Synthesis by Si-H bond lithiation of novel half-pincer and pincer silyllithium compounds and their molecular structures

Structural Chemistry - The synthesis and the X-ray structural analysis of novel pincer and half-pincer silyllithiums: Ar2 (N)(tBu2MeSi)SiLi (Ar(N) = o-dimethylbenzylamine) (2a),...     

Dimension Reduction for the Landau-de Gennes Model on Curved Nematic Thin Films

We use the method of \(\Gamma \)-convergence to study the behavior of the Landau-de Gennes model for a nematic liquid crystalline film attached to a general fixed surface in the limit of vanishing thickness. This paper generalizes the approach in Golovaty et al. (J Nonlinear Sci 25(6):1431–1451, 2015) where we considered a similar problem for a planar surface. Since the anchoring energy dominates when the thickness of the film is small, it is essential to understand its influence on the structure of the minimizers of the limiting energy. In particular, the anchoring energy dictates the class of admissible competitors and the structure of the limiting problem. We assume general weak anchoring conditions on the top and the bottom surfaces of the film and strong Dirichlet boundary conditions on the lateral boundary of the film when the surface is not closed. We establish a general convergence result to an energy defined on the surface that involves a somewhat surprising remnant of the normal component of the tensor gradient. Then we exhibit one effect of curvature through an analysis of the behavior of minimizers to the limiting problem when the substrate is a frustum.     

On a functional equation related to convex bodies with <Emphasis Type="Italic">SU</Emphasis>(2)-congruent projections

In this note, we consider two Riemannian metrics on a moduli space of metric graphs. Each of them could be thought of as an analogue of the Weil–Petersson metric on the moduli space of metric graphs. We discuss and compare geometric features of these two metrics with the “classic” Weil–Petersson metric in Teichmüller theory. This paper is motivated by Pollicott and Sharp’s work (Pollicott and Sharp in Geom Dedic 172(1):229–244, 2014). Moreover, we fix some errors in Pollicott and Sharp (2014).     

Non-linear dynamics and pattern formation in a vertical fluid layer heated from the side

We study both experimentally and numerically the convective flow in a tall vertical slot with differently heated walls. The flow is investigated for the fluid with the Prandtl number Pr=26, which is large enough to ensure the traveling waves as primary instability and small enough to prevent boundary layer convection. The flow evolution is determined on the base of the visual observations, power spectra and amplitude analysis. In the numerical simulations of two- and three-dimensional flows, we accept an assumption of an infinite fluid layer. The satisfactory agreement with experiment is observed, and the sequence of convection states is discovered. It starts with a plane-parallel flow as primary solution, which becomes unstable to two counter-propagating waves. It is followed by a tertiary three-dimensional flow in the form of wavy traveling waves. As the Grashof number is increased even further, a chaotically oscillating cellular pattern consisting of the pieces of broken waves arises. The formation of a structure in the form of the vertical rolls chaotically modulated along axes concludes this complicated picture.     

Characterization of peptide adsorption on InAs using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

The well-defined structure and high stability of peptides make them attractive biotemplates for low-temperature synthesis of semiconductor nanocrystals. Adsorbed peptide monolayers could also potentially passivate semiconductors by preventing regrowth of the oxide layer. In this work, the adsorption and passivation capabilities of different collagen-binding peptides on InAs surfaces were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Before peptide functionalization, Br(2)- and HCl-based etches were used to remove the native oxide layer on the InAs surfaces. The presence of the N 1s peak for peptide-functionalized samples confirms the adsorption of peptides onto the etched InAs surfaces. Calculated coverages were similar for all peptide sequences and ranged from ～20 to 40% of a monolayer using the deconvoluted C 1s spectra and from ～2 to 5% for the N 1s spectra. The passivation ability of the peptides was analyzed by comparing the ratios of the oxide components to the nonoxide components in the XPS spectra. The thickness of the oxide layer was also approximated by accounting for the attenuation of the substrate photoelectrons through the oxide layer. We find that the oxide layer regrowth still occurs after peptide functionalization. However, the oxide layer thicknesses for peptide-functionalized samples do not reach as received levels, indicating that the peptides do have some passivation ability on InAs.     

Electronic structure of the two isomers of the anionic form of p-coumaric acid chromophore

A theoretical study of the electronic structure of the photoactive yellow protein (PYP) model chromophore, para-coumaric acid (p-CA), is presented. Electronically excited states of the phenolate and carboxylate isomers of the deprotonated p-CA are characterized by high-level ab initio methods including state-specific and multistate multireference pertrubation theory (SS-CASPT2, and MS-CASPT2), equation-of-motion coupled-cluster methods with single and double substitutions (EOM-CCSD) and with an approximate account of triple excitations (CC3). We found that the two isomers have distinctly different patterns of ionization and excitation energies. Their excitation energies differ by more than 1 eV, in contradiction to the experimental report [Rocha-Rinza et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 113, 9442 (2009)]. The calculations confirm metastable (autoionizing) character of the valence excited states of both phenolate and carboxylate isomers of p-CA(-) in the gas phase. The type of resonance is different in the two forms. In the phenolate, the excited state lies above the detachment continuum (a shape resonance), whereas in the carboxylate the excited π→π(*) state lies below the π-orbital ionization continuum, but is above the states derived from ionization from three other orbitals (Feshbach resonance). The computed oscillator strength of the bright electronic state in the phenolate is higher than in the carboxylate, in agreement with Hu?ckel's model predictions. The analysis of photofragmentation channels shows that the most probable products for the methylated derivatives of the phenolate and carboxylate forms of p-CA(-) are CH(3), CH(2)O and CH(3), CH(2)O, CO(2), respectively, thus suggesting an experimental probe that may discriminate between the two isomers.     

Gauge-origin independent calculations of Jones birefringence

We present the first gauge-origin independent formulation of Jones birefringence at the Hartree-Fock level of theory. Gauge-origin independence is achieved through the use of London atomic orbitals. The implementation is based on a recently proposed atomic orbital-based response theory formulation that allows for the use of both time- and perturbation-dependent basis sets [Thorvaldsen, Ruud, Kristensen, Jo?rgensen, and Coriani, J. Chem. Phys. 129, 214108 (2008)]. We present the detailed expressions for the response functions entering the Jones birefringence when London atomic orbitals are used. The implementation is tested on a set of polar and dipolar molecules at the Hartree-Fock level of theory. It is demonstrated that London orbitals lead to much improved basis-set convergence, and that the use of small, conventional basis sets may lead to the wrong sign for the calculated birefringence. For large basis sets, London orbitals and conventional basis sets converge to the same results.     

An efficient approach to azirino and pyrrolo-fused dibenzazepines. Conformations of substituted dibenzo[c,f]pyrrolo[1,2-a]azepines

An effective approach to azepino-fused heterocycles is described. trans-1-Aryl-7,11b-dihydro-1H-azirino[1,2-a]dibenzo[c,f]azepines were synthesised via a domino sequence: isomerization of gem-dichloroaziridine-intramolecular Friedel-Crafts acylation of the tethered benzene ring catalysed by SnCl(4) and subsequent hydride induced intramolecular cyclization. Cycloaddition of dibenzazepinium ylides, generated by heating these aziridines, to activated C[double bond]C, C[triple bond]C dipolarophiles and fullerene C(60), leads to derivatives of dibenzo[c,f]pyrrolo[1,2-a]azepine. The reaction proceeds with complete stereoselectivity via cycloaddition of only W-ylide, which due to the high barrier does not undergo E,Z-isomerization under the reaction conditions. It was found that 2,3,9,13b-tetrahydro-1H-dibenzo[c,f]pyrrolo[1,2-a]azepine systems can exist in conformations of two types depending on the substituents at the pyrrolidine carbons in β-position with respect to nitrogen. Details of cycloaddition reactions and the conformational behavior of cycloadducts were studied by DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level.     

How to measure the accuracy of the subexponential approximation for the stationary single server queue

We discuss the problem of establishing an upper bound for the distribution tail of the stationary waiting time D in the GI/GI/1 FCFS queue.