Manifestation of strong magneto-electric dipolar coupling in ferromagnetic nanoparticles−FLC composite: evaluation of time-dependent memory effect

Rod-shaped 5 wt.% copper-doped ZnO (ZnO:Cu²⁺) ferromagnetic nanoparticles (NPs), prepared by hydrothermal method, were dispersed in ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) named Felix 17/100. The effect of ferromagnetic NPs on the physical properties of FLC material (Felix 17/100) has been investigated by dielectric, electro-optical and polarising optical microscopic methods. A noteworthy time-dependent memory has been observed in the NPs-dispersed FLC composite attributed to the coupling of magnetic field associated to NPs with the director orientation of FLC. Improvement in spontaneous polarisation and dielectric susceptibility of FLC material has been ensued with the addition of ferromagnetic NPs. Faster electro-optic response, at lower applied voltage, has also been observed in NPs-dispersed FLC composite. These changes are accredited to the magneto-electric dipolar coupling existing due to the interactions between magnetic-dipole and electric-dipole moments of magnetic NPs and FLC material, respectively. The formation of periodic domains capable to show memory effect has been observed in composite. The observed time-dependent memory was confirmed by dielectric and electro-optical methods. FLC material enriched with the properties of ferromagnetic NPs can be utilised in advanced multifunctional optical devices, time-dependent memory-based security devices and computational purposes.     

Synthesis of succinimidyl-(S)-naproxen ester and its application for indirect enantioresolution of penicillamine by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

Synthesis of N-succinimidyl-(S)-2-(6-methoxynaphth-2-yl) propionate was carried out by the reaction of (S)-naproxen with N-hydroxysuccinimide in the presence of dicyclohexyl carbodiimide. It was characterized and was used as a chiral derivatizing reagent, under mild conditions, to form diastereomers of dl-penicillamine which were resolved by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography using triethyl ammonium phosphate buffer (pH 4.0, 5mM)-acetonitrile (linear gradient (30min) of acetonitrile from 30 to 70%). Excellent separation was achieved with gradient mobile phase. The detection limit was at pmol level.     

Visible Light Mediated Halogen Atom Transfer to Access Polyhalogenated and Deuterated Lactams from Alkyl Halides

A visible light mediated protocol for the synthesis of polyhalogenated and deuterated δ- and γ-lactams from readily available alkyl halides is reported. The reaction involves the generation of haloalkyl radicals through halogen atom transfer (XAT) and subsequent arylalkylation of olefins to afford dihydroisoquinolinones and oxindoles. This new XAT protocol exhibits wide scope under mild conditions and enables access to new halogenated chemical space.     

Gold(I)-Catalyzed and PTSA-Promoted Cycloisomerization of Ynamides to Access Pyrrole Substituted α,β-Unsaturated Ketones**

Substituted pyrroles are prevalent aromatic ring systems encountered in numerous natural products and bioactive molecules. Herein, a novel ynamide scaffold has been designed, synthesized and subsequently applied to an unprecedented gold-catalyzed and para-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA)-assisted cascade cycloisomerization reaction for the synthesis of β-pyrrole substituted α,β-unsaturated ketones. Notably, the reaction is stereoselective, offering E-isomer as major product with low to moderate yield.     

Utilization of Cheese Whey Using Synergistic Immobilization of β-Galactosidase and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Saccharomyces cerevisiae</Emphasis> Cells in Dual Matrices

Whey is a byproduct of the dairy industry, which has prospects of using as a source for production of various valuable compounds. The lactose present in whey is considered as an environmental pollutant and its utilization for enzyme and fuel production, may be effective for whey bioremediation. The dairy yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus have the ability to utilize lactose sharply as the major carbon source for the production of the enzyme. Five strains were tested for the production of the β-galactosidase using whey. The maximum β-galactosidase activity of 1.74 IU/mg dry weight was achieved in whey using K. marxianus MTCC 1389. The biocatalyst was further immobilized on chitosan macroparticles and exhibited excellent functional activity at 35 °C. Almost 89 % lactose hydrolysis was attained for concentrated whey (100 g/L) and retained 89 % catalytic activity after 15 cycles of reuse. Finally, β-galactosidase was immobilized on chitosan and Saccharomyces cerevisiae on calcium alginate, and both were used together for the production of ethanol from concentrated whey. Maximal ethanol titer of 28.9 g/L was achieved during fermentation at 35 °C. The conclusions generated by employing two different matrices will be beneficial for the future modeling using engineered S. cerevisiae in scale-up studies.     

The Neumann Problem for the Kohn-Laplacian on the Heisenberg Group ℍn$\mathbb H_{n}$

The existence and uniqueness of the solution of the Neumann problem for the Kohn-Laplacian relative to the Korányi ball on the Heisenberg group \(\mathbb {H}_{n}\) are discussed. Explicit representation for a Green’s type function (Neumann function) for the Korányi ball in \(\mathbb {H}_{n}\) for circular functions has been obtained. This function is then used on the above region in \(\mathbb {H}_{n}\) to solve the inhomogeneous Neumann boundary value problem for certain circular data.     

Dopant-site occupancies and superconducting properties of the Fe-substituted La2.5Nd0.5CaBa3(Cu1−xFex)7Oz perovskite

The structural and superconducting properties of single-phase Fe-substituted La_2.5Nd_0.5CaBa₃(Cu_1−xFe_x)₇O_z (LNCBCuFe) with 0.0x0.06 compounds having triple-perovskite structure are investigated using X-ray diffraction, a.c. susceptibility, d.c. magnetization, oxygen content and Mössbauer effect measurements. Mössbauer spectral analysis of x=0.03 sample displays unusual Fe-dopant site occupancies and the Cu(2) plane to Cu(1) chain site ratio in the LNCBCuFe are quite different from those of the usual Fe-doped YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ. Specifically, we observe substantial occupation of a new chain-associated quasi-octahedral site, E, at 300 K which transforms into the well-known distorted tetrahedron chain site, A, on lowering the temperature to 78 K. The observed reduction of T_c with increasing x in LNCBCuFe supports the view that the hole filling mechanism contributes predominantly to the suppression of superconductivity by Fe.     

Kinetics of spontaneous change in the localized motions of D-sorbitol glass

The dielectric relaxation spectra of D-sorbitol glass have been studied in real time during annealing at 221.1 K, which is 47 K below its T(g) of 268 K. As the glass structurally relaxes during annealing, features of the Johari-Goldstein (JG) relaxation change with time: (i) the relaxation strength decreases, (ii) the relaxation peak at 48 Hz shifts to a higher frequency, and (iii) the relaxation spectra become narrower. All seem to follow the relation p proportional, variant exp[-(kt)(n)], where p is the magnitude of a property, k the rate constant, and t the time. The parameter n may well be less than 1, but this could not be ascertained. It is proposed that shift of the relaxation peak to a higher frequency and narrowing of the relaxation spectra occur when local, loosely packed regions of molecules in the glass structure collapse nonuniformly and the relaxation time of some of the molecules in the collapsed state becomes too long to contribute to the JG-relaxation spectra. Consequently, the half width of the spectra decreases, and the relaxation peak shifts to a higher frequency. Molecules whose diffusion becomes too slow after the local regions' collapse would contribute to the alpha-relaxation spectra and thus the net relaxation strength would increase on structural relaxation. It is argued that these findings conflict with the NMR-based conclusions that motion of all molecules in the glass and supercooled liquid contributes to the faster relaxation process.