Chemical composition and biological activity of Salvia verbenaca essential oil

Salvia verbenaca L. (syn. S. minore) is a perennial herb known in the traditional medicine of Sicily as "spaccapetri" and is used to resolve cases of kidney stones, chewing the fresh leaves or in decoction. The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained from aerial parts of S. verbenaca collected in Piano Battaglia (Sicily) on July 2009, was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The oil was strongly characterized by fatty acids (39.5%) and carbonylic compounds (21.2%), with hexadecanoic acid (23.1%), (Z)-9-octadecenoic acid (11.1%) and benzaldehyde (7.3%) as the main constituents. The in vitro activity of the essential oil against some microorganisms in comparison with chloramphenicol by the broth dilution method was determined. The oil exhibited a good activity as inhibitor of growth of Gram + bacteria.     

Enantioselective Organocatalytic Cascade Approach to Different Classes of Benzofused Acetals

A novel enantioselective organocatalytic strategy is presented for the synthesis of tetrahydrofurobenzofuran and methanobenzodioxepine natural product core structures. The strategy is based on a pair of divergent reaction pathways in which hydroxyarenes react with γ‐keto‐α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes, catalyzed by a chiral secondary amine. One reaction pathway, which leads to chiral 5,5‐fused acetals with two stereocenters—the tetrahydrofurobenzofuran scaffolds—proceeds in moderate yields and up to 96 % ee. The other reaction pathway provides 5,6‐bridged methanobenzodioxepine scaffolds with three stereocenters in moderate to good yields and up to 95 % ee. The reaction is remarkable as it can proceed with catalyst loadings as low as 0.25 mol %, providing one of the highest known turnover numbers in iminium ion catalysis. Furthermore, the hemiacetal tetrahydrofurobenzofuran can undergo functionalizations including reduction, oxidation, and allylation. Finally, the effects involved in the substrate control for the divergent pathways, based on both experimental and computational studies, have been investigated. A model involving steric, electronic and stereoelectronic interactions is discussed to rationalize the observed selectivities.     

Asymmetric first‐order transition and interlocked particle state in magnetocaloric La(Fe,Si)13

In‐situ synchrotron XRD measurements of the magnetocaloric material LaFe_11.8Si_1.2 are used to understand virgin effects and asymmetry of the underlying first order magnetovolume transition. A remarkable change of the transition kinetics occurs after the first cycle, which we attribute to the formation of cracks originating from the volume change. Tomographic imaging revealed that the bulk material disintegrates via an interlocked state where fragments are loosely connected. Though cracks have opened between the fragments, the transition is sharp, which we attribute to magnetostatic interactions. In the cycled sample we find a strong asymmetry between the transition interval upon heating and cooling, which we explain by isostatic pressure acting on parts of the sample during the cooling transition. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On the use of remote RF plasma source to enhance III–V MOCVD technology

A remote RF (13.56 MHz) plasma source, assembled on a metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) system, was used to investigate the processes of (a) cleaning and passivation of InP substrates with H atoms (H₂ plasmas), (b) deposition of InP epilayers from In(CH₃)₃ and PH_x radicals (PH₃/H₂ plasmas), and (c) deposition of InN on sapphire from In(CH₃)₃ and N atoms (N₂---H₂---Ar plasmas). From kinetic and spectroscopic ellipsometric in situ analysis, the removal of native oxide from InP surface was found to be complete, without surface damage (phosphorus depletion), at 230°C and 7 min of H atoms exposure. The growth of InP epilayers with PH₃ plasma pre-activation was successful (stoichiometric InP) even at low V/III ratio. During InN growth, the use of optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and of in situ ellipsometry (SE) was determinant for the process control.     

On the self-condensation of aminoguanidine leading to 1,1,4,10,10-pentaamino-2,3,5,6,8,9-hexaazadeca-1,3,5,7,9-pentaene (structure elucidation through X-ray powder diffraction)

Chemical and spectroscopic (UV; ¹H, ¹³C, ¹⁵N NMR; HRMS) studies determined the structure of 1,1,4,10,10-pentaamino-2,3,5,6,8,9-hexaazadeca-1,3,5,7,9-pentaene for the red-violet compound, which was obtained by treating aminoguanidine hydrochloride with KOH. X-ray powder diffraction and lattice-constrained PBC-DFT optimization confirmed this structure and defined a linear all-trans configuration.