Intra- and intermolecular electronic relaxation of the second excited singlet and the lowest excited triplet states of 1,3-dimethyl-4-thiouracil in solution

Intramolecular processes of deactivation of 1,3-dimethyl-4-thiouracil (DMTU) from the second excited singlet (S2) (pi, pi*) and the lowest excited triplet (T1) (pi, pi*) states have been studied using perfluoro-1,3-dimethylcyclohexane (PFDMCH) as a solvent. The spectral and photophysical (PP) properties of DMTU in CCl4, hexane and water have also been described. For the first time, the fluorescence from S2 state DMTU has been observed. The picosecond lifetime of DMTU in the S2 state (tau(S2)) in PFDMCH has been proposed to be determined by a very fast intramolecular reversible process of hydrogen abstraction from the ortho methyl group by the thiocarbonyl group. The shortening of tau(S2) in CCl4 is interpreted to be caused by the intermolecular interactions between DMTU (S2) and the solvent. Results of the phosphorescence decay as a function of DMTU concentration were analyzed using the Stern-Volmer formalism, which enabled determination of the intrinsic lifetime of the T1 state (tau0(T1)) and rate constants of self-quenching (k(sq)). The lifetimes, tau0(T1), of DMTU in PFDMCH and CCl4 are much longer than the values hitherto obtained in more reactive solvents. The PP properties of DMTU both in the S2 and T1 states have been shown to be determined by the thiocarbonyl group.     

Chain transfer constants for vinyl monomers polymerized in methyl oleate and methyl stearate

Chain transfer constants were obtained for styrene, methyl methacrylate, methyl acrylate and vinyl acetate, polymerized in methyl oleate and methyl stearate at 60°C. Transfer constants increased in the order: methyl methacrylate < styrene < methyl acrylate ? vinyl acetate in both solvents. Average values of the transfer parameters were: for methyl oleate, Q_tr = 2.04 × 10^?4, e_tr = 1.08; for methyl stearate, Q_tr = 0.373 × 10^?4, e_tr = 1.01. Indication that polar species predominate in the transition state is supported by the observed order of reactivity. The usual rate dependence appeared to be followed by all of the monomers except vinyl acetate, which was retarded, severely in methyl oleate. Transfer in methyl oleate was about 5.8 times greater than that found in methyl stearate for these four monomers. The internal allylic double bond of methyl oleate had about the same reactivity in transfer as had the terminal unsaturation in N-allylstearamide at 90°C. Rough estimates were obtained of the monomer transfer constants for the long side-chain homologs of these four monomers from the respective monomer transfer constants and the experimental transfer constants, corrected for transfer to the labile groups of the solvent. It was concluded that the rate of polymerization would determine in large measure the degree of polymerization for the reactive 18-carbon homologs but that the molecular weight of poly(vinyl stearate) and (oleate) will be regulated primarily by transfer to monomer.     

Equivalence of laws and null controllability for SPDEs driven by a fractional Brownian motion

We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for equivalence of law for linear stochastic evolution equations driven by a general Gaussian noise by identifying the suitable space of controls for the corresponding deterministic control problem. This result is applied to semilinear (reaction-diffusion) equations driven by a fractional Brownian motion. We establish the equivalence of continuous dependence of laws of solutions to semilinear equations on the initial datum in the topology of pointwise convergence of measures and null controllability for the corresponding deterministic control problem.     

Contribution to the bandwidth choice for kernel density estimates

In the present paper we focus on the problem of the bandwidth choice for the kernel density estimates. The problem of finding the optimal bandwidth belongs to the crucial problems of the kernel estimates. As a criterion of quality of the estimates the L ₂ type measure is used. A special iterative method based on a relevant estimation of mean integrated square error given in papers Müller and Wang (Prob Theor Relat Fields 85:523–538, 1990), Jones et al. (Ann Stat 19:1919–1932, 1991) is suggested. Moreover the idea of maximal smoothing principle (Terrell in J Am Stat Assoc 85:470–477, 1990) is extended to the higher order kernels. A simulation study brings a comparison of the proposed method and the cross-validation method. Research supported by the GACR:402/04/1308.     

Impact of metal cation complexation and protonation on tautomeric and resonance forms of the oxaalkyl Schiff bases derived from 5-substituted salicylaldehyde and 2-hydroxy-1-naphthlaldehyde

Structures of the main resonance and tautomeric forms of three Schiff bases of 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde (1OXA), 5-bromosalicylaldehyde (2OXA) and 5-nitrosalicylaldehyde (3OXA) with 1,8-diamine-3,6-dioxaoctane, before and after protonation and complexation of monovalent metal cations, have been studied by FTIR, ¹H, ¹³C and ¹⁵N NMR methods. The spectroscopic investigations provided clear evidence that the Schiff bases exist in acetonitrile solution as three different tautomers: 1OXA in enamine-oxo, 2OXA in imine-hydroxy and 3OXA in a low-barrier O···H···N imine-oxo forms. It was found on the basis of multinuclear NMR studies, that in solid state, the enamine-oxo and imine-hydroxy tautomers are formed exclusively, but not the untypical imine-oxo tautomer, which requires strong stabilisation by solvent molecules in solution. MOG-PM6 calculations of the different tautomers allowed visualisation of their energetically the most favourable structures. Protonation of 1OXA–3OXA Schiff bases leads to formation of common forms, i.e. protonated imine-hydroxy structure, irrespectively of the structure of tautomer before protonation. In turn, coordination of monovalent metal cations implies common formation of zwitterionic forms within all studied ligands in solution. Application of FT-IR and NMR titrations in combination with ESI MS spectrometry revealed the nature and the structure of OXA complexes, whose formation is impeded by the intra- and intermolecular interactions. MOG-PM6 calculations allowed visualisation of Li⁺ and Na⁺ metal coordination sphere geometries within structure of all investigated complexes, stabilised by intermolecular interactions with solvent molecules.     

N-Alkylhydrazones of aliphatic ketones in the synthesis of 1,3,4-trisubstituted non-symmetric pyrazoles

Reactions of N-alkylhydrazones of aliphatic ketones with the Vilsmeier–Haack reagent (DMF–POCl₃) were evaluated as a promising approach toward the synthesis of trisubstituted non-symmetric pyrazoles. It was found that either 1,3,4-trialkylpyrazoles or 1,3-dialkylpyrazole-4-carbaldehydes could be obtained in these transformations in high yields (72–83%), in a regioselective manner.