Synthesis of methyl 2-oxo-5-vinyl-2,5-tetrahydrofuran-3-carboxylate

A synthesis of methyl 2-oxo-5-vinyl-tetrahydrofuran-3-carboxylate involving five synthetic steps from commercially available 3,4-dihydroxybutene is reported.     

Electrochemical oxidation of substituted pyrroles. III. Anodic oxidation of 2,5-diphenyl-3-acetylpyrrole

The electrochemical oxidation of 2,5-diphenyl-3-acetylpyrrole (I) is described. The cyclic derivative 1,6a-dihydro-2,5,6a-triphenyl-3,4-diacetylbenzo[g]pyrrolo[3,2-e]indole (II) was obtained in very good yield. However, when water was present in the reaction medium, a different derivative, 4-acetyl-2-hydroxy-2,5-diphenyl-3-(4′-acetyl-2′,5′-diphenyl-3′-yl)-2H-pyrrole (III) , was obtained as the main product. 2,2′,5,5′-Tetraphenyl-4,4′-diacetyl-3,3′-dipyrryl (IV) , a potentially useful intermediate for the synthesis of condensed pyrroles, was synthesized by zinc reduction of III.     

Multiplicity studies and effective energy in ALICE at the LHC

In this work we explore the possibility to perform “effective energy” studies in very high energy collisions at the CERN large hadron collider (LHC). In particular, we focus on the possibility to measure in pp collisions the average charged multiplicity as a function of the effective energy with the ALICE experiment, using its capability to measure the energy of the leading baryons with the zero degree calorimeters. Analyses of this kind have been done at lower centre-of-mass energies and have shown that, once the appropriate kinematic variables are chosen, particle production is characterized by universal properties: no matter the nature of the interacting particles, the final states have identical features. Assuming that this universality picture can be extended to ion–ion collisions, as suggested by recent results from RHIC experiments, a novel approach based on the scaling hypothesis for limiting fragmentation has been used to derive the expected charged event multiplicity in AA interactions at LHC. This leads to scenarios where the multiplicity is significantly lower compared to most of the predictions from the models currently used to describe high energy AA collisions. A mean charged multiplicity of about 1000–2000 per rapidity unit (at η∼0) is expected for the most central Pb–Pb collisions at . In memory of A. Smirnitskiy     

Elemental sensitivity in soft x-ray imaging with a laser-plasma source and a color center detector

Elemental sensitivity in soft x-ray imaging of thin foils with known thickness is observed using an ultrafast laser-plasma source and a LiF crystal as detector. Measurements are well reproduced by a simple theoretical model. This technique can be exploited for high spatial resolution, wide field of view imaging in the soft x-ray region, and it is suitable for the characterization of thin objects with thicknesses ranging from hundreds down to tens of nanometers.     

Millijoule-level phase-stabilized few-optical-cycle infrared parametric source

Ultrabroadband self-phase-stabilized near-IR pulses have been generated by difference-frequency generation of a filament broadened supercontinuum followed by two-stage optical parametric amplification. Pulses with energy up to 1.2 mJ and duration down to 17 fs are demonstrated. These characteristics make such a source suited as a driver for high-order harmonic generation and isolated attosecond pulse production.     

Study of the I=2 ππ scattering from the reaction π−d → π−π−psp at 9.0 GeV/c

We have studied the I=2, ππ scattering using the classical Chew-Low extrapolation method. Results are given on the cross sections and the phase shifts δ₀², δ₂² and δ₄² up to 2.2. GeV. δ₀² values are -7.8 ? 3.0° at the K^o mass, -15. ? 1.5° at the ? mass and -29. ? 2.2° of the f^o mass. Above the f^o mass |δ₀²| decreases.     

Measurement of harmonic phase differences by interference of attosecond light pulses

By using a self-referencing technique, we have experimentally measured the influence of the carrier-envelope phase of femtosecond light pulses on the phase of the electric field of the radiation produced by high-order harmonic generation. We show that, in particular experimental conditions, the temporal evolution of the electric field of the attosecond pulses, is directly controlled by the carrier-envelope phase of the driving pulses.     

Optimization of high-order harmonic generation by adaptive control of a sub-10-fs pulse wave front

We present a method for the optimization of high-order harmonic generation based on wave-front correction of the driving laser beam. The technique exploits wave-front adaptive control by means of a deformable mirror, governed by an optimization procedure.     

The 'apparent' hydrolysis of alkyl esters during electrospray ionization

Electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry was employed to obtain both molecular weight confirmation and structural information for a series of novel alkenyldiarylmethane (ADAM) analogs. The mass spectral data were intended for use during the structure elucidation of ester hydrolysis products formed during an in vitro metabolism study of a series of novel ADAM analogs. The data on the precursor molecules show the presence of the molecular ion peak, [M+H](+), as well as a peak consistent with the hydrolysis product of the original ester ([MH-ROH+H(2)O](+)). However, chemical ionization mass spectrometry, elemental analysis and (1)H NMR data indicated the presence of only the intact diester compounds, suggesting that the formation of the hydrolysis product was an instrumental artifact, i.e., in-beam hydrolysis during ESI or a result of longer ion residence times of the ion trap mass analyzer.