On the Rees algebra of certain codimension two perfect ideals

 Suppose ? is a set of arbitrary number of smooth points in ℙ² its defining ideal. In this paper, we study the Rees algebras of the ideals generated by I _t , t ≥α. When the points of ? are general, we give a set of defining equations for the Rees algebra . When the points of ? are arbitrary, we show that for all t≫ 0, the Rees algebra is Cohen-Macaulay and its defining ideal is generated by quadratics. A cohomological characterization for arithmetic Cohen-Macaulayness of subvarieties of a product space is also given. Received 4 April 2001     

Determination of uranium and thorium isotopes in soil samples by coprecipitation

Summary The paper presents a procedure to prepare soil samples for U and Th isotope measurement by alpha-spectrometry after coprecipitation with LaF₃. In this procedure the reduction of U(VI) to U(IV) was performed by Zn metal in 4M HCl solution. The recoveries of chemical separation equal to e_U-chemistry = 78±4% for uranium and e_Th-chemistry = 82±4% for thorium. Canberra alpha-spectrometer was used with PIPS detectors of A-1200-37-AM Model of 1200 mm² active area. The counting efficiency of the measuring system equals to e_counting = 18% and the total efficiencies were e_U = e_counting ^.e_U-chemistry = 14.0±0.7% for uranium and e_Th = e_counting ^.e_Th-chemistry = 14.7±0.7% for thorium. The recoveries of chemical separation were rather high (about 80%), that leads to the use of a small weight of soil sample (about 0.5 g). The efficiencies were also stable, that allows analyzing the soil sample without using radiotracers. They are advantages of the sample preparation procedure of this work.     

Metal clips induce folding of a short unstructured peptide into an alpha-helix via turn conformations in water. Kinetic versus thermodynamic products

Short peptides corresponding to two to four alpha-helical turns of proteins are not thermodynamically stable helices in water. Unstructured octapeptide Ac-His1-Ala2-Ala3-His4-His5-Glu6-Leu7-His8-NH(2) (1) reacts with two [Pd((15)NH(2)(CH(2))(2)(15)NH(2))(NO(3))(2)] in water to form a kinetically stable intermediate, [[Pden](2)[(1,4)(5,8)-peptide]](2), in which two 19-membered metallocyclic rings stabilize two peptide turns. Slow subsequent folding to a thermodynamically more stable two-turn alpha-helix drives the equilibrium to [[Pden](2)[(1,5)(4,8)-peptide]] (3), featuring two 22-membered rings. This transformation from unstructured peptide via turns to an alpha-helix suggests that metal clips might be useful probes for investigating peptide folding.     

Kinetic modelling of the thermal oxidation of polyisoprene elastomers. Part 2: Effect of sulfur vulcanization on mass changes and thickness distribution of oxidation products during thermal oxidation

Thermal oxidation of sulfur vulcanized polyisoprene samples was studied by gravimetry and IR mapping of carbonyl groups (to determine the oxidized layer thickness (TOL)) at temperatures ranging from 60 to 150 °C in air. Oxidation appears noticeably lower than that for the starting non-vulcanized polyisoprene, revealing a stabilizing effect of sulfur-containing species. After a short period where mass loss presumably due to water evaporation predominates, the sample mass increases until a plateau corresponding to 6.3% (at 60 °C) to 0.5% (at 140 °C) mass gain. Practically no weight gain (∼0.1%) was observed at 150 °C. The mass uptake is due to oxygen grafting to the chains. TOL varies from about 4.6 mm (70 °C) to about 1 mm (150 °C).A kinetic model, derived from a mechanistic scheme of radical chain oxidation including stabilizing events due to hydroperoxide reduction by sulfur-containing groups and taking into account the diffusion-reaction coupling, was established and numerically resolved. The model predictions for mass changes and TOL values are in good agreement with experimental data.     

Comparison of Omega and PPP techniques for reactivity calculations in methyl-substituted naphthalenes

The dependence of electron density, superdelocalizability and localization energy on the value of the parameter for the inductive effect of the methyl group in 1,4-dimethyl naphthalene is exactly the same when calculated by the Omega or by the Pople-Pariser-Parr techniques.

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Zusammenfassung Die Abhängigkeit der Elektronendichte, der Superdelokalisierbarkeit und der Lokalisierungsenergie vom Wert des Parameters für den induktiven Effekt der Methylgruppe in 1,4-Dimethylnaphthalin ist genau dieselbe, wenn man diese Größen mit der Omegatechnik oder der PPP-Methode berechnet.

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Résumé La densité électronique, la super délocalisabilité et l'énergie de localisation du 1,4 diméthyl naphtalène dépendent de la même manière de la valeur du paramètre de l'effet inductif du groupe méthyle selon que les calculs sont effectués par la méthode oméga ou par la méthode de Pople-Pariser-Parr.

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This work was done with financial assistance from the National Research Council of Canada. L.-K. H. wishes to acknowledge the award of a Colombo Plan scholarship.     

Metal-free synthesis of 2-mercaptobenzothiazoles and 6-(4-substituted-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)-2-mercaptobenzothiazoles via microwave-assisted synthesis pathway

Abstract

A simple, efficient, and metal-free methodology for the preparation of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole and derivatives in excellent yields via microwave-assisted pathway is reported. Our condition provides a convenient protocol for the synthesis of a diverse collection of 2-mercaptobenzothiazoles and 6-(4-substituted-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)-2-mercaptobenzothiazoles with a very simple purification process. This report provides an alternative protocol for fast access to the wide range of compounds for sequence synthesis and biological studies.     

Regioselective Hydrolysis of Cocaine and A Convenient Acylation Procedure by Benzoylecgonine

Regioselective hydrolysis of cocaine led, according to the reaction conditions, either to benzoylecgonine or to ecgonine methyl ester. Acylation with benzoylecgonine was readily achieved when benzotriazolyloxytrisdimethylamino-phosphonium (BOP) was used as a coupling agent.     

Thermotropic liquid crystalline properties of semiperfluoroalkyloxyphenyl and perfluoroalkylphenyl β-D-glucopyranosides

The synthesis of two series of semiperfluoroalkyloxyphenyl and perfluoroalkylphenyl β-D-glucopyranosides is described. Their mesomorphic properties are studied by DSC, polarized optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. All mesophases are identified as smectic A with a bimolecular in-layer arrangement.