Electrodeposition of Ni–Fe alloy from a choline chloride-containing ionic liquid

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - The electrochemical deposition of a nickel–iron alloy from a plating solution based on a deep eutectic solvent (a eutectic mixture of ethylene glycol...     

Parton distributions and new physics searches: the Drell–Yan forward–backward asymmetry as a case study

We present the first unquenched lattice-QCD calculation of the form factors for the decay \(B\rightarrow D^*\ell \nu \) at nonzero recoil. Our analysis includes 15 MILC ensembles with \(N_f=2+1\) flavors of asqtad sea quarks, with a strange quark mass close to its physical mass. The lattice spacings range from \(a\approx 0.15\) fm down to 0.045 fm, while the ratio between the light- and the strange-quark masses ranges from 0.05 to 0.4. The valence b and c quarks are treated using the Wilson-clover action with the Fermilab interpretation, whereas the light sector employs asqtad staggered fermions. We extrapolate our results to the physical point in the continuum limit using rooted staggered heavy-light meson chiral perturbation theory. Then we apply a model-independent parametrization to extend the form factors to the full kinematic range. With this parametrization we perform a joint lattice-QCD/experiment fit using several experimental datasets to determine the CKM matrix element \(|V_{cb}|\). We obtain \(\left| V_{cb}\right| = (38.40 \pm 0.68_{\text {th}} \pm 0.34_{\text {exp}} \pm 0.18_{\text {EM}})\times 10^{-3}\). The first error is theoretical, the second comes from experiment and the last one includes electromagnetic and electroweak uncertainties, with an overall \(\chi ^2\text {/dof} = 126/84\), which illustrates the tensions between the experimental data sets, and between theory and experiment. This result is in agreement with previous exclusive determinations, but the tension with the inclusive determination remains. Finally, we integrate the differential decay rate obtained solely from lattice data to predict \(R(D^*) = 0.265 \pm 0.013\), which confirms the current tension between theory and experiment.

     

Aromatic 19F–13C TROSY—[19F, 13C]-Pyrimidine Labeling for NMR Spectroscopy of RNA

We present the access to [5-¹⁹F, 5-¹³C]-uridine and -cytidine phosphoramidites for the production of site-specifically modified RNAs up to 65 nucleotides (nts). The amidites were used to introduce [5-¹⁹F, 5-¹³C]-pyrimidine labels into five RNAs—the 30 nt human immunodeficiency virus trans activation response (HIV TAR) 2 RNA, the 61 nt human hepatitis B virus ϵ (hHBV ϵ) RNA, the 49 nt SAM VI riboswitch aptamer domain from B. angulatum, the 29 nt apical stem loop of the pre-microRNA (miRNA) 21 and the 59 nt full length pre-miRNA 21. The main stimulus to introduce the aromatic ¹⁹F–¹³C-spin topology into RNA comes from a work of Boeszoermenyi et al., in which the dipole-dipole interaction and the chemical shift anisotropy relaxation mechanisms cancel each other leading to advantageous TROSY properties shown for aromatic protein sidechains. This aromatic ¹³C–¹⁹F labeling scheme is now transferred to RNA. We provide a protocol for the resonance assignment by solid phase synthesis based on diluted [5-¹⁹F, 5-¹³C]/[5-¹⁹F] pyrimidine labeling. For the 61 nt hHBV ϵ we find a beneficial ¹⁹F–¹³C TROSY enhancement, which should be even more pronounced in larger RNAs and will facilitate the NMR studies of larger RNAs. The [¹⁹F, ¹³C]-labeling of the SAM VI aptamer domain and the pre-miRNA 21 further opens the possibility to use the biorthogonal stable isotope reporter nuclei in in vivo NMR to observe ligand binding and microRNA processing in a biological relevant setting.     

Phenazine Radical Cations as Efficient Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalysts for the Cross-Dehydrogenative Aza-Henry Reaction

The redox activity of molecular phenazine catalysts has been previously exploited for aerobic oxidative amine homo- and cross-coupling reactions. In this contribution, we have extended the reaction scope of this novel type of organocatalyst and used them in the cross-dehydrogenative aza-Henry coupling of isoquinolines with nitromethane under aerobic conditions. Additionally, we have designed and prepared a novel porous organic polymer by cross-linking of tetrakis(4-bromophenyl)silane and dihydrophenazine through Pd-catalyzed Buchwald-Hartwig cross-coupling. This new type of heterogeneous catalyst, apart from being robust and easily reusable, also showed outstanding catalytic activities and improved selectivity compared to its molecular counterpart. A plausible reaction mechanism was proposed based on spectroscopic and kinetic measurements.     

What is the role of acid–acid interactions in asymmetric phosphoric acid organocatalysis? A detailed mechanistic study using interlocked and non-interlocked catalysts

Organocatalysis has revolutionized asymmetric synthesis. However, the supramolecular interactions of organocatalysts in solution are often neglected, although the formation of catalyst aggregates can have a strong impact on the catalytic reaction. For phosphoric acid based organocatalysts, we have now established that catalyst–catalyst interactions can be suppressed by using macrocyclic catalysts, which react predominantly in a monomeric fashion, while they can be favored by integration into a bifunctional catenane, which reacts mainly as phosphoric acid dimers. For acyclic phosphoric acids, we found a strongly concentration dependent behavior, involving both monomeric and dimeric catalytic pathways. Based on a detailed experimental analysis, DFT-calculations and direct NMR-based observation of the catalyst aggregates, we could demonstrate that intermolecular acid–acid interactions have a drastic influence on the reaction rate and stereoselectivity of asymmetric transfer-hydrogenation catalyzed by chiral phosphoric acids.

Supramolecular acid–acid interactions lead to competing monomeric and dimeric pathways in phosphoric acid catalysis – so that stereoselectivities depend on catalyst concentration.     

Analyticity of resonances and eigenvalues and spectral properties of the massless Spin–Boson model

We extend the method of Pizzo multiscale analysis for resonances introduced in [5] in order to infer analytic properties of resonances and eigenvalues (and their eigenprojections) as well as estimates for the localization of the spectrum of dilated Hamiltonians and norm-bounds for the corresponding resolvent operators, in neighborhoods of resonances and eigenvalues. We apply our method to the massless Spin–Boson model assuming a slight infrared regularization. We prove that the resonance and the ground-state eigenvalue (and their eigenprojections) are analytic with respect to the dilation parameter and the coupling constant. Moreover, we prove that the spectrum of the dilated Spin–Boson Hamiltonian in the neighborhood of the resonance and the ground-state eigenvalue is localized in two cones in the complex plane with vertices at the location of the resonance and the ground-state eigenvalue, respectively. Additionally, we provide norm-estimates for the resolvent of the dilated Spin–Boson Hamiltonian near the resonance and the ground-state eigenvalue. The topic of analyticity of eigenvalues and resonances has let to several studies and advances in the past. However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that it is addressed from the perspective of Pizzo multiscale analysis. Once the multiscale analysis is set up our method gives easy access to analyticity: Essentially, it amounts to proving it for isolated eigenvalues only and use that uniform limits of analytic functions are analytic. The type of spectral and resolvent estimates that we prove are needed to control the time evolution including the scattering regime. The latter will be demonstrated in a forthcoming publication. The introduced multiscale method to study spectral and resolvent estimates follows its own inductive scheme and is independent (and different) from the method we apply to construct resonances.     

Catalytic Generation and Chemoselective Transfer of Nucleophilic Hydrides from Dihydrogen

Copper(I)–N-heterocyclic-carbene (NHC) complexes enabled the catalytic generation of nucleophilic hydrides from dihydrogen (H₂) and their subsequent transfer to allylic chlorides. The highly chemoselective catalyst displayed no concomitant hydrogenation reactivity; in fact, the terminal double bond formed in the hydride transfer remained intact. Switching to deuterium gas (D₂) allowed for regioselective monodeuteration with excellent isotope incorporation.     

Et2Zn-mediated stoichiometric C(sp)-H silylation of 1-alkynes and chlorosilanes

A first example of an Et₂Zn mediated silylation of 1-aklynes is reported. A series of functional groups are tolerated in this reaction. Mechanistic studies support Zn alkynilides as intermediates in the reaction. This reaction protocol provides a practical method for the preparation of alkynylsilanes and expands the application of organometallic zinc in organic synthesis.