Correlation analysis of cone calorimetry and microscale combustion calorimetry experiments

Flammability studies are conducted to evaluate the behavior of materials exposed to fire. In this study, microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC) and cone calorimetry methods were applied to acquire the flammability characteristics of red and grey extruded polystyrene (XPS) samples. To understand the effect of changes between parameters, Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to examine their linear relationships. From the research, moderate and weak correlations were recorded between the total heat release rates from both methods for red and grey XPS, respectively. Plotting peak heat release rate against heat release temperature for MCC and ignition temperature for cone test showed that 25, 35 and 50 kW m^?2 incident heat fluxes of the cone test fall within 0.2 K s^?1 and 0.5 K s^?1 heating rates of MCC. Also, all the MCC parameters except char yield and total heat release presented good correlations with the cone calorimetry flammability characteristics. Hence, MCC could be used in conjunction with cone calorimetry to accurately and reliably assess the flammability of materials.

     

Amplification of terahertz radiation in carbon nanotubes

We investigate theoretically the feasibility of amplification of terahertz radiation in aligned achiral carbon nanotubes, a zigzag (12,0) and an armchair (10,10) in comparison with a superlattice using a combination of a constant direct current (dc) and a high-frequency alternate current (ac) electric fields. The electric current density expression is derived using the semiclassical Boltzmann transport equation with a constant relaxation time. The electric field is applied along the nanotube axis. Analysis of the current density versus electric field characteristics reveals a negative differential conductivity behavior at high frequency, as well as photon assisted peaks. The photon assisted peaks are about an order of magnitude higher in the carbon nanotubes compared to the superlattice. These strong phenomena in carbon nanotubes can be used to obtain domainless amplification of terahertz radiation at room temperature.     

Cationic palladium(II)-catalyzed stereoselective glycosylation with glycosyl trichloroacetimidates

The development of a new method for stereoselective glycosylation with glycosyl trichloroacetimidate donors employing cationic palladium(II), Pd(CH(3)CN)(4)(BF(4))(2), is described. This process employs Pd(CH(3)CN)(4)(BF(4))(2) as an efficient activator, providing access to a variety of disaccharides and glycopeptides. This reaction is highly stereoselective and proceeds under mild conditions with low catalyst loading. Interestingly, this palladium catalysis directs beta-glucosylations in the absence of classical neighboring group participation.     

On the formation of Pd(II) complexes of Trost modular ligand involving N-H activation or P,O coordination in Pd-catalyzed allylic alkylations

Specific chiral ligands have been designed by Trost et al. to perform enantioselective Pd-catalyzed allylic alkylations. It is shown that the Pd(0) complex formed by addition of the Trost ligand (4) to Pd⁰(dba)₂ is not stable in most solvents (acetone, DMF, CH₂Cl₂). Indeed, Pd⁰(dba)(4) leads to the formation of a stable Pd^II complex 5 (X-ray structure), likely by activation of the two N-H bonds of the ligand by the Pd⁰ centre. The formation of the Pd^II complex competes with the reaction of Pd⁰(4) with (E)-PhCHCH-CH(OAc)-Ph, excluding any investigation of the kinetics of the latter reaction. The ionization steps from intermediate (η²-PhCHCH-CH(OAc)-Ph)Pd⁰(4) were found to be very slow. The cationic P,P complex [(η³-Ph-CH-CH-CH-Ph)Pd(4)]⁺, expected to be generated by addition of 2 equiv. of 4 to the precursor [(η³-Ph-CH-CH-CH-Ph)Pd(μ-Cl)]₂, in the presence of a chloride scavenger, leads to a complex mixture whereas addition of 1 equiv. of 4 affords a stable bis-cationic Pd^II complex {[(η³-Ph-CH-CH-CH-Ph)Pd]₂(4)]}²⁺, (X-ray structure) via a P,O complexation of each allyl-Pd moieties. This dissymmetric P,O coordination will favour the enantioselectivity of Pd-catalyzed allylic alkylation of (E)-PhCHCH-CH(OAc)-Ph by the control of the regioselectivity of the nucleophilic attack onto the allylic ligand which is responsible of the enantioselectivity of the overall catalytic reaction.     

Hafnium inspired activation of highly hindered anhydrides in the acylation of alcohols and polyols

A novel and highly efficient method for activating highly hindered acid anhydrides towards the acylation of alcohols and carbohydrate-derived polyols has been developed. This new method relies on the capacity of the hafnium triflate catalyst Hf(OTf)₂ to activate highly hindered acid anhydrides, and to direct the acylation reaction. This new acylation protocol is mild and proceed at room temperature with low catalyst loading. The method is versatile and has been extended to different alcohol substrates with different steric encumbrance as well as carbohydrate-derived polyols to afford the corresponding ester products in good to excellent yields.     

Relationship between electronic structures and antiplasmodial activities of xanthone derivatives: a 2D-QSAR approach

Structural Chemistry - Malaria is an important disease causing many death in several countries of Africa and Asia. In these continents, some plants such as Garcinia cola are used to fight against...     

Propagation of ultrasonic waves in bulk gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor in the presence of high-frequency electric field

The propagation of ultrasound is studied in bulk GaN semiconductor in the presence of a strong AC field oscillating at a frequency much higher than that of the ultrasound. Analytical expressions have been obtained for the attenuation coefficient (α) and the renormalised velocity (v) of the acoustic wave. It is shown that the dependencies of the ultrasonic absorption coefficient of the conduction electrons and the renormalised sound velocity on the field amplitude and the sound frequency have an oscillatory character which can be used to determine the effective mass and mobility of the material. The threshold field needed to observe the oscillation is two orders smaller than that needed in the case of CdS.     

Antiplasmodial Securinega alkaloids from Phyllanthus fraternus: Discovery of natural (+)-allonorsecurinine

The chemical investigation of the antimalarial plant Phyllanthus fraternus G. L. Webster (Phyllanthaceae) resulted in the discovery of the Securinega alkaloid (+)-allonorsecurinine (1), previously reported as a synthetic compound, together with the known ent-norsecurinine (2), nirurine (3), bubbialine (4), epibubbialine (5) and the lignan phyllanthin (6). The structure and absolute configuration of the new compound were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis, optical rotation, and GIAO NMR shift calculation followed by CP3 analysis. The antiplasmodial activity of these compounds was evaluated against chloroquine-resistant (W2) and -sensitive (3D7) strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Among them, ent-norsecurinine (2) and (+)-allonorsecurinine (1) showed the strongest activity (IC₅₀: 1.14 ± 0.32 and 2.57 ± 0.53 µM) respectively, against W2 but one of the weakest against 3D7.     

Near-field ultrasound tomography

In this paper, a near-field tomographic solution is introduced to solve the imaging problem of fluid objects assumed to be weakly heterogeneous (Born approximation) and excited by spherical waves. The solution to the forward problem is based on the Huygens-Fresnel principle which describes the scattered field as the result of the interference scheme of all the secondary spherical waves. From the derivation of the scattered field, a new Fourier transform that has been called the elliptical Fourier transform is defined: It differs from the standard Fourier transform in that instead of a plane wave decomposition, a harmonic ellipsoidal wave decomposition is obtained. Based on this spectral analysis, a near-field Radon transform is designed that complements the "far-field tools" published in diffraction tomography literature. Then, assuming that the measuring distance is greater than one wavelength, the feasibility of reconstructing either the impedance or the velocity maps of an acoustical (perfect fluid) model is demonstrated. Numerical simulations were performed which confirmed the validity of the theory presented here; a theory which has many potential applications in future wave theory research.