Squeezed states and uncertainty relations since 1991

A brief review of the history of ten workshops/conferences on “Squeezed States and Uncertainty Relations” and main achievements in the related fields of quantum physics for the period from 1991 to 2007 are presented.     

One‐step synthesis of aminopyrimidines from 5‐Oxo‐4H‐benzopyrans

Novel 4‐amino‐6‐aryl‐2‐phenylpyrimidine‐5‐carbonitriles have been prepared in one step procedure from the readily available 4‐aryl‐2‐amino‐3‐cyano‐5,6,7,8‐tetrahydro‐7,7‐dimethyl‐5‐oxo‐4H‐benzopyrans. The mass spectroscopy study under EI conditions shows molecular peaks with high intensity corresponding to the loss of benzonitrile from the C2 position of the pyrimidine ring. Semiempirical (AMI and PM3) and ab initio HF/6–31G* calculations reveal a favored distorted geometry where the three rings are not in the same plane.     

Complexation of the Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug Nabumetone with Modified and Unmodified Cyclodextrins

The inclusion of the anti-inflammatory drug, Nabumetone, in -, - and hydroxypropyl--cyclodextrin (CDs) is studied using UV-VIS absorption and steady-state fluorescence emission. Binding constants and thermodynamic parameters of complex formation are determined by spectrofluorimetry. The inclusion phenomena of Nabumetone with the three cyclodextrins is compared with that of the well known similar anti-inflammatory drug Naproxen. In the case of Nabumetone pronounced differences are observed in the complexation process with each cyclodextrin whereas the respective Naproxen complexes are nearly identical. ¹H-NMR experiments show that the inclusion process in Nabumetone can occur either through the substituents in the -2 (butanone) or -6 (methoxy) positions in the naphthalene ring.     

Optical biosensor for pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, hormones, endocrine disrupting chemicals and pesticides in water: Assay optimization process for estrone as example

Certain contaminants at trace concentrations in surface waters can have dramatic effects on the hormonal system of organisms in the aquatic environment. Therefore, immunoanalytical methods at a very low limit of detection (LOD) and a low limit of quantification (LOQ) are becoming more and more important for environmental analysis and especially for monitoring drinking water quality. Environmental monitoring of antibiotics, hormones, endocrine disrupting chemicals, and pesticides in real water samples (e.g. surface, ground or drinking water) with difficult matrices places high demands on chemical analysis. Biosensors have suitable characteristics such as efficiency in allowing very fast, sensitive, and cost-effective detection. Here we describe an assay optimization process with a fully automated immunoassay for estrone which resulted in a LOD below 0.20 ng L⁻¹ and a LOQ below 1.40 ng L⁻¹. In contrast to common analytical methods such as GC-MS or HPLC-MS, the biosensor used requires no sample pre-treatment and pre-concentration. The very low validation parameters for estrone are the result of the continuous optimization of the immunoassay. The basis of our sensitive assay is the antibody with a high affinity constant towards estrone. During the optimization process, we reduced the amount of antibody per sample and improved the chip surface modification. Finally, this proceeding led to a calibration routine with an amount of antibody of only 3.0 ng per sample (sample volume: 1.0 mL). The reduction of the amount of antibody per sample results in better validation parameters (LOD, LOQ, and IC₅₀), but this reduction leads to the current device-related limitation of the River Analyser (RIANA).For some endocrine disrupting compounds, no effect levels (NOELs) in the lower nanogram per liter range are reported. This defines the challenge, which analytical methods have to compete with and our RIANA instrument with its improved sensitivity for the detection of a single hormone in the lower nanogram per liter range is a powerful tool in aquatic analytics in addition to the common analytical methods.     

Mixtures of sodium dodecyl sulfate/dodecanol at the air/water interface by computer simulations

Molecular dynamics simulations of monolayers of surfactant mixtures at the air/water interface were performed where the binary mixture was composed of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and dodecanol molecules. At the same ratio of SDS and dodecanol molecules, two monolayer mixtures were prepared. In the first monolayer, all the dodecanol molecules were placed together in the center of the simulation box, whereas in the second monolayer, those molecules were uniformly distributed in the surface area in such a way that they were far from each other. Simulations of both systems indicate that the dodecanol tails in the first monolayer are straighter and more ordered than those in the second monolayer. From the present results, we observed new insights of how the different molecules should array or distribute at the interface in real systems. Finally, studies of the interfacial water around the different surfactants were also analyzed, showing that they are closer to the polar headgroups of dodecanol than to the SDS headgroups.     

Naproxen: Hydroxypropyl-β-Cyclodextrin:Polyvinylpyrrolidone Ternary Complex Formation

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of the presence of thewater-soluble polymer polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) MW = 24000 g/mol, on thecomplexation of the phototoxic anti-inflammatory drug naproxen, in its sodiumsalt form, with hydroxypropil-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD). The datashown that the polymer interacts with the free naproxen and with thenaproxen:HP-β-CD inclusion complex. The presence of different proportions of PVP, in the 0–1%(w/w) rangesystematically increased the K_app of the naproxen:HP-β-CD inclusioncomplex formation. The cause of this increase is that the polymer interactswith the HP-β-CD with a binding constant of K₂ = 29000 ± 53 M^-1; and with the naproxen:HP-β-CD inclusion complex, to givea ternary complex naproxen:HP-β-CD:PVP. The binding constant of thisprocess was K₃ = 5350 ± 1 M^-1. NMR data revealed that in the ternary system, PVP is outside of the cyclodextrin, and therefore must be wholly or partially recovering the naproxen:HP-β-CD inclusion complex.     

Polyfunctional compounds containing the 4,6-dialkoxy-7-arylthioheptene moiety as synthetically useful intermediates. The course of lewis acid-induced transformations

Data on the selectivity of the Lewis acids induced transformations of the title compounds are presented, and the routes leading to formation of products containing either cyclohexane or 1,3-diene units are described.