Determination of 19 rhubarb constituents by high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet-mass spectrometry

Rhubarb (Rhei rhizoma), a commonly used Chinese herb, contains anthraquinones, anthrones, galloylglucoses, stilbenes, and flavan-3-ols compounds, etc. as major constituents. Using 19 of these compounds as markers, an HPLC-UV-MS method was developed to estimate the quality of rhubarb samples within a period of 70 min. Extracts were analyzed with a Cosmosil 5C18-MS column and eluted with a gradient comprising an aqueous solution of acetic acid and methanol at a flow rate of 0.9 mL/min. Peaks were detected by absorbance measurements at 254 nm (6 and 8-19) and 280 nm (1-5 and 7), and the peaks of the marker substances were identified from their UV spectra and MS fragmentation patterns. The proposed method yielded a peak-area ratio RSD value with an intraday SD falling within 0.71-1.78% and an interday SD within 0.78-1.98% at a detection limit of 0.2-3.2 microg/mL. The ESI negative ion mode was used to collect data (molecular weight, CID fragments from MS and MS/MS spectra) for 19 compounds from four types of structure categories: anthraquinones, dianthrone glycosides, stilbenes, and galloylglucosides. The information gathered can be used to identify the structures of various peaks appearing in the LC chromatograms of rhubarb samples.     

Optical power equalization for upstream traffic with injection-locked Fabry-Perot lasers in TDM-PON

An optical power equalization of upstream traffic in time-division-multiplexed passive optical network (TDM-PON) based on injection-locked Fabry-Perot lasers has been experimentally investigated. The upstream transmitters with stable spectrum are achieved by using an external injection light source in the optical line terminal (OLT). The different upstream powers can be equalized by injection locking a Fabry-Perot laser diode (FP-LD) biased below threshold current in OLT. The dynamic upstream power range from − 8.5 to − 19.5 db m is reduced to a 1.6 dB maximal power variation, when the uplink signal is directly modulated at 1.25 Gb/s.     

Probing unfolded acoustic phonons with X rays

Ultrafast laser excitation of an InGaAs/InAlAs superlattice (SL) creates coherent folded acoustic phonons that subsequently leak into the bulk (InP) substrate. Upon transmission, the phonons become "unfolded" into bulk modes and acquire a wave vector much larger than that of the light. We show that time-resolved x-ray diffraction is sensitive to this large-wave vector excitation in the substrate. Comparison with dynamical diffraction simulations of propagating strain supports our interpretation.     

Non-perturbative QCD amplitudes in quenched and eikonal approximations

Even though approximated, strong coupling non-perturbative QCD amplitudes remain very difficult to obtain. In this article, in eikonal and quenched approximations at least, physical insights are presented that rely on the newly-discovered property of effective locality. The present article also provides a more rigorous mathematical basis for the crude approximations used in the previous derivation of the binding potential of quarks and nucleons. Furthermore, the techniques of Random Matrix calculus along with Meijer G-functions are applied to analyze the generic structure of fermionic amplitudes in QCD.     

Structure of (meso-5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrinato) dichlorophosphorus(V) chloride, [P(tpp)Cl2]+Cl−

The title compound [P(tpp)Cl₂]⁺Cl^– crystallizes in the space group P2₁/n witha=10.701(2),b=24.860(2),c=14.799(2), =94.24(2)°,Z=4. The phosphorus atom has an octahedral coordination geometry formed by the four nitrogen atoms (Np) of the porphyrinato group and the two chloride ions. The average phosphorus-chloride distance is 2.150(1) Å, with phosphorus situated 0.006 Å below the porphyrin ring.     

Structure determination and magnetic studies of triazole chelated Co(II) coordination polymers

Two cobalt(II) halide complexes with 1,2,4-triazole as a ligand were synthesized. Their structures were determined by extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and powder x-ray diffraction (XRD). Both complexes [Co(Htrz)Cl₂]_n ( 1 ) and {[Co(Htrz)₂(trz)]BF₄}_n ( 2 ) form one-dimensional polymeric chain and the distances of Co⋯Co are 3.3521(2) Å and 3.8629(2) Å, respectively. The Htrz and Cl⁻ are bridging ligands to connect two Co(II) ions in 1 , and the local environment of Co site is in a distorted octahedron with {CoN₂Cl₄} core. In complex 2 , two Htrz and one trz are bridging ligands to connect two Co(II) ions, and the local geometry of Co is in a pseudo octahedron with {CoN₆} core. The analysis of Co L_II,III-edge XAS indicates that the Co(II) of both complexes are at high spin state with t_2g⁵e_g² configuration and the crystal field strength (10Dq) is about 1.2 eV. The broken-symmetry DFT calculations indicate that antiferromagnetic coupling state of Co⋯Co is the most stable state in both complexes; and the coupling constants of 1 and 2 are −0.32 cm⁻¹ and −3.70 cm⁻¹, respectively. Based on the distances of Co⋯Co and coupling constants, such antiferromagnetic interaction is achieved through triazole ligands.     

Transient ordering in a quasi-two-dimensional liquid near freezing

We report the results of a theoretical study of locally ordered fluctuations in a quasi-two-dimensional colloid fluid. The fluctuations in the equilibrium state are monitored by the aperture cross-correlation function of radiation scattered by the fluid, as calculated from molecular dynamics simulations of near hard spheres with diameter sigma confined between smooth hard walls. These locally ordered fluctuations are transient; their decay can be monitored as a function of the time between the cross-correlated scattered radiation signals, but only the single-time cross-correlated signals are discussed in this paper. Systems with thicknesses less than two hard sphere diameters were studied. For wall separation H in the range 1 sigma/=1.57 sigma, hexagonal fluctuations persist in the dense liquid up to H=1.75 sigma, and fluctuations with square ordered symmetry, that of the solid to which the liquid freezes, only emerge at densities approximately 2% below freezing. For H=1.8 sigma and 1.85 sigma, hexagonal ordered flucuations are no longer found, and the square ordered fluctuations dominate the dense liquid region as the system freezes into a two layer square solid. For H=1.9 sigma and 1.95 sigma, where the liquid freezes into a two layer hexagonal solid, both square and hexagonal ordered fluctuations are observed. At lower densities, the ordered fluctuations only exhibit square symmetry. Hexagonal ordered fluctuations appear at densities approximately 7% below freezing and become more dominant as the density is increased, but the square ordered fluctuations persist until the system is converted into the solid.     

Copper halide-bridged ruthenium telluride carbonyl complexes: discovery of the semiconducting cluster chain polymer {[PPh4]2[Te2Ru4(CO)10Cu4Br2Cl2].THF}infinity

A new series of Te-Ru-Cu carbonyl complexes was prepared by the reaction of K(2)TeO(3) with [Ru(3)(CO)(12)] in MeOH followed by treatment with PPh(4)X (X=Br, Cl) and [Cu(MeCN)(4)]BF(4) or CuX (X=Br, Cl) in MeCN. When the reaction mixture of K(2)TeO(3) and [Ru(3)(CO)(12)] was first treated with PPh(4)X followed by the addition of [Cu(MeCN)(4)]BF(4), doubly CuX-bridged Te(2)Ru(4)-based octahedral clusters [PPh(4)](2)[Te(2)Ru(4)(CO)(10)Cu(2)X(2)] (X=Br, [PPh(4)](2)[1]; X=Cl, [PPh(4)](2)[2]) were obtained. When the reaction mixture of K(2)TeO(3) and [Ru(3)(CO)(12)] was treated with PPh(4)X (X=Br, Cl) followed by the addition of CuX (X=Br, Cl), three different types of CuX-bridged Te-Ru carbonyl clusters were obtained. While the addition of PPh(4)Br or PPh(4)Cl followed by CuBr produced the doubly CuBr-bridged cluster 1, the addition of PPh(4)Cl followed by CuCl led to the formation of the Cu(4)Cl(2)-bridged bis-TeRu(5)-based octahedral cluster compound [PPh(4)](2)[{TeRu(5)(CO)(14)}(2)Cu(4)Cl(2)] ([PPh(4)](2)[3]). On the other hand, when the reaction mixture of K(2)TeO(3) and [Ru(3)(CO)(12)] was treated with PPh(4)Br followed by the addition of CuCl, the Cu(Br)CuCl-bridged Te(2)Ru(4)-based octahedral cluster chain polymer {[PPh(4)](2)(Te(2)Ru(4)(CO)(10)Cu(4)Br(2)Cl(2)).THF}(infinity) ({[PPh(4)](2)[4].THF}(infinity)) was produced. The chain polymer {[PPh(4)](2)[4].THF}(infinity) is the first ternary Te-Ru-Cu cluster and shows semiconducting behavior with a small energy gap of about 0.37 eV. It can be rationalized as resulting from aggregation of doubly CuX-bridged clusters 1 and 2 with two equivalents of CuCl or CuBr, respectively. The nature of clusters 1-4 and the formation and semiconducting properties of the polymer of 4 were further examined by molecular orbital calculations at the B3LYP level of density functional theory.