl alcohol solutions. The measurements were made at fixed temperature (293 K) as a function of tert-butyl alcohol molar fraction, x, in the range 0-0.042. The data have been compared to those of pure water in the temperature range 269-293 K. The effect of tert-butyl alcohol addition on water dynamics is equivalent to that obtained by lowering the temperature of pure water by an amount proportional to the alcohol concentration. The temperature dependence of the diffusivity parameters in pure water and their concentration dependence in tert-butyl alcohol/water solutions can be rescaled to a common curve attributing to each solution a concentration-dependent "structural temperature" lower than the actual thermodynamic one. These results can be understood in terms of Stillinger's picture of water structuring and of other more recent theoretical pictures that emphasize the influence of the geometrical properties of hydrogen bond networks on water mobility.     

Traceless Synthesis of Asymmetrically Modified Bivalent Nucleosomes

Nucleosomes carry extensive post‐translational modifications (PTMs), which results in complex modification patterns that are involved in epigenetic signaling. Although two copies of each histone coexist in a nucleosome, they may not carry the same PTMs and are often differently modified (asymmetric). In bivalent domains, a chromatin signature prevalent in embryonic stem cells (ESCs), namely H3 methylated at lysine 4 (H3K4me3), coexists with H3K27me3 in asymmetric nucleosomes. We report a general, modular, and traceless method for producing asymmetrically modified nucleosomes. We further show that in bivalent nucleosomes, H3K4me3 inhibits the activity of the H3K27‐specific lysine methyltransferase (KMT) polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) solely on the same histone tail, whereas H3K27me3 stimulates PRC2 activity across tails, thereby partially overriding the H3K4me3‐mediated repressive effect. To maintain bivalent domains in ESCs, PRC2 activity must thus be locally restricted or reversed.     

Free‐electron laser multiplex driven by a superconducting linear accelerator

Free‐electron lasers (FELs) generate femtosecond XUV and X‐ray pulses at peak powers in the gigawatt range. The FEL user facility FLASH at DESY (Hamburg, Germany) is driven by a superconducting linear accelerator with up to 8000 pulses per second. Since 2014, two parallel undulator beamlines, FLASH1 and FLASH2, have been in operation. In addition to the main undulator, the FLASH1 beamline is equipped with an undulator section, sFLASH, dedicated to research and development of fully coherent extreme ultraviolet photon pulses using external seed lasers. In this contribution, the first simultaneous lasing of the three FELs at 13.4 nm, 20 nm and 38.8 nm is presented.