Michael addition of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds catalyzed by iron oxide nanoparticles

Several iron oxides nanoparticles (Fe₂O₃@Fe₂O₃, Fe°@Fe₂O₃, GO@Fe₂O₃ and calcinated Fe₂O₃) have been assessed as catalysts in the 1,4-addition of a cyclic β-ketoester onto methyl vinyl ketone under neat conditions. It appeared that calcinated Fe₂O₃NP are efficient catalysts at 1?mol% loading for the Michael addition of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds onto various enones.     

Quantitative Prediction of Rate Constants for Aqueous Racemization To Avoid Pointless Stereoselective Syntheses

Racemization has a large impact upon the biological properties of molecules but the chemical scope of compounds with known rate constants for racemization in aqueous conditions was hitherto limited. To address this remarkable blind spot, we have measured the kinetics for racemization of 28 compounds using circular dichroism and ¹H NMR spectroscopy. We show that rate constants for racemization (measured by ourselves and others) correlate well with deprotonation energies from quantum mechanical (QM) and group contribution calculations. Such calculations thus provide predictions of the second‐order rate constants for general‐base‐catalyzed racemization that are usefully accurate. When applied to recent publications describing the stereoselective synthesis of compounds of purported biological value, the calculations reveal that racemization would be sufficiently fast to render these expensive syntheses pointless.     

A new strategy for the synthesis of pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-c]pyrimidines and pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidines

A series of pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-c]pyrimidines were prepared via oxidative cyclization of aldehyde N-(1,3-diphenylpyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4-yl)hydrazones. Dimroth rearrangement of such a series yielded pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidines.     

Officinalioside,a new lignan glucoside from Borago officinalis L.

A new lignan glucoside, officinalioside (1), was isolated from n-BuOH fraction of the aerial parts of Borago officinalis L., together with four known compounds: actinidioionoside (2), roseoside (3), crotalionoside C (4) and kaempferol 3-O-β-D-galactopyranoside (5). The structure of the new compound was established by means of spectroscopic and chemical analyses. Compounds 1 and 2 showed a moderate DPPH radical scavenging activity (IC₅₀: 52.6 ± 1.70 and 41.3 ± 0.25 μM, respectively) comparable with that of the standard trolox (16.6 ± 2.2 μM) without any significant cytotoxicity towards human cell line A549 (IC₅₀ > 100 μM).     

Acousto-optic diffraction at liquid-solid interface with light incident at critical angle

A new acousto-optic diffraction configuration is described. At a liquid-solid interface, a light beam is incident from the solid side of higher refractive index. The maximum acousto-optic diffraction of the Raman-Nath type occurs in the liquid with light incident at the critical angle. The angular dependence of the diffraction efficiency indicates accurate optical alignment requirement. Application to acoustic imaging is briefly discussed.     

Highly efficient widely tunable subpicosecond double mode-locked laser

A high average power (≈150 mW) subpicosecond (0.5 ps) passively double mode-locked dye laser is described. Two synchronized cw pulse trains are generated which are independently tunable over broad wavelength ranges (≈600 Å).     

Coulomb dissociation of incident 16O at 4.5 GeV/c

Projectile multifragment breakup of ¹⁶O, ²C and ⁷Li at energies 3.0–4.5 A-GeV is studied by means of the Weizsäcker-Williams method. The fragmentation channels of the ¹⁶O projectile at 4.5 A-GeV are investigated and compared with that of ¹⁶O at 200 A-GeV. The events characterized by N _h=0 and the events due to both Coulomb and diffraction dissociation have been selected and analyzed as a function of impact parameter. Also, the dependence of the electromagnetic dissociation cross-section on incident energy and the charge of projectile and target is found.     

Laser inhibited diffusion in rhodamine-ethanol solutions

The diffusion of rhodamine-6G dye in ethanol is observed to be inhibited by optical pumping by a cadmium laser. The diffusion process is observed as a function of the solution temperature. The relative difference in diffusion coefficients with and without optical pumping is calculated. The effect is interpreted as being due to a stronger solvent-dye interaction in the first excited singlet state of rhodamine-6G.     

VSe2−xSx materials as battery cathode

The properties of the solid solution VSe_2?xS_x 0 ? x_nom ? 2 have been investigated for secondary battery application. The phase VSe₂ is observed for 0 ? x_nom ? 1.2 and the phase V₅S₈ is found using RX analysis for x_nom >1.2. The amount of lithium chemically incorporated in this structure by reaction with n-butyllithium is 2 Li/vanadium for 0 ? x_nom ? 0.8 and 1.4 Li/vanadium for V₅S₈. An electrochemical technique (galvanostatic) indicates that the amount of lithium incorporated depends on the x_nom values, the grain size and the discharge rate. The best results are obtained for 0.2 ? x_nom ? 0.6 (capacity = 164?172 Ah kg^?1 and energy density = 385?465 Wh kg^?1).