Electroweak tests with τ leptons at LEP

We report on two sensitive tests of lepton universality carried out by the 4 LEP experiments at the Z⁰ pole. From measurements of the τ polarization in e⁺ e^?→τ ⁺ τ ^?, the ratios of the vector and axial vector coupling constants of the electron and the tau lepton to the weak neutral current are obtained to beg _{v e} /g _{a e} =0.066±0.015 andg _{V τ} /g _{A τ} =0.070±0.009 respectively. From measurement of the τ lifetime and the τ leptonic branching ratios, the ratio of the coupling constants describing weak leptonic decays of the τ and the μ is measured to beG _τ /G _μ =0.996±0.008.     

Crystal and molecular structure of a new biguanide metal complex, [Cu(AMNH)2]Cl2

The crystal structure of C₆H₁₆N₈O₂·CuCl₂, a biguanide metal complex, has been determined by X-ray diffraction data using MoK radiation. The compound crystallizes in the monoclinic space groupP2₁/a, witha=11.074(4),b=12.061(4),c=5.312(3)Å and=102.8(1)°.The structure was solved by direct methods and refined by full-matrix least-squares to a finalR value 0.037 with 1245 unique reflections. The complex molecule is centrosymmetric, with the Cu atom (0.5,0.5,0.5) on a crystallographic center of symmetry. The complex molecule is rhombic planar with a trans configuration.     

On sparse spanners of weighted graphs

Given a graphG, a subgraphG' is at-spanner ofG if, for everyu,v V, the distance fromu tov inG' is at mostt times longer than the distance inG. In this paper we give a simple algorithm for constructing sparse spanners for arbitrary weighted graphs. We then apply this algorithm to obtain specific results for planar graphs and Euclidean graphs. We discuss the optimality of our results and present several nearly matching lower bounds.The work of G. Das and D. Joseph was supported by NSF PYI Grant DCR-8402375. The work of D. Dobkin was supported by NSF Grant CCR-8700917. The work of J. Soares was supported by CNPq proc 203039/87.4 (Brazil) and NSF Grant CCR-9014562. This research was accomplished while G. Das was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A preliminary version was presented at the Second Scandinavian Workshop on Algorithm Theory, Bergen, Norway, 1990, under the title Generating Sparse Spanners for Weighted Graphs, and proceedings appear in the series Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer-Verlag. The preliminary version also appears as Princeton University Technical Report CS-TR-261-90, and as University of Wisconsin-Madison Computer Sciences Technical Report 882.     

Polymerization of methyl methacrylate with cupric laurate–benzoin system as initiator

The polymerization of methyl methacrylate initiated by cupric laurate in combination with benzoin has been investigated in carbon tetrachloride medium at 60°C. The rate of polymerization was found to be proportional to the square root of both cupric ion and benzoin concentrations, and to the 1.5th power of the monomer concentration. Spectral studies indicated that there is a complex formation between cupric ion and the monomer methyl methacrylate. A reaction scheme, based on initial formation of the complex and its subsequent reaction with benzoin to produce the free radicals responsible for initiation has been postulated to explain the observed results.     

Biomimetic reduction of nimesulide with NaBH4 catalyzed by metalloporphyrins

The biomimetic reduction of anti-inflammatory drug, nimesulide (1) with sodium borohydride catalyzed by 5,10,15,20-tetraarylporphyrinatoiron(III) chlorides [TAPFe(III)Cl] has been studied in organic solvents under anaerobic and aerobic conditions.     

Stereoselective syntheses of (−)-chloramphenicol and (+)-thiamphenicol

Chloramphenicol and thiamphenicol have been enantioselectively synthesized using an asymmetric halohydrin reaction as a key step. In particular, halomethoxylation reaction was used, where O-methyl functions as a hydroxyl protecting group and eliminates an additional protection step.     

1-Phenyl-6,7-disubstituted-aminopropyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines as possible antituberculer agents

The Condensation of 3,4-disubstituted phenylethylamine and benzaldehyde furnished l-phenyl-6,7-disubstituted-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines l. which on reaction with 1,3-dibromopropane gave l-phenyl-6,7-disubstituted-2-(3-bromoprophyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines 2. The reaction of 2 with different secondary amines resulted in the synthesis of 3. The compounds 3 were screened for their in vitro antituberculer activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis, and some of them have been found to be total inhibitors of M. Smegmatis     

Simple entry into isonucleosides: synthesis of 6-amino-9-[(3S,4S,5R)-4-hydroxy-5-(hydroxymethyl)tetrahydrofuran-3-yl]purine

A simple and efficient method for the preparation of isonucleoside 7 is described. The preparation of 1,4-anhydroxylitol 4, a key intermediate, is described by intramolecular cyclization of (2S,3R,4R)-3,5-dibenzyloxypentan-1,2,4-triol 3 using diethyl carbonate and NaH.     

Electrospray tandem mass spectrometric analysis of zeaxanthin and its oxidation products

Carotenoids have been implicated in protection of the eye from light-mediated photo-toxicity caused by free radicals. Under conditions of normal oxidative stress the carotenoids serve as protective antioxidants; however, when the oxidative stress exceeds the antioxidant capacity, carotenoids can be oxidized into numerous cleavage products. The determination and identification of oxidized carotenoids in biological samples remains a major challenge due to the small sample size and low stability of these compounds. We investigated the reaction of various zeaxanthin cleavage products with O-ethyl hydroxylamine to evaluate their levels in a biological sample. For this, a sensitive and specific electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) was developed, avoiding the classical lower sensitive and specific HPLC-UV and fluorescence absorption methods. Protonated molecules [M + H](+) of carotenoids upon collision-induced dissociation produced a number of structurally characteristic product ions. A series of complicated clusters of product ions differing in 14 (CH(2))and 26 (C(2)H(2))Da was characteristic of the polyene chain of intact carotenoids. All carotenoid ethyl oximes of zeaxanthin cleavage products were characterized by the losses of 60 and 61 Da in their MS/MS spectra. Through the application of the LC/MS/MS method, we identified two oxime derivatives of 3-hydroxy-beta-ionone and 3-hydroxy-14'-apocarotenal with protonated molecules at m/z 252 and m/z 370 respectively, in a human eye sample.