Irresolvable complex mixture of hydrocarbons in soybean oil deodorizer distillate

Aliphatic hydrocarbons (HCs) can be used as a fingerprint of a given seed oil. Only by characterization of aliphatic HCs could contamination by mineral oil in that seed oil be confirmed. During the isolation of squalene from soybean oil deodorizer distillate, a significant amount of unknown HCs, ca. 44 wt%, was obtained. These seemingly‐easy‐to‐identify HCs turned out to be much more difficult to elucidate due to the presence of an irresolvable complex mixture (ICM). The objective of this study was to purify and identify the unknown ICM of aliphatic HCs from soybean oil deodorizer distillate. Purification of the ICM was successfully achieved by using modified Soxhlet extraction, followed by modified preparative column chromatography, and finally by classical preparative column chromatography. FT‐IR, TLC, elemental analysis, GC/FID, NMR and GC‐MS analyses were then performed on the purified HCs. The GC chromatogram detected the presence of ICM peaks comprising two major peaks and a number of minor peaks. Validation methods such as IR and NMR justified that the unknowns are saturated HCs. This work succeeded in tentatively identifying the two major peaks in the ICM as cycloalkane derivatives.     

Deoxygenative olefination reaction as the key step in the syntheses of deoxy and iminosugars

Just a spoonful of sugar! A new synthetic strategy involving the use of a deoxygenative olefination reaction as the key step was developed for the preparation of deoxy and iminosugars in their optically active form (see scheme). This strategy has been proven successful by the use of a pentose, hexose, heptose, and disaccharide as the starting materials. Furthermore, it was applied in a formal total synthesis of iminosugar (-)-1-deoxy-L-fuconojirimycin, which can inhibit α-L-fucosidase.     

Optical characterization of individual quantum dots

Optical characterization of single quantum dots (QDs) by means of micro-photoluminescence (μPL) will be reviewed. Both QDs formed in the Stranski–Krastanov mode as well as dots in the apex of pyramidal structures will be presented. For InGaAs/GaAs dots, several excitonic features with different charge states will be demonstrated. By varying the magnitude of an external electric or magnetic field and/or the temperature, it has been demonstrated that the transportation of carriers is affected and accordingly the charge state of a single QD can be tuned. In addition, we have shown that the charge state of the QD can be controlled also by pure optical means, i.e. by altering the photo excitation conditions. Based on the experience of the developed InAs/GaAs QD system, similar methods have been applied on the InGaN/GaN QD system.     

Composition and antipathogenic activities of the twig essential oil of Chamaecyparis formosensis from Taiwan

In this study, antipathogenic activities of the twig essential oil and its constituents from Chamaecyparis formosensis Matsum were evaluated in vitro against six plant pathogenic fungi. The essential oil from the fresh twigs was isolated using hydrodistillation in a Clevenger-type apparatus, and characterized by GC-FID and GC-MS. Twenty-five compounds were identified, representing 98.9% of the oil. The main components were beta-eudesmol (25.1%), tau-muurolol (21.6%), elemol (15.0%), totarol (14.9%), and alpha-cadinol (12.4%). The twig oil (500 mcirog/mL) showed growth inhibitory activity against the phytopathogenic fungi, Fusarium oxysporum, Pestalotiopsis funereal, and Ganoderma austral, with antifungal indices of 92.7%, 71.1%, and 87.7%, respectively. In addition, the oil suppressed totally the growth of Rhizoctonia solani, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, and Fusarium solani. In order to ascertain the source compounds of these antipathogenic activities, the main components were individually evaluated. Tau-Muurolol and alpha-cadinol exhibited excellent activity against F. oxysporum, R. solani, C. gloeosporioides, and F. solani, with IC50 < 50 microg/mL. These compounds also efficiently inhibited the mycelial growths of P. funereal and G. austral. Thus, alpha-cadinol and tau-muurolol could be considered as potential natural fungicides for controlling fungal pathogens and worth.     

A Pentacyclic Nitrogen‐Bridged Thienyl–Phenylene–Thienyl Arene for Donor–Acceptor Copolymers: Synthesis,Characterization, and Applications in Field‐Effect Transistors and Polymer Solar Cells

A pentacyclic benzodipyrrolothiophene ( BDPT ) unit, in which two outer thiophene rings are covalently fastened with the central phenylene ring by nitrogen bridges, was synthesized. The two pyrrole units embedded in BDPT were constructed by using one‐pot palladium‐catalyzed amination. The coplanar stannylated Sn‐BDPT building block was copolymerized with electron‐deficient thieno[3,4‐c]pyrrole‐4,6‐dione ( TPD ), benzothiadiazole ( BT ), and dithienyl‐diketopyrrolopyrrole ( DPP ) acceptors by Stille polymerization. The bridging nitrogen atoms make the BDPT motif highly electron‐abundant and structurally coplanar, which allows for tailoring the optical and electronic properties of the resultant polymers. Strong photoinduced charge‐transfer with significant band‐broadening in the solid state and relatively higher oxidation potential are characteristic of the BDPT‐based polymers. Poly(benzodipyrrolothiophene‐alt‐benzothiadiazole) ( PBDPTBT ) achieved the highest field‐effect hole mobility of up to 0.02 cm² V^?1 s^?1. The photovoltaic device using the PBDPTBT /PC₇₁BM blend (1:3, w/w) exhibited a V_oc of 0.6 V, a J_sc of 10.34 mA cm^?2, and a FF of 50 %, leading to a decent PCE of 3.08 %. Encouragingly, the device incorporating poly(benzodipyrrolothiophene‐alt‐thienopyrrolodione) ( PBDPTTPD )/PC₇₁BM (1:3, w/w) composite delivered a highest PCE of 3.72 %. The enhanced performance arises from the lower‐lying HOMO value of PBDPTTPD to yield a higher V_oc of 0.72 V.     

无旋性前进重力波传递在均匀流中的Lagrange解析解与试验验证Ⅰ.理论解析解

对于三维空间等深水中,无旋性自由表面周期性规则前进重力波传递在均匀流中的波流场,依质量守恒取一波长的流体质点的运动位移的波长平均高程,所得其标注参数恰为其在原静止水中的位置下,完全以Lagrange方式的参数控制式,解出此波流场至第三阶的全Lagrange形式解且得到检核验证;其中波流交互作用效应存在于Lagrange流速势中,使得波流场中的压力不受均匀流的影响.而Euler形式解所无法描述的流场特性,包括大于前进波周期的流体质点的运动周期,与其受前进波引起的质量传输速度、它们间的关系、及流体质点对其运动周期平均的高程与成因等,都说明是随流体质点所在的高程向下做指数函数样递减;而流体质点的三维空间螺旋曲线式的运动轨迹与烟线,其随均匀流的流向流速而变化的情况,例如其在均匀流于前进波波向有同向的流速分量时,是受流体质点恰在波谷断面处时的流速大小而变的形式,与其在均匀流于前进波波向有反向的流速分量时,则受流体质点恰在波峰断面处时的流速大小而变的形式,有很大不同的倒反形式甚至以封闭曲线形式呈现.最后,说明波流场变成稳定性运动流场时的特性,并证实其在无流时退化成纯前进波的情况.     

Existence of traveling wave solutions for diffusive predator–prey type systems

In this work we investigate the existence of traveling wave solutions for a class of diffusive predator–prey type systems whose each nonlinear term can be separated as a product of suitable smooth functions satisfying some monotonic conditions. The profile equations for the above system can be reduced as a four-dimensional ODE system, and the traveling wave solutions which connect two different equilibria or the small amplitude traveling wave train solutions are equivalent to the heteroclinic orbits or small amplitude periodic solutions of the reduced system. Applying the methods of Wazewski Theorem, LaSalle?s Invariance Principle and Hopf bifurcation theory, we obtain the existence results. Our results can apply to various kinds of ecological models.     

Surface-surface interaction in smectic liquid crystal films

Null transmission ellipsometry was employed to study the field induced transition of the surface arrangements in freestanding films of smectic liquid crystals. The interlayer interaction between the two surfaces obtained from the threshold voltage for the transition is found to be antiferroelectric and is quasilong ranged. The possible microscopic origins of the measured interaction and its relevance to the interlayer interaction in antiferroelectric liquid crystal materials are discussed.     

Passively Q-switched intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:LuVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>/LBO green laser with a Cr<Superscript>4+</Superscript>:YAG saturable absorber

This work presents experimental results concerning a passively Q-switched intracavity frequencydoubled Nd:LuVO₄/LBO green laser with a Cr⁴⁺:YAG saturable absorber operated at the wavelength of 0.53 μm. A maximal output power of 1.28 W was obtained at a pump power of 16.34 W, and peak power, pulse width as well as repetition frequency were 1.48 kW, 41 ns and 21 kHz, respectively.