Enantioselective Synthesis of Acyclic Stereotriads Featuring Fluorinated Tetrasubstituted Stereocenters

Elaboration of enantioenriched complex acyclic stereotriads represents a challenge for modern synthesis even more when fluorinated tetrasubstituted stereocenters are targeted. We have been able to develop a simple strategy in a sequence of two unprecedented steps combining a diastereoselective aldol-Tishchenko reaction and an enantioselective organocatalyzed kinetic resolution. The aldol-Tishchenko reaction directly generates a large panel of acyclic 1,3-diols possessing a fluorinated tetrasubstituted stereocenter by condensation of fluorinated ketones with aldehydes under very mild basic conditions. The anti 1,3-diols featuring three contiguous stereogenic centers are generated with excellent diastereocontrol (typically >99 : 1 dr). Depending upon the precursors both diastereomers of stereotriads are accessible through this flexible reaction. Furthermore, from the obtained racemic scaffolds, development of an organocatalyzed kinetic resolution enabled to generate the desired enantioenriched stereotriads with excellent selectivity (typically er >95 : 5).     

Measuring fluorescence to track a quantum emitter's state: a theory review

We review the continuous monitoring of a qubit through its spontaneous emission, at an introductory level. Contemporary experiments have been able to collect the fluorescence of an artificial atom in a cavity and transmission line, and then make measurements of that emission to obtain diffusive quantum trajectories in the qubit's state. We give a straightforward theoretical overview of such scenarios, using a framework based on Kraus operators derived from a Bayesian update concept; we apply this flexible framework across common types of measurements including photodetection, homodyne, and heterodyne monitoring and illustrate its equivalence to the stochastic master equation formalism throughout. Special emphasis is given to homodyne (phase-sensitive) monitoring of fluorescence. The examples we develop are used to illustrate basic methods in quantum trajectories, but also to introduce some more advanced topics of contemporary interest, including the arrow of time in quantum measurement, and trajectories following optimal measurement records derived from a variational principle. The derivations we perform lead directly from the development of a simple model to an understanding of recent experimental results.     

Change of evaporation rate of single monocomponent droplet with temperature using time-resolved phase rainbow refractometry

Droplet evaporation characterization, although of great significance, is still challenging. The recently developed phase rainbow refractometry (PRR) is proposed as an approach to measuring the droplet temperature, size as well as evaporation rate simultaneously, and is applied to a single flowing n-heptane droplet produced by a droplet-on-demand generator. The changes of droplet temperature and evaporation rate after a transient spark heating are reflected in the time-resolved PRR image. Results show that droplet evaporation rate increases with temperature, from ?1.28$\times {10}^{?8}$ m²/s at atmospheric 293 K to a range of (?1.5, ?8)$\times {10}^{?8}$ m²/s when heated to (294, 315) K, agreeing well with the Maxwell and Stefan–Fuchs model predictions. Uncertainty analysis suggests that the main source is the indeterminate gradient inside droplet, resulting in an underestimation of droplet temperature and evaporation rate. With the demonstration on simultaneous measurements of droplet refractive index as well as droplet transient and local evaporation rate in this work, PRR is a promising tool to investigate single droplet evaporation in real engine conditions.     

Characterization of polyoxometalate/polymer photo-composites: A toolbox for the photodegradation of organic pollutants

Different inorganic/organic photocomposites based on polyoxometalate (POM) nanoparticles have been developed for photocatalytic applications. Currently, polyoxometalate nanoparticles have been successfully in-situ embedded into an acrylate polymer network by photopolymerization upon mild visible light irradiation at 405 nm. The proposed POM/polymer photocomposites have been characterized using complementary techniques for a better understanding of their photocatalytic activity. Interestingly, the obtained photocomposites exhibit high rigidity, excellent thermal stability, a non-negligible porosity and new functionalities such as light reactivity and redox properties. Moreover, developed composites showed efficient catalytic activity for the color removal of aqueous solutions of erythrosine and rose Bengal under Light Emitting Diodes LED@375 nm irradiation reaching 80 and 90% as a final color removal, respectively.     

Liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry for identifying aqueous chlordecone hydrate dechlorinated transformation products formed by reaction with zero-valent iron

Chlordecone (CLD) is a persistent toxic chlorinated pesticide which contaminates different ecosystems in French West Indies. A soil remediation process including zero-valent iron (ZVI) has produced promising results but failed to completely degrade CLD, and the analytical procedures used yielded little information on the transformation products. To fill these gaps, dechlorination of aqueous CLD by micrometric particles of ZVI has been investigated. Aliquots of water with 25% (v/v) of acetone spiked with 100 ppm CLD were taken at different times during a 30-day ZVI treatment and directly analysed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography in negative electrospray ionisation mode. CLD has been totally transformed after 14 days into 14 dechlorinated degradation products, including 9 isomeric compounds. The maximum chloride concentrations appearing in the medium represent 44% of that which would result from total dechlorination of CLD. The CLD transformation products identified by accurate mass measurements on an ultra-high-resolution Q-TOF mass spectrometer (Q-TOF-MS) were C₁₀H₃Cl₉O₂, C₁₀H₄Cl₈O₂, C₁₀H₅Cl₇O₂, C₁₀H₆Cl₆O₂ and C₁₀H₇Cl₅O₂. The results show the interest of LC-Q-TOF-MS for identifying transformation products of organic contaminants, and the effectiveness of micrometric ZVI particles to totally transform CLD into less chlorinated products.     

ortho‐, meta‐, and para‐Dihydroindenofluorene Derivatives as Host Materials for Phosphorescent OLEDs

This work reports the first structure–properties relationship study of ortho [2,1‐c]‐, meta [1,2‐a]‐, and para [1,2‐b]dihydroindenofluorenes, highlighting the influence of bridge rigidification on the electronic properties. This study has made it possible to devise an extended π‐conjugated molecule with both a high triplet state energy level and excellent thermal and morphological stability. As a proof of concept, dihydroindenofluorenes were used as the host in sky‐blue phosphorescent organic light‐emitting diodes (PhOLEDs) w ith high performance.     

Kinematostatic modeling of compliant parallel mechanisms

The benefits of compliant mechanisms in terms of precision are not easy to exploit because of the limitations of the existing kinematic models used to analyze them. In practice, compliant mechanisms are more sensitive to external wrenches than conventional mechanisms. In this paper, based on the kinematic constraints and the static equilibrium between the joint coordinates and the external wrenches, a general kinematostatic model of compliant parallel mechanisms is presented. Then, this model is differentiated to provide a quasi-static model that makes it possible to calculate the variation of the pose as a linear function of the motion of the actuators and the variation of the external loads through two new matrices: the quasi-static Jacobian matrix and the Cartesian compliance matrix that give a simple and meaningful formulation of the model of the mechanism.     

Conservative numerical methods for the Full von Kármán plate equations

This article is concerned with the numerical solution of the full dynamical von Kármán plate equations for geometrically nonlinear (large‐amplitude) vibration in the simple case of a rectangular plate under periodic boundary conditions. This system is composed of three equations describing the time evolution of the transverse displacement field, as well as the two longitudinal displacements. Particular emphasis is put on developing a family of numerical schemes which, when losses are absent, are exactly energy conserving. The methodology thus extends previous work on the simple von Kármán system, for which longitudinal inertia effects are neglected, resulting in a set of two equations for the transverse displacement and an Airy stress function. Both the semidiscrete (in time) and fully discrete schemes are developed. From the numerical energy conservation property, it is possible to arrive at sufficient conditions for numerical stability, under strongly nonlinear conditions. Simulation results are presented, illustrating various features of plate vibration at high amplitudes, as well as the numerical energy conservation property, using both simple finite difference as well as Fourier spectral discretizations. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 31: 1948–1970, 2015     

Dilational rheology of an air–water interface functionalized by biomolecules: the role of surface diffusion

As an attempt to develop a sensitive device for biomolecule detection, a micromechanical methodology based on the rheological change of an air–water interface is put forward (Berthier and Davoust, CEA/CNRS patent, PCT International Application WO 2003/080209 A3, 2003). Capillary waves induced from the vertical electrodynamic vibration of a brimful cylindrical tank filled with water stand as a good way to identify dilational elasticity and viscosity of an aging interface. Before, we were interested of the fact that complex wave number and the frequency of waves are obtained through an optical technique, which allows us to accurately recognize the whole interface geometry. These two parameters, a modeling based on a dispersion relation (Lucassen-Reynders and Lucassen, Adv Colloid Interface Sci, 2:347, 1969) and the surface mass transport equation, are jointly used to identify the surface diffusivity and the dilational rheology of the interface for a nonsoluble biochemical surfactant. Preliminary results obtained from a water surface functionalized by DNA, thanks to a lipidic monolayer, demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed methodology. The sensitivity of dilational rheology and the surface diffusivity on DNA adsorption on lipids is made evident.This paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Society of Rheology, Grenoble, April 2005.