4-Oxa(thia)-9-oxa-2-azabicyclo[4.2.1]nonane-3-on(thion) derivatives

The synthesis of 7,8-dihydroxy-2-(2-methoxycarbonylethyl)-4,9-dioxa-2-azabicyclo[4.2.1]nonane- 3-thione ( 16 ) and of its parents 9-oxa-4-thia-3-thione 17 , and 9-oxa-4-thia-3-one 18 is described. The conversion of 5′-deoxy-5′-iodo-2′,3′-O, O-isopropylidene-5,6-dihydrouridin ( 1 ) into the 2-O-methyl-5,6-dihydrouridine 5 , the 5′-O-acetyl-5,6-dihydrouridine 4 , and into the N-(5-O-acetyl-2,3-O, O-isopropylidene-β-D -ribofuranosyl)-N-(2-methoxycarbonyl thyl)-urea ( 6 ) invoked 2′,3′-O, O-isopropylidene-2,5′-anhydro-5,6-dihydrouridine ( 2 ) as the common intermediate.     

Synthesis of 5-Methyluridine and Its 5′-Mercapto-, 2-Amino-, and 4′,5′-Unsaturated Analogues

The stereospecific cis-hydroxylation of 1-(2,3-dideoxy-β-D -glyceropent-2-enofuranosyl)thymine (1) into 1-β-D -ribofuranosylthymine (2) by osmium tetroxide is described. Treatment of 2′,3′-O, O-isopropylidene-5-methyl-2,5′-anhydrouridine (8) with hydrogen sulfide or methanolic ammonia afforded 5′-deoxy-2′,3′-O, O-isopropylidene-5′-mercapto-5-methyluridine (9) and 2′,3′-O, O-isopropylidene-5-methyl-isocytidine (10) , respectively. The action of ethanolic potassium hydroxide on 5′-deoxy-5′-iodo-2′,3′-O, O-isopropylidene-5-methyluridine (7) gave rise to the corresponding 1-(5-deoxy-β-D -erythropent-4-enofuranosyl)5-methyluracil (13) and 2-O-ethyl-5-methyluridine (14) . The hydrogenation of 2 and its 2′,3′-O, O-isopropylidene derivative 4 over 5% Rh/Al₂O₃ as catalyst generated diastereoisomers of the corresponding 5-methyl-5,6-dihydrouridine ( 17 and 18 ).     

The effect of hydrogenation/dehydrogenation cycles on palladium physical properties

A series of hydrogenation/dehydrogenation cycles have been performed on palladium wire samples, stressed by a constant mechanical tension, in order to investigate the changes in electrical and mechanical properties. A large increase of palladium electrical resistivity has been reported due to the combined effects of the production of defects linked to hydrogen insertion into the host lattice and the stress applied to the sample. An increase of the palladium sample strain due to hydrogenation/dehydrogenation cycles in α→β→α phase transitions is observed compared to the sample subjected to mechanical tension only. The loss of initial metallurgical properties of the sample occurs already after the first hydrogen cycle, i.e. a displacement from the initial metallic behavior (increase of the resistivity and decrease of thermal coefficient of resistivity) to a worse one occurs already after the first hydrogen cycle. A linear correlation between palladium resistivity and strain, according to Matthiessen's rule, has been found.     

Prediction of diesel fuel properties by vibrational spectroscopy using multivariate analysis

Partial least squares regression (PLS) calibration models based on Fourier transform infrared (FTIR-ATR) and Raman spectra (FT-Raman) were applied to the rapid and accurate simultaneous determination of the main properties of diesel fuels. Training sets were composed of over ninety commercial diesel fuel samples. The methods use baseline-uncorrected, raw FTIR-ATR and FT-Raman spectra. Two spectral regions were studied: full spectral region and “fingerprint” region. The models were validated using the cross-validation process. Based on the correlation coefficient and root mean square error of cross validation (RMSECV) values the both developed calibration models, PLS/FTIR-ATR and PLS/FT-Raman, were very accurate and comparable with standard testing methods. The following diesel fuel properties may be confidently estimated: cetane number, cetane index, density, viscosity, distillation temperatures at 10% (T10), 50% (T50) and 90% (T90) recovery, as well as the contents of total aromatics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. As compared to the “fingerprint” spectral region, the PLS/FTIR-ATR model using full spectral region displayed slightly better performances with the most of the correlation coefficient values above 0.98.     

Regioselective Transformations of 2′,3′-Seconucleosides into Anhydro Structures and Chiral Crown Ethers

Intramolecular cyclisation of properly protected and activated derivatives of 2′,3′-secouridine ( = 1-{2-hydroxy-1-[2-hydroxy-1-(hydroxymethyl)ethoxy]-ethyl}uracil; 1 ) provided access to the 2,2′-, 2,3′-, 2,5′-, 2′,5′-, 3′,5′-, and 2′,3′-anhydro-2′,3′-secouridines 5, 16, 17, 26, 28 , and 31 , respectively (Schemes 1–3). Reaction of 2′,5′-anhydro-3′-O-(methylsulfonyl)- ( 25 ) and 2′,3′-anhydro-5′-O-(methylsulfonyl)-2′,3′-secouridine ( 32 ) with CH₂CI₂ in the presence of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene generated the N(3)-methylene-bridged bis-uridine structure 37 and 36 , respectively (Scheme 3). Novel chiral 18-crown-6 ethers 40 and 44 , containing a hydroxymethyl and a uracil-1-yl or adenin-9-yl as the pendant groups in a 1,3-cis relationship, were synthesized from 5′-O-(triphenylmethyl)-2′,3′-secouridine ( 2 ) and 5′-O,N⁶-bis(triphenylmethyl)-2′,3′-secoadenosine ( 41 ) on reaction with 3,6,9-trioxaundecane-1,11-diyl bis(4-toluenesulfonate) and detritylation of the thus obtained (triphenylmethoxy) methylcompound 39 and 43 , respectively (Scheme 4).     

Bi-stability of SUDR+K model of epidemics and test kits applied to COVID-19

Nonlinear Dynamics - Motivated by the many diverse responses of different countries to the COVID-19 emergency, here we develop a toy model of the dependence of the epidemics spreading on the...     

Decay of cystalline order and equilibration during the solid-to-plasma transition induced by 20-fs microfocused 92-eV free-electron-laser pulses

We have studied a solid-to-plasma transition by irradiating Al foils with the FLASH free electron laser at intensities up to 10(16) W/cm(2). Intense XUV self-emission shows spectral features that are consistent with emission from regions of high density, which go beyond single inner-shell photoionization of solids. Characteristic features of intrashell transitions allowed us to identify Auger heating of the electrons in the conduction band occurring immediately after the absorption of the XUV laser energy as the dominant mechanism. A simple model of a multicharge state inverse Auger effect is proposed to explain the target emission when the conduction band at solid density becomes more atomiclike as energy is transferred from the electrons to the ions. This allows one to determine, independent of plasma simulations, the electron temperature and density just after the decay of crystalline order and to characterize the early time evolution.     

Reactions of Nucleosides with 1,8-Diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU). Syntheses of N(3)-Methylene-Bridged Bis-uridines and Secouridine-Dinucleoside Analogs

Diasteroisomeric secouridine derivatives, appropriately protected and activated, served as starting compounds in the reactions with 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) in various solvents (CH₂Cl₂, MeCN, or dimethylformamide (DMF)). Reactions with DBU/CH₂Cl₂ gave N(3)-methylene-bridged bis-secouridines and bis-uridines (Scheme 3), while the reactions with DBU in non-alkylating solvents resulted in formation of secdinucleosides as the result of intermolecular ‘dimerizations’ (Scheme 2).     

TOF-OFF: A method for determining focal positions in tightly focused free-electron laser experiments by measurement of ejected ions

Pulse intensities greater than 10¹⁷ Watt/cm² were reached at the FLASH soft X-ray laser in Hamburg, Germany, using an off-axis parabolic mirror to focus 15 fs pulses of 5–70 μJ energy at 13.5 nm wavelength to a micron-sized spot. We describe the interaction of such pulses with niobium and vanadium targets and their deuterides. The beam produced craters in the solid targets, and we measured the kinetic energy of ions ejected from these craters. Ions with several keV kinetic energy were observed from craters approaching 5 μm in depth when the sample was at best focus. We also observed the onset of saturation in both ion acceleration and ablation with pulse intensities exceeding 10¹⁶ W/cm², when the highest detected ion energies and the crater depths tend to saturate with increasing intensity.A general difficulty in working with micron and sub-micron focusing optics is finding the exact focus of the beam inside a vacuum chamber. Here we propose a direct method to measure the focal position to a resolution better than the Rayleigh length. The method is based on the correlation between the energies of ejected ions and the physical dimensions of the craters. We find that the focus position can be quickly determined from the ion time-of-flight (TOF) data as the target is scanned through the expected focal region. The method does not require external access to the sample or venting the vacuum chamber. Profile fitting employed to analyze the TOF data can extend resolution beyond the actual scanning step size.