A high-current electron beam ion trap as an on-line charge breeder for the high precision mass measurement TITAN experiment

The precision of atomic mass measurements in a Penning trap is directly proportional to the charge state q of the ion and, hence, can be increased by using highly charged ions (HCI). For this reason, charge breeding with an electron beam ion trap (EBIT) is employed at TRIUMF’s Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN) on-line facility in Vancouver, Canada. By bombarding the injected and trapped singly charged ions with an intense beam of electrons, the charge state of the ions is rapidly increased inside the EBIT. To be compatible with the on-line requirements of short-lived isotopes, very high electron beam current densities are needed. The TITAN EBIT includes a 6 Tesla superconducting magnet and is designed to have electron beam currents and energies of up to 5 A and 60 keV, respectively. Once operational at full capacity, most species can be bred into a He-like configuration within tens of ms. Subsequently, the HCI are extracted, pass a Wien filter to reduce isobaric contamination, are cooled, and injected into a precision Penning trap for mass measurement. We will present the first results and current status of the TITAN EBIT, which has recently been moved to TRIUMF after assembly and commissioning at the Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany.     

Multi-State Second-Order Nonlinear Optical Switches Incorporating One to Three Benzazolo-Oxazolidine Units: A Quantum Chemistry Investigation

This contribution employs quantum chemistry methods to describe the variations of the second nonlinear optical responses of molecular switches based on benzazolo-oxazolidine (BOX) units, connected by π-linkers, along their successive opening/closing. Under the fully closed forms, all of them display negligible first hyperpolarizability (β) values. When one BOX is opened, which is sketched as C→O, a push–pull π-conjugated segment is formed, having the potential to enhance β and to set the depolarization ratio (DR) to its one-dimensional-like value (DR = 5). This is observed when only one BOX is open, either for the monoBOX species (C→O) or for the diBOX (CC→CO) and triBOX (CCC→CCO) compounds, i.e., when the remaining BOXs stay closed. The next BOX openings have much different effects. For the diBOXs, the second opening (CO→OO) is associated with a decrease of β, and this decrease is tuned by controlling the conformation of the π-linker, i.e., the centrosymmetry of the whole compound because β vanishes in centrosymmetric compounds. For the triBOXs, the second opening gives rise to a Λ-shape compound, with a negligible change of β, but a decrease of the DR whereas, along the third opening, β remains similar and the DR decreases to the typical value of octupolar systems (DR = 1.5).     

Ab initio dynamic polarizabilities of polymers. I. Hydrogen chain models

Ab initio dynamic polarizabilities per unit cell of infinite stereoregular molecular hydrogen chains are calculated at the coupled Hartree-Fock level of approximation by using the random-phase approximation and the STO -3G and double-zeta atomic basis sets. Comparison with molecular calculations on increasingly large oligomeric chains emphasizes the nice extrapolation property of the polymeric technique that provides asymptotic values very close to the largest oligomeric values. The poles of the polarization propagator associated with the electric dipole polarizability correspond to the singlet excitation energies. Comparisons are performed with other techniques that provide the band gap. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Organolanthanide-based synthesis of 1,2,3-triazoles from nitriles and diazo compounds

The reaction of [(C5Me5)2Ln][(mu-Ph)2BPh2] complexes with the lithium salt of (trimethylsilyl)diazomethane, Li[Me3SiCN2], gave products formulated as the dimeric isocyanotrimethylsilyl amide complexes {(C5Me5)2Ln[mu-N(SiMe3)NC]}2 (Ln = Sm, 1; La, 2). Reactions of (C5Me5)2Sm and [(C5Me5)2Sm(mu-H)]2 with Me3SiCHN2 also form 1. Complexes 1 and 2 react with Me3CCN to form the 1,2,3-triazolato complexes (C5Me5)2Ln(NCCMe3)[NNC(SiMe3)C(CMe3)N] (Ln = Sm, 3; La, 4). Complex 2 reacts with Me3SiN3 to make the isocyanide ligated azide complex {(C5Me5)2La[CNN(SiMe3)2](mu-N3)}3, 5.     

An analytical derivative procedure for the calculation of vibrational Raman optical activity spectra

We present an analytical time-dependent Hartree-Fock algorithm for the calculation of the derivatives of the electric dipole-magnetic dipole polarizability with respect to atomic Cartesian coordinates. Combined with analogous procedures to determine the derivatives of the electric dipole-electric dipole and electric dipole-electric quadrupole polarizabilities, it enables a fully analytical evaluation of the three frequency-dependent vibrational Raman optical activity (VROA) invariants within the harmonic approximation. The procedure employs traditional non-London atomic orbitals, and the gauge-origin dependence of the VROA intensities has, therefore, been assessed for the commonly used aug-cc-pVDZ and rDPS:3-21G basis sets.     

Assessment of time-dependent density functional schemes for computing the oscillator strengths of benzene, phenol, aniline, and fluorobenzene

In present study the relevance of using the time-dependent density functional theory (DFT) within the adiabatic approximation for computing oscillator strengths (f) is assessed using different LDA, GGA, and hybrid exchange-correlation (XC) functionals. In particular, we focus on the lowest-energy valence excitations, dominating the UV/visible absorption spectra and originating from benzenelike HOMO(pi)-->LUMO(pi(*)) transitions, of several aromatic molecules: benzene, phenol, aniline, and fluorobenzene. The TDDFT values are compared to both experimental results obtained from gas phase measurements and to results determined using several ab initio schemes: random phase approximation (RPA), configuration interaction single (CIS), and a series of linear response coupled-cluster calculations, CCS, CC2, and CCSD. In particular, the effect of the amount of Hartree-Fock (HF) exchange in the functional is highlighted, whereas a basis set investigation demonstrates the need of including diffuse functions. So, the hybrid XC functionals--and particularly BHandHLYP--provide f values in good agreement with the highly correlated CCSD scheme while these can be strongly underestimated using pure DFT functionals. These results also display systematic behaviors: (i) larger f and squares of the transition dipole moments (mid R:mumid R:(2)) are associated with larger excitation energies (DeltaE); (ii) these relationships present generally a linear character with R>0.9 in least-squares fit procedures; (iii) larger amounts of HF exchange in the XC functional lead to larger f, R:mumid R:(2), as well as DeltaE values; (iv) these increases in f, mid R:mumid R:(2), and DeltaE are related to increased HOMO-LUMO character; and (v) these relationships are, however, not universal since the linear regression parameters (the slopes and the intercepts at the origin) depend on the system under investigation as well as on the nature of the excited state.     

Untersuchung der enzymatisch aktiven Trypsin-fragmente

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Phenolic compounds,essential oil composition,and antioxidant activity of Angelica purpurascens (Avé-Lall.) Gill

In this study, methanol extracts (MEs) and essential oil (EO) of Angelica purpurascens (Avé-Lall.) Gill obtained from different parts (root, stem, leaf, and seed) were evaluated in terms of antioxidant activity, total phenolics, compositions of phenolic compound, and essential oil with the methods of 2,2-azino-bis(3ethylbenzo-thiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS•⁺), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazil (DPPH•) radical scavenging activities, and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP), the Folin–Ciocalteu, liquid chromatography−tandem mass spectrometry (LC−MS/MS), and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC−MS), respectively. The root extract of A. purpurascens exhibited the highest ABTS•⁺, DPPH•, and FRAP activities (IC₅₀: 0.05 ± 0.0001 mg/mL, IC₅₀: 0.06 ± 0.002 mg/mL, 821.04 ± 15.96 µM TEAC (Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity), respectively). Moreover, EO of A. purpurascens root displayed DPPH• scavenging activity (IC₅₀: 2.95 ± 0.084 mg/mL). The root extract had the highest total phenolic content (438.75 ± 16.39 GAE (gallic acid equivalent), µg/mL)). Twenty compounds were identified by LC−MS/MS. The most abundant phenolics were ferulic acid (244.39 ± 15.64 μg/g extract), benzoic acid (138.18 ± 8.84 μg/g extract), oleuropein (78.04 ± 4.99 μg/g extract), and rutin (31.21 ± 2.00 μg/g extract) in seed, stem, root, and leaf extracts, respectively. According to the GC−MS analysis, the major components were determined as α-bisabolol (22.93%), cubebol (14.39%), α-pinene (11.63%), and α-limonene (9.41%) among 29 compounds. Consequently, the MEs and EO of A. purpurascens can be used as a natural antioxidant source.     

Periodic DFT Study of the Effects of Co-Crystallization on a N-Salicylideneaniline Molecular Switch

This work aims at better understanding the complex effects of co-crystallization on a single salicylideneaniline molecular switch, (E)-2-methoxy-6-(pyridine-3-yliminomethyl)phenol (PYV3), which can tautomerize between an enol and a keto form. A combination of periodic boundary conditions DFT and molecular wavefunction calculations has been adopted for examining a selection of PYV3 co-crystals, presenting hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) or halogen bonds (X-bonds), for which X-ray diffraction data are available. Three aspects are targeted: i) the energy (H-bond strength, enol to keto relative energy, and geometry relaxation energies), ii) the geometrical structure (PYV3 to co-crystal and enol to keto geometrical variations), and iii) the electron distribution (PYV3 to co-crystal and enol to keto Mulliken charge variations). These allow i) explaining the preference for forming H-bonds with the nitrogen of the pyridine of PYV3 with respect to the oxygens and the importance of the crystal field, ii) distinguishing the peculiar behavior of the SulfonylDiPhenol (SDP) coformer, which stabilizes the keto form of PYV3, iii) describing the relative stabilization of the enol form upon co-crystallization (with the exception of SDP) and therefore iv) substantiating the co-crystallization-induced reduction of thermochromism observed for several PYV3 co-crystals.     

Rate and Computational Studies for Pd-NHC-Catalyzed Amination with Primary Alkylamines and Secondary Anilines: Rationalizing Selectivity for Monoarylation versus Diarylation with NHC Ligands

The relative rates of arylation of primary alkylamines with different Pd-NHC catalysts have been measured, as have the relative rates of arylation of the secondary aniline product in an attempt to understand the key ligand design features necessary to have high selectivity for the monoarylated amine product. As the substituents on the N-aryl ring of the NHC increase in size, selectivity for monoarylation increases and this is further enhanced by chlorinating the back of the NHC ring. Computations have been performed on the catalytic cycle of this transformation in order to understand the selectivity obtained with the different catalysts.