Leptodermous expansion of nuclear ground state energies and the anomaly in the nuclear curvature energy

The leptodermous expansion of the total ground state energy of a nucleus into volume, surface, curvature and gauss curvature contributions has been studied starting from a semi-classical energy density formalism of extended Thomas Fermi type. A numerical procedure was used to obtain the surface energy and curvature energy contributions from surface moments of energy density profilesH(r) for a sequence of nuclei withN=Z and neglecting the coulomb interaction for the three Skyrme forces. A transition to the liquid drop model type expansion in increasing powers ofA ^−1/3 is then made, taking into account the dependence of the central density and the surface structure on the mass of the nucleus. It is found that there is no inconsistency between the curvature contribution to the total energy in the leptodermous expansion and theA ^−1/3 term contribution in the liquid drop model expansion. It has been shown that the earlier apparent anomaly between the above two methods arises due to the use of semi-infinite approximation and the mass dependence of the central density and the surface structure of finite nuclei.     

A novel study of charged carbon clusters using a tandem Van de Graaff accelerator

A conventional tandem Van de Graaff accelerator is used to produce charged carbon cluster beams. The unique capability of the method for studying highly charged clusters unaccessible to other methods of producing cluster beams is demonstrated.     

Fabrication of birefringent anisotropic model materials

Widely different techniques have been employed in the fabrication of transparent, birefringent, anisotropic model materials. Some of the techniques reported in the technical literature are briefly reviewed. A simple method of fabricating large plates of arbitrary layup is described.     

Adiabatic Photoreactions of Organic Molecules

An adiabatic photoreaction is a chemical process that occurs entirely on a single excited electronic energy surface. As a rule, most photoreactions of organic molecules start on an excited electronic surface but “jump” to a lower surface somewhere along the reaction coordinate. There are, however, exceptions to this general rule. For example, photoreactions involving small structural changes and minor alterations in covalent bonding (e.g., proton transfer and complex formation) are commonly found to occur adiabatically. The purpose of this review is to survey examples of more complicated adiabatic photoreactions such as fragmentation, electrocyclic rearrangements, and geometrical isomerizations. The concepts employed are presented in an introductory discussion.     

FORMATION OF REARRANGEMENT PRODUCT IN PHOTOLYSIS OF α,α-DIMETHYLDEOXYBENZOIN UPON CYCLODEXTRIN COMPLEXATION

Abstract Solid-state irradiation of cyclodextrin complexes of α,α-dimethyldeoxybenzoin results in the formation of a significant amount of rearrangement product, 4-isopropylbenzophenone, in addition to cage products. This behavior is not observed in the photolysis in solution or in micellar media.     

Photophysical Studies on the Interaction of Acridinedione Dyes with Universal Protein Denaturant: Guanidine Hydrochloride

Photophysical studies of photoinduced electron transfer (PET) and non-PET based acridinedione dyes with guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) were carried out in water and methanol. Addition of GuHCl to photoinduced electron transfer (PET) based acridinedione dye (ADR 1) results in a fluorescence enhancement, whereas a non-PET based dye (ADR 2) shows no significant change in the fluorescence intensity and lifetime. Addition of GuHCl to ADR 1 dye in methanol results in single exponential decay behaviour, on the contrary a biexponential decay pattern was observed on the addition of GuHCl in water. Absorption and emission spectral studies of ADR 1 dye interaction with GuHCl reveals that the dye molecule is not in the protonated form in aqueous GuHCl solution, and the dye is confined to two distinguishable microenvironment in the aqueous phase. A large variation in the microenvironment around the dye molecule is created on the addition of GuHCl and this was ascertained by time-resolved area normalized emission spectroscopy (TRANES) and time-resolved emission spectroscopy (TRES). The dye molecule prefers to reside in the hydrophobic microenvironment, rather in the hydrophilic aqueous phase is well emphasized by time-resolved fluorescence lifetime studies. The mechanism of fluorescence enhancement of ADR 1 dye by GuHCl is attributed to the suppression of the PET process occuring through space.     

Asymmetric induction during electron transfer mediated photoreduction of carbonyl compounds: role of zeolites

Photochemistry of 17 aryl alkyl ketones included within cation exchanged zeolites has been examined. In solution five of the 17 ketones undergo intramolecular hydrogen abstraction reaction even in the presence of a chiral amine and the rest are photoreduced to the corresponding alcohol. Within zeolites all 17 ketones yielded in presence of a chiral amine, the corresponding alcohol as the major product. When a chiral amine was used as the coadsorbent within alkali ion exchanged zeolites, enantiomerically enriched alcohol was formed in all cases. The best chiral induction was obtained with phenyl cyclohexyl ketone (enantiomeric excess: 68%). 1H-13C Cross Polarization Magic Angle Spinning (CP-MAS) experiments, with a model ketone (perdeuterated acetophenone) and chiral amine (pseudoephedrine) included within MY zeolites, suggested that the cation brings the reactant and the chiral amine closer. The role of the cation in such a process is also revealed by the computation results. The results presented here highlight the importance of a supramolecular structure in forcing a closer interaction between a reactant and a chiral inductor that could be used to achieve asymmetric induction in photoproducts.     

Asymmetric induction during photocyclization of chiral and achiral alpha-oxoamides within achiral zeolites

The photochemistry of 31 alpha-oxoamides capable of undergoing gamma-hydrogen transfer has been examined within zeolites. These molecules, upon excitation, yield two products--a beta-lactam and oxazolidinone--in solution, both resulting from gamma-hydrogen transfer. While in benzene the major product is oxazolidinone, within an MY zeolite, the main product is a beta-lactam. In this investigation, we have focused our attention on asymmetric induction in the formation of the beta-lactam product. Two approaches--using a chiral inductor and chiral auxiliary--have been employed. While in solution, in the presence of chiral inductors, achiral alpha-oxoamides yield beta-lactams with zero enantioselectivity; within zeolites, an ee of up to 44% has been achieved. Alpha-oxoamides appended with a chiral auxiliary gave beta-lactams with less than 5% diastereoselectivity in solution while within zeolites, the same alpha-oxoamides gave the products with de's of up to 83%. Such a remarkable influence of zeolites is attributed to an alkali ion interaction with the reactant alpha-oxoamides and to the confined environment of the zeolite interior. At this stage, we have not been able to provide a model with predictive power and further work is needed to understand this valuable asymmetric induction strategy.