Exact solution (within a double-zeta basis set) of the schrodinger electronic equation for water

Using recently developed theoretical techniques it has been possible to achieve an exact variational solution of the Schrödinger equation within a modest basis set or one-eleltron functions. The full configuration interaction for this system included a total of 256473 ¹A₁ spin-and space-adapted configurations. Comparison with many-body perturbation theory proves to be quite interesting.     

Single-run analysis of retinal isomers, retinol and photooxidation products by high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedure was developed to allow the rapid separation, in a single run, of a mixture of the main retinal isomers (all-trans, 13-cis, 9-cis), all-trans-retinol, and of the two major photooxygenated photoproducts (5,8-peroxyretinal and 5,6-epoxyretinal). The mixture was separated by HPLC on an octadecyl (ODS) column with 16% (v/v) diethyl ether in hexane as mobile phase and anthracene as the internal standard. A commercial type cosmetic formulation containing 0.05% all-trans-retinal was analyzed successfully for this analyte.     

Synthesis of β-tosylethylhydrazine and its use in preparation of N-protected pyrazoles and 5-aminopyrazoles

β-Tosylethylhydrazine (6) can be prepared efficiently in one step from commercially available p-tolyl vinyl sulfone (7) and hydrazine hydrate. This hydrazine reacts with both 1,3-diketones and conjugated ynones in glacial acetic acid to provide a variety of N-tosylethyl-protected (TSE) pyrazoles in good yields. The TSE group can be removed from the pyrazoles using potassium t-butoxide in THF at −30 °C-rt. In addition, hydrazine 6 condenses with β-ketonitriles and β-aminoacrylonitriles to afford 5-aminopyrazoles, which can be deprotected by brief treatment with NaOEt in EtOH/DMSO at 45 °C.     

Enzymatic and electrochemical oxidation of uric acid: A mechanism for the peroxidase catalyzed oxidation of uric acid

The oxidation of uric acid has been studied by thin-layer spectroelectrochemistry using an optically transparent gold minigrid electrode and enzymatically using peroxidase. Under both enzymatic and electrochemical conditions a u.v.-absorbing intermediate (λ_max=302–304 nm between pH 7–9.3) is observed. This intermediate is proposed to be an imine-alcohol species formed by rapid hydration of the primary reaction product which is a diimine. Under the conditions employed in both the enzymatic electrochemical studies the imine-alcohol intermediate is hydrated in a first order reaction with an observed rate constant of 3.5×10^?3s^?1 between pH 7–9.3. This study establishes the similarity between the electrochemical and enzymatic oxidation of uric acid and indicates that electrochemical investigations of the redox behavior of purines can provide unique insights into their biological redox properties.     

Propagating transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes in liquid crystal-clad planar waveguides

ABSTRACT

In a planar dielectric waveguide, weak confinement of a propagating mode in a high index core leads to a measurable evanescent interaction with the cladding. In this work, we study the effect of a reorientable anisotropic cladding on the behaviour of Transverse Electric (TE) and Transverse Magnetic (TM) mode polarisations using a liquid crystal (LC)-clad waveguide architecture. The polarised evanescent field of a guided mode interacts with a voltage-tunable birefringent LC cladding to deflect an out-coupled beam. Experimental measurements are coupled with a theoretical framework and show good consistency with simulation results. We isolate the effect of mode confinement by changing the thickness of the high index core. Interactions between the LC index ellipsoid and the mode polarisation are probed by changing the initial alignment of the LC. Finally, we examine the difference in deflection between TE and TM modes, which incorporates both a change in mode confinement and a difference in LC index components.     

The flame photometric determination of calcium in phosphate,carbonate, and silicate rocks

A flame photometric method of determining calcium in phosphate, carbonate, and silicate locks has been developed Aluminum and phosphate interference was overcome by the addition of a large excess of magnesium. The method is rapid and suitable for routine analysis Results obtained are within ± 2% of the calcium oxide content.     

Min-max theory for the Yang-Mills-Higgs equations

In each monopole sector there exist an infinite number of finite energy solutions to the Prasad-Sommerfield limit of the SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs equations on ³ whose energy is greater than any finite number.National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Mathematics