Mechanical properties of kaolinite ‘macro-crystals’

The mechanical properties of a rare sample of kaolinite macroscopic crystals were evaluated using instrumented indentation. The crystals were also characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy before and after heat treatment at 1100°C. The results are explained in terms of the fracture process occurring in the layered structure of kaolinite, and of the effect of roughness on the hardness and elastic modulus. Data analysis using One-way ANOVA (p?<?0.05) showed that the values of hardness and elastic modulus obtained are statistically homogeneous. Before heat treatment, the sample was composed essentially of kaolinite, with hardness of 42?MPa and elastic modulus equal to 1.3?GPa. After calcination at 1100°C, the sample keeps its layered habit and consists of amorphous metakaolinite. The hardness increases to 360?MPa and the elastic modulus increases to 6.9?GPa.     

Linear End‐On Coordination Modes of CO2

The second case of linear end‐on and evidence for an unprecedented bridging end‐on coordination mode of CO₂ have been discovered for vanadium aryloxide complexes of the tetradentate ligand system (ONNO)^2? (ONNO=2,4‐Me₂‐2‐(OH) C₆H₂CH₂]₂N(CH₂)₂NMe₂). The reaction of divalent (ONNO)V^II (TMEDA) with CO₂ and under the appropriate reaction conditions affords the trivalent (ONNO)V^III(OH)(η¹‐CO₂) resulting from an intermediate CO₂ deoxygenation pathway followed by H‐atom abstraction from the aromatic solvent, and CO₂ fixation. In contrast, the reduction of trivalent (ONNO)V^IIICl(THF) with K, followed by exposure to CO₂ in ethereal solvent, afforded the dinuclear [(ONNO)V^II]₂ (μ_,η¹‐CO₂).     

Metal‐Free Synthesis of Functional 1‐Substituted‐1,2,3‐Triazoles from Ethenesulfonyl Fluoride and Organic Azides

The boom in growth of 1,4‐disubstituted triazole products, in particular, since the early 2000’s, can be largely attributed to the birth of click chemistry and the discovery of the Cu^I‐catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). Yet the synthesis of relatively simple, albeit important, 1‐substituted‐1,2,3‐triazoles has been surprisingly more challenging. Reported here is a straightforward and scalable click‐inspired protocol for the synthesis of 1‐substituted‐1,2,3‐triazoles from organic azides and the bench stable acetylene surrogate ethenesulfonyl fluoride (ESF). The new transformation tolerates a wide selection of substrates and proceeds smoothly under metal‐free conditions to give the products in excellent yield. Under controlled acidic conditions, the 1‐substituted‐1,2,3‐triazole products undergo a Michael addition reaction with a second equivalent of ESF to give the unprecedented 1‐substituted triazolium sulfonyl fluoride salts.     

Aromatic compounds produced by endophytic fungi isolated from red alga Asparagopsis taxiformis - Falkenbergia stage

Endophytic fungi were isolated from red alga Asparagopsis taxiformis - Falkenbergia stage, collected from the Brazilian coast, and were identified as Annulohypoxylon stygium (AT-03) and A. yungensis (AT-06) based on their macro/micromorphological and molecular features. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the EtOAc extract from laboratory cultures of both strains yielded known compounds pyrogallol from A. stygium, (3R)-scytalone and (3R,4R)-4-hydroxy-scytalone from A. yungensis. Pyrogallol was active against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Escherichia coli strains. An inactive fraction from A. stygium afforded two additional compounds, (3R,4R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-1-tetralone and tyrosol. Optically active compounds had their stereochemistry determined by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy.     

Spectral theory approach for a class of radial indefinite variational problems

Considering the radial nonlinear Schrödinger equation

($P_r$)$?\mathrm{\Delta }u+V(x)u=g(x,u)\text{in}{\mathbb{R}}^N,N\ge 3$

we aim to find a radial nontrivial solution for it, where V changes sign ensuring problem ($P_r$) is indefinite and g is an asymptotically linear nonlinearity. We work with variational methods associating problem ($P_r$) to an indefinite functional in order to apply our Abstract Linking Theorem for Cerami sequences in [8] to get a non-trivial critical point for this functional. Our goal is to make use of spectral properties of operator $A:=\mathrm{\Delta }+V(x)$ restricted to $H_{rad}^1({\mathbb{R}}^N)$, the space of radially symmetric functions in $H^1({\mathbb{R}}^N)$, for obtaining a linking geometry structure to the problem and by means of special properties of radially symmetric functions get the necessary compactness.