Nickel-catalyzed highly chemoselective cocyclotrimerization of arynes with allenes: a novel method for 10-methylene-9,10-dihydrophenanthrenes

The NiBr(2)(dppe)-Zn system effectively catalyzes the [2+2+2] cocyclotrimerization of arynes with allenes, leading to 10-methylene-9,10-dihydrophenanthrenes in moderate to good yields. The cocyclotrimerization is highly selective with only the internal double bond of the allenes being involved in the reaction.     

Synthesis and structure analysis of 2-(2′-propanonylthio)-3-(o-methyl phenyl) quinazol-4(3H)-one

The three-dimensional molecular and crystal structure of 2-(2'-propanonylthio)3-(o-methyl phenyl)quinazol-4(3H)-one has been determined by X-ray crystallographic methods. This compound crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group P_bca with unit cell parameters: a=9.649(5), b=30.102(10), c=11.403(9)Å. It has been solved by direct methods and refined to a residual index of 0.054. The magnitude of torsion along C16— C11— N3— C4 bond is 93.5(4)°. The dihedral angle between the plane comprising all the ring atoms of quinazoline moiety and the atoms of the methyl substituted phenyl ring is 94.12(1)°. The crystal structure is stabilized by one intramolecular C— HsO interaction and three intermolecular C— HsN contacts.     

Clean matrices and unit-regular matrices

An element in a ring R is said to be clean (respectively unit-regular) if it is the sum (respectively product) of an idempotent element and an invertible element. If all elements in R are unit-regular, it is known that all elements in R are clean. In this note, we show that a single unit-regular element in a ring need not be clean. More generally, a criterion is given for a matrix to be clean in a matrix ring M₂(K) over any commutative ring K. For K=Z, this criterion shows, for instance, that the unit-regular matrix is not clean. Also, this turns out to be the “smallest” such example.     

Highly stereoselective ring-opening addition of terminal acetylenes to bicyclic olefins catalyzed by nickel complexes

[reaction: see text] Treatment of 7-oxa- and 7-azabenzonorbornadienes with terminal acetylenes in the presence of Ni(dppe)Cl2, ZnCl2, and Zn powder in toluene at 90 degrees C afforded the corresponding cis-2-alkynyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene derivatives in moderate to excellent yields with remarkably high stereoselectivity.     

Electro-magnetic-field-induced flow and interfacial instabilities in confined stratified liquid layers

The electro-magneto-hydrodynamic (EMHD) flow and instabilities engendered by the Lorenz force arising from interaction between externally applied perpendicular electric and magnetic fields are investigated in layers of two immiscible liquids in a channel. A new finite wave-number EMHD instability mode is uncovered by the Orr–Sommerfeld analysis, in addition to the interfacial and shear modes which also arise in the pressure-driven flows. Thus, EMHD can be controlled for micro-channel transport, heat and mass transfer, mixing, micro-emulsion generation, etc.     

hNCOcanH pulse sequence and a robust protocol for rapid and unambiguous assignment of backbone (1HN, 15N and 13C′) resonances in 15 N/13C‐labeled proteins

A three‐dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) pulse sequence named as hNCOcanH has been described to aid rapid sequential assignment of backbone resonances in ¹⁵N/¹³C‐labeled proteins. The experiment has been derived by a simple modification of the previously described HN(C)N pulse sequence [Panchal et al., J. Biomol. NMR 20 (2001) 135–147]; t₂ evolution is used to frequency label ¹³C′ rather than ¹⁵N (similar trick has also been used in the design of hNCAnH pulse sequence from hNcaNH [Frueh et al., JACS, 131 (2009) 12880–12881]). The modification results in a spectrum equivalent to HNCO, but in addition to inter‐residue correlation peaks (i.e. H_i, C_i?1), the spectrum also contains additional intra‐residue correlation peaks (i.e. H_i?1, C_i?1) in the direct proton dimension which has maximum resolution. This is the main strength of the experiment and thus, even a small difference in amide ¹H chemical shifts (5–6 Hz) can be used for establishing a sequential connectivity. This experiment in combination with the HNN experiment described previously [Panchal et al., J. Biomol. NMR 20 (2001) 135–147] leads to a more robust assignment protocol for backbone resonances (¹H^N, ¹⁵N) than could be derived from the combination of HNN and HN(C)N experiments [Bhavesh et al., Biochemistry, 40 (2001) 14727–14735]. Further, this new protocol enables assignment of ¹³C′ resonances as well. We believe that the experiment and the protocol presented here will be of immense value for structural—and functional—proteomics research by NMR. Performance of this experiment has been demonstrated using ¹³C/¹⁵N labeled ubiquitin. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stimuli‐responsive buckling mechanics of polymer films

Thin polymer films may undergo a wide variety of elastic instabilities that include global buckling modes, wrinkling and creasing of surfaces, and snapping transitions. Traditionally, these deformations have usually been avoided as they often represent a means of mechanical failure. However, a new trend has emerged in recent years in which buckling mechanics can be harnessed to endow materials with beneficial functions. For many such applications, it is desirable that such deformations happen reversibly and in response to well‐defined signals or changes in their environment. While significant progress has been made on understanding and exploiting each type of deformation in its own right, here we focus on recent advances in the control and application of stimuli‐responsive mechanical instabilities. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2014 , 52, 1441–1461     

A laminate-based framework for switching and microstructure evolution in polycrystalline ferroelectrics

This contribution deals with the numerical modelling of polycrystalline ferroelectric materials considering a sequential laminate-based approach established for tetragonal single-crystal ferroelectrics. The particular model [1] is considered and extended to predict the material behaviour of poly-crystal tetragonal ferroelectric ceramics. The derived laminate-based model is implemented in a finite element environment to simulate the time-dependent domain evolution and switching response of a bulk polycrystalline ferroelectric ceramic. © 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Distribution regimes of intense laser beam in a self-consistent plasma channel

In the present work, we investigate the distributed regimes of an intense laser beam in a self-consistent plasma channel. As the intensity of the laser beam increases, the relativistic mass effect as well as the ponderomotive expulsion of electrons modifies the dielectric function of the medium due to which the medium exhibits nonlinearity. Based on Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin and paraxial ray theory, the steady-state solution of an intense, Gaussian electromagnetic beam is studied. A differential equation of the beamwidth parameter with the distance of propagation is derived, including the effects of relativistic self-focusing (SF) and ponderomotive self-channeling. The nature of propagation and radial dynamics of the beam in plasma depend on the power, width of the beam, and Ω _p, the ratio of plasma to wave frequency. For a given value of Ω _p (<1), the distribution regimes have been obtained in beampower–beamwidth plane, characterizing the regimes of propagation as steady divergence, oscillatory divergence, and SF. The related focusing parameters are optimized introducing plasma density ramp function, and spot size of the laser beam is analyzed for inhomogeneous plasma. This results in overcoming the diffraction and guiding the laser beam over long distance. Numerical computations are performed for typical parameters of relativistic laser–plasma interaction studies.