Imaging of nanostructures with sub-100?nm spatial resolution using a desktop EUV microscope

Laser-produced plasma sources of short-wavelength radiation offer an interesting alternative to synchrotron and free-electron laser installations. Recently, we reported on a newly developed desktop EUV microscope based on plasma generated from a gas-puff target and diffractive optics. The half-pitch resolution of the microscope approached 50?nm. Compared to analogous microscopes based on synchrotron sources, our system is compact and cost-effective. In this paper, we present the results of imaging experiments on a thin polycrystalline object that was carried out in order to further examine the applicability of the microscope. We have demonstrated here that EUV microscopy can provide structural information that cannot be accessed by conventional optical microscopy or SEM.     

Effect of pH on deagglomeration and rheology/morphology of aqueous suspensions of goethite nanopowder

The kinetics of deagglomeration in diluted suspensions of goethite nanopowder, as well as the rheology and morphology of the resulting suspensions, strongly depends on pH. At pH 3, nanopowder can be dispersed as separate nanoparticles, and the resulting suspension is Newtonian, with the viscosity only marginally higher than the viscosity of water. At pH between 5 and 12, nanoparticles tend to reaggregate and form weak aggregates/flocs. Morphology changes from a Newtonian suspension of primary nanoparticles to a non-Newtonian, shear-thinning suspension of large, porous, interconnected flocs with the yield stress reaching a maximum at an isoelectric point. The effect of pH on morphology and rheology is reversible, and as pH is reduced to 3, the suspension becomes Newtonian, with viscosity marginally higher than the viscosity of water. The rheological models based on DLVO theory do not allow prediction of the effect of pH on viscosity and yield stress, but the flow curves of goethite suspensions can be described by a fractal model with five adjustable parameters.     

Anionic polymerization of β-lactones initiated with potassium hydride. A convenient route to polyester macromonomers

The anionic polymerization of 2-oxetanone and 4-methyl-2-oxetanone initiated with the potassium hydride/18-crown-6 complex was investigated. The α-proton abstraction of the monomer was found to proceed at the initiation step of this polymerization. The salt of the unsaturated carboxylic acid formed initiates further propagation, leading to functionalized polyesters with unsaturated, dead end-groups.     

Mechanistic aspects of the oxidative and reductive fragmentation of N-nitrosoamines: a new method for generating nitrenium cations, amide anions, and aminyl radicals

A new method for investigating the mechanisms of nitric oxide release from NO donors under oxidative and reductive conditions is presented. Based on the fragmentation of N-nitrosoamines, it allows generation and spectroscopic characterization of nitrenium cations, amide anions, and aminyl radicals. X-irradiation of N-nitroso-N,N-diphenylamine 1 in Ar matrices at 10 K is found to yield the corresponding radical ions, which apparently undergo spontaneous loss of NO* under the conditions of this experiment (1*+ seems to survive partially intact, but not 1*-). One-electron reduction or oxidation of 1 is observed upon doping of the Ar matrix with DABCO, an efficient hole scavenger, or CH2Cl2, an electron scavenger, respectively. The resulting diphenylnitrenium cation, 2+, and the diphenylamide anion, 2-, were characterized by their full UV-vis and mid-IR spectra. The best spectra of 2+ and 2- were obtained if 1 was homolytically photodissociated to diphenylaminyl radical 2* and NO* prior to ionization. 2+ and 2- are bleached on irradiation at <340 nm to form 2* or, in part, 1. DFT and CCSD quantum chemical calculations predict that the dissociation of 1*+ and 1*- is slightly endothermic, a tendency which is partially reversed if one allows for complexation of the resulting 2+ (and, presumably, 2-) with NO*. The method described in this work should prove generally applicable to the generation and study of nitrenium cations and amide anions R2N+/- under matrix and ambient conditions (i.e., in solution).     

Infrared spectra of lanthanide complexes with eriochrome cyanine r

An infrared spectroscopic study of the composition of these complexes in the solid state is described. Evaluation of the spectra made it possible to distinguish changes in the character of the lanthanide—ligand bonds in the series La — Lu, and to study the “double-double” effect.     

A Spirocyclohexyl Nitroxide Amino Acid Spin Label for Pulsed EPR Spectroscopy Distance Measurements

Site‐directed spin labeling and EPR spectroscopy offer accurate, sensitive tools for the characterization of structure and function of macromolecules and their assemblies. A new rigid spin label, spirocyclohexyl nitroxide α‐amino acid and its N‐(9‐fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl) derivative, have been synthesized, which exhibit slow enough spin‐echo dephasing to permit accurate distance measurements by pulsed EPR spectroscopy at temperatures up to 125 K in 1:1 water/glycerol and at higher temperatures in matrices with higher glass transition temperatures. Distance measurements in the liquid nitrogen temperature range are less expensive than those that require liquid helium, which will greatly facilitate applications of pulsed EPR spectroscopy to the study of structure and conformation of peptides and proteins.     

Photophysics of eumelanin: ab initio studies on the electronic spectroscopy and photochemistry of 5,6-dihydroxyindole.

Excited-state reaction paths and energy profiles of 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI), one of the elementary building blocks of eumelanin, have been determined with the approximated singles-and-doubles coupled-cluster (CC2) method. 6-Hydroxy-4-dihydro-indol-5-one (HHI) is identified as a photochromic species, which is formed via nonadiabatic hydrogen migration from the dangling OH group of DHI to the neighboring carbon atom of the six-membered ring. It is shown that HHI is a typical excited-state hydrogen-transfer (ESIHT) system. HHI absorbs strongly in the visible range of the spectrum. A barrierless hydrogen transfer in the (1)pipi* excited state, followed by barrierless torsion of the hydroxyl group, lead to a low-lying S(1)-S(0) conical intersection and thus to ultrafast internal conversion. This very efficient mechanism of excited-state deactivation provides HHI with a high degree of intrinsic photostability. It is suggested that the metastable photochemical product HHI plays an essential role for the photoprotective biological function of eumelanin.     

A novel catalytic adsorptive stripping voltammetric method for the determination of germanium ultratraces in the presence of chloranilic acid and the V(IV)·HEDTA complex

A novel, sensitive catalytic adsorptive stripping voltammetric procedure which can be used to determine trace amounts of germanium is described. The method is based on the interfacial accumulation of the complex formed by Ge(IV) and the product of the reduction of chloranilic acid on the hanging mercury drop electrode or the renewable silver amalgam film electrode, and its subsequent reduction from the adsorbed state followed by the catalytic action of the V(IV)·HEDTA complex. The presence of V(IV)·HEDTA greatly enhances the adsorptive stripping response of Ge. The reduction of the Ge(IV) in the presence of chloranilic acid and V(IV)·HEDTA was investigated in detail and the effects of pH, electrolyte composition, and instrumental parameters were studied. Under optimal conditions, the catalytic peak current of germanium exhibited good linearity for Ge(IV) concentrations in the range of 0.75–60 nM (for 60 s of accumulation at −0.1 V, r² = 0.995) and a low limit of detection (LOD = 0.085 nM). The procedure was successfully applied to determine Ge in water samples.

     

Thermolytic carbonates for potential 5'-hydroxyl protection of deoxyribonucleosides

Thermolytic groups structurally related to well-studied heat-sensitive phosphate/thiophosphate protecting groups have been evaluated for 5'-hydroxyl protection of deoxyribonucleosides as carbonates and for potential use in solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis. The spatial arrangement of selected functional groups forming an asymmetric nucleosidic 5'-O-carbonic acid ester has been designed to enable heat-induced cyclodecarbonation reactions, which would result in the release of carbon dioxide and the generation of a nucleosidic 5'-hydroxyl group. The nucleosidic 5'-O-carbonates 3-8, 10-15, and 19-21 were prepared and were isolated in yields ranging from 45 to 83%. Thermolytic deprotection of these carbonates is preferably performed in aqueous organic solvent at 90 degrees C under near neutral conditions. The rates of carbonate deprotection are dependent on the nucleophilicity of the functional group involved in the postulated cyclodecarbonation reaction and on solvent polarity. Deprotection kinetics increase according to the following order: 4 < 5 < 10 < 6 < 12 < 7 < 13 < 8 < 14 congruent with 19-21 and CCl4 < dioxane < MeCN < t-BuOH < MeCN:phosphate buffer (3:1 v/v, pH 7.0) < EtOH:phosphate buffer (1:1 v/v, pH 7.0). Complete thermolytic deprotection of carbonates 7, 8, 13, and 14 is achieved within 20 min to 2 h under optimal conditions in phosphate buffer-MeCN. The 2-(2-pyridyl)amino-1-phenylethyl and 2-[N-methyl-N-(2-pyridyl)]aminoethyl groups are particularly promising for 5'-hydroxyl protection of deoxyribonucleosides as thermolytic carbonates.