Photonic crystal with epsilon negative and double negative materials as an optical sensor

Two ternary photonic crystals are proposed for sensing applications. The first one is composed of an air layer as an analyte sandwiched between two double negative material (DNM) layers whereas the second one consists of an air layer sandwiched between two epsilon negative material (ENM) layers. The transmission spectrum is studied for two different values of the refractive index of the analyte layer with ?n = 0.01. A specific peak in the transmission spectrum is observed and the wavelength at which the peak occurs is determined. The wavelength shift due to any change in the index of the analyte layer is also determined. The effect of varying the parameters of the DNM and ENM on the sensitivity of the sensor is discussed. It is found that the sensitivity of the structure ENM/air/ENM is much greater than that of the structure DNM/air/DNM and it is estimated as 26 times of the sensitivity of the latter structure.     

Strong aphicidal activity of GlcNAc(β1→4)Glc disaccharides: synthesis, physiological effects, and chitinase inhibition

The synthesis of four GlcNAc(β1→4)Glc disaccharides containing 2-O-acetyl and/or 6-sulfate groups was performed in high yields with total 1,2-trans stereoselectivity. These disaccharides were evaluated as candidates for insect chitinase inhibition and aphicidal activity. All the compounds prepared displayed physiological effects on M. persicae aphids; however, the inhibition of chitinases of different sources (bacteria, fungus, and aphid) followed different patterns according to subtle structural characteristics.     

Transformations of diphenylphosphinothioic acid tertiary amides mediated by directed ortho metallation

ortho-Lithiation of N,N-diisopropyl-P,P-diphenylphosphinothioic amide using n-BuLi in the presence of TMEDA in diethyl ether followed by electrophilic trapping is described as an efficient method for the synthesis of ortho-functionalised derivatives in high yields. The structural modification of the phosphinothioic amide includes C-X (X = P, S, Si, Sn, I) and C-C bond forming reactions with a large variety of electrophiles. Additional applications based on functional group transformations are also reported. They include imine formation, desulfurization and Suzuki cross-coupling reactions on selected compounds.     

Instabilities and bifurcations due to buoyancy in a cylindrical container heated from below with and without a free surface

Three-dimensional simulations of the buoyant convection in a cylindrical container heated from below are presented. Both the thresholds for the onset of the convection and the nonlinear evolution of this convection are calculated. The simulations concern two configurations: a cavity with a rigid upper surface (Rigid-Rigid case) and a cavity with a non-constrained free surface (Rigid-Free case). The results show a similar variation of the primary thresholds with the aspect ratio for the two configurations. In contrast, the nonlinear evolution of the convection is much changed between the two configurations. In particular, subcritical secondary branches with a very large subcriticity are obtained in the R-F case. To cite this article: A. El Gallaf et al., C. R. Mecanique 337 (2009).     

Selective Transformation of Norbornadiene into Functionalized Azaheterocycles and β-Amino Esters with Stereo- and Regiocontrol

Novel functionalized azaheterocycles with multiple chiral centers have been accessed from readily available norbornene β-amino acids or β-lactams across a stereocontrolled synthetic route, based on ring-opening metathesis (ROM) of the staring unsaturated bicyclic amino esters, followed by selective cyclization through ring-closing metathesis (RCM). The RCM transformations have been studied under various experimental conditions to assess the scope of conversion, catalyst, yield, and substrate influence. The structure of the starting norbornene β-amino acids predetermined the structure of the new azaheterocycles, and the developed synthetic route took place with the conservation of the configuration of the chiral centers.     

Cavity dynamics of water drop impact onto immiscible oil pool with different viscosity

Acta Mechanica Sinica - In this work, we numerically study the impact of a water droplet onto a deep oil pool. Two fluids are immiscible and the viscosity of the pool liquid is changed...     

Theoretical investigation of the coexistence of α and β-nitric acid trihydrates (NAT) molecular conformations

In this letter we document the possibility of the existence of a second molecular configuration for nitric acid trihydrates. Density functional theory (DFT) methods have been used for studying the nitric acid trihydrates α and β-NAT conformations, their spectroscopic and thermodynamics properties and dipole moments have been calculated. This study describes the gas–solid phase transition of the NAT and provides two possible pathways for the molecular structure transformation between α and β-NAT.     

Cellulose nanocrystals from bleached rice straw pulp: acidic deep eutectic solvent versus sulphuric acid hydrolyses

The present work aims to investigate the feasibility of oxalic acid-choline chloride deep eutectic solvent (OA-ChCl DES), which serves as a promising green solvent that utilized in the acidic deep eutectic solvent (DES) hydrolysis. Oxalic acid-choline chloride DES cellulose nanocrystal (OA-ChCl DES CNC) was isolated from the bleached DES treated pulp (BP) through the acidic DES hydrolysis using 1:1 molar ratio of OA-ChCl DES. The functional groups, crystallinity index, morphological structure, particle size, zeta potential, thermal stability and surface chemistry of the OA-ChCl DES CNC were compared with the sulphuric acid cellulose nanocrystal (SA-CNC) that prepared via sulphuric acid hydrolysis. The findings revealed the presence of negatively charged carboxyl groups on OA-ChCl DES CNC surface after the acidic DES hydrolysis. The physicochemical analyses verified that the OA-ChCl DES CNC was in nano-sized range with polydispersity index (PdI) of 0.56, indicating slightly monodispersed nanoparticles. A stable OA-ChCl DES CNC colloidal suspension with zeta potential value of ?52.1?±?5.2 mV was obtained. The OA-ChCl DES CNC outweighed the SA-CNC in term of thermal stability (288 °C) despite having a slightly lower crystallinity index (76.7%). In fact, the OA-ChCl DES CNC with a yield of 55.1% was achieved through the acidic DES hydrolysis, suggesting that the OA-ChCl DES was capable of promoting efficient cleavage of strong hydrogen bonds in BP.

Graphic abstract

     

Dissociative ionization of the H2O molecule bombarded by swift singly charged and slow highly charged ions

Fragment ion energy spectra of the water molecule have been measured in conventional crossed-beam experiments by the impact of 46 keV/u energy, singly charged ions (SCIs) and 4.3 keV/u energy, highly charged ions (HCIs). Double differential cross sections have been determined and a comparative analysis has been performed. We found that the fragmentation spectra for SCIs and HCIs are very similar, indicating that both collisions lead to the same fragmentation channels. This suggests that the Coulomb explosion of the water molecule is dominantly determined by the charge state of the transient molecular ions, and it is almost independent from the primary ionization mechanism. Differences were observed not only between the SCI and HCI impact-induced fragmentation cross sections, but between those obtained by the 60 keV N⁶⁺ and 70 keV O⁷⁺ projectiles. The differences were attributed to the selectivity of the electron capture process for HCIs. Multiple target ionization cross sections have been deduced from the fragment ion spectra. We found contributions of up to fivefold ionization for SCIs and up to sixfold ionization for HCIs.