Book Reviews

Unsigned book reviews are by the Book Review Editor.     

Synthesis,properties, and crystal structure of a novel 3-hydroxy-(4<Emphasis Type="Italic">H</Emphasis>)-benzopyran-4-one containing copper(II) complex,and its oxygenation and relevance to quercetinase

The preparation, spectroscopic properties, and crystal structure of [Cu(ind)(mco)] [ind is the anion of 1,3-bis(2-pyridylimino)isoindoline and mco is the anion of 3-hydroxy-(4H)-benzopyran-4-one] are reported. The complex exhibits a distorted square pyramidal geometry. The oxygenation of the title compound results in oxidative cleavage of the heterocyclic ring to give the (acetylsalicylato)copper(II) complex [Cu(asp)(ind)] (asp is the anion of acetylsalicylic acid) and CO as primary products, which reaction resembles the enzymatic reaction of quercetinase.     

Asymptotic behaviour of the least squares estimator of the mean of AR(1) models

The aim of the paper is to investigate the limit behaviour of the least squares estimator of the shift parameter of nearly unstable, nearly stable, and nearly explosive AR(1) models. Both zero start and stationary cases are treated. Connection with the maximum likelihood estimator of the shift parameter of continuous time AR(1) processes is also discussed.     

Decoherence within a single atom

An “almost diagonal” reduced density matrix (in coordinate representation) is usually a result of environment induced decherence and is considered the sign of classical behavior. We show that the proton of a ground state hydrogen atom can indeed possess such a density matrix. This example demonstrates that the “almost diagonal” structure may be derived from an interaction with a low number of degrees of freedom which play the role of the environment. We also show that decoherence effects in our example can only be observed if the interaction with the measuring device is significantly faster than the interaction with the environment (the electron). In the opposite case, when the interaction with the environment is significant during the measurement process, coherence is maintained. Finally, we propose a neutron scattering experiment on cold He atoms to observe decoherence which shows up as an additional positive contribution to the differential scattering cross section. This contribution is inversely proportional to the bombarding energy.     

Odd subgraphs and matchings

Let G be a graph and f : V(G)→{1,3,5,…}. Then a subgraph H of G is called a (1,f)-odd subgraph if deg_H(x){1,3,…,f(x)} for all xV(H). If f(x)=1 for all xV(G), then a (1,f)-odd subgraph is nothing but a matching. A (1,f)-odd subgraph H of G is said to be maximum if G has no (1,f)-odd subgraph K such that |K|>|H|. We show that (1,f)-odd subgraphs have some properties similar to those of matchings, in particular, we give a formula for the order of a maximum (1,f)-odd subgraph, which is similar to that for the order of a maximum matching.     

Synthesis of cephalosporins carrying isoxazolyl acetamido and related side chains

Starting from 3,5-dimethylisoxazole the carboxylic acids I and V, the amino acids VIII (L-) and IX (D-), and the ureido acids X (L-) and XI (D-) were prepared, which were used for the synthesis of the new cephalosporins XVIIb, XXa-c (L-), and XXIb (D-). Thein vitro antibacterial activity of these semi-synthetic antibiotics was studied. The resorption of XVIIb was investigated in mice.Research Group for Antibiotics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-4010 Debrecen, P.O. Box 70, Hungary. Published in Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 11, pp. 1524–1535, November, 1998.     

Synthesis of Novel <Emphasis Type="Italic">D</Emphasis>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">Seco</Emphasis>-Pregnenes

Summary. A new synthetic route was developed for the preparation of trans-3-hydroxy-16,17-seco-pregna-5,17(20)-dien-16-al, using Grob fragmentation as the key step. This seco-steroid contains a formyl group and an unsaturated side-chain in a sterically favourable position, and is therefore a promising starting material for the synthesis of novel condensed steroid heterocycles.Received March 22, 2003; accepted April 22, 2003 Published online September 25, 2003     

Stereochemical studies—76 saturated heterocycles—63 : synthesis of cis- and trans-n-methyl- and n-benzyl-4.5- and 5,6-tetramethylenetetrahydro-1,3-oxazines; an x-ray study of n-benzyl-cis-4,5-tetramethylenetetrahydro-1,-3-oxazinium- picrate

- The corresponding $\text{cis}$- and $\text{trans-N}$-methyl- and $\text{N}$-benzyl-5,6- and 4,5-tetramethylenetetrahydro-l,3-oxazines $\text{(5a,b-8a,b)}$were synthesized from $\text{cis}$- and $\text{trans-N}$-methyl and$\text{N}$-benzyl-2- aminomethyl-1-cyclohexanols $\text{1a,b,2a,b}$, from $\text{cis}$- and $\text{trans-N}$-methyl- and $\text{N}$benzyl -2-hydroxymethyl-1-cyclohexylamines$\text{(3a,b,4a,b)}$ by reaction with formaldehyde. The aminoalcohols $\text{1a,2a,3a,b}$and $\text{4a,b}$ were prepared in considerably higher yields than in earlier procedures. NMR spectroscopy showed that the $\text{cis}$ isomers of the synthesized oxazines were conformationally homogeneous in solution, and their preferred conformation (inside or outside) depended on the steric requirement of the groups attached to the anellation points, whereas a bulky C-2 substituent had no influence on the predominant conformation. The structure of $\text{N}$-benzyl-$\text{cis}$-4,5-tetramethylenetetrahydro-1,3-oxaziniumpicrate $\text{(7b)}$. determined by X-ray diffraction analysis, was in agreement with the predominant N-outside conformation of the corresponding base, established by means of NMR spectroscopy.