Non-singular space-times with a negative cosmological constant: V. Boson stars

We prove existence of large families of solutions of Einstein-complex scalar field equations with a negative cosmological constant, with a stationary or static metric and a time-periodic complex scalar field.     

β‐CdC2O4

Crystals of an­hydrous cadmium oxalate, β‐[Cd(C₂O₄)], have been synthesized hydro­thermally and the crystal structure solved using single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction data. The Cd and oxalate ions lie about independent inversion centres. The structure consists of a three‐dimensional framework built from sheets of cadmium octahedra linked together by oxalate groups.     

Identification of markers of thermal processing (“roasting”) in aqueous extracts of Coffea arabica L. seeds through NMR fingerprinting and chemometrics

Roasting of Coffea arabica L. seeds gives rise to chemical reactions that produce more than 800 compounds, some being responsible for the desired organoleptic properties for which the beverage called “coffee” is known. In the industry, the “roasting profile,” that is, the times and temperatures applied, is key to influence the composition of roasted coffee beans and the flavour of the beverage made from them. The impact of roasting on the chemical composition of coffee has been the subject of numerous studies, including by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. However, the roasting equipment and profiles applied in these studies are often far from real industrial conditions. In this work, the effects of two critical technological parameters of the roasting process, namely, the “development time” (the period of time after the “first crack,” a characteristic noise due to seed disruption) and the final roasting temperature on coffee extracts, were investigated. Seeds were roasted at pilot scale according to 13 industrial roasting profiles and extracted in D₂O. The extracts were analysed by ¹H NMR experiments. The NMR spectra were compared using (a) quantitative analysis of main signals by successive orders of magnitude and (b) chemometric tools (principal component analysis, partial least squares and sparse-orthogonal partial least squares analysis). This allowed to identify compounds, which may serve as markers of roasting and showed that changes in chemical composition can be detected even for slight change in final temperature (~1°C) or in total roasting time (~25 s).     

A Comparative Study of Electrochemical Reduction of 4‐Nitrophenyl Covalently Grafted on Gold and Carbon

4‐Nitrophenyl layers were grafted on gold and glassy carbon surfaces by electrochemical reductive adsorption of the corresponding diazonium salt. Electrochemical conversion efficiencies of 4‐nitrophenyl moieties to 4‐aminophenyl moieties on gold versus on glassy carbon in a protic medium were investigated using X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In total contrast to all previous comparative studies showing greater electrochemical reactivity of aryl diazonium salt‐derived layers on gold than on glassy carbon, a much lower rate of conversion to 4‐aminophenyl was observed on gold than on glassy carbon by both cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA) methods. The lower electron transfer rate during conversion observed on gold versus glassy carbon was proposed to be due to a mechanism related to the molecular structure rearrangement of 4‐nitrophenyl during the process on glassy carbon. However, whilst complete conversion of 4‐nitrophenyl to 4‐aminophenyl on gold by chronoamperometry was achieved, on glassy carbon complete reduction could not be achieved under the same conditions.     

Bonding in Barium Boryloxides,Siloxides, Phenoxides and Silazides: A Comparison with the Lighter Alkaline Earths

Barium complexes ligated by bulky boryloxides [OBR₂]⁻ (where R=CH(SiMe₃)₂, 2,4,6-ⁱPr₃-C₆H₂ or 2,4,6-(CF₃)₃-C₆H₂), siloxide [OSi(SiMe₃)₃]⁻, and/or phenoxide [O-2,6-Ph₂-C₆H₃]⁻, have been prepared. A diversity of coordination patterns is observed in the solid state for both homoleptic and heteroleptic complexes, with coordination numbers ranging between 2 and 4. The identity of the bridging ligand in heteroleptic dimers [Ba(μ₂-X₁)(X₂)]₂ depends largely on the given pair of ligands X₁ and X₂. Experimentally, the propensity to fill the bridging position increases according to [OB{CH(SiMe₃)₂}₂)]⁻<[N(SiMe₃)₂]⁻<[OSi(SiMe₃)₃]⁻<[O(2,6-Ph₂-C₆H₃)]⁻<[OB(2,4,6-ⁱPr₃-C₆H₂)₂]⁻. This trend is the overall expression of 3 properties: steric constraints, electronic density and σ- and π-donating capability of the negatively charged atom, and ability to generate Ba ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ F, Ba ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ C(π) or Ba ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ H−C secondary interactions. The comparison of the structural motifs in the complexes [Ae{μ₂-N(SiMe₃)₂}(OB{CH(SiMe₃)₂}₂)]₂ (Ae = Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba) suggest that these observations may be extended to all alkaline earths. DFT calculations highlight the largely prevailing ionic character of ligand-Ae bonding in all compounds. The ionic character of the Ae-ligand bond encourages bridging coordination, whereas the number of bridging ligands is controlled by steric factors. DFT computations also indicate that in [Ba(μ₂-X₁)(X₂)]₂ heteroleptic dimers, ligand predilection for bridging vs. terminal positions is dictated by the ability to establish secondary interactions between the metals and the ligands.     

Microwave-Assisted One-Pot Lipid Extraction and Glycolipid Production from Oleaginous Yeast Saitozyma podzolica in Sugar Alcohol-Based Media

Glycolipids are non-ionic surfactants occurring in numerous products of daily life. Due to their surface-activity, emulsifying properties, and foaming abilities, they can be applied in food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Enzymatic synthesis of glycolipids based on carbohydrates and free fatty acids or esters is often catalyzed using certain acyltransferases in reaction media of low water activity, e.g., organic solvents or notably Deep Eutectic Systems (DESs). Existing reports describing integrated processes for glycolipid production from renewables use many reaction steps, therefore this study aims at simplifying the procedure. By using microwave dielectric heating, DESs preparation was first accelerated considerably. A comparative study revealed a preparation time on average 16-fold faster than the conventional heating method in an incubator. Furthermore, lipids from robust oleaginous yeast biomass were successfully extracted up to 70% without using the pre-treatment method for cell disruption, limiting logically the energy input necessary for such process. Acidified DESs consisting of either xylitol or sorbitol and choline chloride mediated the one-pot process, allowing subsequent conversion of the lipids into mono-acylated palmitate, oleate, linoleate, and stearate sugar alcohol esters. Thus, we show strong evidence that addition of immobilized Candida antarctica Lipase B (Novozym 435^®), in acidified DES mixture, enables a simplified and fast glycolipid synthesis using directly oleaginous yeast biomass.     

Real space renormalization group with effective interactions: applications to 2-D spin lattices

The Blochs theory of effective Hamiltonians has been used to improve the Real Space Renormalization Group approach. The effective interactions between elementary blocks of a periodic lattice can be extracted from the knowledge of the spectrum of the dimers or trimers of blocks. The potentialities of the method are illustrated on a series of quasi 1-D and 2-D problems. The spin gap of two-leg ladders is calculated and an estimate of the impact of ferromagnetic couplings between two-leg ladders on the gap is presented. The method satisfactorily identifies the phase transitions in the 1/5-depleted square lattice as well as in the spin-frustrated Shastry-Sutherland lattice. The J ₂/J ₁ checkerboard lattice is studied and a location of the phase transition between the Néel phase and the dimer phase is proposed.Received: 11 June 2004, Published online: 30 September 2004PACS: 71.10.-W Theories and models of many-electron systems - 71.15.Nc Total energy and cohesive energy calculations - 75.10.-b General theory and models of magnetic ordering     

Crystal-to-crystal transformations in heterometallic yttrium(III)-copper(I) iodide derivatives in a confined solvent-free environment: influence of solvated yttrium cations on the nuclearity and dimensionality of iodocuprate clusters

The solvated yttrium iodide precursors [Y(L)(8)]I(3) (L = DMSO or DMF), prepared in situ by stirring YI(3)(Pr(i)OH)(4) in DMSO or DMF, react with CuI in the presence of NH(4)I to give ionic hetero-metallic species [Y(DMSO)(8)][Cu(2)(mu-I)I(4)] (1) and [Y(DMF)(8)][Cu(4)(mu(3)-I)(2)(mu-I)(3)I(2)] (2) in excellent yields. Re-crystallization of 1 from DMF afforded the mixed-solvate complex [Y(DMSO)(6)(DMF)(2)][CuI(3)][I] (3). Compounds 2 and 3 undergo unique crystal-to-crystal transformation via progressive substitution of DMF by water molecules in a confined, solvent-free environment. Thus, crystals of 3 transform into [Y(DMSO)(6)(H(2)O)(2)][CuI(3)][I] (4), whereas a discrete ion-pair assembly of 2 is first converted into a 1-D zig-zag structure [Y(DMF)(6)(H(2)O)(2)](3+)[Cu(7)(mu(4)-I)(3)(mu(3)-I)(2)(mu-I)(4)(I)](1infinity)(3-) (5) and finally into a 2-D sheet containing mixed-valent copper atoms, [Y(DMF)(6)(H(2)O)(3)](3+)[Cu(I)(7)Cu(II)(2)(mu(3)-I)(8)(mu-I)(6)](2infinity)(3-) (6). The bi- and tetrafurcate H-bonding between water ligands on yttrium and iodides of the Cu-I cluster plays a pivotal role in the evolution of structures 4-6. Formation of a wide range of iodocuprate structures in 1-6, from discrete mono-, di- or tetranuclear units to one- and two-dimensional extended arrays, reflects the influence of solvated yttrium cations on the nuclearity and dimensionality of Cu-I clusters. TG-DTA-MS studies and DFT calculations for these complexes have also been carried out in order to determine their thermal stability and have insight about aforesaid transformations.     

Electrospray tandem mass spectrometry of alendronate analogues: fingerprints for characterization of new potential prodrugs

1-hydroxymethylene-1,1-bisphosphonic acids (HMBPs) are important drugs for the treatment of a variety of bone diseases. Since these compounds have no chromophore, their detection is challenging and mass spectrometry (MS) appears to be an appropriate sensitive tool. Our work deals with the analysis by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MSn) of the well-known nitrogen-containing HMBP alendronate and of three analogues, considered as potential prodrugs. These four molecules share a common structure with different protecting groups on the phosphonic acid and on the amine functions. We describe the dissociation mechanisms of nitrogen-containing HMBPs in positive ion mode and we compare, in negative ion mode, our results with literature data. In both modes, the dissociations are essentially losses of ROH, and of phosphorus-containing species (HPO2, ROP(OH)2 and ROPO(OH)2), where R=H, C6H5, or CH3OC6H5. These fingerprints will be of great value for differentiating alendronate from its potential prodrugs in complex biological mixtures.     

Solid- and solution phase transformations in novel hybrid iodoplumbate derivatives templated by solvated yttrium complexes

Solvated yttrium iodide precursors [Y(L)8]I3 [L = dimethylformamide (DMF) or dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)], prepared in situ by stirring YI3(Pr(i)OH)4 in DMF/DMSO, react with 3 equiv of PbI2 in the presence of NH4I to give novel hybrid derivatives based on either a one-dimensional (1D) straight chain, [Y(DMF)8][Pb3(mu-I)9](1infinity) x DMF (1), or discrete pentanuclear iodoplumbates, [Y(DMSO)8]2[(DMSO)2Pb5(mu3-I)2(mu-I)8I6] (2a). The complex 2a and a closely related [Y(DMSO)8][Y(DMSO)7(DMF)][(DMSO)2Pb5(mu3-I)2(mu-I)8I6] (2b) were obtained in good yield by solution phase transformation of 1 in DMSO under slight different conditions. Derivatives 1 and 2 also undergo unique solid-state transformation in a confined environment of paratone to give 1D polymers based on zigzag iodoplumbate chains; crystals of 1 transform into [Y(DMF)6(H2O)2][Pb3(mu3-I)(mu-I)7I](1infinity) (3) via an exchange reaction, whereas those of 2a and 2b are converted into [Y(DMSO)7][Pb3(mu3-I)(mu-I)7I](1infinity) (4) via a decomposition pathway. The trifurcate H-bonding between water ligands on yttrium cation and iodide of the iodoplumbate anion plays a pivotal role in transforming the straight 1D polymeric Pb-I chain of 1 into a zigzag chain in 3. The thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis studies indicate that complexes with DMF ligands are thermally more stable than those with DMSO ones, the mixed DMF-H2O ligand complex 3 being the most stable one because of the presence of strong H-bonding. Diffuse-reflectance UV-visible spectral analyses of 1-4 show an optical band gap in the 1.86-2.54 eV range, indicating these derivatives as potential semiconductors. In contrast to non-emissive 3 and 4, derivatives 1, 2a, and 2b show remarkable luminescent emission with peak maxima at 703 nm, assigned as an iodine 5p-lead 6s to lead 6p charge transfer (XM-M-CT).