Rational application of self-disproportionation of enantiomers via sublimation—a novel methodological dimension for enantiomeric purifications

The preliminary results presented in this work show that an enantiomer purification approach based on SDE via sublimation can be extended to non-volatile liquid compounds such as α-(phenyl)ethylamine and its β-fluoro-derivatives by way of their rational modification with a sublimation enabling tag. 3,3,3-Trifluoro-2-(trifluoromethyl)-2-methyl-propanoic acid was found to perfectly serve the role of such a modifying tag. Thus, the corresponding amides derived from the amines and the fluorinated propanoic acid were highly crystalline and reasonably volatile compounds allowing for their sublimation at room temperature under normal pressure. All of these derivatives showed substantial self-disproportionation of enantiomers (SDEs) via sublimation under kinetic conditions (on a Petri dish in the open air). These preliminary results serve as a proof of a new principle that may extend the generality of enantiomer purification via sublimation to various organic compounds with physico-chemical properties of which render them otherwise unsuitable for a sublimation procedure. In particular, the very attractive cost structure of sublimation procedure renders this approach of potentially high practical and economic efficiency.     

Massless and quantized modes of kinks in the phase space of superconducting gaps

We investigated quantized modes of kinks in the phase space of superconducting gaps in a superconductor with multiple gaps. The kink is described by the sine-Gordon model in a two-gap superconductor and by the double sine-Gordon model in a three-gap superconductor. A fractional-flux vortex exists at the edge of the kink, and a fractional-flux vortex will be stable in a three-gap superconductor with time-reversal symmetry breaking. The kink and fractional-flux vortex exhibit massless modes as a sliding motion. We show further that there are one zero-energy mode (massless mode) and quantized excitation modes in kinks, which are characteristic features of multi-gap superconductors. The equation of quantized modes for the double sine-Gordon model is solved numerically. The correction to the ground-state energy is calculated based on the renormalization theory.     

Wavelet processing and digital interferometric contrast to improve reconstructions from X‐ray Gabor holograms

In this work, the application of an undecimated wavelet transformation together with digital interferometric contrast to improve the resulting reconstructions in a digital hard X‐ray Gabor holographic microscope is shown. Specifically, the starlet transform is used together with digital Zernike contrast. With this contrast, the results show that only a small set of scales from the hologram are, in effect, useful, and it is possible to enhance the details of the reconstruction.     

Numerical Analysis of Coupling between Two-Dimensional Conventional Dielectric Waveguides and Photonic Crystal Waveguide

A problem of coupling between conventional dielectric waveguides and a two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguide is analyzed, using the Fourier series expansion method combined with the absorbing boundary condition of a perfectly matched layer (PML). A novel structure for the input and output ends of the photonic crystal waveguide is proposed to increase the coupling efficiency. Numerical examples are demonstrated and discussed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed structure.     

Diarrhetic shellfish toxins

As the causative agents of a new type of shellfish poisoning, named diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, okadaic acid, 35(S)-methylokadaic acid, 7-O-acyl derivatives of 35(S)-methylokadaic acid, two novel polyether lactones named pectenotoxin-1 and -2 have been isolated and had their structures determined. Three pectenotoxin analogues were also present. In addition to the previously identified Dinophysis fortii, D. acuminata was newly suggested as a source of toxins.     

Highly regioselective hydrogenolysis of bis(alpha-methylbenzyl)amine derivatives affected by the trifluoromethyl substituent on the aromatic ring

[reaction: see text] The highly regioselective hydrogenolysis of bis(alpha-methylbenzyl)amine derivatives proceeded with influence not from the electronic effect but from the steric effect of the trifluoromethyl substituent on the aromatic ring to provide a practical asymmetric synthesis of trifluoromethyl-substituted alpha-phenylethylamines.