Influence of diffraction in crystals on the coherence properties of X-ray free-electron laser pulses

The spatial and temporal evolution of the field of random X-ray femtosecond pulses and their coherent properties upon pulse propagation in free space and under dynamical diffraction in perfect crystals in the Bragg and Laue geometries has been analyzed on the basis of the formalism developed in statistical optics. Particular attention is paid to the influence of large pulse propagation distances, which are characteristic of lengthy channels of X-ray free-electron lasers.     

Synthesis and study of Iron(II) perrhenate complexes with 4-propyl-1,2,4-triazole exhibiting 1A1 ? 5T2 spin transition

Coordination compounds of iron(II) perrhenate with 4-propyl-1,2,4-triazole (L), [Fe₃L₆(ReO₄)₄(H₂O)₂](ReO₄)₂(I), [Fe₃L₆(H₂O)₆](ReO₄)₆·H₂O(II), and FeL₃(ReO₄)₂(III), were synthesized. Compounds I and III were studied by static magnetic susceptibility measurements and by IR and electronic spectroscopy. These complexes exhibit a reversible ¹ A ₁ ⇄ ⁵ T ₂ spin transition and thermochromism. Compound I exhibits a spin transition without hysteresis at 185 K. The temperatures of forward and reverse transition for III are 250 and 244 K, respectively. Complex II isolated by crystallization from an acidified aqueous solution of compound I has a linear trinuclear structure of the cation (X-ray diffraction data). The structure of complex I was assumed to be similar, while compound III has a polymeric structure. Original Russian Text ? M.B. Bushuev, L.G. Lavrenova, Yu.G. Shvedenkov, A.V. Virovets, L.A. Sheludyakova, S.V. Larionov, 2007, published in Zhurnal Neorganicheskoi Khimii, 2007, Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 51–56.     

Electrochemical transformation of cyanoacetic ester and alkylidenecyanoacetic esters into 3-substituted 1,2-dicyanocyclopropane-1,2-dicarboxylates

Electrolysis of cyanoacetic ester and alkylidenecyanoacetic esters in an undivided cell in the presence of mediators (alkali metal halides) gives rise to 3-substituted, 1,2-dicyanocyclopropane-1,2-dicarboxylates in 60–95% yields. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1165–1168, June, 1998.     

Cu(II) complexes with 4,6-bis(3,5-dimethyl-1 H -pyrazole-1-yl)pyrimidine, 4-(3,5-dimethyl-1 H -pyrazole-1-yl)-6-(3,5-diphenyl-1 H -pyrazole-1-yl)pyrimidine: Synthesis and catalytic activity in ethylene polymerization reaction

The Cu(II) complexes with 4,6-bis(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazole-1-yl)pyrimidine (L¹) and 4-(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazole-1-yl)-6-(3,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrazole-1-yl)pyrimidine (L²) of the composition Cu₂L¹Br₄ and Cu₂L²A₄ (A = Cl, Br), respectively, were synthesized and studied by IR and magnetochemical methods. The molecular structure of the complexes is likely to be binuclear. In the presence of cocatalysts methylaluminoxane and triisobutylaluminium, the title complexes exhibit catalytic activity in the ethylene polymerization reaction. Original Russian Text ? M.B. Bushuev, V.P. Krivopalov, N.V. Semikolenova, Yu.G. Shvedenkov, L.A. Sheludyakova, G.G. Moskalenko, L.G. Lavrenova, V. A. Zakharov, S.V. Larionov, 2007, published in Koordinatsionnaya Khimiya, 2007, Vol. 33, No. 8, pp. 612–617.     

The influence of universal and specific interactions on structural properties of liquid formamide

Monte Carlo simulation of the structure of liquid formamide at 298 K was carried out. Intermolecular interactions were calculated using five different potentials. No essential changes in the spatial structure and topological properties of the network of hydrogen bonds of liquid formamide occur upon varying the electrostatic intermolecular interactions, strength of H-bonds, and temperature. Fragments of crystal structure are partly retained in liquid formamide. It was found that the network of H-bonds is structurally inhomogeneous and contains long-lived associates of closed cycles of H-bonds as well as tree-like and chain-like structures. The energy, topological, and statistical characteristics of closed cycles of H-bonds were determined. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 12, pp. 2227–2236, December, 1999.     

Influence of the size of fixed-rigidity spheres on the structural and energy characteristics of hydrophobic hydration

Monte Carlo simulations of molecular configurations of aqueous solutions of spherical particles with a special potential of solute—water interaction were carried out. The influence of the particle size on the properties of hydration shells was investigated. Two regimes of hydrophobic hydration with a crossover point at 0.4 nm were found. Hydration of smaller particles causes insignificant changes in the properties of water. Particles larger than 0.4 nm break the liquid water structure. Breaking effects are more pronounced in the first hydration shell of particles. Dewetting of hard sphere surfaces predicted by the LCW phenomenological theory has peculiarities in the case of hydration of fixed-rigidity spheres. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 9, pp. 1777–1786, September, 2008.     

Application of X-ray diffraction methods in the study of micrometer-sized porous Si layers

An X-ray analysis of porous silicon layers (Sb-doped n ⁺-Si(111)) obtained by anodic oxidation for different times with a current of 50 mA/cm² is performed by the methods of double-crystal rocking curves and total external reflection. A nondestructive method for monitoring the stationary process of the formation of micrometer-sized porous silicon layers and estimating their porosity and thickness is proposed. The parameters obtained for porous silicon layers with a thickness of ～6 μm are confirmed by the joint processing of diffraction curves for the 111 and 333 reflections on the basis of the developed model of dynamic scattering from layers while taking into account the strain profiles Δd(z)/d, the static Debye-Waller factor f(z), and the porosity P(z). The advantages and drawbacks of the proposed method are discussed.     

Diffraction of X‐ray free‐electron laser femtosecond pulses on single crystals in the Bragg and Laue geometry

A solution of the problem of dynamical diffraction for X‐ray pulses with arbitrary dimensions in the Bragg and Laue cases in a crystal of any thickness and asymmetry coefficient of reflection is presented. Analysis of pulse form and duration transformation in the process of diffraction and propagation in a vacuum is conducted. It is shown that only the symmetrical Bragg case can be used to avoid smearing of reflected pulses.     

Cu(II) and Cu(I) complexes with 2-(3,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrazole-1-yl)-4,6-diphenylpyrimidine: Synthesis and structure. Catalytic activity of Cu(II) compounds in reaction of ethylene polymerization

The Cu(II) and Cu(I) complexes with 2-(3,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrazole-1-yl)-4,6-diphenylpyrimidine (L) of the composition CuLX₂ (X = Cl, Br) and CuL(MeCN)Br are synthesized. According to X-ray diffraction data, the complexes have molecular structures. The molecules L are coordinated to the copper atom in bidentate-cyclic mode, i.e., through the N² atom of pyrazole and N¹ atom of pyrimidine rings. The coordination polyhedron of the Cu²⁺ ion in CuLX₂ compounds is completed to a distorted tetrahedron with halide ions, that of the Cu⁺ ion in CuL(MeCN)Br compounds, with the bromide ion and the nitrogen atom of acetonitrile molecule. The CuLX₂ complexes (X = Cl, Br) in combination with cocatalysts (methylaluminoxane and triisobutylaluminium) exhibit catalytic activity in ethylene polymerization.     

Amplification of the generation of the sum-frequency signal in multilayer periodic structures at the edges of the Bragg band gap

A new property of a one-dimensional periodic structure — amplification of the sum-frequency signal arising under the simultaneous action of two laser pulses on this structure with radiation frequencies corresponding to the edges of the fixed Bragg band gap — is experimentally observed and described. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 70, No. 11, 718–721 (10 December 1999)