Goos-Hänchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts in tilted Weyl semimetals

We establish the beam models of Goos-Hänchen (GH) and Imbert-Fedorov (IF) effects in tilted Weyl semimetals (WSMs), and systematically study the influences of Weyl cone tilting and chemical potential on the GH and IF shifts at a certain photon energy 1.96 eV. It is found that the GH and IF shifts in tilted type-I and type-Ⅱ WSMs are both almost symmetric about the Weyl cone tilting. Meanwhile, the GH and IF shifts in type-I WSMs almost do not change with the tilt degree of Weyl cones, while those in type-Ⅱ WSMs are extremely dependent on tilt degree. These trends are mainly due to the nearly symmetric distribution of WSMs conductivities, where the conductivities keep stable in type-I WSMs and gradually decrease with tilt degree in type-Ⅱ WSMs. By adjusting the chemical potential, the boundary between type-I and type-Ⅱ WSMs widens, and the dependence of the beam shifts on the tilt degree can be manipulated. Furthermore, by extending the relevant discussions to a wider frequency band, the peak fluctuation of GH shifts and the decrease of IF shifts occur gradually as the frequency increases, and the performance of beam shifts at photon energy 1.96 eV is equally suitable for other photon frequencies. The above findings provide a new reference for revisiting the beam shifts in tilted WSMs and determining the types of WSMs.     

Facile preparation and properties of superhydrophobic nanocellulose membrane

Superhydrophobic nanocellulose membrane was prepared by synergistically modifying biodegradable nanocellulose with low-carbon perfluoroorganosiloxane and ethyl orthosilicate. The effects of four kinds of low-carbon perfluoroorganosiloxanes with different structures and their ratio to ethyl orthosilicate on the hydrophobic properties of nanocellulose membrane were investigated, and then FT-IR, XPS, XRD, SEM, TEM, AFM, TG and contact angle goniometer were used to characterize the structure and hydrophobic properties of nanocellulose membrane before and after modification. It is found that when the molar ratio of 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltrimethoxysilane (PFOTMS) to ethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) is 1, the modified nanocellulose membrane PFOTMS-TEOS-CNF is loaded with silica nanoparticles both inside and on its surface, and a micro-nano hierarchical rough morphology with low surface energy is constructed. At this point, the root-mean-square roughness (Rq) of nanocellulose membrane is 112 nm, and the static contact angle of water droplet is 153.5°, successfully realizing superhydrophobicity. In addition, compared to unmodified nanocellulose membrane, PFOTMS-TEOS-CNF with better thermal stability includes an additional maximum weight loss rate temperature (491.2 °C). The above advantages markedly improve the shortcomings of pristine nanocellulose, such as superhydrophilicity and insufficient thermal stability, and also broadens its high-value application in many fields.     

UPLC-Q/TOF-MS coupled with multivariate analysis for comparative analysis of metabolomic in Dendrobium nobile from different growth altitudes

Dendrobium nobile alkaloids (DNLA) and glycosides are the main active components extracted from Dendrobium nobile Lindl. (D. nobile) used for thousands of years in China. The pharmacological effects of the above chemical components are significantly different. D. nobile is mainly grown at an altitude ranging from 230 to 800 m in Chishui City, Northwest Guizhou Province. However, it is unclear whether the metabolite in D. nobile is influenced by the planting altitude. Hence, to reveal the different metabolite in D. nobile cultivated at the altitude of 336 m, 528 m, and 692 m, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with Q/TOF-MS couple with multivariate analysis were developed. Using the orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis, 19 different metabolites were discovered and then tentatively assigned their structures as alkaloids and glycosides by comparing mass spectrometry data with in-house database and literature. Moreover, the result of semiquantitative analysis showed the content of dendrobine that was belonged to alkaloids significantly increased at the altitude of 692 m, whereas the content of glycosides demonstrated an accumulation trend at the altitude of 528 m. The results could provide valuable information for the optimal clinical drug therapeutics and provide a reference for quality control.     

Tutorial review on validation of liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry methods: Part II

This is the part II of a tutorial review intending to give an overview of the state of the art of method validation in liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC–MS) and discuss specific issues that arise with MS (and MS–MS) detection in LC (as opposed to the “conventional” detectors). The Part II starts with briefly introducing the main quantitation methods and then addresses the performance related to quantification: linearity of signal, sensitivity, precision, trueness, accuracy, stability and measurement uncertainty. The last section is devoted to practical considerations in validation. With every performance characteristic its essence and terminology are addressed, the current status of treating it is reviewed and recommendations are given, how to handle it, specifically in the case of LC–MS methods.     

Lanthanum trilactate: Vibrational spectroscopic study − infrared/Raman spectroscopy

In this study lanthanum trilactate was prepared by neutralization reaction of lactic acid and lanthanum oxide, purified and identified by X-ray powder diffraction. Infrared spectra (Mid-IR region 4000–650 cm⁻¹) and Raman spectra (Stokes region 4000–100 cm⁻¹) of the high quality crystalline samples have been recorded and presented for the first time. For comparison DFT calculations were performed using Gaussian 09 D.01 and agreement between predicted and measured spectral data has been achieved. Acquired information can be utilized for substance identification for example in various industrial applications or in biological systems.     

Power of isotopic fine structure for unambiguous determination of metabolite elemental compositions: In silico evaluation and metabolomic application

In mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics studies, reference-free identification of metabolites is still a challenging issue. Previously, we demonstrated that the elemental composition (EC) of metabolites could be unambiguously determined using isotopic fine structure, observed by ultrahigh resolution MS, which provided the relative isotopic abundance (RIA) of ¹³C, ¹⁵N, ¹⁸O, and ³⁴S. Herein, we evaluated the efficacy of the RIA for determining ECs based on the MS peaks of 20,258 known metabolites. The metabolites were simulated with a ≤25% error in the isotopic peak area to investigate how the error size effect affected the rate of unambiguous determination of the ECs. The simulation indicated that, in combination with reported constraint rules, the RIA led to unambiguous determination of the ECs for more than 90% of the tested metabolites. It was noteworthy that, in positive ion mode, the process could distinguish alkali metal-adduct ions ([M + Na]⁺ and [M + K]⁺). However, a significant degradation of the EC determination performance was observed when the method was applied to real metabolomic data (mouse liver extracts analyzed by infusion ESI), because of the influence of noise and bias on the RIA. To achieve ideal performance, as indicated in the simulation, we developed an additional method to compensate for bias on the measured ion intensities. The method improved the performance of the calculation, permitting determination of ECs for 72% of the observed peaks. The proposed method is considered a useful starting point for high-throughput identification of metabolites in metabolomic research.     

On molecular topological properties of hex‐derived networks

Topological indices are numerical parameters of a molecular graph, which characterize its topology and are usually graph invariant. In quantitative structure–activity relationship/quantitative structure–property relationship study, physico‐chemical properties and topological indices such as Randić, atom–bond connectivity (ABC), and geometric–arithmetic (GA) index are used to predict the bioactivity of chemical compounds. Graph theory has found a considerable use in this area of research. In this paper, we study hex‐derived networks HDN1(n) and HDN2(n), which are generated by hexagonal network of dimension n and derive analytical closed results of general Randić index R_α(G) for different values of α, for these networks of dimension n. We also compute the general first Zagreb, ABC, GA, ABC₄, and GA₅ indices for these hex‐derived networks for the first time and give closed formulae of these degree‐based indices for hex‐derived networks. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quaternary Stereogenic Centers through Enantioselective Heck Arylation of Acyclic Olefins with Aryldiazonium Salts: Application in a Concise Synthesis of (R)‐Verapamil

We describe herein a highly regio‐ and enantioselective Pd‐catalyzed Heck arylation of unactivated trisubstituted acyclic olefins to provide all‐carbon quaternary stereogenic centers. Chiral N,N ligands of the pyrimidine‐ and pyrazino‐oxazoline class were developed for that purpose, providing the desired products in good to high yields with enantiomeric ratios up to >99:1. Both linear and branched substituents on the olefins were well‐tolerated. The potential of this new method is demonstrated by the straightforward synthesis of several O‐methyl lactols and lactones containing quaternary stereocenters, together with a concise enantioselective total synthesis of the calcium channel blocker verapamil.