Synthesis,characterization, and thermal properties of novel silicon 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinate derivatives and use as single-source chemical vapor deposition precursors

A series of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) precursors have been synthesized by a single-step reaction of 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidine and a variety of silicon chlorides. The structures of the 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinate-based compounds were verified by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, XPS, EI-MS, and elemental analysis. The thermal stability, transport behavior, and vapor pressures of these compounds were evaluated by simultaneous thermal analyses (STA). These compounds are highly stable and those in liquid form are very volatile. Silicon carbonitride (SiCN) thin films were prepared by using bis (tetramethylguanidine)-dimethyl-silane as the precursor in helicon wave plasma chemical vapor deposition (HWP-CVD). The properties of the films were investigated by SEM, AFM, and XPS. The results showed that the films have good uniformities, low friction coefficient, and high hardness, enabling the films for fabrication of semiconductor devices.     

Alkaloid and Glycoside Compounds from the Fruits of Berberis atrocarpa and Their Anticomplementary Activities

Chemistry of Natural Compounds -     

Enhanced antifungal activities of four Zn(II) complexes based on uniconazole

Four Zn(II) complexes, [Zn L ₂(SO₄)]_n ( 1 ), [Zn L ₄(H₂O)₂]?2(NO₃)?4EtOH ( 2 ), [Zn L ₂Cl₂]? L ( 3 ), and [Zn L ₂Br₂]? L ( 4 ) ( L  = uniconazole), were synthesized using a hydrothermal method and characterized by elemental analysis, FT‐IR spectroscopy, and single‐crystal XRD. Complex 1 formed a one‐dimensional polymer chain. However, complexes 2 ‐ 4 were obtained as zero‐dimensional mononuclear coordination compounds. The antifungal activities of these complexes were then evaluated against four selected fungi using the mycelial growth rate method. The resulting data indicate that all complexes show better antifungal activities than their ligands and mixtures. In addition, the interactions between the metal salts of complexes 1 ‐ 4 and uniconazole seem to be synergistic. Furthermore, the polymer chain structure of complex 1 significantly enhanced the bioactivity, especially against Botryosphaeria ribis ( I ). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were carried out to help explain the enhanced bioactivity after the formation of Zn(II) complexes. The resulting data show that the HOMO–LUMO energy gaps of complexes 1 ‐ 4 (0.0578, 0.0946, 0.1053, and 0.1245 eV) are smaller than that of the free ligand (0.1247 eV) and correlate with the antifungal activity of the zinc complexes.     

Highly selective propylene dimerization catalyzed by C1‐symmetric zirconocene complexes

A series of ethylene‐bridged C₁‐symmetric ansa‐(3‐R‐indenyl)(fluorenyl) zirconocene complexes ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) incorporating a pendant arene substituent on the 3‐position of indenyl ring have been synthesized. The structure of complex 4 was further confirmed by X‐ray diffraction analysis. When activated with methylaluminoxane, four sterically less encumbered complexes 1 , 2 , 4 and 5 could catalyze the dimerization of propylene in toluene at 100°C to afford 2‐methyl‐1‐pentene with high selectivities up to 95.7–98.4% and moderate activities of 2.00 × 10⁴ to 7.89 × 10⁴ g (mol‐Zr?h)^?1. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterization of In Vivo Metabolites of a Potential Anti-obesity Compound,the 3-Methyl-1H-Purine-2,6-Dione Derivative C-11, Employing Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

C-11 (2-((7-Ethyl-3-methyl-8-(4-(2-(methyl(pyridin-2-yl)-amino)-ethoxy)phenyl)-2,6-dioxo-2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-1H-purin-1-yl)methyl)benzonitrile-one hydrochloride), which is based on the structure of rosiglitazone, was first synthesized in our laboratory and shown to be a promising anti-obesity drug candidate in our previous pharmacological study. Considering the importance of metabolic fate in vivo in the further development of drug candidates during early drug discovery, it is essential to characterize the metabolism of C-11 in vivo. In this work, a method based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography combined with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS) was successfully developed to investigate the in vivo metabolic profile of C-11 in rats. Rat urine, feces, and plasma samples were collected from male Sprague–Dawley rats after intravenous administration of C-11 in a single dose of 30 mg kg⁻¹ body weight. Besides the parent drug, a total of 25 metabolites (including 18 phase I and 7 phase II metabolites) were detected and tentatively identified by comparing their mass spectrometry profiles with those of C-11. This enabled the metabolic pathways of C-11 to be proposed for the first time. Our results revealed that N-depyridinylation, N-demethylation, hydroxylation, glucuronidation, and sulfate conjugation are the predominant metabolic pathways of C-11 in rats. The present study provides systematic information on the metabolism of C-11 in vivo, which should lead to a better understanding of its safety and mechanism of action.

     

Quantum Fisher information and chaos in the Dicke model

We introduce a method of quantum tomography for a continuous variable system in position and momentum space. We consider a single two-level probe interacting with a quantum harmonic oscillator by means of a class of Hamiltonians, linear in position and momentum variables, during a tunable time span. We study two cases: the reconstruction of the wavefunctions of pure states and the direct measurement of the density matrix of mixed states. We show that our method can be applied to several physical systems where high quantum control can be experimentally achieved.