Compensating intermodal dispersion in photonic crystal directional couplers

Intermodal dispersion between the supermodes of a directional coupler may induce undesirable pulse breakup in a sufficiently large device. When this happens the device will no longer exchange power between its arms, and the extinction ratio is completely canceled. It is shown that, by carefully designing the coupling area of the directional coupler, one may compensate for intermodal dispersion. The compensating device should accomplish three basic requirements: inverse intermodal dispersion, balanced coupling of each supermode, and maximum power transfer while preserving the sign of the slope of the coupling coefficient with frequency for multiplexing-demultiplexing applications. This structure is designed and optimized with a genetic algorithm.     

Versatile chelating behavior of benzil bis(thiosemicarbazone) in zinc, cadmium, and nickel complexes

Reactions of benzil bis(thiosemicarbazone), LH(6), with M(NO(3))(2).nH(2)O (M = Zn, Cd, and Ni), in the presence of LiOH.H(2)O, show the versatile behavior of this molecule. The structure of the ligand, with the thiosemicarbazone moieties on opposite sides of the carbon backbone, changes to form complexes by acting as a chelating molecule. Complexes of these metal ions with empirical formula [MLH(4)] were obtained, although they show different molecular structures depending on their coordinating preferences. The zinc complex is the first example of a crystalline coordination polymer in which a bis(thiosemicarbazone) acts as bridging ligand, through a nitrogen atom, giving a 1D polymeric structure. The coordination sphere is formed by the imine nitrogen and sulfur atoms, and the remaining position, in a square-based pyramid, is occupied by an amine group of another ligand. The cadmium derivative shows the same geometry around the metal ion but consists of a dinuclear structure with sulfur atoms acting as a bridge between the metal ions. However, in the nickel complex LH(6) acts as a N(2)S(2) ligand yielding a planar structure for the nickel atom. The ligand and its complexes have been characterized by X-ray crystallography, microanalysis, mass spectrometry, IR, (1)H, and (13)C NMR spectroscopies and for the cadmium complex by (113)Cd NMR in solution and in the solid state.     

Matrix Christoffel Functions

We introduce and study matrix Christoffel functions for a matrix weight W. We find an explicit expression of the matrix Christoffel functions in terms of any sequence of orthonormal matrix polynomials with respect to W. An extremal property related to the matrix moment problem defined by W is established for the matrix Christoffel functions. We finally find the relative asymptotic behavior of the matrix Christoffel functions associated to matrix weights in the matrix Nevai class.     

Unexpected single-step formation of 1,2-anti-heterodisubstituted calix[4]arenes upon alkylation of a tribenzoyl precursor

The selective preparation and complete structural characterization of a small series of 1,2-anti-heterodisubstituted calix[4]arenes has been accomplished. These compounds were obtained in two steps from unsubstituted p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene by tribenzoylation and a subsequent one-pot, two-step sequence involving alkylation with simultaneous partial deacylation, resulting in heterodisubstituted calixarenes carrying an alkyl and an aroyl group. The monoalkyl-tribenzoyl intermediate, prior to in situ deprotection, could also be isolated.     

Multiresidue determination of 11 new fungicides in grapes and wines by liquid–liquid extraction/clean-up and programmable temperature vaporization injection with analyte protectants/gas chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry

A gas chromatographic ion trap mass spectrometry (GC-ITMS) method was developed for the determination of 11 new generation fungicides (benalaxyl, benalaxyl-M, boscalid, cyazofamid, famoxadone, fenamidone, fluquinconazole, iprovalicarb, pyraclostrobin, trifloxystrobin and zoxamide) in grapes and wines. Samples were extracted with ethyl acetate:hexane (1:1, v/v) and cleaned-up with graphitized carbon black/primary secondary amine (GCB/PSA) solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridges using acetonitrile:toluene (3:1, v/v) as eluent. The addition of analyte protectants (3-ethoxy-1,2-propanediol, d-sorbitol and l-gulonic acid γ-lactone) in the final extracts allowed to avoid the matrix-induced response enhancement effect on quantitation process with absolute recoveries ca. 100%. Precision (expressed as relative standard deviation) was lower than 16% for all fungicides. Limits of detection and quantitation were lower than 0.01 mg/kg or mg/L, except for cyazofamid, much smaller in all cases than maximum residue levels (MRLs) established by European Union for grapes and by Switzerland and Italy for wines. The proposed method was applied to determine fungicide residues in three different white grapes for vinification produced in Ribeiro area in Galicia (NW Spain), as well as in their corresponding final wines.     

Optimization of matrix solid-phase dispersion extraction method for the analysis of isoflavones in Trifolium pratense

A method based on matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) has been developed for the determination of 12 isoflavones in Trifolium pratense L. Dried leaf samples were blended with C₁₈, placed in small columns and isoflavones extracted with dichloromethane–methanol. Analyses were performed by high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) with 2-methoxyflavone as internal standard. Several dispersants, eluents and clean-up steps were tested during the optimization of the process in order to obtain the best selectivity and yields. Mean recoveries ranged from 70% to 119%, with relative standard deviations <18%. The limits of detection were between 0.006 mg/l for biochanin A and 0.108 mg/l for daidzin. The performance of the optimized method in real samples was compared with a conventional method based in solid–liquid extraction (SLE).     

Preparation of porous methacrylate monoliths with oxidized single-walled carbon nanohorns for the extraction of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs from urine samples

Microchimica Acta - A copolymer was prepared from glycidyl methacrylate, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and oxidized single-walled carbon nanohorns via photo-polymerization and used in spin columns...     

Green solid-phase peptide synthesis 4. γ-Valerolactone and N-formylmorpholine as green solvents for solid phase peptide synthesis

Herein, we report the use of γ-valerolactone (GVL) and N-formylmorpholine (NFM) as DMF substitutes in polystyrene based SPPS. The solubility of selected amino acids and coupling reagents were studied in GVL and NFM, followed by their use in the successful synthesis of Aib-enkephalin pentapeptide (H-Tyr-Aib-Aib-Phe-Leu-NH₂) and Aib-ACP decapeptide (H-Val-Gln-Aib-Aib-Ile-Asp-Tyr-Ile-Asn-Gly-NH₂).