The nickel-catalysed carbonylation of 2-mercaptoethanol

2-Mercapthoethanol undergoes carbonylation in pyridine solution in the presence of oxygen and of [Ni(CO)₃Pyl as a catalyst to give cyclic O, S-ethylelnethiorcarbonate. The isolation of thiolatonickel compound [Ni(SCH₂CH₂OH)₂] by the oxidation of a solution containing [Ni(CO)₃Py] and 2-mercaptoethanol, and its reaction with carbon monoxide to give the cyclic thiocarbonate and [Ni(CO)₃Py] prove that the reaction proceeds in at least two steps.     

Dynamical and thermal aspects of relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Within a covariant BUU-approach we simulate heavyion collisions at various bombarding energies from 400 MeV/u to 1 GeV/u. We evaluate locally the energymomentum tensorT ^v (x), and extract pressures, energydensities and temperatures. The connection of these thermodynamical quantities to experimental observables and their sensitivity to the equation of state is discussed. Furthermore, we investigate the question of local equilibration and evaluate the entropy produced in these reactions.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. P. Kienle on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Work supported by BMFT and GSI Darmstadt     

Influence of surface structure on surface analytical statements

The influence of surface structure of technical materials on results and statements of surface analytical methods has been investigated. Especially surface roughness as a typical property of rolled products has been observed. For this purpose samples of steel (technical surface, roughness up to 5 m) and silicon wafers (polished surface) have been analyzed by SNMS and GDOS in order to get information about changes of the surface roughness as function of the sputtering time and their influence on the statements about the depth profiles obtained.     

Fine tuning the structure of the Cu2+ complex with the prion protein chicken repeat by proline isomerization

The interaction between the single hexarepeat unit of chicken prion protein [ChPrP(54-59)] and Cu(II) was investigated by NMR, finding different coordination modes for the trans/trans and cis/trans isomers.     

The dimeric and tetrameric octarepeat fragments of prion protein behave differently to its monomeric unit

Potentiometric and spectroscopic data have shown that octarepeat dimer and tetramer are much more effective ligands for Cu(II) ions than simple octapeptide. Thus, the whole N-terminal segment of prion protein due to cooperative effects, could be more effective in binding of Cu(II) than simple peptides containing a His residue. The gain of the Cu(II) binding by longer octarepeat peptides derives from the involvement of up to four imidazoles in the coordination of the first Cu(II) ion. This type of binding increases the order of the peptide structure, which allows successive metal ions for easier coordination.