1H and 13C NMR Determination of the Enantiomeric Purity of Substituted 4-Amino-3- (thien-2-Yl)-Butyric Acids and 4-Amino-3-(Benzo[b]Furan-2-yl)-Butyric Acids,Ligands of the GabaB Receptor.

The enantiomeric composition and absolute configuration of 4-Amino-3-(benzo[b]furan-2-yl)-Butanoic Acids and of 4-Amino-3-(thien-2-yl)-Butanoic Acids 1 may be accurately determined by ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of the corresponding derivatives 3 prepared by reaction with chiral reagents. Correlation with HPLC is signaled.     

How Preservice Teachers Interpret and Respond to Student Geometric Errors

Recognizing and responding to students' thinking is essential in teaching mathematics, especially when students provide incorrect solutions. This study examined, through a teaching scenario task, elementary preservice teachers' interpretations of and responses to a student's work on a task involving reflective symmetry. Findings revealed that a majority of preservice teachers identified the student's errors from conceptual aspects of reflection rather than from procedural aspects. However, when they responded to the student's errors, preservice teachers tried to cope with them by invoking procedural knowledge. This study also revealed the three types of responses and two different forms of address by preservice teachers to student errors; these categories might provide insight into the difficulties arising in communication between students and teachers.     

Straightforward preparation of polymers based on oligodimethylsiloxane and alkylamine

Novel oligodimethylsiloxane‐based polymers with alkyl side chain were synthesized in bulk by step‐growth polymerization between α,ω‐glycidyl ether oligodimethylsiloxanes and a monoalkylamine in the absence of catalyst and at temperatures ranging between 80 and 180 °C. Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight results attested for the high reactivity of the amine functions with the glycidyl groups and revealed that the main polymer structure was (A₂B₂)_n type with alkyl moieties as dangling chains. No etherification was observed during the reaction even at high temperatures and the nature of the end groups strongly depended on the molar ratio between glycidyl and amine functions. Polymerization reactions were followed by ¹H NMR and the kinetics of the glycidyl‐amine reaction pointed out the dependence of temperature, molar ratio, and the molar mass of the oligodimethylsiloxane. High conversion rates were obtained, especially with the lowest molecular weight oligodimethylsiloxane. An optimized kinetic model derived from the Horie's model was discussed and permitted to correctly fit the experimental data. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Mössbauer quadrupole splittings and electronic structure in heme proteins and model systems: a density functional theory investigation

We report the results of a series of density functional theory (DFT) calculations aimed at predicting the (57)Fe M?ssbauer electric field gradient (EFG) tensors (quadrupole splittings and asymmetry parameters) and their orientations in S = 0, (1)/(2), 1, (3)/(2), 2, and (5)/(2) metalloproteins and/or model systems. Excellent results were found by using a Wachter's all electron basis set for iron, 6-311G for other heavy atoms, and 6-31G for hydrogen atoms, BPW91 and B3LYP exchange-correlation functionals, and spin-unrestricted methods for the paramagnetic systems. For the theory versus experiment correlation, we found R(2) = 0.975, slope = 0.99, intercept = -0.08 mm sec(-)(1), rmsd = 0.30 mm sec(-)(1) (N = 23 points) covering a DeltaE(Q) range of 5.63 mm s(-)(1) when using the BPW91 functional and R(2) = 0.978, slope = 1.12, intercept = -0.26 mm sec(-)(1), rmsd = 0.31 mm sec(-)(1) when using the B3LYP functional. DeltaE(Q) values in the following systems were successfully predicted: (1) ferric low-spin (S = (1)/(2)) systems, including one iron porphyrin with the usual (d(xy))(2)(d(xz)d(yz))(3) electronic configuration and two iron porphyrins with the more unusual (d(xz)d(yz))(4)(d(xy))(1) electronic configuration; (2) ferrous NO-heme model compounds (S = (1)/(2)); (3) ferrous intermediate spin (S = 1) tetraphenylporphinato iron(II); (4) a ferric intermediate spin (S = (3)/(2)) iron porphyrin; (5) ferrous high-spin (S = 2) deoxymyoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin; and (6) ferric high spin (S = (5)/(2)) metmyoglobin plus two five-coordinate and one six-coordinate iron porphyrins. In addition, seven diamagnetic (S = 0, d(6) and d(8)) systems studied previously were reinvestigated using the same functionals and basis set scheme as used for the paramagnetic systems. All computed asymmetry parameters were found to be in good agreement with the available experimental data as were the electric field gradient tensor orientations. In addition, we investigated the electronic structures of several systems, including the (d(xy))(2)(d(xz),d(yz))(3) and (d(xz),d(yz))(4)(d(xy))(1) [Fe(III)/porphyrinate](+) cations as well as the NO adduct of Fe(II)(octaethylporphinate), where interesting information on the spin density distributions can be readily obtained from the computed wave functions.     

Encapsulation of palladium in polyurea microcapsules

An interfacial polymerisation approach is adopted to encapsulate palladium(II) acetate and palladium nanoparticles in polyurea microcapsules for use in catalysis.     

Stable (amino)(phosphino)carbenes: difunctional molecules

(Amino)(phosphino)carbenes are stable due to the donation of the nitrogen lone pair, the phosphino group remains strongly pyramidalized. Reactions can be performed selectively at the carbene center, but also at the phosphorus center leading to new stable carbenes. These difunctional molecules can be considered as hybrid ligands.     

Ab Initio calculations of the anisotropic dielectric tensor of GaAs/AlAs superlattices

The static dielectric properties of (001)(GaAs)(p)/(AlAs)(p) superlattices have been calculated as a function of their period p for 1< or = p < or =12, starting from density-functional theory. The interplay between quantum confinement and local field effects is shown to be crucial. For light polarized in the growth direction it leads to the otherwise surprising justification of the use of a classical effective medium theory, even for the smallest periods. Only the inclusion of both contributions allows in ab initio and in semiempirical calculations to reproduce the experimentally observed birefringence.     

Description of pulse propagation in a dispersive medium by use of a pulse quality factor

We investigated how the duration of short laser pulses evolves in a dispersive material, using rms widths and a propagation law based on a pulse quality factor. Experiments were carried out with femtosecond pulses (10 to 25fs at the temporal waist) propagating in bulk fused silica. Excellent agreement was found between theory and experiment. This approach does not require complete characterization of laser pulses and eliminates the need for any assumption regarding the interpretation of autocorrelation traces. The method is of general validity, and it can be applied to pulses of arbitrary shape.     

MR detection of mechanical vibrations using a radiofrequency field gradient

A new method for NMR characterization of mechanical waves, based upon radiofrequency field gradient for motion encoding, is proposed. A binomial B1 gradient excitation scheme was used to visualize the mobile spins undergoing a periodic transverse mechanical excitation. A simple model was designed to simulate the NMR signal as a function of the wave frequency excitation and the periodicity of the NMR pulse sequence. The preliminary results were obtained on a gel phantom at low vibration frequencies (0-200 Hz) by using a ladder-shaped coil generating a nearly constant RF field gradient along a specific known direction. For very small displacements and/or B1 gradients, the NMR signal measured on a gel phantom was proportional to the vibration amplitude and the pulse sequence was shown to be selective with respect to the vibration frequency. A good estimation of the direction of vibrations was obtained by varying the angle between the motion direction and the B1 gradient. The method and its use in parallel to more conventional MR elastography techniques are discussed. The presented approach might be of interest for noninvasive investigation of elastic properties of soft tissues and other materials.