Photoluminescence quenching effect on porous silicon films for gas sensors application

Porous silicon (PS) films were investigated by Raman, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies using different laser excitations: 488.0, 514.5, 632.8, and 782.0 nm. The analysis of the first-order and second-order Raman spectra have shown that the band gaps of the PS films are indirect as in the bulk c-Si. The Raman phonon and the PL spectra as well as the spectral distribution of the linear polarisation degree (LPD) of PS layers have shown to be dependent on the laser excitation energy. This dependence cannot be explained within the quantum confinement model. A mechanism for the PL emission in PS layers is presented in which the radiative recombination of electron-hole pairs occurs in localised centres (the Si-O-SiR moieties) at the pore/crystallite interface. These quasi-molecular centres are Jahn-Teller active, i.e. the radiative recombination is a phonon-assisted phenomena. The adsorption of gas molecules on the porous silicon surface was studied throughout photoluminescence quenching effect. The adsorption experiments were performed at 10(-6) bar of pressure using gas molecules of organic solvents. In all these cases, the PL intensity was recovered after gas desorption. The PL quenching effect was explained in the sense of electron transfer mechanism (ET).     

Charmed Mesons in Nuclei with Heavy-Quark Spin Symmetry

We study the properties of charmed pseudoscalar and vector mesons in dense matter within a unitary meson–baryon coupled-channel model which incorporates heavy-quark spin symmetry. This is accomplished by extending the SU(3) Weinberg–Tomozawa Lagrangian to incorporate spin-flavor symmetry and implement a suitable flavor symmetry breaking. Several resonances with negative parity are generated dynamically by the s-wave interaction between pseudoscalar and vector meson multiplets with 1/2⁺ and 3/2⁺ baryons. Those states are then compared to experimental data as well as theoretical models. Next, Pauli-blocking effects and meson self-energies are introduced in a self-consistent manner to obtain the open-charm meson spectral functions in a dense nuclear environment. We finally discuss the formation of D-mesic nuclei.     

Chiral anomaly and nucleon properties in the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with vector mesons

We consider the extended SU(3) Nambu and Jona-Lasinio model with explicit vector couplings in the presence of external fields. We study the chiral anomaly in this model and its implications on the properties of the nucleon described as a chiral soliton of three valence quarks bounded in mesonic background fields. For the model to reproduce the QCD anomaly it is necessary to subtract suitable local and polynomial counterterms in the external and dynamical vector and axial-vector fields. We compute the counterterms explicitly in a vector-gauge-invariant regularization, and obtain modifications to the total effective action and vector and axial currents. We study the numerical influence of those counterterms in the two-flavour version of model with dynamical σ, π, , A and ω mesons. We find that, for time-independent hedgehog configurations, the numerical effects in the nucleon mass, the isoscalar nucleon radius and the axial coupling constant are negligibly small.     

Analogues of nucleotides and oligonucleotides featuring difluorophosphonate, difluorophosphonothioate and difluorophosphinate functional groups

Efforts to stereoselectively install difluorophosphonyl, difluorophosphonothioyl and difluorophosphinyl groups in place of the phosphate linking positions 3′ and 5′ of two furanoses are reviewed. Two equally efficient approaches have been worked out based on either the ionic addition of difluorophosphonothioate reagents 17 or 33 onto a ketone, or on the addition of phosphorus-centered radicals onto gem-difluoroalkenes. These methodologies resulted in the successful preparation of 3′-phosphonodifluoromethyl analogues to nucleosides-3′-phosphates, and of key intermediate 83, featuring two ribofuranosyl nuclei linked by a difluorinated phosphonothioyl unit on positions 3′ and 5′. In addition, the groundwork for the synthesis of H-difluorophosphinates and difluorophosphinates has been laid.     

On the stability of methyl cations with aromatic substituents. Theoretical approach

The extreme stability of methyl cations surrounded by certain aromatic fragments was studied using density functional theory methods. The pK_R+, aromaticity, ionization potential and dipole moment of tris[6-(dimethylamino)-1-azulenyl]methyl [1] and 2,6,10-tris(dimethylamino)trioxatriangulenium [2], as well as the corresponding for crystal violet [3] and tert-butanol [4], these last as the reference precursors of stable carbenium, were calculated and the results were found to be in agreement with experimental results previously reported. Furthermore, the calculations suggest that the large stability is a direct consequence of inductive effects as well as the intrinsic aromaticity of the branches as measured by the HOMA (harmonic oscillator model of aromaticity) method.     

A density functional study of the reactivity and stability of mixed copper complexes. Is hardness the reason?

Mixed-ligand Cu2+ ternary complexes, formed by an aromatic diimine and a second ligand with O donor atoms, show a higher than expected stability. To understand the factors affecting the stability of these systems, we performed a density functional study of [Cu(H2O)5]2+, [Cu(N-N)(H2O)3]2+, and [Cu(N-N)(O-O)H2O] (N-N is 1,10-phenanthroline, 5-nitro-1,10-phenanthroline, or 3,4,7,8-tetramethyl-1,10-phenanthroline; and O-O is oxalate). In the present study, full geometry optimization (B3LYP/3-21G**) has been performed without symmetry constraints and a comparison with some available experimental results has been made. Bond distances, equilibrium geometries, harmonic frequencies, and net atomic charges from Mulliken populations are presented. Since the principle of hard and soft acids and bases has been widely used to explain the stability of these complexes, we also calculated and analyzed the global hardness and the local softness. The results of the global hardness do not support the commonly held idea that harder acids will preferably bind to harder ligands, while softer acids will bind to softer ligands. Interestingly, local softness and electron affinity correlate well with the formation constants of these compounds and provide an explanation of the reactivity behavior. The present results may help to rationalize the stability and reactivity of these systems.     

Palladium-catalyzed domino intramolecular N-arylation/intermolecular C-C bond formation for the synthesis of functionalized benzodiazepinediones

A divergent and regiocontrolled Pd-catalyzed domino sequence involving an intramolecular N-arylation and an intermolecular Heck reaction has been developed, providing rapid access to functionalized benzodiazepine-2,5-diones 3. The starting materials were synthesized by the Ugi four-component reaction. An unprecedented X-ray structure of bispalladacycle 6 was documented.     

Micellar electrokinetic chromatographic screening of letrozole and its metabolite in human urine: validation and robustness/ruggedness evaluation

A simple, rapid, and sensitive method has been proposed and validated to directly quantify letrozole (LE) and its metabolite, bis-4-cyanophenylmethanol (ME) in urine samples (without any additional treatment) by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC). In an effort to improve the selectivity and sensitivity of the method, the chemical and instrumental parameters were optimized. The best conditions were: 70 mM borate buffer (pH 9.2) and 40 mM SDS as BGE, 25 kV and 20 degrees C as working voltage and temperature, respectively, with hydrodynamic injection for 6 s. The reliability of the proposed method was also proved by means of a validation procedure based on precision, accuracy, linearity, LOD (15 microg/L for both of them) and LOQ studies. Moreover, an innovatory experimental and statistical design approach, upon a Plackett-Burman fractional factorial model, which involves the simultaneous evaluation of the global robustness and ruggedness effects, was applied. As it has been already stated, the proposed method has been successfully used to directly quantify both compounds in human urine samples, without any additional treatment, but the previously reached LOD and LOQ values can be improved by applying an SPE preconcentration procedure, also developed and optimized by the authors in this work. Real determinations of these analytes in clinical urines of a patient under LE treatment were performed, too.     

Micellar electrokinetic chromatographic method for the determination of letrozole, citalopram and their metabolites in human urine

A new micellar electrokinetic chromatographic method has been developed to analyse human urine samples containing a combination of a drug used for the treatment of breast cancer (letrozole), an antidepressant (citalopram) and their main metabolites. Best results were obtained by using 15 mM borate buffer (pH 9.2) containing 20 mM sodium dodecyl sulphate and 12% (v/v) 2-propanol as the background electrolyte. The separation was performed through a fused silica capillary at 40 degrees C with the application of 6s (3.45 kPa) of hydrodynamic injection and 30 kV of separation voltage. Detection wavelength was 240 nm. Under these conditions, the migration times for all the studied compounds were ranged between 3.0 and 8.0 min. Linearity ranges were determined as 0.4-5.0 microg/mL for all the compounds. Detection limits between 12.5 and 25 ng/mL were determined in urine samples. According to the validation study, the developed method has been proven to be accurate, precise, sensitive, specific, rugged and robust. This method has been used to determine letrozole, citalopram and their metabolites in human urine at clinical levels. Prior to determination, the samples are purified and enriched by means of an extraction-preconcentration step with a preconditioned C(18) cartridge and by eluting the compounds with methanol. The developed method was applied to the determination of these analytes in three urine samples from patients undergoing treatment with letrozole or citalopram.     

Trace anomaly and dimension two gluon condensate above the phase transition

The dimension two gluon condensate has been used previously within a simple phenomenological model to describe power corrections from available lattice data for the renormalized Polyakov loop and the heavy quark-antiquark free energy in the deconfined phase of QCD [1,2]. The QCD trace anomaly of gluodynamics also shows unequivocal inverse temperature power corrections which may be encoded as dimension two gluon condensate. We analyze lattice data of the trace anomaly and compare with other determinations of the condensate from previous references, yielding roughly similar numerical values.