Resonant-cavity-enhanced photodetectors and LEDs in the mid-infrared

In this paper we outline the use of resonant-cavity enhancement for increasing the exterior coupling efficiency of photodetectors and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in the mid-infrared (MIR) spectral region. This method is potentially very important in the MIR because encapsulation is not presently feasible due to the lack of suitable materials. Among other potential applications, resonant-cavity-enhanced (RCE) photodetectors and LEDs could be particularly suitable for greenhouse gas detection because of their ‘pre-tunable’ spectrally narrowed resonantly enhanced peaks. We also present the optical characterization of an InAs RCE photodetector aimed at the detection of methane gas (λ≈3.3 μm), and an InAs/InAs_0.91Sb_0.09 resonant-cavity LED (RCLED) aimed at carbon dioxide gas (λ≈4.2 μm). The high peak responsivity of the RCE photodetector was 34.7 A/W at λ=3.14 μm, and the RCLED peaked at λ=3.96 μm. These are among the longest operating wavelengths for III–V RCE photodetectors and RCLEDs reported in the literature.     

Efficiency of four different techniques in coupled HPLC-UV/VIS to quantify overlapping peaks with known spectral features

Summary Four different techniques to quantify unresolved chromatographic peaks with known spectral features combined with photodiode array detection, are investigated as regards their efficiency for the accurate and precise determination of drugs in the low g-range. The comparison includes peak suppression utilising difference chromatograms, first-order derivative chromatograms, selective chromatograms, generated by the calculation of orthogonal polynomial shares, and the powerful least-squares multicomponent analysis approach. Each of these methods uses UV-spectra taken throughout, the peak. The results presented and conclusions reached should enable the chromatographer to come to a decision about the reasonable use of these options now provided by multichannel detection in HPLC.     

Radical cyclization cascade involving ynamides: an original access to nitrogen-containing heterocycles

A radical cascade involving a 5-exo-dig cyclization followed by a 6-endo-trig radical trapping transforms ynamides into heterogeneous polycyclic compounds in good yields. This leads interestingly to the formation of isoindols, isoindolinones, and pyridoisoindolones. [reaction: see text]     

Monolayers as models for supported catalysts: zirconium phosphonate films containing manganese(III) porphyrins

Organized monolayer films of a manganese tetraphenylporphyrin have been prepared and used as supported oxidation catalysts. Manganese 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(tetrafluorophenyl-4'-octadecyloxyphosphonic acid) porphyrin (1) has been immobilized as a monolayer film by a combination of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) and self-assembled monolayer techniques that use zirconium phosphonate linkages to bind the molecule to the surface. Analysis by FTIR, XPS, UV-vis and polarized optical spectroscopy show that the films consist of noninteracting molecules effectively anchored and oriented nearly parallel to the surface. The monolayer films are stable to the solvent and temperature conditions needed to explore organic oxidations. The activity of films of 1 toward the epoxidation of cyclooctene using iodosylbenzene as the oxidant was compared to that of Manganese 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) porphyrin (2) and 1 under equivalent homogeneous conditions. The immobilized porphyrin 1 shows an enhanced activity relative to either homogeneous reaction. The main difference between 1 and 2 is the four alkyl phosphonate arms in 1 designed to incorporate the porphyrin within the films. The increased activity of immobilized 1 is a combination of the porphyrin structure, which prohibits the formation of mu-oxo dimers even in solution, and a change in conformation when anchored to the surface. The study demonstrates that careful monolayer studies can provide useful models for the design and study of supported molecular catalyst systems.     

Rapid biomass analysis

New, rapid, and inexpensive methods that monitor the chemical composition of corn stover and corn stover-derived samples are a key element to enabling the commercialization of processes that convert stover to fuels and chemicals. These new techniques combine near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and projection to latent structures (PLS) multivariate analysis to allow the compositional analysis of hundreds of samples in 1 d at a cost of about $10 each. The new NIR/PLS rapid analysis methods can also be used to support a variety of research projects that would have been too costly to pursue by traditional methods.     

Use of solid-phase microextraction-capillary-gas chromatography (SPME-CGC) for the varietal characterization of wines by means of chemometrical methods

The extraction of wine aroma compounds was studied by direct-SPME (DI/SPME), headspace-SPME (HS/SPME) and multiple-headspace-extraction-SPME (MHE/SPME). The aromagrams obtained by HS/SPME-CGC were evaluated with chemometrical methods for the varietal classification of wines. Received: 25 July 1997 / Revised: 24 September 1997 / Accepted: 7 October 1997     

The synthesis of dicationic extended bis-benzimidazoles

The synthesis of extended dicationic bis-benzimidazoles starting from trans-1,2-bis(4-cyanophenyl)ethene and trans-1,2-bis(4-cyanophenyl)cyclopropane is reported. The target diamidines show significant in vitro activity against B. subtilis.     

Theory of reflectance measurements in quantitative evaluation in TLC and HPTLC. 1. Multilayer model of reflectance and transmittance

In the approach described in this paper, the layer of adsorbent is divided into n sublayers. The radiation density in each sublayer is given by the sum of the transmittance and the reflectance of the adjacent sublayers. Absorption of light by the layer or the substance will diminish this radiation density. Depending upon the factors of reflectance and transmittance some light will pass to the adjacent sublayers. Two polynomials are derived from this readily understood formulation to calculate the reflectance or the transmittance of a layer of finite thickness. The algorithms given describe the reflectance and transmittance encountered in practical measurements with large amounts of substance per spot, as well as with small amounts. There are no restrictions with respect to nonideal scattering or reflection by the adsorbent layer support.