Synthesis of 2,6-disubstituted piperidine alkaloids from ladybird beetles Calvia 10-guttata and Calvia 14-guttata

Optically pure (+)-calvine, (+)-2-epicalvine, (2S,6S)-(6-pentylpiperidin-2-yl)acetic acid methyl ester and (2R,6S)-(6-pentylpiperidin-2-yl)acetic acid methyl ester, four piperidine alkaloids isolated from ladybird beetles of the genus Calvia (Coccinellidae), were synthesised from a common precursor using cyclisative Pd(II)/Cu(II)-catalysed carboamination-(methoxy)carbonylation tandem reaction of alkenylamines as a key step. The first single-crystal X-ray analysis of (+)-calvine confirmed its proposed absolute configuration to be (2S,6S) corresponding to that of natural product.     

C-14 and H-3 contents in the groundwater around radioactive repository site in Korea

The contents of H-3 and C-14 in groundwater and surface waters around low and medium-level atomic waste repository site in Korea were determined. The concentrations of C-14 were in the range 0.186–0.287 Bq/L. The H-3 concentration of the groundwaters and surface waters were <0.06–5.75 and 1.22–4.74 Bq/L. The average H-3 contents of west, north and south direction were 1.18 ± 0.12, 1.11 ± 0.78 and 2.85 ± 2.66. H-3 and C-14 concentrations in the south direction were relatively higher than west and north direction samples. The surface waters sampled from catchment were four times higher than average H-3 concentration in precipitation. The concentrations of H-3 and C-14 within 5 km area samples were much higher than other samples.     

Regional characteristics of naturally occurring radionuclides in surface sediments of Chinese deserts and the Keum River area of Korea

Naturally occurring radionuclides (NORN) such as ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th from 44 surface sediment samples collected from four desert regions of Chinese were determined to investigate the regional characteristics of the source areas of Asian dust. The radionuclides for 41 surface sediment samples collected from seven sites of the Keum River area in Korea were also determined to compare the regional characteristics with the Chinese desert area. The specific activities (SA) and the specific activity ratios (SAR) of the radionuclides were investigated for distinguishing the source region of Asian dust. The SA of ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th as well as the SAR of ²²⁶Ra/⁴⁰K and ²³²Th/⁴⁰K were found to be useful to characterize source area and tracing Asian dust.     

Design of molecular two-photon probes for in vivo imaging. 2H-Benzo[h]chromene-2-one derivatives

2H-Benzo[h]chromene-2-one derivatives showing appreciable water solubility, significant two-photon cross sections, high photostability, cell permeability, low toxicity, and ability to be converted to a protein TP probe have been developed by incorporating all of the needed functions within a small molecule.     

Three-dimensional NMR Spectroscopy of organic molecules by random sampling of evolution time space and multidimensional Fourier transformation

In this communication we present the application of a new method, which enables one to acquire 3D NMR spectra in a reasonable time and preserves high resolution in indirectly detected domains. The new method is based on random distribution of time domain data points followed by Quaternion FT with respect to two time variables in one step.The experimental examples include three-dimensional spectra of strychnine in CDCl3, TOCSY-HSQC, COSY-HMBC, and the new technique proposed here: heteronuclear single quantum multiple bond correlation (HSQMBC). The obtained spectra are compared to those recorded at the same time employing the conventional acquisition scheme. We show that high-quality 3D spectra of organic compounds can be obtained in reasonable experimental time and that they are of great interest in cases when direct analysis of 2D spectra is difficult.     

X-ray absorption spectroscopy study of H2S sorption on iron-rich soil: characterization of iron-sulfur species

Iron-rich soil after sorption of H(2)S was characterized using X-ray absorption near-edge structural (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS) for determination the possible products in the present work. EXAFS revealed that the main Fe-S species in the sulfided sample were FeS (troilite) and Fe(1-x)S (pyrrohotite). Iron in the sulfided sample was found to possess a Fe-S bond distance of 2.36 A and a Fe-O bond distance of 1.72 A in the Fe-K-edge spectra whereas the Fe-S bond distance of 2.25 A was determined in the sulfur K-edge spectra. In the second shells, the bond distance of Fe-O-Si or Fe-O-Al with 3.28 A was also observed. No FeS2 (pyrite) was included in the sulfided sample. The formation of Fe(1-x)S was probably attributed to the presence of Fe(3)O(4), a type of spinel structure with a lattice deficiency.     

Spectroscopic study on the zinc-contaminated soils for the determination of zinc speciation

The purpose of this paper reported the zinc species in the highly contaminated soils from metallurgical area around Erh-Jen River in the southern of Taiwan. FTIR and XPS were used to investigate the zinc species in the contaminated soils. Through a FTIR analysis, appreciable of zinc bound by organic matter was found and their bonding structure consisted of antisymmetric and symmetric stretchings, Zn-HSsym and Zn-HSasym. With XPS analysis, the Angstrom scale depth scan was surveyed for investigation the zinc speciation. No signal of zinc was detected in the depth of 900A for the larger particle contaminated soils whereas the detectable signal of zinc was determined in the XPS experiment. With further regression and fitting results, the major zinc species presented in the surface of larger and fine particle contaminated soils consisted of reductive and oxidative zinc species. In the deeper depth of contaminated soils, an inverse spinel zinc ferrite was found in the case of larger particle soil. No inverse spinel zinc ferrite was detected in the case of fine particle soil and could be attributed to the relatively small particle size.