An Unprecedented Structural Interconversion in Solution of Aggregate Zinc(II) Salen Schiff-Base Complexes

This contribution explores the aggregation properties in solution of noncoordinating solvents of a series of amphiphilic Zn(salen) derivatives, through detailed (1)H NMR, DOSY NMR, and optical absorption spectroscopic studies. It is found that these aggregate species are involved in a unique structural interconversion between two defined dimers, A and B, driven by the concentration of water dissolved in chloroform. Dilute CHCl(3) solutions are characterized by the presence of dimeric species, A, in which both Zn(II) atoms of the Zn(salen) units mutually interact through a Zn···O axial coordination, likely adopting a square-base pyramidal structure. Investigations to higher concentrations indicate the existence of a new dimeric species, B, in equilibrium to that observed at lower concentrations, involving a coordination mode interconversion of an intermediate monomer presumably from a square-pyramidal to a trigonal bipyramidal structure. This behavior may be related to the nonconjugated, conformational flexible nature of the bridging diamine of the Schiff base, and is influenced by the solvent polarity. Variable-temperature (1)H NMR studies indicate the existence of a nonequivalent species B' in a fluxional equilibrium with species B.     

AISHa mechanical study and commissioning

ABSTRACT

The ion sources for accelerators devoted to medical applications must provide intense ion beams, with high reproducibility, stability and brightness. AISHa (Advanced Ion Source for Hadron therapy) is a compact ECRIS whose hybrid magnetic system consists of a permanent Halbach-type hexapole magnet and a set of independently energized superconducting coils. These coils will be enclosed in a compact cryostat with two cryocoolers for LHe-free operation. The AISHa ion source has been designed by taking into account the typical requirements of hospital-based facilities, where the minimization of the mean time between failures (MTBF) is a key point together with the maintenance operations which should be fast and easy. It is a multipurpose device, operating at 18?GHz, in order to achieve higher plasma densities able to provide enough versatility for future needs of the hadron therapy, including the ability to run at larger microwave power to produce different species and highly charged ion beams. In this paper, the innovative solutions, used for the plasma containment chamber and for the permanent magnet hexapole holder, are presented to solve the insulation and structural issues. The choice of the different materials used is hereinafter discussed together with all the involved processes (spinning, curing and machining). The glass fibers and carbon fibers are used to reinforce polymer matrices and give rise to structural composites and composites by molding. The paper shows also some results of ion source commissioning along with next developments. Innovative active coupling techniques are planned to be tested to optimize the first pass wave absorption, which plays an important role in the coupling optimization of the new-generation ECRIS.     

Search for direct photons from S-Au collisions at 200 GeV/nucleon by the CERES Collaboration

In this note we comment on a recent publication in this journal by the CERES (NA45) Collaboration [1]. The authors report to have determined an upper limit on the direct photon yield relative to the decay photon yield in S + Au collisions of 14% and 7% by two different methods, respectively. We argue that these limits are unsupported by the results and analysis of the CERES data. The systematic error estimates quoted in the CERES analysis are consistently overly optimistic. Using more realistic estimates of the various error contributions and propagating them appropriately we arrive at a direct photon upper limit which at best is 20% of the inclusive photon yield, and most probably is much higher.     

Bose-einstein correlations of soft pions in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions

A detailed analysis of pair correlations of positive pions in the target fragmentation region is presented. Data on nuclear collisions at 200 GeV per nucleon were measured with the Plastic Ball in the WA80 experiment at the CERN SPS. The correlation functions are compared with analytical functions and with simulations incorporating Bose-Einstein symmetrization, final-state interactions and detector resolution. Source radii are shown to increase with increasing target size and with centrality. For central collisions the radii are larger than the geometrical sizes of the involved nuclei.     

5,6-Dihydro-4H-pyrrolo[1,2-a][1,4]benzodiazepine-4,4-diacetic acid diethyl ester,an useful synthon for the synthesis of new polycyclic nitrogen systems of pharmacological interest

This report describes the synthesis of derivatives of two nitrogen tetracyclic ring systems, respectively 9H,11H-pyrimido[4,3-c]pyrrolo[1,2-a][1,4]benzodiazepine and spiro[piperidine-4,4′-[4H]pyrrolo[1,2-a][1,4]-benzodiazepine], by the use of the diethyl ester of 5,6-dihydro-4H-pyrrolo[1,2-a][1,4]benzodiazepine-4,4-diacetic acid as a synthon. This compound was obtained by condensation of 1-(2-aminomethylphenyl)-1H-pyrrole with diethyl 1,3-acetonedicarboxylate in acid medium. Pyrimidopyrrolobenzodiazepine derivatives were obtained by treating either the pyrrolobenzodiazepine 4,4-diacetate or the related 4-methyl-4-acetate with phenylisocyanate in boiling diethyl ether in the presence of sodium metal. The structure of 12,13-dihydro-11,13-dioxo-12-phenyl-9H,11H-pyrimido[4,3-c]pyrrolo[1,2-a][1,4]benzodiazepine, a product formed by loss of an acetate unit when 5,6-dihydro-4H-pyrrolo[1,2-a][1,4]benzodiazepine-4,4-diacetate, sodium metal and phenyl-isocyanate reacted in boiling xylene, was proved by catalytic reduction to 11,13-dioxo-12-phenyl-12,13,14,14a-tetrahydro-9H,11H-pyrimido[4,3-c]pyrrolo[1,2-a][1,4]benzodiazepine, which was synthesized by unambiguous pathway via 5,6-dihydro-4H-pyrrolo[1,2-a][1,4]benzodiazepine-4-acetate. The 2,6-dioxospiro[piperidine-4,4′-[4H]pyrrolo[1,2-a][1,4]benzodiazepine] derivatives were synthesized from the N-BOC derivative of 5,6-dihydro-4H-pyrrolo[1,2-a][1,4]benzodiazepine-4,4-diacetic acid diethyl ester, by hydrolysis followed by treatment with 2 equivalents of 1,1′-carbonyldiimidazole (CDI) and then with aniline or benzylamine. Removal of BOC from the N-phenyl-2,6-dioxopiperidine derivative was obtained by heating the related spiroderivative in toluene in the presence of p-toluenesulphonic acid. Similar reaction failed when the N-benzyl-2,6-dioxopiperidine analog was used as substrate.     

Production of slow singly charged fragments in 200 GeV/c hadron nucleus interactions

Measurements of slow, singly charged fragments in the target rapidity region have been performed for proton and pion induced reactions with various nuclei at 200 GeV/c. Multiplicity, angular and energy distributions are examined and used to study the effects of rescattering in the nuclear medium. Data are compared to a geometric cascade model and to simulations with the VENUS 3.11 and the FRITIOF 1.7 Monte Carlo codes.     

Fast transient infrared studies in material science: development of a novel low dead-volume, high temperature DRIFTS cell

A prototype DRIFTS flow reaction chamber was designed and developed in order to find analytical application in the study of heterogeneous catalysts operating at high temperatures under fast transient gas feed conditions. Minimisation of dead-volumes allows gas replacement in 8-10 s at 10 mL min⁻¹ total flow. To overcome problems related to the reactivity of the cell walls under alternating oxidizing/reducing gases, the cell was built with Inconel 600™, which was tested to be very inert even at high temperatures. The sample holder, which was developed to closely resemble a micro plug-flow reactor, poses some problems in terms of heat transfer to the outer body of the cell (limiting then the maximum reachable temperature) and of the correct measurement of the actual sample temperature. These problems were solved with a careful re-design of the upper part of the cell. The second prototype thus derived is able to reach temperatures up to 803 K and allows gas replacement in less than 4 s at 10 mL min⁻¹. The cell is inserted in a MCT-FT-IR, which allows to collect high quality spectra with a 1 s time-resolution. The downstream flow can be analysed by a quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with an enclosed source and by a commercial GC. The performances of this prototype cell are presented showing some tests carried out with ceria-zirconia (Ce_xZr_1−xO₂) catalysts for CO abatement under real operando conditions.