Pressure induced superconductivity in CaFe2As2

CaFe2As2 has been found to be exceptionally sensitive to the application of hydrostatic pressure and can be tuned to reveal all the salient features associated with FeAs superconductivity without introducing any disorder. The ambient pressure, 170 K, structural/magnetic, first-order phase transition is suppressed to 128 K by 3.5 kbar. At 5.5 kbar a new transition is detected at 104 K, increasing to above 300 K by 19 kbar. A low temperature, superconducting dome (T(c) approximately 12 K) is centered around 5 kbar, extending down to 2.3 kbar and up to 8.6 kbar. This superconducting phase appears to exist when the low pressure transition is suppressed sufficiently, but before the high pressure transition has reduced the resistivity too dramatically.     

K-doping dependence of the Fermi surface of the iron-arsenic Ba1-xKxFe2As2 superconductor using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

We use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to investigate the electronic properties of the newly discovered iron-arsenic superconductor Ba_(1-x)K_(x)Fe_(2)As_(2) and nonsuperconducting BaFe_(2)As_(2). Our study indicates that the Fermi surface of the undoped, parent compound BaFe_(2)As_(2) consists of hole pocket(s) at Gamma (0,0) and larger electron pocket(s) at X (1,0), in general agreement with full-potential linearized plane wave calculations. Upon doping with potassium, the hole pocket expands and the electron pocket becomes smaller with its bottom approaching the chemical potential. Such an evolution of the Fermi surface is consistent with hole doping within a rigid-band shift model. Our results also indicate that the full-potential linearized plane wave calculation is a reasonable approach for modeling the electronic properties of both undoped and K-doped iron arsenites.     

Generalized Elliott-Yafet theory of electron spin relaxation in metals: origin of the anomalous electron spin lifetime in MgB2

The temperature dependence of the electron-spin relaxation time in MgB2 is anomalous as it does not follow the resistivity above 150 K; it has a maximum around 400 K and decreases for higher temperatures. This violates the well established Elliot-Yafet theory of spin relaxation in metals. The anomaly occurs when the quasiparticle scattering rate (in energy units) is comparable to the energy difference between the conduction and a neighboring bands. The anomalous behavior is related to the unique band structure of MgB2 and the large electron-phonon coupling. The saturating spin relaxation is the spin transport analogue of the Ioffe-Regel criterion of electron transport.     

Synthesis,Structure, and Antimalarial Activity of Some Enantiomerically Pure,cis-fused cyclopenteno-1,2,4-trioxanes

Two pairs of enantiomerically pure cis-fused cyclopenteno-1,2,4-trioxanes ( 7 , ent- 7 and 8 , ent- 8 ) are prepared (Schemes 1–3). Their identities are established by dye-sensitized photo-oxygenation of ent- 7 and 8 , ent- 8 to the allylichydroperxides, reduction to the corresponding alcohols, and conversion to the (1S)-camphanates (Scheme 4), the structures of which are determined by X-ray analysis. The dynamic properties of ent- 7 are investigated by NMR spectroscopy and PM3 calculations. Evidence for an easily accessible twist-boat conformation is obtained. The in vitro and in vivo antimalarial activities of 7 , ent- 7,8 , and ent- 8 as well as those of the racemic mixtures are evaluated against Plasmodium falciparum, P. berghei, and P. yoelii. No correlation is observed between configuration and activity. Racemates and pure enantiomers have commensurate activities. The mode of action on the intraerythrocytic parasite is rationalized in terms of close docking by the twist-boat conformer of the trioxane on the surface of a molecule of heme, single-electron transfer to the O? O σ* orbital, and scission to the acetal radical which then irreversibly isomerizes to a C-centered radical, the ultimate lethal agent (Scheme 5).     

Observation of domain boundaries in a TbNi<Subscript>2</Subscript>B<Subscript>2</Subscript>C single crystal

The domain structure of TbNi₂B₂C was studied by the finest (?0 nm) magnetic-particle decoration below 13 K. The twin domain boundaries caused by magnetoelastic stresses were observed in the {110} planes.     

Direct determination of product radical structure reveals the radical rearrangement pathway in a coenzyme B12-dependent enzyme

A carbinolamine (1-aminoethan-1-ol-2-yl) structure for the product radical in the CoII product radical pair catalytic intermediate state in coenzyme B12 (adenosylcobalamin)-dependent ethanolamine deaminase from Salmonella typhimurium has been determined by using isotope labeling and techniques of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The presence of nitrogen is detected from the difference in the EPR line shapes of the product radicals that are cryotrapped during steady-state turnover on either 14N- or 15N-labeled aminoethanol substrate. Three-pulse electron spin-echo envelope modulation (ESEEM) spectroscopy of the product radical labeled with 2H reveals two types of beta-2H hyperfine couplings. A structural model is proposed in which the two beta-2H couplings arise from two C1-C2 product radical rotamer states. The sum of the dihedral angles between the C2 p-orbital axis and C1-Hbeta bonds is 120 degrees , which indicates sp3-hybridization at C1. This confirms the C1 carbinolamine structure. The identification of the carbinolamine product radical indicates that the radical rearrangement in ethanolamine deaminase deviates from the solution elimination reaction pathway and proceeds by migration of the amine from C2 of the substrate radical to C1 of the product radical.     

Haloacetylated enol ethers. 5 [5]. Heterocyclic ring closure reactions of β-alkoxyvinyl dichloromethyl ketones with hydroxylamine

The β-alkoxyvinyl dichloromethyl ketones 1a-d are cyclocondensed with hydroxylamine hydrochloride in pyridine to afford the 5-hydroxy-5-dichloromethyl-4,5-dihydroisoxazoles 2a-d in good yield. The cyclo-condensation of compound 1c gave, together with 2c , 3-cyano-2-hydroxy-2-dichloromethyltetrahydrofuran 5c. The dehydratation of compounds 2a,b , derived from acyclic enol ethers, with concentrated sulfuric acid at 30°, led the corresponding 5-dichloromethylisoxazoles 3a,b. The dehydratation of compounds 2c,d , derived from cyclic enol ethers, with concentrated sulfuric acid at 30°, led the bicyclic 4,5-dihydroisoxazoles 4c,d , and at 55°, a competitive rearrangement reaction gives the 3-cyano-2-hydroxy-2-dichloromethyl-2H-pyran 5d.