A concise method for synthesis of diaryl aryl- or alkylphosphonates

A convenient method has been developed to synthesize diaryl arylphosphonates from triaryl phosphites, triethyl phosphite, and aromatic halides. The new method relies on the triethyl phosphite assisted nickel catalyzed Arbuzov reaction and can be applied to synthesize certain diaryl alkylphosphonates without catalysts.     

Express detection of nonylphenol in water samples by fluorescence polarization immunoassay

The development of express method for detection of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDC) such as alkylphenols is required for ecological monitoring. Several attempts have been made to produce antibodies against 4-nonylphenol (NP) in recent years. This work describes the production of new antibodies against NP and also summarizes the characterization of antibodies obtained earlier. Three approaches used to produce alkylphenol-specific antibodies are compared; these are based on: 1. omega-(4-hydroxyphenyl)nonanoic or omega-(4-hydroxyphenyl)heptanoic acid NP derivatives designed to mimic the linear NP isomer; 2. 4-aminophenol, which potentially mimics various substituted phenolic compounds with different side-chain structures at position 4 of the benzene ring; and 3. a mixture of branched NP isomers, conjugated to the carrier protein via a benzene ring by the Mannich reaction, and expected to be the closest mimic of NP structure by preserving its natural alkyl moiety.Fluorescence polarization immunoassays based on different combinations of antibody and labeled antigen for screening detection of NP were developed and structural aspects of assay sensitivity and specificity were investigated. The assays based on the antisera raised against omega-(4-hydroxyphenyl)nonanoic acid and NP conjugate via Mannich reaction are capable of express detection of NP with detection limit of 7 microg mL(-1 )and assay dynamic range of 18-300 microg mL(-1).     

The studies of the effect of photostimulated changes in thin carbon films

Photostimulated changes in thin carbon films deposited onto fused silica substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering and irradiated by the light of the first (1060nm) and the second (530nm) harmonics of a QW-switched Nd³⁺ AVG laser were investigated. The changes are supposed to be connected with the reordering of chemical bounds.     

Integrable structure of conformal field theory,quantum KdV theory and Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz

We construct the quantum versions of the monodromy matrices of KdV theory. The traces of these quantum monodromy matrices, which will be called as “T-operators,” act in highest weight Virasoro modules. TheT-operators depend on the spectral parameter λ and their expansion around λ=∞ generates an infinite set of commuting Hamiltonians of the quantum KdV system. TheT-operators can be viewed as the continuous field theory versions of the commuting transfermatrices of integrable lattice theory. In particular, we show that for the values $c = 1 - 3\frac{{3(2n + 1)^2 }}{{2n + 3}}$ ,n=1,2,3 .... of the Virasoro central charge the eigenvalues of theT-operators satisfy a closed system of functional equations sufficient for determining the spectrum. For the ground-state eigenvalue these functional equations are equivalent to those of the massless Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz for the minimal conformal field theoryM _2,2n+3; in general they provide a way to generalize the technique of the Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz to the excited states. We discuss a generalization of our approach to the cases of massive field theories obtained by perturbing these Conformal Field Theories with the operator Φ_1,3. The relation of theseT-operators to the boundary states is also briefly described.     

The regularity of solutions of reaction-diffusion equations via Lagrangian coordinates

In this paper we study the regularity of nonnegative solutions and their interfaces for the nonlinear reaction-diffusion equation $$u_t = \left( {u^m } \right)_{xx} + f\left( u \right),\left( E \right)$$ wherem>1 andf(u) is aC ¹ function withf(0)=0 and is subject to some other technical conditions. This equation has the property of finite propagation which gives rise to interfaces separating regions whereu=0 andu>0. The analysis is carried out by means of Lagrangian coordinates, formally viewing the reaction-diffusion equation as the equation governing the evolution of the density of a certain continuum. Lagrangian coordinates have been successfully applied to study nonlinear diffusion equations posed in one space dimension. The usual formulation applies to equations which can be written in the form of a conservation law, which is not the case here because of the reaction term. In problems exhibiting interfaces such technique has the merit of rendering the interfaces straight lines, much simplifying the analysis. In this paper we present anon-standard Lagrangian formulation that works innon-conservation cases. Equation (E) is then translated into this framework and we find in a natural way the necessary estimates to prove theC ¹ regularity of moving interfaces and the regularity of the weak solution near such an interface, that allows us to establish the dynamic properties of the interface for the solutions. We end the paper by describing how the method can be applied to similar problems inseveral space dimensions with radial symmetry.     

New formulation of restricted growth processes

We present a new formulation of a class of growth models-those which evolve according to an exclusion process. This formulation is based upon a transformation of the probability distribution function which involves Grassmann variables. This method is very general and enables one to derive an exact stochastic differential equation for the model of interest. We describe this method using the traffic model as an example.     

LiNa2AlF6: a powder structure solution

Lithium sodium aluminium fluoride was obtained as a white powder by melting a stoichiometric mixture of AlF₃, NaF and LiF at 1223 K, and then cooling to 923 K and sintering at this temperature for 4 h. The ab initio crystal structure determination was carried out using X‐ray powder diffraction techniques. The monoclinic structure of LiNa₂AlF₆ can be related to cubic elpasolite. The Li and Al atoms lie on inversion centres. The main octahedral AlF₆ structural elements are not deformed, but are rotated slightly with respect to the unit‐cell axes. The Li atoms have octahedral coordinations, whereas the Na atoms have cubo‐octahedral coordinations. The Na coordination polyhedron is distorted in comparison with that of elpasolite.     

Mechanism studies of the conversion of 13C-labeled n-butane on zeolite H-ZSM-5 by using 13C magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy and GC-MS analysis

By using 13C MAS NMR spectroscopy (MAS = magic angle spinning), the conversion of selectively 13C-labeled n-butane on zeolite H-ZSM-5 at 430-470 K has been demonstrated to proceed through two pathways: 1) scrambling of the selective 13C-label in the n-butane molecule, and 2) oligomerization-cracking and conjunct polymerization. The latter processes (2) produce isobutane and propane simultaneously with alkyl-substituted cyclopentenyl cations and condensed aromatic compounds. In situ 13C MAS NMR and complementary ex situ GC-MS data provided evidence for a monomolecular mechanism of the 13C-label scrambling, whereas both isobutane and propane are formed through intermolecular pathways. According to 13C MAS NMR kinetic measurements, both pathways proceed with nearly the same activation energies (E(a) = 75 kJ mol(-1) for the scrambling and 71 kJ mol(-1) for isobutane and propane formation). This can be rationalized by considering the intermolecular hydride transfer between a primarily initiated carbenium ion and n-butane as being the rate-determining stage of the n-butane conversion on zeolite H-ZSM-5.     

Kinetic and mechanistic study of the quasiliving cationic polymerization of styrene with the 2-phenyl-2-propanol/AlCl3 · OBu2 initiating system

The cationic polymerization of styrene with the 2-phenyl-2-propanol (CumOH)/AlCl₃ · OBu₂ initiating system at various dibutyl ether concentrations in a mixture of 1,2-dichloroethane and n-hexane (55:45 v/v) at −15 °C was investigated. The experimental results showed that an increase in dibutyl ether concentration leads to a noticeable decrease in the polymerization rate as well as to the more controlled polymerization in terms of molecular weight (M_n) and molecular weight distribution (MWD) evolutions. The kinetic investigation revealed that the polymerization proceeds in two stages. The first stage is characterized by high polymerization rate and slow initiation relative to propagation. During this stage molecular weight decreases or does not change and MWD increases with conversion. In the second stage considerably slower quasiliving polymerization of styrene occurs. The quasiliving nature of the styrene polymerization by the CumOH/AlCl₃ · OBu₂ system is proved and mechanistic scheme of the polymerization is proposed.