Furan derivatives. Part 10. Synthesis of cyclohepta[cd]benzofuran

Cyclohepta[cd]benzofuran 2 was synthesized by heating (5-oxo-5H-benzocyclohepten-4-yloxy)acetic acid 16 with sodium acetate in acetic anhydride or by photocyclization of 16 in acetonitrile. Several reactions of cyclohepta[cd]benzofuran 2 were examined. Protonation of 2 with trifluoroacetic acid occurred at the 2-position to give a tropylium ion 17 . Catalytic hydrogenation of 2 with palladium on charcoal proceeded smoothly to give tetrahydrocyclohepta[cd]benzofuran 18 . The Diels-Alder reaction of 2 with tetracyano-ethylene produced an adduct 19 . Formylation of 2 with phosphorus oxychloride and dimethylformamide occurred easily at the 2-position to afford compound 20 . Cyclohepta[cd]benzofuran 2 has both properties of heptafulvene and benzofuran.     

Furan derivatives. Part 12 . Synthesis of 2,5-dioxacyclohepta[jkl]-as-indacenes

A variety of 2,5-dioxacyclohepta[jkl]-as-indacenes 5, 7–14 were synthesized as a new heterocycle by the treatment of diethyl (5,9-dioxobenzocyclohepten-1,4-diyloxy)diacetates 4a-e with potassium hydroxide or sodium hydride in dioxane. The mechanism of furan-ring formation from 4a-e was discussed.     

Rate constants for the gas-phase reactions of O3 with a series of monoterpenes and related compounds at 296 ± 2 K

Rate constants for the gas-phase reactions of O₃ with a series of monoterpenes and related compounds have been determined at 296 ± 2 K and 740 torr total pressure of air or O₂ using a combination of absolute and relative rate techniques. Good agreement between the absolute and relative rate data was observed, and the rate constants obtained (in units of 10^?17 cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1) were: α-pinene, 8.7; β-pinene, 1.5; Δ³-carene, 3.8; 2-carene, 24; sabinene, 8.8; d-limonene, 21; γ-terpinene, 14; terpinolene, 140; α-phellandrene, 190; α-terpinene, 870; myrcene, 49; trans-ocimene, 56; p-cymene, <0.005; and 1,8-cineole, <0.015. While these rate constants for α- and β-pinene and sabinene are in good agreement with recent absolute and relative rate determinations, those for the other monoterpenes are generally lower than the literature data by factors of ca. 2–10. The measured rate constants for the monoterpenes are reasonably consistent with predictions based upon the number and positions of the substituent groups around the 〉C?C〈 bond(s).     

Subdynamics and nonintegrable systems

Work on the application of Poincaré's theorem to large classical or quantum systems with a continuous spectrum is continued. In situations where it is applicable, Poincaré's theorem prevents the construction of a complete set of eigenprojectors which would be hermitian as well as analytic in the coupling constant. In contrast, the theory of subdynamics as developed by the Brussels group permits the construction of a unique set of projectors , giving up the requirement of hermiticity which is replaced by “star-hermiticity”.

The theory of subdynamics is presented in a new self-contained way, starting from the commutation relation , where L_H is the Liouvillian. This presentation is far more direct, and avoids some of the lengthy discussions associated with previous presentations (based mainly on the resolvent of the Liouvillian).

Subdynamics appears to be of interest from many points of view. It generalizes the concept of spectral representation while permitting to retain all the degrees of freedom present in the unperturbed Hamiltonian. In contrast, degrees of freedom are lost when going to the spectral representation (e.g. in the Friedrichs model). Subdynamics permits us to solve the initial value problem associated with the Liouville equation retaining the “non-Markovian” contributions which appear in the standard presentation. Finally, it introduces a classification of large dynamical systems, classical or quantum, into integrable and nonintegrable ones. It is therefore of direct interest for a number of basic problems which belong to the class of nonintegrable dynamical systems, such as the interaction of matter with light. The applications of this technique to these problems will be worked out in subsequent papers.     

Molecular distortion effect on ff-emission in a Pr(III) complex with 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline.

The electronic and structural behaviour of a Pr(III) complex with 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline, [Pr(bathophen)(2)(NO(3))(3)], is investigated with respect to the effect of configuration changes on the Pr(III) centre. [Pr(bathophen)(2)(NO(3))(3)] luminesces from the excited states of the ligand and the metal ion. The fluorescence, ff-emission ((1)D(2)-->(3)H(4)), and phosphorescence bands appear at 394, 608.2 and 482 nm, respectively, in the solid state. In acetonitrile, the complex also shows multiple emissions. From the time-resolved emission and the lifetime measurements, the excitation energy-transfer in [Pr(bathophen)(2)(NO(3))(3)] is clarified, that is, the upper excited triplet level of the ligand acts as an energy donor, while the (1)D(2) levels of Pr(III) is the acceptor. Additionally, the emission phenomena of the complex can be modified by molecular distortion, particularly by rotation of the phenyl groups in the ligand.     

Evaluation of an ODS column modified with zwitterionic/nonionic mixed surfactants and its application to direct injection determination of inorganic anions.

An octadecylsilica (ODS) column modified with zwitterionic/nonionic mixed surfactants was evaluated for the direct injection determination of inorganic anions in biological fluids by ion chromatography. A zwitterionic surfactant (sulfobetaine-type) and a nonionic surfactant (polyoxyethylene-type) were used for a stationary-phase modification. When aqueous electrolyte solutions with concentrations of sub-mM to several mM were used as a mobile phase, the zwitterionic surfactant coated on the ODS surface exhibited unique separation selectivity for ionic species, while the nonionic surfactant coated on the ODS might have formed a hydrophilic network over the ODS surface and restricted matrix proteins from adsorbing on the stationary phase. Consequently, the mixed surfactant-modified column system allowed an efficient ion chromatographic separation of inorganic anions as well as a size-exclusive removal of column-fouling proteins. This separation system was applied to the direct injection determination of UV-absorbing anions in human saliva. The detection limits for nitrite, nitrate, iodide and thiocyanate were 3.1, 2.7, 4.5 and 25 microM, respectively, with UV detection at 210 nm (injection volume; 20 microl), and their relative standard deviations for 5 replicate measurements of saliva samples spiked with 100 microM each of those anions were 1.4, 0.9, 2.2 and 5.5%, respectively.     

Complexity of Body Movements during Sleep in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Recently, measuring the complexity of body movements during sleep has been proven as an objective biomarker of various psychiatric disorders. Although sleep problems are common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and might exacerbate ASD symptoms, their objectivity as a biomarker remains to be established. Therefore, details of body movement complexity during sleep as estimated by actigraphy were investigated in typically developing (TD) children and in children with ASD. Several complexity analyses were applied to raw and thresholded data of actigraphy from 17 TD children and 17 children with ASD. Determinism, irregularity and unpredictability, and long-range temporal correlation were examined respectively using the false nearest neighbor (FNN) algorithm, information-theoretic analyses, and detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). Although the FNN algorithm did not reveal determinism in body movements, surrogate analyses identified the influence of nonlinear processes on the irregularity and long-range temporal correlation of body movements. Additionally, the irregularity and unpredictability of body movements measured by expanded sample entropy were significantly lower in ASD than in TD children up to two hours after sleep onset and at approximately six hours after sleep onset. This difference was found especially for the high-irregularity period. Through this study, we characterized details of the complexity of body movements during sleep and demonstrated the group difference of body movement complexity across TD children and children with ASD. Complexity analyses of body movements during sleep have provided valuable insights into sleep profiles. Body movement complexity might be useful as a biomarker for ASD.     

Infrared spectroscopic study of molecular interaction of tacticity-controlled poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) in a cast film deposited on a solid substrate

Analytical results of a series of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPA) with different tacticities using infrared spectroscopy are presented for studying the influence of the solvation and molecular interactions between the polymeric chains. Infrared spectra of solid matter samples of the compounds exhibit a systematic band intensity change for three band components at 1,680, 1,659, and 1,628 cm⁻¹ involved in the amide I band. The three components correspond to the free, half, and full hydrogen bondings of the secondary amide group, which reflect the molecular configuration depending on the tacticity. When cast films of the compounds prepared on a solid surface are analyzed by infrared transmission spectrometry, another factor of the solvent used for the film preparation is found to be another factor which plays an important role in determining the molecular architecture in the films. This molecular imprint mechanism after the solvation is confirmed by measuring infrared multiple-angle incidence resolution spectra of annealed films. The molecular interactions in the polymeric samples have been revealed by the use of infrared spectroscopy and the tacticity-controlled samples.     

Separation of zeros for source signature identification under reverberant path conditions

This paper presents an approach to distinguishing the zeros representing a sound source from those representing the transfer function on the basis of Lyon's residue-sign model. In machinery noise diagnostics, the source signature must be separated from observation records under reverberant path conditions. In numerical examples and an experimental piano-string vibration analysis, the modal responses could be synthesized by using clustered line-spectrum modeling. The modeling error represented the source signature subject to the source characteristics being given by a finite impulse response. The modeling error can be interpreted as a remainder function necessary for the zeros representing the source signature.