L-proline catalyzed asymmetric transfer aldol reaction between diacetone alcohol and aldehydes

We demonstrate for the first time, L-proline as a chiral catalyst for transfer aldol reaction between aldehydes and diacetone alcohol.     

Performance enhancement of UV quantum well light emitting diode through structure optimization

Optical and Quantum Electronics - Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) is the core of any digital processing systems. For creating an all optical ALU one needs basic logic gates such as optical NOT, OR and...     

Asymmetric aldol reactions in poly(ethylene glycol) catalyzed by l-proline

A rapid l-proline catalyzed direct aldol reaction between various aldehydes and acetone was achieved using PEG as the solvent with comparable enantioselectivities and yields to those obtained in other solvents. Recycling the catalyst and solvent (PEG) was possible 10 times without loss of activity.     

Organophosphorus Compounds in Organic Electronics

This Minireview describes recent advances of organophosphorus compounds as opto‐electronic materials in the field of organic electronics. The progress of (hetero‐) phospholes, unsaturated phosphanes, and trivalent and pentavalent phosphanes since 2010 is covered. The described applications of organophosphorus materials range from single molecule sensors, field effect transistors, organic light emitting diodes, to polymeric materials for organic photovoltaic applications.     

Assessing concrete density using infrared thermographic (IRT) images

This paper presents the results of a study conducted to evaluate the possibility of utilizing infrared thermography to assess the quality of concrete. Concrete specimens were prepared with varying water to cement (w/c) ratio, cement content and consolidation effort. The concrete specimens were heated and the IRT images were recorded as they cooled down. The IR thermographs indicated a good variation in the surface temperature with varying concrete composition and consolidation effort. Concrete with similar composition exhibited a greater variation in surface temperature as the consolidation effort was decreased; indicating the presence of less dense structure in the specimens prepared with low consolidation effort. An increase in the water–cement ratio also increases the temperature variation indicating a decrease in the concrete denseness. The variation in cement content also influenced the denseness of concrete as indicated by the enhanced variation in the surface temperature. Concrete specimens with cement content of 300 kg/m³ (less dense) exhibited a greater temperature variation compared to those prepared with cement content of 400 kg/m³ (more dense).     

Use of Raman and Raman optical activity for the structural characterization of a therapeutic monoclonal antibody formulation subjected to heat stress

Structural complexity of biological drug products presents an analytical challenge in terms of early detection of aggregation and/or degradation. In the present study, Raman and Raman optical activity (ROA) were evaluated for their sensitivity to detect heat‐induced molecular instability in an Immunoglobulin G4 subclass therapeutic monoclonal antibody present in its formulation matrix. The therapeutic antibody was subjected to heat stress at 50 °C and was analyzed at various time points up to 1 month. The current results suggest that Raman and ROA are sensitive to early‐stage detection of heat‐induced instability of the antibody, in which significant changes could be observed at 1 week of stress. ROA could provide early detection of the subtle differences at the tertiary structure level in a heat‐stressed monoclonal antibody and Raman/ROA spectra could provide early detection in secondary structural changes as well. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new compact difference scheme for second derivative in non-uniform grid expressed in self-adjoint form

A single-parameter family of self-adjoint compact difference (SACD) schemes is developed for discretizing the Laplacian operator in self-adjoint form. Developed implicit scheme is formally second-order accurate (with respect to truncation error) with a free parameter, α which helps control the numerical properties in the spectral plane. The SACD scheme is analyzed in the spectral plane for its resolution properties for both periodic and non-periodic problems using the matrix spectral analysis [T.K. Sengupta, G. Ganeriwal, S. De, Analysis of central and upwind schemes, J. Comput. Phys. 192 (2) (2003) 677–694]. The major objective here is to identify the advantages of the new scheme over the traditional explicit second order CD2 scheme, in discretizing the Laplacian operator in self-adjoint form. This appears in Navier–Stokes equation and in other transport equations and boundary value problems (bvp) expressed in orthogonal co-ordinate systems, either in physical or in transformed plane. We also compare the developed method with the higher order compact schemes for non-uniform grids. To demonstrate the accuracy of SACD scheme we have tested it for: (i) bi-directional wave propagation problem, given by the second order wave equation and (ii) an elliptic bvp, as in the Stommel ocean model for the stream function. These examples help infer the properties of SACD scheme when solving different types of partial differential equations. Most importantly the effects of grid-stretching and choice of value of the free parameter (α) are investigated here. We also compare the present implicit compact method with explicit compact method known as the higher order compact (HOC) method.Also, the practical applications of the SACD scheme are explored by solving the Navier–Stokes equation for the cases of: (a) a flow inside a lid-driven cavity and (b) the receptivity and instability of an external adverse pressure gradient flow over a flat plate. In the former, unsteadiness of the flow is captured and in the latter, the receptivity of the flow is studied in causing flow instability by triggering Tollmien–Schlichting waves. The new scheme shows a marked improvement over the explicit scheme for low Reynolds number steady flow in lid driven cavity. Whereas for the flow in the same geometry at higher Reynolds numbers, efficacy of the scheme is established by showing the formation of a triangular vortex and secondary vortical structures. Presented scheme is perfectly capable of expressing the diffusion operator accurately as shown via the capturing of instability waves inside the shear layer.     

The first stereoselective total synthesis of (6S)-5,6-dihydro-6-[(2R)-2-hydroxy-6-phenylhexyl]-2H-pyran-2-one

Iterative asymmetric allylations and ring-closing metathesis have been effectively performed for the first stereoselective total synthesis of (6S)-5,6-dihydro-6-[(2R)-2-hydroxy-6-phenylhexyl]-2H-pyran-2-one, a novel α,β-unsaturated-δ-lactone having antifungal activity, isolated from Ravensara crassifolia.     

A New Cycloartane Glycoside from the Aerial Part of Astragalus grahamianus

Chemistry of Natural Compounds - A new 9,19-cyclolanostane type arabinoside, 16,23;22,25-diepoxy-3β,22,23,24-tetrahydroxy-9,19-cyclolanostane-3-O-α-L-arabinopyranoside (1), together with...